Back in the preseason, most of us were pissed off about the league's new 'respect for the game' mandate.
This was going to result in a ton of technical fouls especially for our mouthy Boston Celtics – or so we thought.
A year ago there were 866 technical fouls called, compared to 782 heading into the final four weeks of this season, with nearly 50 of those rescinded after league review.
Doc Rivers relayed this story:
"It's evolved the way it should," said Celtics coach Doc Rivers. "It's gone back to how it should be, a case by case basis. I think the officials have done a much better job. First of all, they don't have to do what they did earlier. They understand emotional outburst. That's why I said from the beginning that I didn't think we gave the officials enough credit.
"There was a great example we had recently late in a game with Delonte (West). An official thought he had missed a call. He wasn't sure. But it was a hard foul on Delonte and Delonte had an outburst. The official actually said to me, 'You know, I could easily have given him a tech. But I knew the guy's been injured and I think I missed the call. But I just couldn't make the call, because I wasn't sure. So I had to let him go.' To me, that's great officiating instead of just reacting."
It's refreshing to hear about an official who uses common sense on the court. I'll bet my life the official Doc referenced isn't Bennett Salvatore, Joe Crawford, Ken Mauer, Bob Delaney or Bill Kennedy.
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