WHAT KIND OF BASKETBALL REFEREEING WOULD I WANT?—TAKING THE BALL OUT OF THE BASKET. (COMMENT).

WHAT KIND OF BASKETBALL REFEREEING WOULD I WANT? TAKING THE BALL OUT OF THE BASKET. (COMMENT). Dick Weisfelder commented here on my post about this year’s announced plan to have stricter application of the rules in college basketball. Dick’s comment began “So much is judgmental.” It me made think about this question: what kind of rules would I have if I could lay down the rules for basketball? Like Dick, I like watching defense. There is no defense in the NBA all star game, and I can’t bring myself to watch it. I think the main thing I would do would be to try to reduce the discretion of referees as much as I could by bright line rules. For example, the practice of a player on a team that has just scored tossing the ball to a referee with the effect of preventing a fast break attack has now been eliminated. It was always a potential delay of game call, but rarely called. Now touching the ball is an automatic delay of game call. The players have gotten used to the strict interpretation after the first month’s games, and it almost never happens any more.