Vlade Divac ruined it for the rest of us. So did Manu Ginobli. Andy Varejao. And last but not least, the biggest culprit in the history of basketball: The Duke Blue Devils. All of these players, as well as many of their contemporaries have changed the game through incessant flopping and trying to take charges that are not there. All the flops and pseudo-charges have added up over the years fractionally. Bit by bit. And as a result, coaches, players, and referees have all been hypnotized. The block/charge/no call decision is a big part of high school and college games. It's a game changer, almost every night no matter if you're in a high school gym in Texas or a Big East game in the Garden.
We don't have time to have a philosophical debate. I would imagine there is strong support on both sides. Either way, you just have to plan for some bad block/charge calls and hope for calls in your favor. The fact is that high school referees are not professionals. Nor are college refs. The block/charge/no call is a very hard area to officiate. There is a big human element. And some nights you are gonna have refs that "get it" and are consistent. Other nights (most nights) you are going to have morons with no clue who are stealing money from both teams.
I want to talk about the importance of driving the ball and attacking low with our head up. Bending our knees, not our backs, and driving the ball low with good leverage will not only make you a better driver but will help you avoid charges.
When we attack our man, we want to try to be low enough to where our shoulders are at our defender's hip level. Shoulders to hips. That's important when we beat the guy defending us on the perimeter, but I think it's just as important to still be as low as we can as we enter the paint. All players have a tendency to stand up a little once we get past the initial danger. I think the red flags go off when the offensive player hits the defensive players upper body. Anything higher than the belt buckle. That's when bad refs go on autopilot and call bad charges.
But if offensive players make contact with defenders on their legs and hips, I think it's more likely a no call or a block. The fact that it looks different, that it doesn't look like the obvious charge call is an advantage to the offensive player. And it's different for the floppers. They've trained themselves to go down like they were shot when they get chest contact. It's confusing for them if the contact is on the legs.
Drive the ball shoulders to hips with your head up. We are strongest when we bend our knees and dig in low. Don't stand up once we beat our initial defender. Stay low on our driving line and keep our head up as other players come to help. Explode up into our finish only when we get to our best angle for a solid finish.
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