Your Mother's an Astronaut

Man, you fouled me!
Foul ?
Yeah, you got my hand
The hand is part of the ball
Well you got my wrist
The wrist is part of the hand!

Ok, after paying much closer attention to NBA basketball lately thanks to the Thunder, including attending about 15 games so far this season, one thing has become very clear to me. NBA referees are the worst professional sports officials around.

Its true. NFL refs aren't too bad at all, plus they have the added benefit of replay reviews. MLB umps are actually quite good given the scrutiny the home plate ump is usually under, plus no replay. But NBA refs are just awful. You've got 3 of them out there and at least twice a game they all look at each other dumbfounded because none of them saw whose size 18 kicked it out of bounds.  And when they show the replay on the jumbo screen, they usually got it wrong.  Plus they are extremely inconsistent.  And basketball is played on the smallest area of play.  Come on refs!

First of all, when was traveling taken out of the rule book? Or when did they change it to 3 steps instead of 2. I see traveling 5 times a game and its never called. And on the rare occasion it is called, you never even see it. The guy will be standing behind the 3 point line about to make a move and the ref blows the whistle. But when Carlos Boozer takes off from the 3 point line for a dunk, its ok. Whatever.

I aslo think the refs have a foul quota. They can't go 1 minute without calling something. I find it hard to believe that EVERY time the ball goes down low, there's a foul. I know there's some banging around that goes on down there, but that's part of the game. Let them play a little. Blowing the whistle for everything disrupts the flow of the game and makes it hard to watch.  I'm also already tired of the defense having such a disadvantage. Heaven forbid the guy be allowed to touch the offensive player, or be able to push back when Dirk Nowitzki backs his ass up and pushes the defender all the way under the basket. If the defender even tries to push back, its a foul. Ridiculous.

One more thing on fouls. I think it should be an offensive foul if the shooter lunges into the defender on purpose, trying to draw a foul, when he goes up for the shot. I have to say Kevin Durant is guilty of this almost every game, and it usually works out in the Tunder's favor, but I don't like the rule. Again, the defense is almost helpless. No wonder most teams don't even try to play defense.

And finally. If you wear a number like 92 (DeShawn Stevenson - Dallas), then you should be benched until you change it.

That is all.