How Phoenix Suns head coach Monty Williams might use the new coach’s challenge rule

The NBA joined other major sports and instituted the ability for coaches to challenge a potential missed call. How will Phoenix Suns head coach Monty Williams see fit to use this newfound power?

Whether it is during a Phoenix Suns game, NCAA game, or a local YMCA youth league game, officials seemingly get 99% of all block/charge calls wrong.

They just do.

Referees get so amped to either flex for the camera in a charge pose or air-hump for a passionate block call, they immediately forget what transpired two seconds prior and just pick one, presumably based on how recently they did arms day.

To be fair, the block/charge call can be a tough one. Former Phoenix Suns great, Rex Chapman, has an entire Twitter theme based on this idea.

The NBA is finally giving coaches a voice in the hysteria that typically follows a block or charge call by instituting challenges on a one-season trial basis.

While it is expected the block/charge call will be one of its primary use cases, coaches can also challenge phantom fouls, out-of-bounds determinations, and goaltending/basket interference calls.

Coaches cannot challenge a no-call, so it will be interesting to see if referees error on the side of blowing their whistle similar to how NFL refs tend to let potential fumbles play out instead of ruling them down, thus ending the play.

Last night in Hawaii, former Phoenix Suns head coach, Mike D’Antoni, became the first NBA head coach to issue a coach’s challenge, albeit in a preseason game. He did so on an offensive foul called on James Harden, which after the review, was upheld, thus putting an anti-climactic cherry on this historic landmark.

In order to initiate a challenge according to the official rules, the coach must call a time out prior to the next play and then, get this: twirl his/her finger toward the referees.

It is as if the refs are bartenders and the coaches are semi-drunk patrons asking for another round.

I can only imagine Phoenix Suns head coach Monty Williams standing in front of his bathroom mirror practicing this motion in an effort to make it look somewhat cool.

Should I go with a more aggressive wrist rotation, or a slower, broader circular motion from the elbow?

Analytics gurus suggest coaches not wait until late in the game to use their challenge, even though they only get one and aren’t awarded an additional one if it is successful, like in the NFL.

That means, when Aron Baynes takes a charge in the first quarter, but the ref thrusts his pelvis in the air to call a blocking foul on Bangers, Monty should put his bathroom practice into use and twirl that finger then, not wait until the fourth quarter.

This is especially true for the Phoenix Suns because not only might there not be a controversial call in the fourth quarter, there will likely be several times where the game is out of reach and a challenge when trailing by 20 points with four minutes left isn’t worth the effort.

There doesn’t seem to be a downside to this rule change other than the obvious: it has the potential to drastically slow the game down.

Fans groan when officials check the monitor on every foul called during a fast break to see if it was a clear-path or not. Adding this to the mix may amplify that grumbling.

One thing is for sure: Aron Baynes’ charge-taking numbers are going to get slight uptick this season.