CALLING MORE FOULS IN PRO BASKETBALL.
CALLING MORE FOULS IN PRO BASKETBALL. Steve Kerr, announcing a recent preseason professional game, commented that refereeing is an art—perhaps 400 fouls could be called in a game and the referee has to use judgment on which ones to call. My view is that, to the extent possible, referees should not be burdened with discretion. Discretion puts a referee in an impossible position. To the extent that a foul would be called differently by players, fans or other referees who apply a different standard, criticism is inevitable. The half circle under the basket for charging/blocking calls took away discretion and was a step forward.
There is an emphasis in professional basketball this year on calling moving screens. There are a lot more such calls in the first games this year. Bravo! Referees will have to decide less often how much movement is OK. This is a good example of something that the players should be able to adjust to as the year goes on.