What happened to good, hard playoff fouls?

[longhorn]

Maybe it was a dream, but I thought I remember the Mavs preaching the laurels of good, hard playoff fouls when the playoffs started. However, I cannot think of a single hard foul given to a Spurs player this entire series (or to a Mavs player for that matter).

For the most part, Diop and Dampier are actually playing solid defense. They have been moving their feet well, holding their ground, and standing straight up with arms extended. However, Tim Duncan then usually initates the contact and gets continuation on an easy a$$ shot. Instead of playing so conservative, why hasn't Avery asked the guys for some good, hard fouls? Duncan has seriously had a chance for an "and 1" on most of his calls, so why not make the fouls count? This is driving me crazy. I invented new cuss words tonight, watching Tim Duncan get everything and then whine the 4 times the refs forgot to give him the star treatment.

For me, the defining moment of the game 5 occurred late in the 3rd quarter when Dirk threw the ball away and then chased Parker down the court only to watch him lay it up. I don't wish anything harm on Parker, but you have to foul the guy in that situation in the playoffs and let him know that it’s not going to come easy. That was the perfect moment for a hard foul - a chance to redeem himself by showing some toughness after such a careless play.

This series has been plagued by ticky-tack perimeter calls on both sides - everyone agrees the officiating has been weak. While it is nice to see Bowen actually get called for some fouls, I just can't help wondering what happened to the good, hard playoff fouls.

[Murphy3]

Well, with the Dirk situation, you don't want to get yourelf into foul trouble especially as tightly as the game is being called. It's not worth hoping that he misses a FT in that situation.

[FINtastic]

If you haven't noticed, the NBA has cracked down on that this year. And as far as I'm concerned, it's for the better.

[Dortmund]

juwan howard ended them when he destroyed anderson

[chumdawg]

Playoff fouls went away the same time that "playoff basketball" did. It was a myth to begin with, and it's still a myth.

[FINtastic]

I think playoff fouls is just a term people who don't remember before the days of Riley's Knicks and Daly's Pistons use. In my opinion, a playoff foul is just a cheap way to try to cover up a team's weakness (i.e. you are repeatedly getting beat so you decide to play thugball). Let the best basketball team win, and leave the cheap shots out of it.

[madape]

Playoff Basketball in the current era is what doofuses used to call " Nellie Ball" a couple of years ago.

[Obi Wan Ginobili]

They are alive and well !!! Checkout Terry punching Finley in the nuts at the end of the game! Thanks tim and tony for holding him back!