00:00So do you agree then, Rick, when you get into the second season
00:03and you get into the playoffs, you may be one of the more skilled players
00:07and one of the more skilled teams, but are you saying that the referees,
00:12they kind of equalize it by doing that and taking maybe the skill set
00:16away from that team, and they're looking for the NFL parity and all that.
00:21You think they take the skill out of the game?
00:24Well, I think they do.
00:25I don't know if they do it intentionally,
00:27but they allow the game to become much more physical.
00:30I mean, I always used to say, I say, can I see the new rule book we're playing by?
00:34What was a foul during the regular season seems not to be a foul in the playoffs.
00:38I mean, how many times have you watched and seen?
00:39And two guys collide, they both wind up on the court, and the whistle doesn't blow.
00:44I mean, I'm sorry.
00:45It either had to be a charge or a block.
00:47I mean, it can't be a no call.
00:49And I just think they get hung up on this thing, and you hear it all the time.
00:53The officials don't want to feel that they determine the outcome of the game.
00:56Let the players determine it.
00:58I said, well, if you don't make the calls according to the rule book,
01:01you are having an impact on the outcome of the game.
01:05And it is the players who are the ones that are determining the outcome of the game
01:09because they're violating the rules.
01:10You need to call the fouls.
01:12The players will adjust to it.
01:13If you call it reasonably close, they're going to play that way.
01:16If you let them beat the hell out of one another,
01:18they're going to beat the hell out of one another.
01:20So the officials have a dramatic impact.
01:22But you have to make the calls regardless of the fact that it's the playoffs,
01:26regardless if it's the first minute of the game or it's the last minute of the game.
01:29You have to make the call that is required based upon the rule book,
01:33and they don't do that.
01:35And don't even get me started about carrying the basket.
01:38The guys carry the ball walking up the court now, walking up the court.
01:43It's very difficult if you're a purist, which I think I probably am.
01:47They say old school.
01:48But I think old school basketball is the way the game was meant to be played.
01:51It's more fun to watch.
01:52It's more fun to play.
01:54You know, this one-on-one stuff that happens so often.
01:56I mean, teams are starting to get smart and realize that, hey, more passes, more cuts,
02:00more decisions you force the defense to make,
02:02the more likelihood the team's going to make a mistake.
02:04And if you have smart players, you capitalize on those mistakes.
02:07So that's the way I love watching the game.
02:10And a lot of it I don't like nowadays.
Comments