NBA executive vice president of basketball operations Stu Jackson took time with FanHouse this week to address some postseason issues regarding officiating and punishment.
Question: How did this year's postseason flagrant foul numbers compare with other years?
Jackson: In terms of flagrant fouls called this year in the playoffs, there were 17, which was one less than last year. That was more flagrant fouls than were called in 2006-07, but less than 2005-06. So, it was basically consistent with the last four or five years.
The Magic played much of Wednesday's game as if they were content going back to Orlando with a split. Unfortunately, not even returning to their home court might help their chances for Game 3 if Rafer Alston is suspended, which is a distinct possibility after his inexcusable slap to Eddie House's head late in the third quarter.
CHICAGO -- To all the prejudices and biases that complicate our tangled world, today we add "oafism." Rajon Rondo, as you probably know, all but defaced Brad Miller in the final frenetic seconds of Game 5 in the Best NBA First-Round Series Ever Played. Rondo leaped, popped him in the mouth, drew blood when Miller's tooth cut his lip, forced him to get a stitch job and left him so woozy that his eyeballs were peeking out of his eardrums.
While the basketball-loving world is completely distracted by the start of free agency, the NBA quietly tried to sneak a relatively major development under the radar. They've created the office of Senior Vice President, Referee Operations to oversee (wait for it ...) all things pertaining to referees, including "recruiting, training and development, scheduling, data management and analysis and work rules enforcement."
Those responsibilities previously fell on the shoulders of Stu Jackson, the league's VP of Basketball Operations, but the NBA is clearly hoping that the creation of a new office will convince everyone that officiating decisions are not being made by the same people whose job it is to ensure the game stays competitive and marketable. The office will report to NBA president Joel Litvin, David Stern's right-hand man.
So who is heading up the new position? U.S. Army Major General Ronald Johnson, who has 32 years of combat engineering experience and recently retired from heading up the Army Corps of Engineers. Is that outside the box enough for you?
Johnson admittedly has no basketball experience outside of being a fan, but no one can deny that someone with his resume has the ability to train, manage and lead large groups of people in mission critical projects. After helping coordinate billion dollar reconstruction efforts in Iraq, surely making sure that a couple of guys with whistles know to stand in the right spot to see the difference between a blocking foul and a charge will be a cake walk, right? Here's to hoping that's the case.
Here's some bad news for Manu Ginobili, Anderson Varejao and every other player who develops an apparent inner-ear disorder every time an opponent so much as breaths in their direction: the NBA will begin fining players next year for taking a dive.
Stu Jackson, the NBA's VP of basketball operations, confirmed to ESPN's Marc Stein on Thursday night that the league will penalize players for "the most egregious type of flops" as determined by in-arena observers and video reviews. The fine schedule has not yet been determined, but given the league's attitude toward technical and flagrant fouls, by the time it's complete it could include escalating fines and (cross your fingers) even suspensions for repeat offenders.
While some players will need some time to adjust, offensive players will love the rule, as will fans at home who no longer have to suffer through games disrupted by players falling down instead of playing defense. Also, I think fining the players rather than calling an actual foul is the way to do it, especially since the motivation is to enhance the flow the game. Plus, I think there will be more pressure on refs to simply "let them play," since officials will be nervous about calling a foul on a play that later earns a player a fine.
I don't think this news will get quite the attention it deserves right now, but it's something fans are definitely going to notice and appreciate next season.
Al Horford caught a lot of flack this weekend for taunting a fallen Paul Pierce after making a shot, but what generally went unreported was Pierce's reaction: he actually got up and followed Horford past the halfcourt line until Brian Scalabrine retrieved him.
Boston Celtics forward Paul Pierce and Washington Wizards guard DeShawn Stevenson have each been fined $25,000 for making menacing gestures during games played this weekend, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President Basketball Operations.
The incident involving Pierce occurred in the fourth period of the Celtics' 102-93 Game 3 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on April 26. The incident involving Stevenson occurred in the first period of the Wizards' 100-97 Game 4 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on April 27.
On the heels of Kenyon Martin's recent suspension for accruing too many flagrant foul points, George Karl is telling the media that he thinks the Nuggets receive biased treatment regarding the judgment of his players and how it pertains to the assessment of flagrant fouls.
"I just think we get picked on," Karl said Friday. "I think there's a harder core judgment to our guys than some other guys ...
... I think it's wrong and (Karl is) shocked," Karl said. "I don't comprehend the decision. ... I feel there's some hypocrisy."
Karl also went on to say the Nuggets were not "an All-American" team and as a result the league penalizes them more heavily than anyone else. The Nuggets, by the way, have 50 technicals on the season thus far, with Carmelo Anthony, Linas Kleiza and K-Mart all registering double digit figures in T's accumulated.
Karl mentioned that he had an "aggressive" chat with Stu Jackson, but also conceded that a lot of his frustration came with not only the timing of the suspension (the playoff race) but the NBA's lack of speed in issuing their decision.
Fact of the matter though, is that two of Martin's flagrants have been reversed one way or the other -- and because the NBA reviewed this on a tape, it's a lot harder to buy into any bias against the Nuggets. If there is any bias whatsoever, it's because K-Mart's preceding actions have led the Jackson and the NBA to believe that flagrant intent is probably there. And for that Martin and the other Nuggets have no one to blame but themselves, or the coach that can't keep them under control.
The Nuggets sit just one game ahead of the Warriors for the eighth and final spot in the Western playoffs. Clearly, their margin for error is slim to none, which makes the fact that one of their key contributers will miss a game all the more distressing for fans in Denver.
The NBA announced today that Kenyon Martin has been suspended one game for accruing too many flagrant foul points. The decision came after Stu Jackson reviewed the tape of Tuesday's game between the Suns and Nuggets and upgraded the technical foul Martin received in the third quarter for striking Boris Diaw across the face to a flagrant.
Martin will miss Saturday's game in Sacramento Denver (fixed), and he'll be suspended another game if/when he picks up another flagrant between now and the end of the regular season. There's a very good chance Saturday will be the one and only game Martin misses -- flagrant fouls aren't exactly common -- but you have to wonder if opposing teams will attack Martin knowing that in the back of his head he might be reluctant to play as physical as he usually does.
This certainly sucks for the Nuggets, but they can beat the Kings even without Martin. What they need to watch out for is the April 8 game against the Clippers -- if Martin does something stupid in that game, he'll be unavailable for the pivotal must-win game two days later at Golden State, which may or may not decide if Denver makes the playoffs or not.
Is a suspension warranted? If this was 1995, no chance. But since Dirk just got one, I guess Johnson had to, as well. I just wish Jackson had mulled it over a bit longer and announced his decision on Saturday when the Heat face the Hawks "twice" -- first their 51.9 second replay of their December match followed by an actual game. After all the hand-wringing about who'd be eligible to play, wouldn't it have been fun to throw this monkey-wrench into the mix? Would Johnson have been forced to sit both games out? Would he have been eligible to play in the replay but not the real game? We'll never know.
It's no secret that the NBA has a problem with its officials. Actually, the NFL does, too, but people love that sport too much for it to matter.
Or maybe the difference is that, without any real replay safety net, the NBA refs' authority is absolute. Their snap judgments become law, and there's very little anyone can do about it. But sometimes, all those hurt by their actions get a small moral victory. On Wednesday, the boys in stripes robbed the Sixers of several precious end-game seconds; they went on to lose to the Bulls by a single free throw. According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Stu Jackson called Billy Hunter the following day...to semi-apologize:
I had a nice conversation with Stu Jackson, and we were right," King said last night before the Sixers' game against Utah. "At least they acknowledged that mistakes were made, and that's all you want. You want them to acknowledge that."
Of course, this didn't change anything, and plenty of times these screw-ups don't get acknowledged. So if anything, this seems like a well-timed political move that us mere mortals can't understand.
Also, there's a big difference between a game marred by bias, and one decided by a single mistake. Namely, teams have no excuse for things even getting to that point.
NBA executive vice president of basketball operations Stu Jackson took time with FanHouse this week to address some postseason issues regarding officiating and punishment.
CHICAGO -- To all the prejudices and biases that complicate our tangled world, today we add "oafism." 
While the basketball-loving world is completely distracted by the start of free agency, the NBA quietly tried to sneak a relatively major development under the radar. They've 
Here's some bad news for 
On the heels of 
The Nuggets sit just one game ahead of the Warriors for the eighth and final spot in the Western playoffs. Clearly, their margin for error is slim to none, which makes the fact that one of their key contributers will miss a game all the more distressing for fans in Denver.
It's no secret that the NBA has a problem with its officials. Actually, the NFL does, too, but people love that sport too much for it to matter. 
