Faceguard

[TonyMontana]

Now I have seen many players doing that since I started watching basketball, and I know Bruce Bowen is known for that and now everyone is taking notice of Shane and Kobe/Melo.
BUT what kind of BS do you call when Mello is FACEGAURDING Kobe and he starts tapping his fingers on Kobes face and forehead.
I mean last night I could swear the entire time Melo was face whatever Kobe he kept on tapping his fingers on Kobes head and face. Is that even legal?

[hermes]

i know it's not his way, but kobe should have flopped to see if he could get a call

[lakersrule]

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=906968

[Verbal]

It's a waste of energy.

Easily exploited against the defender.

i.e.
Doug Christie used to try the same gimmick - but it was hardly effective against the Kobester.

[Verbal]

at least from what I remember.

[DEEP3CL]

Is that even legal?

The NBA has a vague interpretation of the rule, but in ALL other levels of basketball it is a Technical foul--unsportsmanlike.

Here's the interpretation from the NBA rule book:

"Eye guarding (placing a hand in front of the opponent’s eyes when guarding from the rear) a player who does not have possession of the ball is illegal and an unsportsmanlike technical shall be assessed."

Face guarding has been illegal in all levels of basketball since 1913. In the rule books, face guarding is found under “Unsportsmanlike Acts,” and a technical foul is supposed to be assessed for it. Face guarding is explicitly mentioned in the high school rule book, the NCAA rule book, the FIBA rule book, but is somewhat of a grey area in the NBA rule book

Since virtually all NBA players first played in high school, the NCAA or in international FIBA competition, there is no where along the way that NBA players should have failed to learn that face guarding is illegal.

Perhaps this assumption is why face guarding is not expressly mentioned in the NBA rule book. After all, a rule book can’t mention everything, and referees still have Section III: Elastic Power.

What is “Elastic Power?”

“The officials shall have the power to make decisions on any point not specifically covered in the rules.” (NBA Rule Book, 2007-2008, page 12, paragraph 2).

Seeing that everybody is trying to do it and the NBA knows that it's dangerous because other leagues enforce it, my guess is that they'll address it this summer and outlaw Battier's only pure defense to guard Kobe.

[Verbal]

+5

[lakerz12]

as long as there is no physical contact, it seems absolutely ridiculous to me to think that defenders can't do whatever they want with their hands.

[Mindflayer]

I counted 4 times in the last game where the Lakers got hit or tapped on the head and only one was called a foul. Until it get called its good defense.

[theFRANCHISE]

joe dumars was the first one I saw do that against jordan its nothing new

[Dr Aki]

placing their hand in front of the opponent's eyes FROM THE REAR???

you mean reaching from behind them and covering their eyes stalker-turn-kidnapper style?

how often does that happen?

blocking a player's vision is a legit way to guard someone

its when you poke them in the eye, then its a foul

[Verbal]

deep3cl is officially on my Lakers superfan defense team.