Consistently Inconsistent

It happened again in the second game of the NBA Finals. And, again, an alternate interpretation was used by a referee. That makes three times in (I think) the last three games for the Boston Celtics.

What happened? Paul Pierce got a defender in the air, traveled, drew contact and hoisted up the shot. While each incident was slightly different, the differences were small enough for me to consider them as virtually the same play. I know Pierce traveled on the first two, and while I didn't get a great look at his feet on the one from Sunday night, the official called traveling, so I'm just going to assume that he traveled. In all three, Pierce definitely initiated the contact on a defender who was airborne (and not moving strictly up and down).

So, I was a little surprised when the official got the call right and whistled Pierce for traveling in the most recent incident. While I applaud the official for getting the call right, I'm more than a little bothered by the lack of consistency and this is a perfect example of the lack of game-to-game consistency of officiating in the NBA. These three plays should have the league up in arms and trying to come up with a solution to avoid problems like this in the future. Why? While this particular play isn't going to doom the league, it is inconsistencies of this nature that drive players (and coaches) nuts and lead to integrity questions.

Let me recap the three calls before we proceed. The first time, Pierce was whistled for an offensive foul. Then, he scored a 4-point play by hitting the FT after nailing the three while being fouled in the first game of the NBA Finals. In the most recent incident, he was called for a traveling violation. So, three instances of the same general play and three different calls.

What is the right call in that instance? I think the travel call. But, the previous officials have overlooked the travel and called the contact. But, if you aren't going to call traveling, what's the right call? If the same play is called three different times by three different officials (I'm not certain that is that case because I don't know who the officials were that called the three), it seems like there is a problem. And, if the call has anything to do with the defender who is guarding Paul Pierce then it is definitely a problem.

The call should not depend on the official. Different officials don't get different rules in their rule books (at least, I can't imagine that is what's going on). While different officials certainly interpret rules differently, I don't see that as a good thing. This isn't the supreme court, they are cut and dry rules to a sport. So, maybe less needs to be left up for interpretation.

And, the call should not depend on any other factors either. The offensive player has been a constant for us, but it doesn't need to be. And, if it's a travel when Paul Pierce does it, it should be a travel if Kobe does it or if Unknown Player does it. If it's an offensive foul, it should always be an offensive foul. Time and score shouldn't matter (did the Celtics' huge lead on Sunday make the travel call easier for the official?) and neither should the identity of the defender.

Maybe Pierce will create a similar situation later on in the NBA Finals and we'll be able to see how the official reacts to that situation. While I think Pierce should have been called for traveling on all three of the plays so far, I'm open to arguments in favor of either foul call. But, what I cannot support is the inconsistency because there is no place for inconsistency in officiating of sports.