TurkadoDoDo, The Golden Boy, and Ed Malloy
By bpaul
So far this year NBA referees are sure getting their publicity, stories about them have been floating all around the NBA for about a month or so. It all started with the replacement refs, then the Tim Donaghy scandal, and then of course your normal criticism about certain calls. Following last night’s game Celtics center Rasheed Wallace had a few things to say about a certain call during the game against the Raptors.
The call in question happened 1:35 seconds into the second quarter, when Rasheed was whistled for a technical foul after being called for a charge. Referee Ed Malloy was the one responsible for the call in question. Sheed said the following after last night’s game. (Via nba.com)
"“They’ve got to know that he’s a [darn] flopper. That’s all Turkododo do, Flopping shouldn’t get you nowhere. He acts like I shot him.”"
When asked what Sheed said to deserve the technical foul Sheed had this to say:
"“I didn’t use no profanity, I just said, ‘He’s a flopper.’”Sheed believed that the technical foul was mostly a result of his reputation in the league. “Let the Golden Child [LeBron James] do that, or one of the NBA Without Border kids do that, it’s all fine and dandy.”"
There are two issues I have with the calls that were made on Sheed last night. The first being the issue of increased flopping in the NBA. Last year we saw Dwight Howard and Shaq get into a flopping war, and the issue is arising again. We have seen example after example of offensive fouls that should not be called, NBA players are simply using this technique to fool the refs. This technique is something that kids are now learning at a young age and it is taking away from the game of basketball. If you want to learn how to act join your local drama club or try to win an Oscar. The basketball court is not the place to jump start your acting career. The NBA needs to import some kind of plan or rule to limit the “art” of flopping.
The other issue I have is with the recent technical foul calls on some of the Celtics players, and coaches. I really began to notice this following the Magic game when Kendrick Perkins got whistled for a tech for simply putting his hands up. Being two of the most well-known attitudes in the league Perk and Sheed are getting technical fouls for some very minor things. Like Sheed said last night, the Lebron James’s of the league would get away with something as simple as “He’s a flopper”.
Last night Doc River’s was also given a technical after Paul Pierce’s monstrous dunk, for what, I really don’t know. While three Raptors coaches were at half court yapping in the ear’s of the refs, Doc was the one who ended up with the technical. This type of call makes absolutely no sense to me. From technical fouls to charge and block calls, NBA refs are becoming very inconsistent with their calls.
Photos via Sports Illustrated, Cleveland.Com, and Cavs World