Lol. Some of you on here tryna downplay how bad that non call was. I wanna know the officials name standing right in front that play.
I missed watching the game but now that I see the vid that is clearly a foul. The only thing I can say is that the ref was shielded by Randolph from action and couldn't see Randolph hitting Harden's arm.
Of course it was a foul. Hopefully this was a good lesson for Harden, McHale, and the entire team: YOU CANNOT RELY ON THE REFS WHEN YOU NEED TO WIN A GAME You need to take control of what you can control! Relying on the refs to make a call, even when it is an obvious call, is NOT a championship mentality! Harden has made enough clutch step-back shots, he should have worked for a shot there, instead of trying to drive. He should have known that, no matter what, Memphis was NOT going to allow him to just drive for a bucket at that point in the game. He was GOING to get hacked to pieces, and he should have known the refs tend to swallow their whistles in that type of situation. Was it a bad non-call? Of course. BUT THAT'S THE POINT. LEARN FROM THIS. DON'T PUT YOUR FATE IN THE REF'S HANDS ANY MORE, *ESPECIALLY* IN THE PLAYOFFS.
The only positive thing that I can take away from this damn travesty is this post - made me chuckle here at work...
Over the last 40 years I've been absolutely crushed by a call or no call maybe 100 times; 200 if you count college games. I've actually said "I hate basketball because the refs are so sh****" But it's part of basketball though. Refs do not want to be the deciding factor in a game. In the final seconds the tendency is to let whatever happens on the court happen and even more so in the playoffs. Drawing the foul is great weapon (though I hated watching Kevin Martin do it) but it won't get called in crunch time.
GET USED TO IT. This will be called a NO FOUL at least 80% of the time when the game comes down to the last 5 or 6 seconds and pretty much the last possession. Ain't no ticky tacky fouls going to be called come end of game playoff time. Hope Harden can learn from this and go up strong instead of playing for contact and the whistle
that's all on the kid with the orange jersey. he should have spin as he was falling to draw attention.
Normally I'd agree. But it's not like Harden threw himself into Gasol or Z-Bo and tried to draw the foul. He was going for a layup and got hacked. The former won't be called a foul late in a game and it probably shouldn't. But the latter has to be called. You can't make it ok for the defense to get away with that much contact regardless of which part of the game it happens at.
The refs have always had a tendency to swallow their whistles in the final seconds of a game but it was definitely a missed call. I'd rather see James do a step back in that spot or create something for his teammates. I'll be interested to see what grade the refs are given because the blown call was played on sportcenter, so I imagine they have to at least acknowledge they missed a game changing call.
This. That drive attempt wasn't one of his look for a foul drives, which are easy to spot. He was trying to get the game winning layup and with how badly he got by Lee I think he would have had it easily had he not been hacked.
More I think about it, more I think it was a clever move. Win-Win. Win if we get the call obviously. But now, also Win. With the new ref reports coming out, there is new spotlight and pressure on the refs. I think the current mentality among the league and owners is that Harden gets too many calls. This is a big no call that will be put under the spotlight. It will probably shift league opinion a bit to try to 'make up' for it. I'd bet money that next time this happens, Harden gets the call, and as important as this game was...worth it if it ends up saving us in the playoffs, shrugs lol.
That was no ticky tack foul. I don't like fouls called to decide games since i like the, "Let them play" way. Last night though, you have to call that one. He couldn't even get a shot off. I know the refs knew they blew the call, so I don't know why the Rockets didn't foul Gasol on his game-winner. No flagrant or anything, but just something enough to make him miss it. I would think the refs would let it go, and then it's OT. They don't look *as* bad.
How many here actually thought it was a foul during live action? I didn't. My first thought was the ball slipped out from Harden's hands. But instant replay, slow motion, and from a different angle clearly showed it was a foul. In live action it's really tough to see that fact it's why I can't fault the refs for that blown call. You add in another factor that it happened during a crucial moment of the game and the refs would really need to see absolute visual evidence to call it a foul. That's why most of game winning shot occurred from the perimeter and not the paint because there is just too many bodies and obstacles for a proper calls to be made.
I'm being told by Lakers and Mavs fans on Facebook that this is the price we pay for Harden flopping so much. Yeah... because a foul is determined by past context. Not by... being a foul. The hate against Harden and Howard is reaching fantastic levels.
actually i'd say many people did. if the ball gets hit it would go down by the swipe of Randolph. clearly that did not happen.
Watching that gif, Harden had a bounce pass opportunity to a wide open corner three to his left versus taking it straight at ZBo plus Gasol. ZBo wouldn't have been able to recover with all his momentum going inside and Lee would have been blocked off by Harden. Maybe they will see that in the tape and next time the pass will be made. It's still a foul and should have been called, but in the playoffs I would rather have the wide open three than hoping to get a foul call inside or make a high arching bank shot over a player like Gasol.
Percentage of shots made under the basket (plus chance of foul) versus percentage of three pointers made... If you have the choice you take the drive. For all we know Harden could have finished the play with a pass if he got trapped. We should be holding the refs to the same standards as the players - professionals in the highest tier of competition.
