I agree with the umps. Basketball needs less whistle blowing & less sooks....

I agree with anon, "a foul is a foul" so call it.
It's nothing to do with being a sook. If there's a rule for one side, the same rule applies for the other. It was also annoying to see the number of travels called the other night, when one side (Ballinger)got called for dragging his foot, often caused by a push, (no foul called), but the other side (Ubaka) was allowed to take three or four steps, more than once and no call.
Also great defence by the boys, good to see some boxing out at last.

Hate to disappoint you guys but the idea is actually provided for in the rulebook

47.3 When deciding on a personal contact or violation, the officials shall, in each
instance, have regard to and weigh the following fundamental principles:
• The spirit and intent of the rules and the need to uphold the integrity of the
game.
• Consistency in the application of the concept of 'advantage/disadvantage',
whereby the officials should not seek to interrupt the flow of the game
unnecessarily in order to penalise personal contact that is incidental and which
does not give the player responsible an advantage nor place his opponent at a
disadvantage.
• Consistency in the application of common sense to each game, bearing in mind
the abilities of the players concerned and their attitude and conduct during the
game.
• Consistency in the maintenance of a balance between game control and game
flow, having a 'feeling' for what the participants are trying to do and calling
what is right for the game.

Also, how many times have you complained at a ref because a call was 'soft'? You're saying you want everything called - if that were the case it would become similar to netball! That would also mean that 3 seconds would be called every time down to a knife edge, and even travelling in the back court when there is no defence to be seen would also be called.

Not only that, think of this scenario: You are dribbling on a fast break or an ordinary drive to the basket, you are fouled as you stop dribbling or just before but it's only a minor knock and you manage to finish the shot and make the basket. Should the ref cancel the basket and give you the ball on the sideline? He can't give you 2 shots as you weren't in the act of shooting, but he's not allowed to let the contact go under the idea that there was "no disadvantage". This is also the same for situations where you get fouled on the rebound or the dish and then get a wide open, easy shot after that.

"It was also annoying to see the number of travels called the other night, when one side (Ballinger)got called for dragging his foot, often caused by a push, (no foul called), but the other side (Ubaka) was allowed to take three or four steps, more than once and no call."

They let players take 4 steps when they catch the ball and face-up but don't allow two steps on a spin move or a pivot. Joke.

The last few weeks a pivot seems to be interpreted as a travel.
Maude... consistency would be good, especially if the fouls are heavy, i.e. hits to the head needing three stiches.

raytri - agreed that hard contact does need to be called in order to control the game and protect the players - this isn't incidental contact and shouldn't be judged as such. Incidental contact should be anything that doesn't hurt the players or the movement they're trying to achieve. Head contact (unless soft and very very clearly no disadvantage) should always be called, its too dangerous otherwise

XztatiK - I didnt' see the game so I can't really comment for sure, only a guess - they may have gained from the travel on the spin move but not on the catch and face up? Taking a few extra steps on the pivot or spin move may have allowed them to illegally beat the defender but the extra steps on the catch and face up may have gained them nothing if it didn't shift the defence. Like I said, I didn't see it so thats just a guess

Anon 419 - the rule book also provides for the instances when fouls and violations should be judged as incidental. The foul and violation definitions should be read in context with the rest of the rule book and therefore the labelling of contact as a foul is not always as clear cut as set out in rule 6.

I also think that in some games, umpires look for things that have been called on the player previously, and tend to focus on that instead of looking for the reasons why it happened. i.e. Ballinger has been called for dragging his foot a few times now, in this week and last weeks games. Maybe the ump is missing the reason why he is doing it, i.e. being bumped and pushed by his defender, or in this weeks case at least two or more defenders.
The call should not have been a travel, but a foul on the opposition.

If you have a problem with the reffs take it up through your club and send a letter to BSA I did this not so long ago and had a good feed back from BSA ... bagging them on this site will not get you anywhere.. Just rember without them you dont have a game... Yes there needs to be some improvement but it wont happen by bagging them HERE..... ring,email or send BSA a letter and go from there.....

in my case, my first domestic ball game in Australia the refs were horrible! since it was near the end of the game (last 10s) i did something horrible to them and with the game about done they didn't send me off but had to take it!!! i was extremely proud!

Simple solution: get all players to wear a fencing style uniform with sensors all over it, as soon as any contact is made a red light flashes and a loud buzzing noise is sounded, the foul is instantly called and umpires dicretion is removed entirely from the process.

I think we can all agree this is the only way forward.

sure would make our job a lot easier, billo lol