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Team USA in trouble… and why? I’ll submit exhibit A:

https://bleacherreport.com/art...le-at-tokyo-olympics

Over the last several years, baiting refs into calling fouls on wholly unnatural movements has become commonplace in the NBA. Players often pump-fake on the perimeter, get a defender in the air, launch themselves sideways like a guided missile into contact and get rewarded with free throws.

Tune into these NBA Finals and you're likely to see Chris Paul pull ahead of a defender, stop on a dime (or sometimes, even back up into the defender) and then hit the deck like he's taking a pro wrestling bump.

A trip to the line is the highest efficiency possession in basketball, and stars are often shameless in their attempts to get there.

But after years of successfully fooling NBA refs, many of Team USA's players are struggling to adjust to the more physical brand of defense played in FIBA tournaments, per Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. On the other end, they're being called for push-offs that NBA officials rarely call:

"Throughout the games, multiple players, from Jayson Tatum to Bradley Beal, have been staring down the officials following no-calls as they're accustomed to receiving touch fouls or star-treatment officiating in the NBA. In the first half on Monday, Tatum was called for an offensive foul on a drive when he slightly nudged the defender aside with his right hand to create separation. It was a move that's consistently ignored in the NBA."


We’ve been saying it for YEARS. The NBA officiating and lack of consistency or logic makes the game worse, not better.

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