The funny thing was, the Lakers commentator said after that 4th foul on Yao something like this: "You've got to stop Yao some way."
This is my biggest complaint of Adelman. It seems like he NEVER has the players' back when they need it. His passiveness is a good approach for a team that has fiery players, but on this team, outside of Artest and Rafer, nobody really shows that fire, so it's his job to demonstrate it, and he doesn't. Do you honestly believe that if Phil Jackson's team had a 24-8 FT disparity at HOME, he would have stood around and taken it? He would have been up in arms. Heck, look at the change that Doc Rivers has made over the past 2 years. Ever since he's gotten this team together, he's in the refs ear the ENTIRE game. I just can't believe that there are people out there who think that the ROCKETS get the calls all the time (go read any opposing team's forum after the Rockets beat them, and you'll see that they truly believe that Yao gets away with murder).
I don't fully buy the who argument about superstar calls relating to brand image because if that were the case- yao would get a LOT more calls and the Rockets would be winning a lot more. Fact is you establish your reputation through previous play, and Kobe, Wade, and LeBron have been very good at letting everyone know that in the 4th quarter, they will be aggressive and they will get calls- even if they dont deserve them. It would be the same thing if any of them played in Boston, New York, Milwaukee, Memphis, or anywhere else. Its not the team, its the player. Overall, the fouls at the end of the game were expected. We all knew that the Lakers were going to make a run at the end, fueled by Kobe. Honestly, I didn't expect the Rockets to win, but last night showed me that the Lakers aren't as good as we thought they were. I don't think this game was lost just because of the officials, because one or 2 plays at the end would have made a difference. Overall, you need to be able to anticipate and overcome the final charge of the opposition, and the Rockets couldn't. They lack that killer instinct right now. Hopefully a week or 2 of cohesion will improve this- I can't wait to see how fluid this team can become.
We shot 53%, 42% 3pt, out rebounded them, out assisted them. AND WE STILL LOST. It's not just free throws. We out fouled them by a large margin. Apart from the 4th foul on Yao, the defensive foul on Scola being run over by Bynum was atrocious. And the Odom and-1 call was also ridiculous. I can go on and on. Don't just generalize on paper. We are talking about last night's game.
I was at the game and that was truly one of the worst / most one-sided ref jobs I have ever seen. We were at home, have a dominate post player, play and inside out game and were going to hole all night and we shoot eight frree throws. Absolute, unadulterated garbage.
you are not angry at the calls kobe got including that blocking foul on yao?? it's a one possession game, of course officiating has a big impact.
Yao and the team will never get any respect until we get to the final. I just hate it when the young rookie official call bad foul on anybody when the other people flop. I think if any time you flop they need to add an extra free throw to the two.
There were a number of 50/50 calls that didn't break the Rockets way. Sometimes the Rockets get the benefit of the majority of those calls, and sometimes its the opponent. To me, that shouldn't factor in as an excuse when we lose. I'd rather focus on what the Rockets can do better.
To me its pretty easy to understand. Team X shoots 8 FTs, therefore they have an opportunity to put 8 additional points on the board that most likely would otherwise end in a missed shot. Team Y shoots 24 FTs, theretherefore they have an opportunity to put 24 additional points (3X Team X) on the board that most likely would otherwise end in a missed shot. the thing i can't understand is how you can't understand that this has a HUGE impact on the game. not to mention Team Y will also likely have important players in foul trouble like say the leading center in the western conference and a starting PF.
You are confusing a philiosophy of not chosing to focus on the refs (I am guessing because you can't influence their behavior) with the point that it does have a MAJOR impact on the game. I agree that the Rox should not focus on what they can't control but to say its doesn't have a major impact and is an absolute disgrace in terms of ensuring the integrity of an even playing field for all teams is just plain wrong.
So you can go on and on about fouls called on the Rockets that shouldn't have been. What about on the other end? Were the Rockets making similar moves and not getting the calls? Unless the Rockets were creating the same type of contact and not getting the same calls, they have no claim to the "we lost because of the refs" excuse.
What I'm saying is the Lakers created more "50/50" situations on offense than the Rockets did. Maybe the refs weren't biased towards the Lakers, but they were biased towards the offensive team. In which case, I don't think we can say it was the officiating that had an impact, but rather the way each team chose (or are able) to play given the officiating. If the refs are systematically making calls on one end that they aren't on another, then we can complain. I did not see that, and frankly I rarely do.
durvasa, I like your posts and you care about relevant stats. The only facet of the game the Rockets lost last night was FT attempt. (Okay, we did have 4 more turnovers.) And you cannot tell me the Rockets were not aggressive last night, because they were. I agree with your point that the Rockets should not focus on the refs and just try to play better. And I respect your preference not to focus on the refs too. But you choosing not focusing on it does not mean that it had no impact on this particular game. I do think poor officiating did diminish the Rockets' chance in a winnable game.
I think foul calls and which way they go should absolutely not be used as an excuse. However, it can not be overlooked, someone has to say something. YAO DID NOT GET ONE FOUL CALL ALL GAME. IMO, that is just ridiculous. Basically, your telling me one of our best free throw shooters, who plays inside on the low block ALL GAME, did not get fouled once. Anyone who says that we didn't play 5 on 8 is ignorant.
Sorry, gotta correct myself, he may have got fouled and the call may have been made. There is a possibility that it may have been a non-shooting foul, just can't remember if it actually happened.
Maybe Yao should use his influence with the 1.6 billion people to get something changed in the NBA. After all, they are getting him and TSlack to the All Star Game. Heck, these 1.6 billion have almost but Airballston on the All Star team.
Maybe someone can make a video of all the bad calls the Lakers got, and the similar plays on the Rockets end that they didn't get. I could be wrong.
I definitely agree that there were many calls that could have gone either way or shouldn't have been called. I think the way to reduce those calls is to have a ref who watches the game on a TV screen so they have a better view of the game. Either stop calling ticky tack calls, or get more refs so they can watch all that happens during a game... But officiating is way too inconsistent between games... there needs to be another official who can override all the stupid calls that are made... it's ridiculous
The Rockets as a team need to work on OFFENSIVE FLOPPING. Notice how Lamar Odom and Kobe hit the floor almost every drive? It works. Simple as that. The only guy that does it well is Artest with his body movements. He gets a call a good amount of the time driving to the basket and I can say that its all initiated by him and not really a foul. It's sad but its the NBA these days.
I don't mind being the voice of reason, I'm cool. Just watched the game for the 3rd time and my opinion hasn't changed. The refs always reward the guy going forward. I've counted 12 times when kobe broke off the triangle and backed mr. glue down into the paint. I watch odom put the ball down and get by the pf trying to guard him. I watched Odom force barry to foul him because he's too big when he got him on the blks. What did I see from houston to deserve ft's? Landry being aggressive, that's it. Brooks didn't penetrate cause he had a 6'8 ariza on him. Barry penetrated once and got a foul. Yao shot all jumpers. Wafer attacked and finished, but the didn't foul him. Alston avoids contact. Battier is the chuck hayes of wing players. Scola struggled when their big guys stayed on the ground. The rox didn't or don't have enough guys who threaten the rim or inside the paint. If they had more guys, they could get into the penalty and exploit the good ft shooting they have as a team. Instead, they have a bunch of unatheletic standstill gimmick players. Landry, Wafer, and Brooks are the only guys that doesn't have to throw 50 fakes or try to trick the ball in. Rafer and the rest are terrible finishers around and in the paint when contested. I hate to be the bearer of bad news.
