traveling around the NBA...

[Nathan Arneal]

Some comments about the officiating, good and bad.

I rarely watch and NBA game and get upset at the
officiating, but I found myself yelling at the TV time
and time again Sunday.
At one point, a magic player (Arroyo I think) took a
charge. On the slow-mo replay you could see that the
bodies of the two players never actually touched
before Arroyo threw himself backward. The only contact
made was when Arroyo extended his arms a bit away from
his body. As the replay was showing a *clear* six inch
gap between the bodies of the two players, the
announcers (I had the Magic announcers on NBA TV) were
patting the refs on the back for a great call. I
*hate* when announcers, make give an initial reaction
to a play, and then when replay evidence clearly
contradicts their statement, they ignore it and
pretend like it supports their original claim. Do they
we're watching with our eyes closed?

On a good note, it's great to see traveling called in
the NBA according to the rules. It was ridiculous to
have traveling called (or more accurately, not called)
one way in the NBA and another way in every other form
of organized basketball. No more shuffling of pivot
feet, four-step, no-dribble lay ups, etc. etc.
It's about time. The only question is, what took so
long? They are the best players in the world and will
adapt without you letting them travel all over the
place.

Nathan A.


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