Feel, Firm, Force, Full Extension: The NBA's New Rule of Thumb for Push-Offs

NBA teams scored 115.6 points a game last season, the most since 1969-70. The league has decided that at least some of that came from offensive players getting away with something.

On a conference call Tuesday, the NBA said referees will crack down on push-offs this season, one of four "high-volume and highly impactful" calls getting new guidance.

The Four F's

A push-off usually happens when a ball handler uses his free arm to shove a defender and create room for a perimeter shot. Some contact is part of the game, so officials have been given a simple test:

• Feeling for the defender with the off arm is legal.

• Firming up, gathering yourself against the defender, is legal.

• Force behind the arm contact is an offensive foul.

• Full extension of the arm to gain an advantage is an offensive foul.

"We've got to make sure the defensive side of the ball does not get penalized by allowing illegal acts by the offensive player," said Monty McCutchen, the league's head of referee development and training. "I think we can do a better job."

Part of a pattern

James Jones, the NBA's executive vice president of basketball operations, said the goal is to make sure the way the game is played and presented "continues to track favorably" for players and fans.

This isn't the first time the league has gone after offensive tricks. In recent years it has targeted players who stop short to draw collisions or kick their legs out on jump shots. Push-offs are the next item on that list, and the early weeks of the season should show whether the whistles actually change.