Off the top of my head...
- Cut down on the amount of charging fouls that are called. Seems they're not going to hand out technicals or fines for flopping, so punish players with blocking fouls or non-calls. I'm weary of seeing players scoot over at the last second, barely set their feet/move their foot out of the restricted zone just in time and get the charging call. It's perfectly legal under the current rules of course, but I'd like to see them tighten it up. Offensive fouls should come if an out of control player bowls over a defender with established position (going straight up), drops their shoulder, pushes off, throws an elbow to clear out the defender, etc.
That's not to say gamesmanship should be completely eliminated and that players can't try to draw an offensive foul with good position and willingness to take the hit but it's still way too easy and encourages flopping. I say tighten up the rules to make it a little tougher to draw charges, allow for more non-calls and above all, don't reward flopping. - Same goes for offensive players. This one's a bit tougher because when there's hard contact, arms will flail and bodies will go flying but it's annoying to watch replays and see clean strips be called fouls because the offensive player hits the floor or flails their arms to sell or even fake contact. Kind of a tough one, maybe it comes down to the referees watching more closely for this or identifying players who make a habit of crying wolf.
- Work out what constitutes a continuation call, define it in the rules, call it. Right now there's not a lot of consistency in the calls; obviously star players are going to benefit from the occasional generous call but even then there's inconsistency, to the point where you wonder if the referees think "That looked pretty cool, I'll give him the and-one for that". I suppose this really goes hand in hand with defining what constitutes being in the act of shooting. My suggestion would be that a player must be clearly taking a shot (ball at/above their head, in a shooting motion, sending the ball towards the rim) and they cannot take another step or dribble for it to be called a continuation. Anything else is non-shooting and shouldn't put a player at the line (unless the other team is in the penalty) and renders the ball dead.
On a similar note... - Don't award shooting fouls when the player with the ball pivots or leans into the defender to create the contact and get the whistle, then puts up a shot attempt. Right now it's a savvy play because the rules allow for it but it's a cheap call and a good example of the very generous criteria for continuations. Assuming you want to still give the defender a foul when the offensive player initiates contact - and if the defender is off balance after gambling on a fake I suppose that's fair enough - the foul has occurred on a pivot, a move that isn't in the act of shooting and can just as easily lead to a pass or dribble, or the contact wouldn't have even been there if the offensive player had leaned in. More often than not, these should be fouls on the floor (unless it's a penalty situation) or non-calls.
- Late whistles. Sometimes it's inevitable, referees are human after all and can't always react straight away and other times the crowd is so loud that the referee can't be heard so the whistle just seems late. However, I'm talking about times when the referee seems to wait to see if the shot goes in before calling a foul (if it goes in, no call; if it doesn't, free throws) or otherwise delays making a call. It always comes across as being a little fishy, even when the call itself isn't bad (just really late).
- Baskets counting on an offensive foul away from the ball. That just seems bizarre to me, if there's an offensive foul then that should negate the basket. If a player with the ball commits an offensive foul while attempting a shot which ends up going in, the basket is waved off. It should be the same deal if a teammate away from the ball commits an offensive foul, not a made basket and loose ball foul.
- Allow play to continue if the defensive team gains control of the ball on a shot clock violation. I think this one might already be defined in the rules because they do seem to let teams play on in some situations but I'd like the game to be a bit more free flowing here and let play continue if the defense gains possession as the shot clock expires.
- Continue to expand the use of instant replays, specifically when they can be used and what can be reviewed. I know the concern here is slowing up the game but it needn't be the case. Just continue to make allowances for various infractions to be reviewed as they have been doing so far. With flopping being an issue, perhaps referees could have the option to review whether a foul was actually committed at certain junctures of the game, or doublecheck who a foul should be on, etc. Basically, I'd like the instant replay rules to allow for as much correction of human error/clarification in uncertain situations as possible, without hindering the flow of the game. You don't need to stop the game and review every single play, just allow for it to happen when there's reasonable doubt.
- Eliminate fan voting in the dunk contest. Fan participation is a great idea in theory but it's just silly to have judges in one round and fan voting in the next, especially when the voting opens before any dunks have been attempted in the finals. I say bring back the old format, judges having the final say with a field of six competitors and three dunks per round; have the players with the top two or three scores advance to the final round, player with the highest total score in the finals wins. The current rules on attempts and the like are fine, the two minute time limit plus two replacements allows players more freedom to be creative.
