But seriously, the goal of the tech is to help players keep their emotions in check.
When players become too physical and starts turning the court into a ring, give them a ‘T’. When coaches start cursing and character assassinating the refs, give them a ‘T’. When a team official hits the head of a player, give his team a ‘T’ and ban him from the league. When a baller, coach and/or team official still has the guts the pull another technical foul-worthy stunt after earning one, give him another one so you can kick him out of the game.
See, techs are good. In a competitive game like basketball, there are so many emotions involved that you need rules like this to save the hardwood from turning into a war zone.
However, I think the NBA is taking it too far with the new guidelines for issuing technical fouls. Checkout this piece of information from ESPN’s Henry Abbott for reference:
At the referees' annual meeting in Jersey City, N.J., on Thursday, the league announced the guidelines for technical fouls will expand to include "overt" player reactions to referee calls.
Referees have been instructed to call a technical for:
• Players making aggressive gestures, such as air punches, anywhere on the court.
• Demonstrative disagreement, such as when a player incredulously raises his hands, or smacks his own arm to demonstrate how he was fouled.
• Running directly at an official to complain about a call.
• Excessive inquiries about a call, even in a civilized tone.
In addition, referees have been instructed to consider calling technicals on players who use body language to question or demonstrate displeasure, or say things like, "Come on!" They can also consider technicals for players who "take the long path to the official", walking across the court to make their case.
Air punches? Anywhere on the court? Come on! What’s David Stern up to? Is he trying to turn NBA players into soulless automatons?
Part of what makes basketball entertaining is seeing how the ballers react to certain situations and calls. Not everyone can dunk from the freethrow line, score 81 points or pull any other jaw-dropping basketball related feat. So when see a player spontaneously jump up and down in disbelief after the ref tags him with an offensive foul, it also reminds us that despite their otherworldly talents, these guys are still human.
This is the very reason we learned to love and hate the Allen Iversons, Ron Artests and Rasheed Wallaces.
And let’s not forget, these referees are also human. They’re not going to get make the right calls 100% of the time and the players know it. So it can’t be help if the latter starts contesting calls and demonstrating why he’s making such an argument. But with new guidelines on the referees’ side, players must simply walk away from such frustrating scenario.
The implementation of the new guidelines not only makes the NBA less entertaining, it’ll also affect the perception of fans on referees. With the likes of Tim Donaghy around, this development will not do NBA refs any good.
As Trey Kerby of Yahoo!Sports points out, two of the best players in the NBA are in the top five for technical fouls last season. And when star players sit down for the majority of a game, expect a lot of unhappy fans.
On the upside, this somehow helps to level the playing field, even for a little bit. If Kobe Bryant sits down for two quarters when the LA Lakers play the Boston Celtics, it helps Doc Rivers get rid of a player that causes major, major problems on both ends of the floor for his team. And with Sheed out of the picture, the Black Mamba may become the recipient of the techs they’ve been saving up for Mr. Ball Don’t Lie.
Of course, that wouldn’t be a case when teams like the Detroit Pistons and Minnesota Timberwolves are playing. Both teams don’t have one particular game changer so you can go issue a ‘T’ on anyone and it barely changes the complexion of the game.
I’m glad the PBA’s not adopting these guidelines. It would be a shame if Yeng Guiao and Mac Cardona are prohibited from contesting calls. Besides, it’s not the players or team officials they should be worried about. When the fans start booing in the Araneta Coliseum, better take cover or debris being thrown into the court will give you a bump or two.
I Wish Stern and co. released this information earlier so I could’ve included it in my 'things to expect from the NBA as it draws near' piece. But from the looks of things, this new policy is still in its experimental stages. We’ll just have to wait for October to see if this tech-rule stays or goes.
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