Dame Lillard: “The way the game has been officiated is Unacceptable “

[Roy The Natural]

And? I’ve seen refs not call those fouls a bunch of times this year. Players that don’t flop are even complaining. Y

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thats the thing. i love the rule changes, but dame is not a guy that flops and works defenders like harden, trae, cp3, etc.

sooo if dame says, its a problem, and hes not the only one that says it, then it might be something worth looking into

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Dame is one of the biggest divers in the game, do you even watch the game? He has constantly gotten soft fouls throughout his career.

Nah.. a couple individual examples don't make the truth here. Dame rarely "flops"... He normally gets his FTA going to the rim and getting pretty legitimately fouled.... He gets one of those lame 3pt fouls like once every 8 games. Not enough to be a big deal.

Lillard regularly stops behind a screen and goes up for the shot. He gets fouled every once in a while on those types of shots but it's a shot that he takes and makes and it's on the defender to play those shots better.

[Impuniti]

thats the thing. i love the rule changes, but dame is not a guy that flops and works defenders like harden, trae, cp3, etc.

sooo if dame says, its a problem, and hes not the only one that says it, then it might be something worth looking into

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Dame is one of the biggest divers in the game, do you even watch the game? He has constantly gotten soft fouls throughout his career.

Nah.. a couple individual examples don't make the truth here. Dame rarely "flops"... He normally gets his FTA going to the rim and getting pretty legitimately fouled.... He gets one of those lame 3pt fouls like once every 8 games. Not enough to be a big deal.

Lillard regularly stops behind a screen and goes up for the shot. He gets fouled every once in a while on those types of shots but it's a shot that he takes and makes and it's on the defender to play those shots better.

You're talking absolute ****, clearly you must not watch him play. Dame is one of the biggest divers in the game. Man has the head popping backwards like he's shot to perfection. There are guys that flop here and there, and guys that look to get FTs instead of trying to make the shot. He's one of them, same as Harden and Trae and Luka.

[Jcity08]

I enjoy the way the games are called, but right now there's a real problem with refs missing contact from defenders on attempts at the rim.

It's seemingly fine now to redirect airborne players with a shove to the hips/back, it's absurd.

At some point this season there's going to be a correction for specifically that kind of action, it's dangerous and defenders are getting away with obvious fouls.

This I agree, obvious fouls like that should be taken serious, while also dealing with the BS foul baiting.

Theres a happy medium here, we'll get their eventually. I just hope they dont course correct so hard that they bring back the cheese foul baiting.

[jc23]

fans like like the new rules > players dont

[Optimus_Steel]

So purposely running into people and wailing arms around doesn't work anymore? Sounds good to me.

[Roy The Natural]

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Dame is one of the biggest divers in the game, do you even watch the game? He has constantly gotten soft fouls throughout his career.

Nah.. a couple individual examples don't make the truth here. Dame rarely "flops"... He normally gets his FTA going to the rim and getting pretty legitimately fouled.... He gets one of those lame 3pt fouls like once every 8 games. Not enough to be a big deal.

Lillard regularly stops behind a screen and goes up for the shot. He gets fouled every once in a while on those types of shots but it's a shot that he takes and makes and it's on the defender to play those shots better.

You're talking absolute ****, clearly you must not watch him play. Dame is one of the biggest divers in the game. Man has the head popping backwards like he's shot to perfection. There are guys that flop here and there, and guys that look to get FTs instead of trying to make the shot. He's one of them, same as Harden and Trae and Luka.

I've probably watched somewhere between 400-500 Blazers games in the last 7 or so years. I think you're completely off base. Lillard does bait at times, but he's not nearly as obvious or often with it as the guys you mention.

[Impuniti]

Nah.. a couple individual examples don't make the truth here. Dame rarely "flops"... He normally gets his FTA going to the rim and getting pretty legitimately fouled.... He gets one of those lame 3pt fouls like once every 8 games. Not enough to be a big deal.

Lillard regularly stops behind a screen and goes up for the shot. He gets fouled every once in a while on those types of shots but it's a shot that he takes and makes and it's on the defender to play those shots better.

You're talking absolute ****, clearly you must not watch him play. Dame is one of the biggest divers in the game. Man has the head popping backwards like he's shot to perfection. There are guys that flop here and there, and guys that look to get FTs instead of trying to make the shot. He's one of them, same as Harden and Trae and Luka.

I've probably watched somewhere between 400-500 Blazers games in the last 7 or so years. I think you're completely off base. Lillard does bait at times, but he's not nearly as obvious or often with it as the guys you mention.

Trae, Luka and Harden are definitely the worst ones. They're in their own category, Dame for me is after that. Granted, I'm not putting all these new rules on his struggles. It's got to be more than that, like the suspected injury rumor that is circulating adding to it.

[dhsilv2]

The rules changes are universally loved by fans. I have never seen a rule change like this that has been so slanted in polls, and perception, ever.(favorably)

To me this sends the messege that Dame doesn't care about the fans, or their enjoyment of the game that allows him to make millions, and I don't see any other way to slice it.

I really like Dame as a player, so to hear him say this is disappointing as hell.

You realize both can be true and are true, right? It's the same thing in most topics. When there are "two sides" both are wrong or both are right. No issue is two sided.

The rule changes overall have been a blast and are great. They are also making horrible calls and it's hurting the game.

Of course two things can share the truth, but in this case, if the fans are loving the games this season by a massive margin, that would mean regardless of what is actually happening, or how the players feel about it, it's a too bad so sad situation for Dame.

Leveling up the defense is so long overdue, an abrupt correction needed to be made.

The game is amazing to watch right now, fans adore it, and instead of embracing the people who make it possible to earn insane amounts of money, he took to the limelight to trash it. I would oppose additional stoppages in the game, which is what Dame is asking for. more whistles. The flow right now is unbelievable because of the lack of whistles.

That's a big no from me, and ill bet anything you ask NBA fans if they want more fouls, and free throws it would be a collective "Hell no!", thus my "too bad so sad" statement.

The last few seasons have had the least free throws in NBA history. This rule change has reduced it more, but we were already seeing the least EVER, by a HUGE factor in many cases.

But I as a fan LOVE the changes, and I'm also getting REALLY annoyed with some stars not getting calls that are legit fouls because of reputations or just seemingly refs don't wanting to call fouls when guys drive to the basket and try and pull up early to get away from defenders who are actively fouling them the WHOLE way to the basket.

There's a real issue here that needs to be addressed despite the rule changes being overwhelmingly good, TOO!

Defenders are getting away with using their off arms on drivers to the basket and when players pull up, the refs are not calling fouls because they are trying to say it's not a naturally shooting motion. It's not naturally because they're being fouled on the way up. I"ve seen this happen to Lebron, Harden, Trea....haven't seen much of dame so I can't comment, but it's happening to a lot of star players and it's got to change. When Harden stops doing is bull on jumper and drives, he should get to the line when he's fouled going to the basket as I assume we all want him to do instead of that silly waiting for an arm to move the wrong direction and pull up....but if he pulls up because a dude's HOLDING his dang arm...it's a foul, call it!

This reminds me of the 90's when the "trick" as a defender was to hit a player's elbow when they were shooting because refs would miss it. That was a blatant foul and it needed to be called. Same thing is happening this year and the refs are turning a blind eye, just a different type of foul is getting abused.

[dhsilv2]

I enjoy the way the games are called, but right now there's a real problem with refs missing contact from defenders on attempts at the rim.

It's seemingly fine now to redirect airborne players with a shove to the hips/back, it's absurd.

At some point this season there's going to be a correction for specifically that kind of action, it's dangerous and defenders are getting away with obvious fouls.

BINGO! There's so much contact on drives and what used to be the "trick" to get it called was to pull up and shoot, showcasing that some dude was holding you or pushing you, etc. Now they're not calling those "tricks"...ok I guess...but they were doing it because they were LEGIT getting fouled. Now it's free season on using off arms away from the ref's view to slow guys down...it's bad basketball. They've got to get a hold of this as even a guy like Harden who's still testing the waters on some BS, he's legit DRIVING HARD to the rim and not getting credit for changing his game up for the new rules. The fact even a star like Lebron is having the same issues, despite being THE STAR of the league makes it all the more obvious the refs are just not sure what to do.

[dhsilv2]

I enjoy the way the games are called, but right now there's a real problem with refs missing contact from defenders on attempts at the rim.

It's seemingly fine now to redirect airborne players with a shove to the hips/back, it's absurd.

At some point this season there's going to be a correction for specifically that kind of action, it's dangerous and defenders are getting away with obvious fouls.

This I agree, obvious fouls like that should be taken serious, while also dealing with the BS foul baiting.

Theres a happy medium here, we'll get their eventually. I just hope they dont course correct so hard that they bring back the cheese foul baiting.

What are your thoughts on "forcing the issue" fouls? Lets say a defender has your off arm in his hand...that's illegal, but refs try and not call it too often if it's incidental (and I think we all agree). But if you KEEP doing it, it's no longer incidental and if a player forces the issues, pulls up out of nowhere...what should the refs do?

If the refs call it, then that player might stop fouling, at this point I'd assume we agree it's intentional gaming the system by the defender. Conversely, if the refs call it too quickly, maybe you get a guy "hunting incidental contact" to get freebies.

I think we need a balance but maybe I'm wrong? What are your thoughts?

[PerkinsFor3]

You're talking absolute ****, clearly you must not watch him play. Dame is one of the biggest divers in the game. Man has the head popping backwards like he's shot to perfection. There are guys that flop here and there, and guys that look to get FTs instead of trying to make the shot. He's one of them, same as Harden and Trae and Luka.

I've probably watched somewhere between 400-500 Blazers games in the last 7 or so years. I think you're completely off base. Lillard does bait at times, but he's not nearly as obvious or often with it as the guys you mention.

Trae, Luka and Harden are definitely the worst ones. They're in their own category, Dame for me is after that. Granted, I'm not putting all these new rules on his struggles. It's got to be more than that, like the suspected injury rumor that is circulating adding to it.

Harden, Lebron, Trae, Doncic, Smart, CP, Embiid, Russ, Lowry, Draymond, Beverley...

[Myth]

Lillard did one of those ref baiting 3s at least once a game before (and his style was less egregious than others), but he didn’t live at the line because of it so I still think this new rule isn’t the main reason he is struggling. Simply missing 3s is the reason.

[monopoman]

He's right. Refs are consistently not calling legitimate fouls. I get that people are happy with the way things are now, glad the Harden/Trae foul-baiting has been done away with, but if you're brushing this off, don't complain when your star player gets hacked without a call in key moment.

You know all the ones calling the new changes amazing will be the first one bitching if we see a clear foul not called in a very close playoff game. They will be furious, and be demanding retribution.

No one wants the bull ref baiting back, Dame is talking about a lot of true contact when driving the basket not being called.