The Blazers and the Refs

[SportsAndWhine]

https://www.sbnation.com/2018/2/15/17016156/nba-referee-player-fight-blazers-damian-lillard

What the Blazers are learning from a ref consultant about getting more foul calls

On Jan. 20, they hired Don Vaden, the former Director of Officials for the NBA and later the WNBA, as a consultant. Over the past couple of weeks, he’s been educating players on how to communicate better with referees and how to better ensure that the whistle goes their way, on both ends of the floor.

“In Minnesota, specifically, CJ definitely got fouled on a three,” Meyers Leonard said. “We had a couple instances in Minnesota where a guy could have fallen on a three-point attempt but didn’t, similar to what [Timberwolves guard] Jamal Crawford does.

“[Don] says, ‘you gotta fall. Let them know you got hit.’”

Hold up. A former referee telling a player to flop?

The truth is little more complicated than that. Thanks to the rampant spread of flopping across the league, players and referees are stuck in a leveling war that hits at the root of those trust issues.

Think about it this way. When players analyze game tape, they’re looking for places where they can erase mistakes. So are the refs. Increasingly, they’re witnessing situations where they got got. That causes them to sometimes be stingier with the whistle because they don’t want to get fooled by a flop.

As a result, players who aren’t experts at creating contact for the sake of creating contact are being punished.

In the last 12 games since the Blazers hired Don, they've shot more FT's than their opponent 5 times. I need to do more analysis to see if that's better than before.

 

[kjironman1]

Well five out of twelve would not be good.

 

[SportsAndWhine]

Well five out of twelve would not be good.

Two of them in blowout losses, too.

It's not good, but it might actually be better than before... which is sad.

I do like the bit near the end of the article about how Vaden is coaching Collins specifically about not fouling... perhaps to prevent getting a reputation as a foul-prone big.

 

[dviss1]

https://www.sbnation.com/2018/2/15/17016156/nba-referee-player-fight-blazers-damian-lillard


In the last 12 games since the Blazers hired Don, they've shot more FT's than their opponent 5 times. I need to do more analysis to see if that's better than before.

What do we call this one @SlyPokerDog?

WPT?

 

[kjironman1]

I honestly think it's more about what to say back to the refs and when. Seems like all the jawing at the refs was hurting the performance. If you look at the way the players are reacting to calls you might see a difference but that might not translate into foul shots. But more like wins and losses. Complaining a non call after a shot is a dead end until maybe talking to the ref at a break.

 

[dviss1]

Nvm it's a new article about an old subject.

 

[kjironman1]

Two of them in blowout losses, too.

It's not good, but it might actually be better than before... which is sad.

I do like the bit near the end of the article about how Vaden is coaching Collins specifically about not fouling... perhaps to prevent getting a reputation as a foul-prone big.

Wish they would get Nurk to quit stopping after every attempt and just keep playing. He simply cannot take a shot without looking at a ref.

 

[B-Roy]

Wish they would get Nurk to quit stopping after every attempt and just keep playing. He simply cannot take a shot without looking at a ref.

Him and Harkless are both the worst offenders. The number of times Harkless just stops on a play when he doesn't get a call and the other runs it back on a 5v4 is just maddening.