the spurs literally had their players put their hands up to show everyone they weren't fouling. didn't mean they weren't fouling, but great idea from pop because he knows refs are morons and that they love taking away our free throws in the playoffs and that they would buy into the idea that if danny green put his hands up in the first quarter, then obviously he must not be capable of committing any fouls the rest of the game. why? you're chalking it up to a few things you heard players publicly say, which a) assumes everyone on other teams is telling us everything and b) is at best a fraction of what they actually talk about in preparing for the series. rick carlisle had dallas not foul all season as much as okc didn't foul all season, but when going up against an even better free throw generating team than us, he's just not going to say anything about it? because we didn't specifically here dallas players mention it? jimmy butler had by far the highest free throw rate this year. you think nate mcmillan didn't mention it and instead just decided to increase miami's free throws by 40%? any decent team knows how bad free throws are and is telling their guys not to foul. this at least has merit. but the pattern is already there from previous years. i wouldn't count on westbrook to change it. harden's first 2 drives of the game were clear fouls not called. watching live, watching replay, pretty clear. in a game where they somehow found 6 fouls to call on harden for his first foul-out of the year. and we scored 16 points in the paint in the first quarter. somehow ft's were 13-2 for okc and that margin held the rest of the game, as did our paint points margin. those results don't seem easily explainable.
You are angry about the loss. There's no logic in what you're saying. Here: Does the absence of Russell Westbrook in combination with the Thunder's insistence on not fouling us plus the presence of Chris Paul likely to result in a dramatic drop in FTA? The answer is yes. To put it in a clearer way: even if the refs reffed a perfect game, we should have a dramatic drop in FTA. Then game 1 happened, cementing it. Then game 2 happened, cementing it even further. THEN you show up and go "omg something's up here". It doesn't make any sense, it's not a matter of opinion. You're wasting your time, but it's your time and your life.
Except they are fouling us, a lot. The whistle isn't blowing. We couldve easily had 16-20 FTs in the first half of yesterday's game.
Both takes could be true. No Westbrook and OKC gameplan not to foul, fewer fouls. And Refs calling fewer fouls due to human error and/or bias. Refs even admitted EGo take down was a foul. Historically, Harden gets fewer calls in postseason v. regular season.
I wonder about this. I don't want to think the games are rigged. If that was true then this is not a organization I want to support. I do believe refs are human and favor certain player and not others. That is what I believe we have here. That said, I don't understand why the NBA doesn't try to correct this. Instead they bury their heads in the sand and pretend it doesn't exist. That's what angers me. They can move heaven and earth to continue the season and playoff, but they can't do the same about the referring.
I just checked the 2 minute report. The non touch by Adam was deemed the "correct call". However, the NBA ruled that EG was fouled on the inbound play...they deemed that as an "incorrect non call". We should have retained the ball. Maybe MDA should have used his challenge.
I think since we are driving to the basket more than I've seen us do all season, but then I forget that Westbrook actually attacks the basket a lot. Thing is, Harden still gets his and sometimes really on bogus calls yet does not get them when really hit, but he also fishes for them so it makes sense. As has been pointed out, his main defender is great and they have a solid defense in general. Why teams shoot more FTs against us is not a surprise given how we defend, lots of reaching in, trying to steal the ball and overly aggressive on guys driving. They also only have one whino in CP3 and we have Gordon, Harden and Tucker can be quite the showboat when he gets called for fouls. I can imagine referees then calling it tighter on them, while swallowing the whistle more since you cannot be trusted. For all the baiting CP3 did in Game 3, there was quite a few they let go and he got punished for others. I think as a team we need to learn not to let refereeing affect our game too much. At some point we have to just play, not look for the whistle etc.
One word .. SCRIPTED.. find another hobby until you understand how the games really work . Save yourself the trouble
"The Thunder's insistence on not fouling us" LOL did you watch the game? This is just saying nonsense.. They fouled numerous times and got away with it... They were fouling us more than us them especially if you look at the type of calls they were getting and what they were calling for us.... Ridiculous comment
Which needs to change... This allows to much blatant bs especially if you have only 1 challenge... Allow teams to challenge a blown call at the next dead ball or if they have possession.
great breakdown of the numbers. i also noticed Harden has been in foul trouble 90% of the bubble games whereas during the regular season, he hardly would get to 5 fouls or foul out.
We shouldn't be surprised and yet we still have a system/superstar where we drive into a wall of defenders.
People can say what they want but the numbers don't lie and they are quite telling. There's a reason behind everything. Being a Houston fan sucks sometimes.
Rockets are also playing the most disruptive defense in the bubble. Cannot have the most disruptions (deflections, steals, blocks) without reaching in.
Focus on the point please. It doesn't matter whether they fouled more than us. What we're talking about is that they foul us less than other teams, and that's true for the games.
