I completely support Stern on this though. After the whole Pacer brawl in Detroit, you had to expect some things to tighten up. I grew up on a league where players wore suits at press conferences, suit coats and slacks on the road and simply put their hands on their hips and exhaled when they disagreed with the call. And then promptly went out and played their ass off in response. I am surprised at how tight the calls have been so soon though. I would have thought there'd be some leeway because there'd be some obvious adjustment on the players part but it seems to me the refs have been tired of a lot of antics over the years but haven't done anything about it on the premise that fans come to see players like Rasheed Wallace, Gary Payton, Allen Iverson and Kobe Bryant and therefore should protect them.
However, the players are bitching so much and so loud I question if Stern might tell the refs to lighten up at some point.
