Every year the NBA feels the need to muddle with its product a bit. The big changes this year are two-fold: there’s the new basketball in use, and the ban on players bitching at the refs. In the Spurs-Heat preseason game on Saturday, it was the latter that had the most impact.
The new ball has engendered lots of complaints from players, especially Shaq, for its supposed slipperiness. (Shaq claimed a few weeks ago that players would be dropping the ball like it was a wet mango – and, yes, we’re paraphrasing some.) But Shaq didn’t seem to have any trouble with the ball on Saturday (24 points and 8 boards in 28 minutes), and neither did anyone else. After the third quarter, when most of the starters headed for the benches, the teams had combined for 21 turnovers – not bad for a preseason game. No one dribbled the ball off his foot or dropped it out of bounds. In fact, it was easy to forget that the ball was new at all.
However, the referees did have a hair-trigger in calling technical fouls on the Heat’s veteran yapper Gary Payton in the first half, and later, on the Spurs center Francisco Elson. (Elson is a spindly 7-foot former Denver Nugget who’s vying for playing time in the middle with the unimpressive Fabricio Oberto, and Jackie Butler, a straight-out-of-high-school kid who wasn’t picked in the 2004 draft. The Spurs dumped Rasho Nesterovic and Nazr Mohammed in the offseason. None of the three contenders wowed the crowd on Saturday, but Butler and Elson looked the steadiest.) As for the technicals, Payton had barely begun his protestations when the “T” signal came out. Elson too seemed downright shocked at his tech. The calls were in line with new league policy this year that assigns a tech for any – and we mean any – mouthing off at the official after a foul call. That seems a bit excessive, especially since two techs still equal an ejection. Let’s be honest, there’s a grand history to consider here, going back to such hall of fame complainers as Danny Ainge. Whining about foul calls is part of the game – part of the league’s character. It gives certain players a personality on the court. And besides, if this new rule is actually enforced – and we have our doubts that it will – Rasheed Wallace might not play 40 full games this year.
This article appears in October 20 • 2006.