- Joined
- Feb 28, 2012
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It is not preferred treatment. It is the way that ND plays that makes it difficult for officials.
If you notice there are two types of contact that occur in basketball. There is contact from the waste up, and contact from the waste down. Most officials and fans focus on the waste up since that is where the ball finds itself. It is rather easy to spot what goes on there. What ND tries to do is body you from the waste down. While the hands go straight up or away from the ball to underscore great defense, the hips (see Arike undercut ) and feet of the defensive player bump the body of the offensive player. If it is a ramming, it may be picked up and called a foul. If it is a nudge, it is often enough to have a player off balance and miss easy shots (the bunnies). Done with guile, it can be a great defensive weapon. Mabrey does this a lot and it works especially good when players like KLS make cut through the lanes.
I don't think ND is dirty, but their play puts a lot of pressure on the officials to make some difficult calls that make both fan bases upset.