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One of the biggest topics around the NBA this season has been the relationship between officials and players — how bad it has been this year.
But according to Josh Lewenberg of TSN, Dwane Casey has communicated to his team about not talking to the officials as much.
“We talked about it the other night specifically before the game, about how we wanted to get away from the officials and then Serge gets (ejected), so I guess they're not listening. I guess it is what it is. No you can look around the league, and it's ramped around the league, it's not just us. Officiating is one of the toughest jobs in the world. To officiate in the NBA, it's so fast, they miss calls, they make good calls, calls you thought they missed they got right. But as a team, as a coaching staff, as players we have to make sure we are disciplined. I catch our coaches, everybody's got to be disciplined and say next play mentality. Because officials are going to get it right and they are going to miss some but I haven't seen them change a call yet.”
The ejection he was talking about happened against the Pistons when Serge Ibaka was called for a foul on Blake Griffin that he didn't think should have been called.
Serge Ibaka had some words for the ref and he was ejected shortly after
(via @clippittv) pic.twitter.com/WtLO7BWgme
— Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) March 8, 2018
Ibaka went over and had a few words with the referees and was ejected shortly thereafter. That is exactly what Casey is saying shouldn't happen. If Ibaka would have just walked away and taken the foul call, even if it wasn't the right call, he would have been allowed to continue in the game.
Instead, he talked to the officials and was thrown out and the Toronto Raptors lost his services for the rest of the night, along with Ibaka's checkbook being a bit lighter.
