The simultaneous NBA and NFL playoffs, known as the second season, can be almost as exhausting and frustrating for the fans as it is for the players. For Avs and Nuggets fans, this year was especially disappointing, even though we knew that 15 of the 16 teams in the playoff\u00a0 bracket are fated to lose their last game.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s an alleged truism that the NBA and NHL playoffs require a different kind of play than in the regular season. I think that\u2019s a falseism. The leagues don\u2019t change the rules for the playoffs, they change the way refs officiate. Openly changing the rules invites public controversy and requires negotiation with the players\u2019 union on the CBA. I\u2019m biased because the Avs and Nuggets are skill teams more than overly physical and dirty ones. The Avs won the Presidents\u2019 Trophy having the best regular season record in the NHL over 82 games. It\u2019s senseless to make teams play under one set of rules in the first six months of the season and different unwritten ones in the last two.<\/p>\n
Blowing the whistle<\/p>\n
The NBA has the bigger problem. Officiating is more difficult than in other sports. Play is so fast and congested in the paint and under the rim that officials routinely make an educated guess as whether a foul was committed and by whom. That\u2019s unavoidable but hedging the rules isn\u2019t. The playoffs should be the highest-quality version of the sport, not one over emphasizing defense creating inconsistent calls by different refs with subjective judgment on \u201cmarginal contact.\u201d There used to be the \u201cone arm, bent elbow\u201d rule allowing a \u00a0defensive player to place one hand with a bent elbow on an offensive player\u2019s back or place one forearm on his back, maintaining contact only as long as the defender isn\u2019t pushing or dislodging the player. Today, you see a defender bear-hugging an offensive player or wrapping himself around Nikola Jokic in a pretzel hold. That\u2019s wrestling not basketball. In the NHL, the unofficial playoff rules overly tolerate interference penalties, cross-checking, and holding.<\/p>\n
In both leagues, management wants more physicality, fewer whistles and more drama. \u00a0Teams short on superstars exploit that with brute force, putting a target on the superstars\u2019 backs. \u00a0Serious injuries contributed to both the Avs and Nuggets eliminations in the playoffs. The skating-wounded included Avs superstars Makar and McKinnon. Their 4-0 loss to Vegas in the third round wasn\u2019t the same team that beat the Kings 4-0 and the Wild 4-1.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m no pacifist when it comes to rough physical play in the NHL. The fans thrive on that. Fighting is condoned in the rules. For anything short of homicide, you just get two or five minutes in the penalty box.\u00a0 (In other sports you get ejected.)\u00a0 Hit a guy in the head with your stick and you get 2 minutes in the box or a few more if it draws blood. Hockey and football are true contact sports. Basketball isn\u2019t and ought not to be. Compared to the padding and helmets worn by players in the NHL and NFL, NBA players suit up in their underwear.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s with the spooning?<\/p>\n
It really annoys me to watch the OKC Thunder Alex Caruso\u2019s defensive malpractice spooning Jamal Murray. He\u2019s virtually in Murray\u2019s shorts. It\u2019s a foul as well as obscene. Or the low-skill Isaia Hartenstein blatantly pulling on Jokic\u2019s jersey while holding his arm in a hammer lock. On offense, SGA habitually initiates contact going to the basket then sharply veering sideways into a defender who\u2019s gets unjustly called for blocking. (SGA learned that move form James Harden.) This is a travesty and everyone knows it. Why does the NBA let them and others get away with this stuff?\u00a0 Most fans don\u2019t like it.<\/p>\n
The NBA has a flopping penalty but won\u2019t enforce it, leery of the nightly controversy. The NHL, likewise, has an \u201cembellishment\u201d penalty but rarely calls it because its players\u2019 culture disapproves of flopping.<\/p>\n
One final note. During the playoffs, networks like ESPN and TNT displaced Altitude\u2019s cable coverage of Avs and Nuggets games. I much prefer Altitude\u2019s local broadcasters. The network guys often prattle on ignoring what\u2019s going on in the game. The courtside interviews with players, conducted by a token female commentator, are worthless with stock questions like, \u201dHow are you going to close the gap in the second half.\u201d\u00a0 With stock answers like, \u201cWe need to be more aggressive, play better defense, and hit more 3\u2019s.\u201d Then the networks distractingly run the recorded interview on split screen while play has already started at the beginning of a quarter. Ugh!<\/p>\n