by Hinsa » Wed Jan 25, 2012 3:05 pm
Physical play to me is the single most important reason for the decline in scoring in the past several decades. Riding a guy driving to the basket decreases the chances of making the shot. Wrestling with a post player for position on the block makes it extremely hard for a post player to score anymore. Fighting through a pick is codespeak for shove the guy setting the screen out of the way. Held balls include held hands, arms, and bodies. (My favorite is when a guy bear hugs someone from behind and gets a held ball called. It is not physically possible to reach around a guy from behind and secure a grip on the ball without contacting the guy in some illegal manner) Box out has become football line play complete with swim and rip moves.
All of these things make it much more difficult to score.
This is not the referee's fault. They call what they are told to call by the powers that be. I place the blame for physical play squarely on the powers that be at all levels of basketball.
If referees are told to call a foul a foul, sure, you'd have guys fouling out at first. But they would adjust, and soon the physical play would lessen, the court would open up, and scoring would increase naturally, without a bunch of contrived rules being put in place to increase scoring.
Twins and Vikings Forever!