OT: The Charge Call needs to go

If they're not going to enlarge the circle of change the letter of  the law regarded charge/blocks, then the least I can hope for is more no calls.

....would like a word with you.

I'm for going in the exact opposite direction.  Without the charge, an offensive player can just use his shoulders to clear space as much as he wants -- this is already too prevalent in basketball.  This isn't football.  It should be an advantage to be tall, quick, long and fast.  It shouldn't be an advantage to weigh 300 pounds.  Offenses should be based around movement and passing, not putting your shoulder into the defender and shoving them under the basket.  Rules have been changed over the years to make the game faster-paced.  Each change seems to make it harder to defend.  They need to go the opposite direction and force teams to play team-oriented ball instead of making it a game of one-on-one skills.

Can we get rid if the false start too? I mean how do you not know the player isn't just starting his motion really fast?

it is a frustrating part of the game, but it is a rule that exists that has evolved, like steps before travelling and palming and screens. i just wish they would call it the same for every player in every game, but there are certain special players with certain coaches playing in certain arenas that get that call more often than others - prepare for breslin.

Call offensive push-offs and lowering the shoulder on drives to the hoop consistently and I'd be okay with voiding the rotational charge. As it is, the rules definitely favor the offense and I think making the changer you're advocating would just further tilt the balance in the offense's favor.

Just call it right.  If the defender is planted before the offensive player makes his move it is a charge.  Any sliding is a block.  Simple.

Is getting rid of "charge" and making it "player control". You can't just get rid of the whole concept. The defender has just as much right to the area as the offensive player. If you stop calling charges then you have to stop calling offensive players going into a guy who is jumping straight up and down.

I personally think there are too many blocking fouls in today's game. A defender moves his feet but an offensive player is just barrerling down the lane and suddenly it's a blocking foul. In my opinion, there should be more "play on" scenarios to help improve the flow of the game. They should also be better at calling it a block when a player is already in the air (it is supposed to be a block, but sometimes doesn't get called that way). If you question whether the player was in the air or not, I would say tie goes to the offensive guy. Nevertheless, as a previous poster said, there is something to be said for basketball intelligence and pulling up for a short jumper rather than taking it all the way to the rim, where a player has a right to his position and if he beats the offensive player there should have a foul called on the offensive player.

The fact that you're a basketball official and you don't understand the intent of the blocking call is very disappointing to me.  

"Great offensive plays are made going to the hoop to only have a defender slide over last second to take a charge because he was standing there a quarter of a second sooner then the offensive player who is taking the ball to the hoop and the play is wiped out in a car crash of players falling into the lane."

That is, by definition, blocking.  Call it!!!!  What's the problem???

Now all I am going to imagine when I watch high school basketball is a bunch of highly skilled MS Paint pros with grudges against charges calling the games.

"Well now its a tool defensive players use to get turnovers and fouls on the opponent"

Sure.  Isn't that what basketball is, though?  Players try to jump into another player to draw a foul all the time, so drawing fouls was already a tool.  Sort of like the dive in soccer, unfortunately.  That's the most frustrating thing about basketball, for me.  

We should also get rid of all fouls when there is less than 2 minutes remaining in the game.  Teams just use them as an offensive tool in the hopes of winning games. 

/s

Any rule of the game becomes a tool that players/coaches use to their advantage.  The nice thing about the charge is that it isn't that easy to pull off.  It's a gamble.

If there wasn't a charge call then the offensive player will just drive into the lane, lower his shoulder and draw a foul. Or the offensive player will just knock everyone out of the way and get an easy bucket. The charge call protects the defensive player and if it was an automatic defensive call there would be way too many foul outs. You need to reward the defense for good defense.

Im ok with this rule being changed, but only if they get rid of the rule where the offensive player goes out of his way to jump into the defender to draw a foul.

Also change the half to 21 minutes and make it 6 fouls in order to foul out.

I think both the charge and block calls need to go as they stand now.  Taking a guys legs out shouldn't be allowed, but basketball is the only sport when a defender gets a foul for being in the offensive players way.  Just man up and let the guys play. 

Those two calls turn most pickup basketball games into a jerry springer drama fest.  Ruining the game at the grass roots level and encouraging a culture of unnecessary drama.

I hope your commitment to making guys play defense means you don't call fouls for touching the fingers of a shooter on his follow through as 99 percent of refs are wont to do.

We've all seen what can happen when you make it nearly impossible for defensive backs to do their job. This is an insane idea.

I would like to see the possession arrow rule go bye bye. Go back to jump balls.

Also, the and-1 rule allowing a guy to take 4 steps in continuation has to go as well.

Of course defenders use it as a tool to try and draw a foul.  What's the matter with that?  Rules are such that they will always be exploited and it's impossible to write them otherwise.

For my part I think it's silly that players exploit the out of bounds rule by bouncing the ball off an opponent's leg. But legislating that out of the game would create another tangled web of rules that would still be exploitable.

You can't just remove the charge, you'd have to rewrite the rule to prevent the situation of a ballcarrier barreling toward the hoop as hard as he can and throwing his shoulder into people. So it would still be exploitable.  "Players would have to play proper defense" is idealistic nonsense.

I'm not sure where the issue is. If it's close, start calling blocks. The rule is in place so that the offensive player can't just ram into a defensive player. Most of playing defense is getting in the opponent's way so he can't get to the basket. If you take away the charge, you are taking away any possibility of down low support. Basically, if the offensive player can move to not make contact with the defense, but they choose not to, that should be a charge. If they leave there feet and someone slides over, that should be a block regardless of how long the defender is standing there. Maybe that's what should be changed. Instead of basing the call on whether the defensive player is set, base it on whether the offensive player has a chance to avoid the contact.

Why as a defender should I not be allowed to stand in a position without getting run over? I actually think they should call more charges, this way a player might have to develop a mid range jumper, instead of just dunks and 3 pt. shots.