The reason teams like the Warriors, Spurs, Thunder and others don't use reffing as an excuse isn't because the NBA likes them more than the Rockets.....it's because they typically take care of business at their home. They play a bad team at home and it usually doesn't end up in a 1 point thriller! That is the reason why the Warriors and Spurs are a combined 45-1 at home. Morey once said "good teams don't win close games....good teams aren't IN close games". Sure bad reffing will occasionally cost you a game or two, but here are the real issues: Newbie coach whom the players do not respect (i.e. Harden played great defense after being coached at Olympics); Daryl Morey's flawed system....he has built a 3 point shooting team where Terrence Jones and Bev are heaving 3's (what a joke) and Morey continues to believe that we can live with the injury "waiting to happen" Howard as the only big guy on the team; even when Howard plays we are woefully small and struggle mightilly to get rebounds. I was jealous of the Spurs and Thunder at how they continually put big guys in the game who rebounded and put shots back against our "smalls" effortlessly. "Small Ball" is the real killer of this season (and many during Morey's tenure). Morey has built a small team that has below average three point shooters, a rookie inexperienced coach and plays NO defense. This not on the refs!!!
The Rockets are scoring 105.1 PPG. Only 3 teams are higher - 115.0 (Warriors), 109.4 (OKC), Kings(106.6). They are NOT struggling on offense. Period. Only 2 teams are worse than the Rockets(106.6) in Points Allowed(PA): Suns(106.8) and the Kings (108.2) They are nightly struggling on defense.
Refs were part of the reason we lost the last two. Had to even the series to make it more exciting. Yesterday was a one point game with ridiculous calls against us.
NBA still has inconsistent and unfair officiating at the player level and even at the team level. The teams u mentioned are typically On the good end of bad officiating due to superstars, ratings etc. Yes our team is flawed from coaching to gm to ownership and players/system. The fact remains that this league and it's officiating is a JOKE
Yes, but you are ignoring the fact that we were in a one point game against a crappy team at home to begin with. You don't hear the Olympic team crying about the refs, because their games DON'T depend on the refs. Don't let the specks in you eye, get in the way of the logs that are in front of you. Dwight Howard is the Dennis Rodman of our generation (with less of a bb iq & ft %)and has not performed up to the contract he has been given. We are paying 22+ million a year for a guy who can't make the All-Star game. He is a mental midget on the court and continuously loses us games with his low iq and ft shooting. The refs are a convenient excuse for the home team fans. Trust me that there are many opposing fans who think Harden gets too many phantom calls.
The two aren't mutually exclusive. It's both....saying one doesn't mean the other isn't true as well.
You really don't have room to complain when you are a bottom 5 defense due to just lack of commitment.
When you are playing really good teams even if you are a good team the games will be close so the refs do effect the outcome.
In a particular game, yes the refs can influence the outcome. But during the course of the 82-game season, things will even out. I doubt that officiating has significant impact on the overall record of any team, Rockets included. I am just not convinced that the entire ref crew are going after the Rockets.
So you all are saying there is a conspiracy against the Rockets and they have little accountability for their record. We are that close to the Warriors....just need better reffing.
I agree with the point the OP is trying to make. Yes the officiating is not the best it can be. But in the Rox case, their defense is a bigger issue then worrying so much about the refs. Pretty much like TheRealAllpro stated, you really don't have room to complain too much about the refs when your defense is as pathetic as the Rox defense is. After a while it just comes across as a bunch of whining if you're not going to do anything about what you do have control over, which is having a more competent defense!
When you're a team tryna find a rythm and you get bad call after bad call, its a concern. The Rockets aren't playing their best best but at least trying. This horrible officiating isn't cutting it
Sure, the Rockets have issues, especially on defense, but refs can cost you games, and when the refs are outrageously bad and cost you games it is perfectly reasonable, in my humble opinion, to call them out and be pissed off about it. The refs have been incredibly bad the last two games and, in my humble opinion, we could and should have pulled out wins in both instances given remotely fair calls by both crews. In other words, it sure as hell can be about the refs in a tight game. That's all I'm going to say about it.
