He may be taller than me but I can play at his level. He’s dribble fast toward the basket, I’m the only one that can catch him. Has he goes in for a layup he reveals the ball, I have a chance to block it. I leap and and swat the ball out of his hands. The whistles piercing sound alarms me. The ref looks and me and says “ Foul, number five on the harm. I was furious, I had clearly knocked the ball out of the other players hand without any contact.
The refs call to much fouls in todays games. The refs call a foul every time a player touches or even bumps another player. The fouls that can be called are flagrant, which are called very often. The cause of all the fouls is flopping, which is the act of falling after little or no contact. The players need to be tough and play hard. Kobe Bryant doesn’t like the game he sees today. "It's more of a finesse game. It's more small ball, which, personally, I don't really care much for. I like kind of smash-mouth, old-school basketball because that's what I grew up watching. I also think it's much, much less physical." He told Dave McMenamin of ESPN Los Angeles. The game has become a slow moving game with fouls being called too often. The Hand Check rule is really what changed to game. This rule states that the defender may not check the ball handler with his hand. The rule has made the game more difficult for the defenders.
The refs need to let the players play the game and worry about themselves. Protecting the players might be an issue, but these players are tall strong and are men that can take care of themselves. The game is meant to be physical, and played aggressively. When asked how teams from his era would compete from his era he simply said “We’d kill these little girly teams they’ve got today.” he told Maxim’s David Swanson. During the 2011-2012 season and average of 19.6 fouls were called per game. Are the officials being paid to protect the million dollar player? Many players today are rewarded fouls for simply falling over and acting like they just got hit by a linebacker.
Another issue is that the refs do not call traveling violation. In the rules of basketball the player is granted two steps to the basket. Today’s players go beyond that. The refs can’t see it all, they are mainly looking for fouls. The body’s colliding elbows hitting and any contact really. They can’t see everything at once. I think the refs are too concerned about calling fouls. The players can getting away with traveling, but not pushing our bumping other players. Some people believe the refs don’t call fouls on the better teams, such as the Miami Heat. A player like LeBron James rarely gets called because of his popularity. The NBA will get softer and less aggressive as the years go on. The refs can’t see all, but when they do see something they call it.
The physical NBA went away a long time ago. The game we see today has become less aggressive. The college players are influenced by their favorite NBA stars. The guys who flop and pretend to get fouled. The young athletes look at that and think it’s ok. If their idol is doing it they should too. The “Bad Boys” Detroit Pistons, an aggressive and hard nosed basketball, ruled the late eighties era. They would get into fights in just about every game.This type of basketball is rarely seen in todays games.
The game of basketball is meant to be physical and played by strong angry tall men who aren’t afraid to get knocked down. The players have found a way around the game and found a way to play and win the game without getting hurt. They simply trick the refs to get calls and win the game. This game has become a show and a slow moving game. They’re are few players out there that play hard and don’t try to trick the ref and fake falling. I hope these players have more impact on the game and the future players of the NBA. Like most things the game has evolved, but in a bad way. In the years to come I want to see more physical plays and players playing the game the right way.