Steve Kerr was a great 3-point shooter who coaches a team of great 3-point shooters. Yet the Golden State coach agrees with LeBron James' recent statement that today's officiating caters more to outside shooters than it does to drivers. Kerr went so far as to say it was "almost a joke" the way officials protected shooters in last year's playoffs.
"It has changed a lot. Twenty years ago, you were allowed to literally smack the shooter on the hand, and if it was after the release, it didn't matter," Kerr said before Monday night's game against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. "You could run into the guy. You had Reggie Miller kicking people, the refs didn't know who was fouling whom. Now there's a huge emphasis on protecting shooters to the point where last year in the playoffs, it felt like it was almost a joke. Ten fouls on 3-point shots a game, where one guy is grabbing the other guy's arm and flailing and flopping."
Kerr went on to say, however, that it's never been this hard to be an official because shooters are taking more and more liberties. "I think what happens in this league is the players test the boundaries every single night and try to fool the refs," he said. "And why not? They're trying to win."
