The two on Prather were clearly the right call. Don't remember what the other one was.

Slight edit

BOTH Feet down, in front and facing. Once you have ticked these three you can THEN move anywhere OTHER than forward towards the offensive player. As long as the initial contact is on the torso of the defensive player AND it gives the offensive an advantage - its a charge.

Note this means one or both feet off the ground, jumping vertically or up and backwards is all OK - provided you established position FIRST and do not "close the gap" yourself.

Its also where "flopping" originated - technically if you take the charge and you DON"T get moved out of the way of the offensive player, then there is no foul as the offensive player has not gained an advantage through illegal contact.


"I love it when people scream...he/she is moving! ! They are allowed to. People who scream this dont know the rule. "

I agree,

I honestly can't remember, hence why I ask. Did the rule change, or is it the interpretation?

Being allowed to move is all well and good, but it places the emphasis clearly on the concept of establishing that 1st position.

Of the two calls that I saw, one was difficult to say:
The defender was moving backwards (as allowed) but as to the question of first establishing a legal position, it was a real "nano-second" call. That's where I THINK in the past the ref's would not have called it, but it seems now they are.

The other call was a real puzzler.
The defender was moving sideways, which again is allowed provided he first established position. But what exactly is "legal defensive position"? He was never in position to defend the ball carrier, he moved sideways into the path of the player, from the opposite direction.

Watching Kings v Breakers and once again dumb charging / blocking calls.

I think I finally understand the rule - if the defense has his feet set then aim for the guy's hip. You'll get the blocking call every time.

You'd have to be stupid to aim for the guy's chest when the pickings are so easy by aiming for the hip. So why aren't players scoring more?

Being charged at and hit in the centre or chest area makes it much easier to throw yourself backwards and fall over.

Officials basically never call a charge unless the defender falls over.

This leads to lots of flopping, which is called as a charge, but try and flop when you are hit in the side or hip as the ball carrier actually goes hard at you, looks awkward and will be called a block.

This rule is all about how it looks at the point of contact, very rare that officials actually get it right, and yes Vockuna was very unlucky on that base line block call, looked like it could easily have gone the other way, so a no call would have been the correct decision IMO...

...Vukona...

sorry bud

Three F's
Feet First and Facing.
If a player gets his/her feet first to a spot and is facing then it is charge Unless in the protected zone and the defensive is a normal defensive stance.

Their is no time limit, just who gets there first.

Couple of soft ones went our way throughout the game,
Then Jawai fouled out after Davis flops INSIDE the no-charge circle. I'm not sure, it may have been one of the exceptions to the no-charge rule but still a soft flop from Davis.

I think I finally understand the rule - if the defense has his feet set then aim for the guy's hip. You'll get the blocking call every time.

When Beal was in the air a Hawk moved in front of him and called a charge, even though you cain't do anything while in the air. I get the impression of nbl being called differently for different players, rather called correctly.

I think we can all agree there have been some howlers already this season, something we have to accept I'm afraid...

For anyone that saw it, can somebody please explain the Martin no-call against the Hawks.
He was camped out near half-court, directly in front of and facing the player, feet set in concrete, and the Hawks player simply barrelled into him.
How is that not a charge?
Is this some new interpretation that you can't have a legal defensive position that far from the basket?

Or did he perhaps extend his hand to ward off the player?

@Dazz - I think that was just a very bad no-call.
There's no way in hell that was not a charge.