By the end of the season I think the refs pretty much went back to the way it was 2 years ago. Agree?

For the most part, but I still think there have been occasions where they have held onto it, which is almost worse, because it's not equal across the board. Ie, No no tolerance, no no tolerance and then: BAM, No tolerance!, you know the new rules!

The easiest and most striking argument against a return to normality was the Tim Duncan T and subsequent ejection for laughing. Man, guy finally shows a personality and gets thrown out of the game for it.

Yeah, it's worlds different. I remember around game 3 Wally Sz. had a foul called on him and he turned and bounced the ball hard. Not out of control, hard. He looked up said "sorry, sorry, sorry!" but the ref burned him anyway.

By the end of the year players were back to screaming and running around, tossing balls in disgust, and cursing loudly enough that stations had to edit the audio. It might be a bit touchier than last year, but its a different ballgame than the start of this season for sure.

Thanks to all who agreed. My bud and I got into a dust up over this...and a couple of 12 packs. I don't know what the hell he's watching when he says they are still cracking down like the begining of the year.

Sheed now has 5 techs in the playoffs. They were saying he gets suspended at 7. That would really hurt losing him for a game. He got his 5th for throwing his headband. If the anger of a player isn't directed at another player or a ref, I don't see why it should be a tech. Can't a guy be mad at himself anymore?

Sheed now has 5 techs in the playoffs. They were saying he gets suspended at 7. That would really hurt losing him for a game. He got his 5th for throwing his headband. If the anger of a player isn't directed at another player or a ref, I don't see why it should be a tech. Can't a guy be mad at himself anymore?

Absolutely. If a player can't get mad at himself anymore, the NBA should invest in robots. So can they give a tech to the coach on the sideline if he is mad at one of his own players?

I was surprised that you get 7. I knew they reset it, but thought you only got 2 or something like that. The tighter the games get the more likely it is that Sheed will get T'd up. He just gets fired up. I think we all remember his meltdown when he played in Portland.

I think they suspend you at 7 and then every 2 thereafter.

That sounds right. Thanks for that.