Crackdown on whining right idea, despite flaws

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Nov 4, 2006 | by MILO F. BRYANT Gazette Sports columnist

DENVER - Carmelo Anthony stood in front of his Pepsi Center locker smiling and chuckling about the NBA's new zerotolerance rule related to arguing foul calls.

Players disputing calls immediately earn technical fouls.

Anthony disputed two calls in Thursday's game against the Los Angeles Clippers. He was quickly tossed.

"Zero tolerance is

zero tolerance," Anthony said before Friday's 112-109 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. "I remember back in Baltimore when the mayor put zero tolerance in there it was -- zero tolerance. Zero tolerance means they ain't taking nothing from nobody.

"There ain't no star system. Whoever they feel like throwing out, they're going to throw out. Behind bars, that's what zero tolerance means."

The policy isn't bad. But more than a few NBA players feel imprisoned. What's cool? What's not?

"They said it's going to take a while to figure it out, that it's going to take 20 or 30 games," Nuggets coach George Karl said, referring to what commissioner David Stern told the coaches. The NBA was right in stopping the crying after every call or non-call.

The appeal of Sam Cassell's histrionics is limited. The Clippers' guard was the NBA's worst at not knowing when to shut up about a call. Cassell always took valuable game time trying to argue his point. He'd stand in front of referees, impeding their progress. He'd flail his arms and almost sink to his knees, practically begging for a call.

Detroit forward Rasheed Wallace leads the NBA in loudmouthed nonsense every year. His act is usually shorter than Cassell, but no less tolerable.

Other than zero tolerance, the rule doesn't have a name. But if it did, it'd be the Cassell-Wallace Rule.

"It's going to affect the game a lot," Nuggets forward Reggie Evans said. "Teams that should win are not going to win. You're going to have guys get ejected and that could be a momentum swing. Coaches are going to get ejected. It gives (referees) power."

Karl said Friday's technical fouls on J.R. Smith and Kenyon Martin served as momentum busters. The Nuggets led by eight points before Smith's foul, but 1:17 later, the Nuggets trailed by a point.

"Next question!" Martin said both times he was asked about the technical foul.

The idea of zero tolerance is great. The implementation was flawed.

Stern wanted change and went from virtually nothing to over-the- top and ambiguous measures to make that change happen.

Baseball players can't argue balls and strikes, but they can argue calls. Hockey captains can argue in defense of their teammates.

But look at a basketball official the wrong way, and you've earned a technical.

More than other major sports commissioners, Stern tries to appease big-money sponsors by handing down player mandates. First was the dress code, which amounted to a veiled attempt to curtail the NBA's hip-hop image -- or as incorrect as it may be, its thug persona. The emphasis on arguing is the same thing.

Young, arguing hip-hopsters? We can't have that, although San Antonio forward Tim Duncan is neither young nor a hip-hopster, yet he remains one of the NBA's biggest whiners.

As long as the player isn't interrupting the game's flow and he's not being derogatory, he should be able to voice an opinion. If he becomes Cassellian or Wallace-like, don't hesitate. Toss him.

Columnist Milo F. Bryant can be reached at 636-0252 ormilo.bryant@gazette.com. Check out Milo's blog, The Extra Milo, at http://milobryant.blogspot.com/