Here are things you will hear: “That’s good Playoff basketball.” Or “a good hard Playoff foul.” Perhaps “they tend to let them play in the Playoffs.” Bullshit. Bullshit. And…..bullshit. Maybe I’m crazy, but I’ve never read the Playoff Rulebook. I guess it’s different than the one they use in the regular season. Oh wait, it’s not. Well then, listen closely. A foul is a foul is a foul. Yet there is a long-standing Myth that teams like the Celtics, Rockets, Cavs, or surprisingly, and at least for this year, the Nuggets, play good defense and this is proven in the Playoffs. But if you’re slapping elbows and hands to get steals, making body contact though your hands are clean, or if you in any way impede the offensive player’s motion when you’re not set, it’s a foul. Period.
The concept that refs should “just let them play” in the Playoffs is insane. Listen, like anything involving logic, which is pretty much everything, you can isolate the truth through variables. Imagine someone trying to convince you that their team could field six players against your team’s five because it’s the Playoffs and they’re just willing to take that extra step to win. It would be absurd. Okay, but why? Why is it absurd? Well, first of all, it violates the rules. Second, it gives the other team an unfair advantage. Third, it’s pretty fucking obvious. Okay. Well, then, what about if you let a defensive player hack an offensive player? That’s against the rules, gives the defensive player an unfair advantage, and generally is pretty fucking obvious. Ultimately, the result is no different than fielding an extra player. Is one more obvious than the other? Sure. But is one more excusable than the other? No. Both are ILLEGAL.
The general belief that the Playoffs should be treated this way is bad enough. But what really aggravates the situation is that some teams, who are perceived as good defensive teams, are less likely to be called for fouls, even if they commit them, because it is assumed that they are just playing good defense, and they get the benefit of the doubt. But the fallacy of this logic is that they very well may be perceived to be good defenders because they’ve gotten away with it in the past. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. Also, when you call plays different in the Playoffs, then all of sudden, players who have gotten used to a certain level of contact have no idea what they can or cannot do on the floor. This freezes them, and makes them appear to be slow, indecisive, or just poor defenders. Yet, this is something attributable to poor officiating more than personal deficiencies.
Even worse, this kind of game calling sets the scene for chaos. Or worse, for someone to get hurt. Because as we’ve seen with, significantly this year, the Nuggets, when you let a team manhandle the other, two things happen. One, the other team gets frustrated, and tends to commit harder fouls, which only exacerbates things. (I know, it’s no excuse, but to psychologically frustrate one team to the glee of the other is in itself an unfair advantage, especially in basketball, the most psychological of sports.) But beyond that, the team creating the contact in the first place, once not getting whistled for what is ostensibly illegal contact, tends to keep creating harder and harder contact, because when you’re not called for a foul, the tendency is to try and see how far you can push things, to see what you can get away with. So these teams keep fouling harder and harder, until all of a sudden flagrants and techs are flying, bodies are flying, people are getting hurt, and the refs have lost all semblance of control. It’s ridiculous.
Yet, the NBA and their TV mouthpieces just pretend it’s so hard, and the Fates forbid anyone but Jeff Van Gundy criticize the refs (and even for that, Stern once again, took an on camera jab at JVG; Stern is like the Borg: resistance to him is futile). Sure, basketball happens fast live. No doubt. It is hard to call. But it can be better. Don’t be fooled. And the changes aren’t that complex. 1. Call it the same way over the course of the regular season and the Playoffs. 2. Encourage refs to watch each others’ games and try to establish consistent calls from ref to ref. 3. Standardize when you use replay; as it is, sometimes they use it and sometimes they don’t, and it’s insane how some obvious calls are missed because refs would rather huddle for 60 seconds and talk it over to get it wrong rather than take 30 seconds to look at the screen right off the court to get it right. That the NBA doesn’t do these things doesn’t just do a disservice to the players and the fans, but the game itself.
So when people tell you about “Playoff Basketball,” tell them to fuck off. Hitting shots with a guy in your face is Playoff Basketball. Trying to fight through dudes hacking you? That’s bullshit. We all deserve better.
Argumentative
Damn, mW. F-bombs galore.
I hate the term ‘Playoff foul’ too, but I do believe some ambiguous plays should be let go on that stage (esp. loose ball fouls). That said, I remember a conversation during last year’s playoffs regarding ‘a foul is a foul’. This year, the Nuggets certainly benefited. They’re a physical team, no doubt, but there’s a difference between legal, physical plays and a blatant ‘playoff foul’. I think it’s Tolbert that always yells ‘WELL THAT’S PLAYOFF BASKETBALL’ that always pisses me off. Whoever it is, it’s ignorant.
But I would assume this was posted due to the pretty piss poor officiating continuing in the second round (Mavs-Nugs?). Haven’t watched a game since our Bees lost (like last year), but I guess the Stern Button’s still in effect.
A hard foul, I believe in. But I’m with you. Don’t have inconsistent standards between pre-, normal and post-season. That’s the stupid shit that gets players injured. And a player injured is revenue lost, Dictator Stern. Hint hint.
Absolutely great post. Right on. Amen, amen and amen.
here’s hoping that the League can devise some sort of review system for disputed calls/bad calls.
I like the college football system where coaches are afforded a set number of challenges that they can use at their discretion(2 or 3). If the disputed/bad call is overturned when challenged, the game continues on. If the coach disputes the call and the replay shows the original call was correct, the coach calling for the challenge loses a time-out. Seems fair to me.
I don’t know? The way I see “Playoff Basketball” defense is like this. In regular season games you’ll have a losing team that tries to make defensive stops late in the game, yet beacause they didn’t play hard defense from the get go the refs call fouls. The refs are like this what the fuck is this yall trying to play defense now? In the playoffs defense is hard all the way through no matter what team is ahead, they worked all season to get there and they’re pushing like its the end of a losing game. Go Rockets! hahaha can’t wait to see next season’s hornets
Certain players and teams get to play “playoff basketball” all season long: Bruce Bowen, Derek Fisher, Trevor Arraiza, Utah Jazz, Boston Celtics. It sucks, and particularly because our team is small and lacks toughness. We play finesse basketball. Reminds me of the finesse teams in the NFL that often lose when the weather turns nasty or the big bad boys on a non-finesse team get pumped up and start smashing heads.
Posey was an attempt to add toughness to our squad, but we need a few more and a few bigger tough guys if we want to succeed in the playoff environment, including beating LA, Denver, and Utah. We have the same problem with Houston, but they play cleaner than the other teams mentioned, in my opinion.