Officials Take Too Much Control

If you happened to miss the last six minutes of Game Four of the Western Conference finals, you missed out an amazing, exciting, thrilling…free throw challenge. 

Almost every time down the court you heard another whistle and witnessed two more free throws being shot. It was predictable and it was boring, not only because the game was almost already decided with the nuggets pulling out a big lead late in the fourth but because they couldn’t play 20 seconds of basketball without an interruption by another whistle.

Luke Walton fouled Carmelo Anthony three trips down the court almost back-to-back-to-back. Andrew Bynum, Kenyon Martin and Anthony each got technical fouls. It was annoying to watch. Free throw after free throw.

By the end of the game the Denver Nuggets had shot a total of 49 free throws. The Lakers shot 35.

When a superstar in the NBA like Kobe Bryant, Lebron James or Dwayne Wade, score 49 points in a game we are all amazed. But what would a performance like that matter if the refs in a basketball game call so many fouls and send the teams to the line so much, that they can make almost half of a hundred from the line.

A lot of teams are happy to score 100 points in an NBA basketball game, but in this game the officials pretty much spotted the Nuggets the first 50.

The fans of the NBA don’t watch the game to see an official blow his whistle and wave his arms dramatically every time down the court. The fans watch the game to see the players make plays.

So why wont the officials just let the players play? Yes, if a ref wanted to he could call a foul every time down the court but it just isn’t needed.

Yes, the players push shove and bump every time down the court, it is a part of the game. Make the call when it is needed, but until it is a for sure foul that changes the outcome of the play, the refs need to save their breath and take it easy on the whistle blowing.