If you watch basketball a lot, you’ll notice that different officials, different tolerance toward aggressive defense. It’s not only present in basketball, but also in any sports, especially team sports.
An interesting article by Dave Feschuk, The Basketball Columnist of TheStar.com explores the trends in NBA games refereeing this season.
Dave reported that it seems that the refs somehow call less fouls for aggressive, physical plays these days. NBA team coaches and players, too, indicate that they feel the tendency, although the referees themselves will always deny the fact.
What does this mean to the NBA games this season?
Physical and defense oriented teams (and players) will benefit from the refs’ laid back approach toward aggressive defense.
That’s why the Pistons is thriving seasons after seasons.
That’s why the Celtics is the NBA Champ and currently holds the best record in the NBA so far – 26 wins, with only 2 losses at .929. Sick. And, oh, don’t forget the 18 games winning streak. Darn sick!
And, that’s why the Eastern Conference NBA teams win more games vs. their Western Conference counterparts (sorry – I’ve lost the info on W-L comparison – any help?)
On the other hand, what about teams with finesse type of game, such as the Toronto Raptors? They ARE having difficulty this season. Run and gun, free-flowing, up-tempo offenses are not effective these days.
The proof? Here’s an interesting fact from the article above: out of the top 8 NBA teams in field-goal attempts per game, only the 8th ranked Utah Jazz had a .500 winning percentage. The top seven collective total? A pathetic .341 winning percentage. What’s more, six of the eight fastest paced clubs (measured by possessions per game) are under .500. Ouch.
Lucky Phoenix – With a new coach, team members, and a game strategy that favor slower pace baller, such as Shaq, The Suns withstand the new trends in refereeing.
Will this bring the Celtics to repeat?
Image by terren in Virginia.