Peace, Love and Thunderstanding: Replacement Ref Pro/Cons
(Edit: My initial plan was to write an article about our human nature to feed into the hype of unknown quantities, such as, say, Serge Ibaka, and believe that our scouts lucked into a rare talent who escaped the radar of every other team…then I watched him play against the Suns on Monday, and can’t consider myself above the fold. Chewbaka for Defensive Player of the Year! On another note, make sure to read the OU/TX rivalry breakdown that Royce posted over at TheLostOgle.com.)
Throughout my life, I have been pretty tough on referees. When playing intramural/rec league basketball, I have been known to blame the guys in black and white stripes for everything from a blown call to world hunger. Watching games on television, without the risk of getting T’d up, I have been even less kind.
Now that you know this about me, it will come as no surprise to you that my initial reaction to news that the NBA referees union was being locked out by the league offices was less than sympathetic. “Good riddance,” I thought to myself, “how could the replacements be any worse?”
Then, dread spread down my spine as I began to realize, “they could be a lot worse.”
As infuriating as the NBA referees can be, see here, they do have a ton of training and experience that scabs called up from the D-League/CBA/NCAA, or wherever they find replacements, cannot replicate. And that shortfall is only the biggest problem assuming the league was able to get the best non-NBA referees available…but that is not the case. Guys who have the objective and talent to eventually officiate NBA games for a living probably turned down the opportunity to fill in. If they did cross the picket line, they would lose out on future benefits afforded by the referee’s union.
So we aren’t talking just about replacement referees, we are talking about bottom of the barrel referees. Oh, joy!
On the flipside, some of that experience that the seasoned zebras possess, can actually be a detriment that these green, over-their-head scabs could actually improve upon the normal product. Because of these conflicting ideas, I have a pro/con list regarding this lockout after the jump.
PRO: Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan’s heads might explode
Everyone knows that superstars in the NBA play with a different rule book. They sell the tickets, so the referees have learned to alter their calling of fouls/violations to benefit those players whose jerseys sell the best. These new guys, though, will not have learned to do this. To them, LeBron James will get just as much leeway for reaching in on the dribble as rookie Chase Buddinger.
Superstars will not like this. Particularly, the afforementioned Kobe and Duncan who get the superstar treatment and still act like they are getting hosed by the calls.
CON: Kobe and Duncan might get the calls they always wanted
There is a reason that superstars get the calls from those referees, and a lot of it has to do with how they exert that star power. Zebras get star struck and give those players advantages. These inexperienced guys could very well be more susceptible.
CON: Kevin Durant is one of those superstars
If the situation is like the first, he won’t get the foul call when doing his up and under move. If it is like the latter, he still won’t get the calls because he doesn’t antagonize the referees. Lose/Lose.
CON: Games will feature a lot more foul calls
One thing veteran officials know is that some contact that would normally be called fouls makes no difference when it comes to the world’s fastest, strongest, most talented basketball players. That lovetap on Shaq’s wrist that had no hope of dislodging the ball might be overlooked by an experienced NBA referee, but the new guys are going to call it because, by the book, it is a foul. The downside is that games will be much longer, and feature a lot more boring free throws.
PRO: The Thunder are pretty good at free throws
Making lemonade out of lemons, our team is pretty good at cashing in their free throws–particularly the guys who create contact. The worst free throw shooter of the Thunder starters was Jeff Green who shot 79%. Also, the bottom four free throw shooters from last year’s team are gone. That means extra fouls should be free points for Oklahoma City.
PRO: When the referees suck, there will be an excuse
CON: There will be an excuse for the referees sucking
CONCLUSION: Still don’t know.
You forgot the worst part about the replacement refs: they will make the average fan forget just how terrible the regular refs are.
I mentioned this after the second preseason game, but this has “New Coke” written all over it. Nothing can be worst than the blatantly terrible calls in every regular NBA game? I can just see Stern sitting in his hilltop mansion on a stormy night, rolling his hands together Montgomery Burns style, and whispering, “We shall see, won’t we.” Then Adam Silver slinks out of the shadows, probably with a hump on his back, and Stern/Burns gives him the order, “Make these fans see the folly of their ways. Make it so horrible that no fan may ever say the NBA is not putting out the best referees in sport.”
As much as I hate the way these games are being officiated, at least I know that these guys are trying to make the right calls, and that they could learn as the season goes. Once the regulars come back, it’s the same game I’ve turned off dozens of times in disgust for no other reason than the officiating. These are the SAME people who robbed everyone in 06 with Wade (calls which even move to the defensive side these days), who made sure the Lakers beat the Kings in 02, and who have consistently screwed over “boring” teams for years.
I don’t know that it’s the “boring” teams that get screwed. The Suns were, by far, the most exciting team in the NBA and they could never get past the Spurs, quite possibly, the least interesting team in any sport. The Knicks of the ’90s were the ugliest team I’ve ever watched play, and they made it to the Finals twice.
Boy they were bad last night. So many missed calls.
As well as so many whistled calls last night that made me wonder if basketball was a contact sport or not.
I felt bad for both teams, but especially the Heat in the 4th quarter.
@Clark Matthews
Knicks had the benefit of being from New York, which immediately makes them more interesting apparently, but the Suns were just odd. Admittedly there were blown calls, but I never felt (besides the Amare suspension – after which the Suns still won) the Suns were getting the raw end. They were just beaten by (usually) the best team there was at their hottest time of the year. When I say most boring, I look at the Pistons this decade. The league actually changed defensive rules after the Pistons won just to limit the effect of defense-first teams like them. And from that point forward the Pistons had to play twice as well as their opponent to win in the postseason. The fact that they still made it to game 7 of the finals and 3 more ECF appearances speaks volumes about how good they could/should have been.
My biggest problem with the “professional” refs is the inconsistency. I don’t personally WANT to see them giving Kobe, or KD the velvet glove treatment! Decide what the rules of contact are, and everybody plays by them. It doesn’t matter to me if you call the game close or let them play fast and loose, I can still enjoy it, but NOTHING is more frustrating to a fan (and probably a player), than the refs changing their style from play to play and really deciding the outcome of a close game. I didn’t think the scabs did that badly in the game inside the Ford Center the other night, and I think the STRIKERS ought to be the ones concerned. The NBA (at least in OKC) goes on just fine without them!
@okiefunk
Agreed on all accounts.
I know that right now, in preseason, I don’t care that much. But in the regular season, when a game comes down to the end, and hinges on a bad call, then I’ll care big time.
I can’t imagine how upset fans will be if the scabs are still around come playoff time.
Yes Sir! If a “real” game is blown due to a bad a call that is when the rotten vegetables start being propelled.