I agree. Sticking your hands up is a natural reaction. As long as they run down the court. But jeez let them bitch a little bit. It's no big deal. The one thing I agree with T'ing them up for is when a guy is shooting free throws and the guy on the block is constantly bitching at the refs. But other then that the normal bitching technicals were good enough.

I think that Tyson will challenge Sheed for techs this year if that's all it takes. Every time the whistle blew last year he complained.

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Screw Stern. First the dress code, then he tells the players they can't bring their guns to the arena. Now they can't bitch at referees. What's next? He's gonna tell them they can't bang the groupies or do coke. What's my NBA coming too?

Good, I'm glad they stopped that crap. One of the more annoying things about watching basketball games for me was constantly seeing the players complain like women after a foul was called. It's not going to be reversed, just accept it. If this rule changes the bitching I'm happy. Get back to playing a game and quit trying to play the game. The refs are there for a reason.

Since he got into the NBA Tim Duncan has never commited a foul - at least in his opinion.
He complains and makes faces every time he gets whistled - which is really ironic since, if memory serves me correct, at Wake when he would just raise his arm and lower his head.

I want to see this applied to a superstar of his caliber at a decisive point of the game. Preferably when they play the Mavs, so Cuban can have a month's worth of fodder for his blog.
He'll have a study comissioned by the second week of November.

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“Mmmm. Move over, eggs. Bacon just got a new best friend - fudge.”

They'll call this early in games but come the 4th quarter they won't. Especially in close games. Plus they will let the players bitch in playoff games too. No ref wants to T up a player twice and have him miss playoff games or even regular season games when they are close.

I agree with you guys when you say the bitching gets out of hand but you can let a guy raise his hands and say a few words.

Yeah, that one was nuts. He raises his hands for a second, and immediately sticks his hand out in an apologetic pose as they T-ed him up in hair-trigger fashion. The best was the anouncers: "maybe he said something." Yeah...

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A Personal Relationship with Jesus?

In general I'm in favor of this but only if a guy makes a show of it. Noce was still running back, he wasn't in the ref's face. I think the NBA just wanted to get the word out. Opening night, guys are watching. Call stuff early in the year alot to show that they are serious about the rule.

As the year goes on they will start to hold the whistle and let the guys play. But, I think if you start to slow down or go toward a ref, you are getting a T and that's OK with me. I can't stand watching guys bitch about calls.

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Am I the only one who thinks this was a unique and fascinating quality to the NBA, the constant bitching at the refs, reading their lips as they say, "Bullshit" or "Fuck that shit"? You don't see complaining like this in any other major sport, and frankly it made watching the NBA slightly more enjoyable to watch, for me anyways.

I have to disagree on that one Nas. In baseball you can't argue balls and strikes. They'll give the little look back or shake their head while looking down, but if they start to make a show of it, they are gone. I also don't see alot of it in football. Guys will get ticked about a call and throw some f-bombs on the boom mics but the play isn't going on at the time.

I don't think it's a race thing for this rule. It's a keep playing the game and quit bitching thing. As far as the dress code thing, I'll agree on that one. But I don't think in this case. I don't care if I guy is green, play the game.

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Plus in football mouths are covered by helmets, in baseball they're often covered by gloves...it's basketball where they're completely exposed and you can read lips. If this happened in any other sport you wouldn't miss it...but this will be a noticeable difference and cause more problems than just letting it be.

I won't argue about the clothing rule but I think you're way off base that this rule is to stop white fans from having to watch black players complain. Whining like a little bitch bothers me whether the player is black or white. Annoying sees no race. I wasn't bothered by complaining on ticky tack calls before, but it got to the point where EVERY time a guy had something called on him he was bitching as if they could never do anything wrong. I don't see how race comes into this at all.

So Nas you're saying if it was majority white players being caught with guns then Stern wouldn't make the gun rule? The fact of the matter is the league is majority black. So of course mostly black players are doing these infractions. He governs a league of majority black players that doesn't mean he's putting these rules in because they are black.

I think some of you are taking the stance of the younger generation’s white male. Talk to the average white guy who is between 40 & 60. A much higher proportion of them do not want to see young black guys with funky hair, funky clothes, and flashy jewelry in professional sports. Sit and listen to some guys your father’s age at a sports bar. You’ll hear some things that you would have never considered uttering in your entire life.

So the first guy to get hit with this rule...Noce. Don't get much whiter than him.

I agree with Beardown. The majority of the league is black so that group is the most likely to do everything. Carry guns, bitch about calls, wear long shorts, be charitable, be model citizens, good fathers, etc. There will be good and bad.

But, I think this rule is strictly about keeping it about basketball and not about what the refs did or did not call. Other than Mike Mickerson, is there a big contingent of people that enjoy watching guys whine about what was or wasn't called?

If they were high school kids, you'd say they were being immature and that they should just play the game. Again, whatever their race.

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I think this has as much to do with the Mark Cuban playoff incident as anything else.
By protesting calls, players are inciting the crowd and creating a hostile environment for the officials.
If the officials feel intimidated enough not to blow the whistle, it undermines the integrity of the game.

This happens in youth sports all the times when a 14 year old ref or ump gets bullied into making bad calls.

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“Mmmm. Move over, eggs. Bacon just got a new best friend - fudge.”

I agree with you on the dress code. For years the league has marketed hip hop and rap with basketball. Then they tell the players to stop dressing in that fashion. That's BS. I don't think the gun rule was a bad one however. He just said don't bring it to the arena I think. Parking lot to the arena and then back to the parking lot. I don't think the players are in danger. Stats say you're more likeley to be shot if you carry a gun. But that's a whole different argument. He can't control their guns beyond the arena--it's unconstitutional.

The league has lost the 50-65 year old fan as a TV viewer anyway. They'll never get them back. But that being said that is the group who buys the floor seats at most games. That will never change.

No. And I also will be upset if they blow it for every little outburst. As I said, I think they will call this very close for the first month or two to get guys out of the habit and then it will (should) be limited to obvious outbursts.

The Noce comment was a joke (poorly constructed obviously). But, I can't stand it when a guy is bitching to the ref when a play is going on. That's all. I guess I just don't see the social injustice in this rule in the same way you do. To me it's just another rule like you can't hang on the rim or throw a punch at a guy. You can't bitch to a ref about a call.

**I reserve the right to revise my opinion on this if they don't loosen up on calling it as the year goes on however.

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white kids want the same thing for x-mas as black kids
1) PlayStation III
2) Video Ipod
3) Stephen Jackson model Glock

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“Mmmm. Move over, eggs. Bacon just got a new best friend - fudge.”

They can ask for bling, but I can't afford it.

And I would think that no America, white/black/rainbow, wants their children to tell the refs to go DOPE themselves. I thought we are supposed to teach the kids about sportsmanship and teamwork. Maybe I still live in the 50s.

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I only did that once and the F#ckng ref had it coming for some of those calls.

And that other time, but we don't talk about that. Suffice it to say I'm not allowed near the zebra exhibit at Brookfield anymore. F#cking zebras.

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It's too late now, after those Heat championship rings, everyone's gonna want one.