@anonymous, yeah when I think about it I have seen a lot of plays where a player makes a sound and gets the foul. It's irritating that the game has got to that point though. And @2nd anonymous I know that's the world of basketball but shortly the refs can work to make the game more equal?

If you're that big, finish through the contact and harden up.

While I understand how frustrating inconsistent officiating can be, you have an absolutely enormous advantage over the shorter guys in the first place. This cannot be understated.

Referees at an amateur level are never going to call the game the same as the NBA. If you don't learn to accept it, basketball won't be very much fun for you.

I know your frustration, mate. I get sick of one set of rules for the little guys and one for the bigs.

As for those anons who reckon you're being a sook, I reckon they'd be spraying the refs pretty quickly if they got elbowed in the guts and the nuts a few times by shorter players trying to make a statement.

Used to call my son the 'Clothes Line' in junior basketball. Every time he went for a shot there would be a couple of kids hanging off each arm.
A much wiser head than mine fixed it for a while by getting him to use the elbows to make some space. Worked well till the Garden Gnome Refs started targeting him with fouls for having his elbows out. He is used to it now and does not sook but still gets frustrated occasionally when he comes back from Nationals or a tour of Vic. where he can enjoy a more physical game, to be put down by refs who think it is physically imposisble for a tall player to make a clean block on a guard. Has developed an impressive standing dunk that they have trouble picking on, so they have resorted to Tech fouls if he hangs onto the ring.

Mick you have the classic opinion of most guards.... Sure we have an advantage because we are taller but that by no means, means that taller people should get officiated differently.
Or am I missing some hidden rule that says if your taller, you get officiated harsher?

Basketball certainly has a Darwinian approach to the development of bigs/talls. 'If you are tough enough to put up with the crap all the way through juniors, then we will value you at a later date. If not, find another sport where you will be looked after.'

Having followed my tall daughter through juniors and seen innumerable photo's, it never ceases to amaze me how every photo of a guard is basically unencumbered, while every photo of a big sees them dealing with contact all the time. I have often tried to tell refs that it is their job to make the game FAIR, not even. In that case, a foul is a foul, regardless of size, or scoreline for that matter.

We certainly don't do anything (as a sport) to nurture the tall athletes who will ultimately be our stars, but we are very quick to damn any player with height who tends to drift to the perimeter as 'soft'.

Yes - talls need to learn to play with contact, that is their lot, but I had an interesting conversation with a couple of friends the other day, both of whom have played extensively in the NBL and WNBL (respectively of course) as shooting guards, but who as Masters athletes are now talls.

Their view now is 'why would a big play - all they do is rebound the guards' shitty shots and get ignored when they have battled to get position inside'. They are amazed that none of their big contemporaries still want to play Masters ball.

Surely as a sport we want to encourage ALL players to develop their skill levels and the best way to do that is to allow them to execute their skills without people hanging all over them (the niggling, 'tagging-type' foul is the last resort of the player who is outmatched on a skill level and unfortunately the first resort of many poor coaches). Why does it seem impossibel to create this environment for all players?

There was a discussion here a while ago about "Bigs" and someone stated that the game was evolving and their role was changing but I think it is less a mater of evolution and more genetic engineering. The rules are constantly being changed to take away the perceived advantage of the big player, the three point line wase introduced to allow the smaller players to feel they could have a greater impact on the game. They must have thought that was not enough and wanted to be able to drive onto the key and shoot over the bigs in there but were diss appointed when they got blocked, so they introduced the no charge circle to help them out, probably countless others over the history of the game. No doubt trying to think up the next one now. Ban dunking for anyone over 6'2" because they must have an advantage.

You can call it sooking if that satisfies your defensive feelings, that's ok. But there seems to be a bit of frustration that needs to be vented, better here than on the court.

Watched my kids grow up as the tallest in the team pretty much the past 7 years or so, from under 12's to under 18's.

No sooking allowed in my opinion, you get the ball as a tall don't just give it back under pressure all the time, try to work through the contact and the officiating (or lack of it)!

Don't complain to the ref, leave that up to the coach if he/she sees you being held or fouled, it's their job to make an official aware of what is going on if they are not watching the action.

By patient and continue to grow physically and mentally until you end up playing at the highest levels where the standards are better suited to you and you will reap the rewards.

No doubt there is a different perception of the rules inside the key for the bigs compared to that of the smaller player, inside or outside the key!

But, the game was invented as a high scoring game for athletic people with a clear intention of skill over muscle, played on a hard surface in a contained space for dynamic action and enjoyment...

I don't see this changing any time soon, but officials do need to check their code of conduct and understand that they have a duty of care and a duty to officiate in the correct manner, nothing more a tall player can do but work on their strength and skill knowing the little guys can only dream of dunking!

Firstly,I am under 6 foot and I referee,so I guess I am already on two strikes :o) probably one of the biggest issues in this country is that we do not referee bigs well (no pun intended) in the past to put it simply there was not enough bigs to referee and it is a matter of the more you see it,the better you get at it.
Over the past five years there has been a significant increase in the number of big players in the game but officiating in this area has not been improved to the levels required to simply be calling the game on its merits. As a referee it should never be about evening out the contest, but call it as you see it. For me the biggest issue is the disadvantage advantage application.
In juniors this to me is why there can be double standards as bigs and those physically stronger can be seen to be picked on in one instance and ignored the next. We need better education in our junior officials to call the game more consistent.
There was an interesting point made in the flopping thread regarding Kobe driving at chris Paul and then someone the size of say nathan jawai. Paul falls over from the contact and gets the charge call,jawai doesn't because he's a beast and so it's a no call. Good dee should be rewarded regardless.
What I also think people miss is that it takes great maturity and understanding to be a referee. It takes us longer to mature into strong consistent officials as we can't rely on height or strength to get the job done. Junior players make silly mistakes when they play and so do junior referees. We rarely see anyone under the age of 30 promoted to the nbl, and this is purely because of maturity and understanding of the game.
This isn't an excuse but until someone comes up with a better education system to help referees understand the game better this area will not improve. Strike three

What a pointless post this is!!! Refs don't call fouls because you are tall...maybe you just aren't coordinated enough to get a clean block??? It goes both ways in basketball whether you are a big or a guard. I've seen guards get hammered inside the paint and no calls.

Pretty popular for a pointless post Letrine, iit does get annoying when you are watching junior games and see the big player constantly battling with defenders pulling their arms down at the elbows and hanging all over them while at the other end refs are telling them to stand still with their arms straight up in the air, calling fouls because their hands are tilting forward of there is contact at the hip. You don't see them sook any more than any of the others out there but as a coach or a spectator it annoys the crap out of you and makes you sook for them in places like this!

Simple way to end it all... Play like a big. If you keep getting hacked, the. Put your elbows out and protect the ball, if you crack somebody nice and hard you won't be getting hacked again... Basic shit... It's not like this is a new thing to bigs...

Seems like it just depends on your personal bias , my kid plays on the big every week and is really only a swingman and picks up plenty of fouls on d but gets belted around offensively and gets nothing !! Doesn't take much effort for someone 10 to 20 kg heavier to clear a path without registering the contact !

Maybe its a SA or Tassie thing then Clapped out Hick as saw a game today where the big was allowed to basically clothesline the guard who was trying to get the ball and no offensive foul called. Like Bruce said all depends on your personal bias.
If you have decent reffing then the game will be called fair both ways!!

How can you say bigs are sooks when theres plenty of guards who have never enter the key and take a hard knock. I personally know a kid who plays SEABL and all he does is stand on the baseline corner three waiting for the ball to be thrown his way.

As a big I don't mind the no calls as much as some of you guys do though because being physical makes the game fun for the bigs. Who doesn't like a bit of push and shove or an elbow here ant there while being beaten up in the key!

To other Bigs, if you know you are going to get the foul called...... FOUL HARD, make it so that the little guards don't want to come into the paint again because they should be scared of you. Take your size and use it to make your presence felt even more!

TitforTat I appreciate your honesty and also your points on maturity especially. Yes, in fact it must be a maturity issue to some degree as I have seen the best officiating come from those officials that take the time to understand and comprehend what is going on in a game.

This is hard to do as a young person. I hope I was not ref bashing as this was not my intent and some of my post was tongue in cheek.

What I mean by understand and comprehend is this:

As an official, try to understand what players and coaches are attempting to achieve on court. At times this is very clear, so if you can comprehend the style of play and especially listen to the coaches questions and concerns you will possibly be able to make more correct decisions.

I am not talking about a crystal ball here, just that the better officials actually listen to coaches before they bark back at them and tend to take more notice of what goes on in the key (where the action is)...

Obviously if a coach is just being a dick, tech them, but try to listen and comprehend first, maybe!!?

Bigs sre so sooky we can sneak on here and say it in the safety of anonymous.