I don’t think this would ever happen, but I’d love for the league to make a change in the challenge rules. I’m not someone who’s annoyed by the challenges themselves or the time it takes. I’m personally annoyed by the players.
It’s as if they don’t know when it’s actually smart to use a challenge. One reach-in foul in the first quarter? Probably not the right time. A missed out of bounds call in the first three and a half quarters? Also not the right time. Stop twirling your finger.
If a play isn’t going to put points on the board or remove points from the opponent, then I just simply don’t understand being so eager to challenge. There’s rarely even foul trouble that seems worthy of a challenge that early on.
A block/charge call that will either grant you an and-one, or take an and-one away from the other team? A foul on a three point shot that will either give your team three free throws or take those free throws away from the opponent? To me, those are perfectly acceptable times to challenge.
Not one some meaningless possession. Those often just seems like they're about pride or ego. Making the ref say, “I was wrong,” without actually getting much of an advantage in the game. Players have to be smarter league-wide.
Coaches have to be better too, but their players make it hard on them. It becomes The Boy Who Cried Wolf, and it’s impossible for them to know when to actually challenge.
This used to not be much of an issue when referees would lollygag around, letting the entire coaching staff review plays on their iPads before deciding whether or not to challenge.
However, now the refs have been instructed to keep the game going, forcing coaches to call for a challenge much sooner. This means they actually have to trust their players, rather than being able to watch the replay first.
Ideally, players would just be less emotional and more honest. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen that finger twirl after an obvious foul though, so I don’t have a lot of faith in that. No player has ever committed a foul or made a mistake, apparently.
So if the league wanted to do anything about this, I do have a proposition. Just treat the finger twirl signal like a timeout signal. If any player on the court signals for a timeout, the ref makes that call.
If any player signals for a challenge on a reach-in foul with 11:27 left in the first quarter, stop the game and review it. That’s what they wanted. If they fouled, they’ll just look dumb and cost their team. Just like if they pull a Chris Webber and call a timeout when they don’t have any.
This obviously isn’t a huge issue in the NBA, but it is a small annoyance for sure. I know I’m not alone on this, and I actually think it’d solve the problem pretty quickly. Players and coaches would have to learn to adapt. What do you think?