Looks this thread is not about some conspiracy to the league no I am not suggesting that is what is going on right now but the last rounds of playoffs basketball point toward some really horrible officiating by NBA referees. What I am talking about is the minutae amount calls that can really affect the outcome of the game. Examples are as follows: Game 4 of Cavs-Magic, LeBron gets to the line almost everytime he drives the ball and the ghost call at the end of regulation where he tripped on his foot was plain horrible. Now Dwight Howard gets wrestled to the ground by Varejao and there is no call whatsoever. Game 5 Lakers-Nuggets, the atrocities against Nene are clearly evident to everyone. That was a terrible blocking call when Gasol lost his balance and bumped into Nene. Now the real giveway was when Melo and Martin attacked the basket got hit by Gasol and no foul was called. Pau is now somehow become the second coming of Dekembe Mutombo? He blocks every damn shot that comes near the rim? This is the same guy who got slaughter by the Scola in the last series. Look I am not providing an apology for the Nuggets or anyone else but to this horrible bias by the refs makes me want to puke. People are right about the fact the Nuggets killed themselves with bad shooting in 4th quarter. Still small fouls here and there can really affect the outcome of the game. Any time Odom or Kobe get in the lane its automatic free throws but Melo, JR smith and Martin get hacked by Gasol at the other end there is no call. There is politics going on in the league to find a favorable matchup in the Finals and refs are complying to that desire of having a Kobe-Lebron series. Dont believe me then watch tonight's game see how many calls are in favor of Lebron and the Cavs. The Magic lay as much as a fingernail on LeBron, he will be shooting free throws.
I don't like this comparison at all. LeBron had the ball, and he drove into the defense. All the calls were either obvious fouls, or 50/50 plays. In real time, the ref has to decide whether on that final Cavs possession there was a foul. If its a 50/50 play, I prefer giving the road team a chance to tie (the home team would have an edge in the overtime session), rather than guaranteeing a home team win by not blowing the whistle. And the contact between Dwight Howard and Varejao away from the ball on that final regulation possession was mutual. It could just as easily been called an over the back loose ball foul on Howard, which would have given the Cavs two free throws to win the game. In that situation, with the score already tied, a whistle would have been terrible. Let the teams settle it in overtime instead of making a very questionable call that would almost certainly decide the game. In general, at the end of a game when there's an event on the floor that could be called either way, I prefer that the refs make the choice that puts the outcome of the game in the hands of the players. That's essentially what they did in blowing the whistle for LeBron, and not blowing the whistle for Howard. Also, what I would like added in the future to better resolve these situations is video replay. There's no reason why, at the end of a game, the refs shouldn't be able to got to the sidelines and double check if there was a foul or not. Ideally, that's what should happen.
pretty much what durvasa said, along with the fact that Pietrus's foot actually goes in under Lebron's for a sec and trips him before Pietrus pulls it back. It's quick, but it happened. In addition, it's terrible to call out Gasol last night. He was making great plays on the ball. I'm far from a Laker fan. But he was blocking shots really well. There was body contact on a number of plays in the 4th..ON BOTH ENDS. They didn't call it on either end for a LONG stretch. Kobe got raked a number of times. Odom and Gasol--I can remember once each for those 2 guys where they were clearly bumped while going to the hoop, no call. They were just letting them play. It wasn't anything about superstar calls. If you're gonna talk about stars getting calls, use legitimate examples.
