A point I would like to make about the "clean" block

Aaaaand, here come the homers. Please, let's go full tinfoil hat and start in on the ole' media bias, no one wants Houston to win routine.

Crash, you can keep listing bullet points all you want - that was a block. Watch it in real time. I get what you are trying to say, but I don't think it really fits here. If Harden still had hang-time + total control of the ball + enough force left to heave a legit shot *after* the initial block (when Duncan makes contact wiht the ball), then sure... maybe.

None of those were still true after the block.

A foul call would have been an absolute bail-out.

 

I'm saying that screenshot doesn't show jack and if you expect that to be called a foul then you don't know basketball.

If you want the rules called to a T 100% of the time, then you have to admit that Harden bump and Manu the play before that forced the turnover should be a foul too. That's a call Harden gets quite often is it not?

 

The trajectory of the ball tells it fall straight down. I highly doubt that ball falls like that with Duncans hand almost a foot beneath Hardens wrist. Not to mention the ball is in still on James fingers...because he was trying spin it high off the glass. Like he did two plays earlier too get us within 4 .
The play when he fell on his butt and was probably fouled then also.
But he was hacked and never got the chance. Second time this year that happened to the Rockets in this scenario. Huge end of the game blatant no call.
The officiating in both of those Spurs wins was just lopsided.They let the Spurs be more physical and they throw lots of illegal screens. They get way too much credit or there screen and roll game. If we could throw illegal moving screens all game we'd look like some super guru's also.
Duncan finally got called for it in the 4th when the game was tight and looked at the Ref like...we've been doing it all game. They probably throw at least 10 illegal picks and get called for maybe 2.

 

hit the ball first,

refs will NEVER call that at end of the game, especially in the playoffs

stop crying

 

back in my day, that was a block all day because officials were consistent, minus when refs were officiating drexler.

however, in the new nba that should be a foul. How can you call fouls where contact never even happened and then just decide to not call fouls where contact actually is present because it's at the end of the game. either call it close through out the entirety of the game or let them play like warriors after the ultimate prize.

 

I think you're conflating...or maybe just apples to oranging. The refs getting fooled by a blatant flop by Patty Mills (i think it was?) has nothing to do with the no-call at the end of the game.

It's not a "decision" to call the acting job, they called the reaction and not the "contact." This falls under the issue of players flopping (which can really only be remedied by much, much harsher penalties) and not "how the refs are calling the game (loose vs. tight).

Mills should be fined heftily or suspended without pay for a game or two.

The refs started calling everything pretty tight through the middle of the game (lots of ticky-tack stuff on both Howard and Whitey McSpursGuy); I thought both Manu and Harden got a call each in their favor during the first half for contact that would never be considered a foul in my dream NBA (read: back in your day).

I do believe overall, putting my homer cap on, that this game yesterday was a slightly unevenly called game... not in our favor. Particularly late in the 3rd/4th periods... but whatever, the game was totally winnable without all this kerfuffle about Duncan's block. Free throws. Turnovers. Boom. End of story.

Because Rox were at home, they really should've counted Harden's mid-court 3 + the and-one. If you're going to take the risk of intentionally fouling off the ball, the player with possession should be able to complete his move to the basket/move to complete a shot if it has already been started. Bring back the old continuation rule from back in the day, but apply it only to these scenarios.

Even in the new NBA, Duncan's block shouldn't be a foul. This is a contact sport, irregardless of the current wimp-ified structure of the rules.

 

Don't tell me you would not do the same for Spurs team which will lose Leonard next season to the Lakers. Lakers will be maxing out Leonard and Love this Summer bringing back them back to their home town.

 

Just for kicks. After I said it was a good block yesterday:

You guys are too funny.
This is what I've been posting recently:

During the 3rd of the Mavs game when everyone was having a meltdown:

I'm just as much a Rockets fan as you funny guys, but I'm able to call it how I see it without throwing a temper tantrum

 

So you admit that by the letter of the law it was a foul and now you are justifying it? OK. The reason wanted a foul is because the slap redirected Harden's arm while he still had control of the ball. By the letter of the law that is a foul.

NBA ruled it wasn't a foul (I didn't expect any less) and game is over. This subject has given me tired head (probably mostly my own doing for obsessing over it). You have your opinion which I respect but also believe to be factually wrong. Even Calvin Watkins the Rockets beat writer for ESPN had expected the NBA to admit it was wrong (although he thought it was the correct non-call).

NBA officiating is the absolute worst in any professional sport that I watch. It is also the hardest to officiate because of the speed and the number of judgment calls. My problem with NBA officials is that they feel it is their responsibility to control the game with how they legislate the rules.

Sometimes the officials will wait to see if the ball goes in the basket before calling a foul because they don't want to over foul players... particularly for marque players.

Sometimes instead of calling an obvious foul on a player when a ball goes out of bounds, they will just swallow their whistle and instead award the ball to the team with the fouled player regardless of who the ball was last touched by.

Sometimes they will call the game very tight through three quarters and swallow their whistles in the 4th or the last several minutes of the game.

If it's a foul then it should be called a foul. Most importantly the game should be called consistently on both ends of the court for both teams throughout the entire game, which it almost never is.

 

The NBA Officiating Last Two Minute Report is out:
http://official.nba.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2015/04/L2M-SAS-HOU-4-10-15.pdf

From the Report: Duncan (SAS) jumps vertically on Harden's (HOU) layup attempt and cleanly blocks the shot. There is contact after the blocked shot, but because the shot is already blocked, the contact is incidental and deemed to have no impact on the shot attempt.

Also, the prior possession (Harden on Ginobili) was actually ruled an Incorrect No Call: Harden (HOU) makes body to body contact that affects Ginobili's (SAS) RSBQ as he drives toward the basket.

 

Yes, we lost the game because we couldn't hit free throws.

Yes, we lost the game because we didn't control the glass.

Yes, we lost the game because we turned the ball over too much, didn't hit enough shots, and didn't score more points than the Spurs.


But......the league is toying with their explanation of this being a legitimate no-call. See their own points of emphasis/misunderstood rules below:

http://www.nba.com/news/officiating/



https://turnernbahangtime.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/point-of-contact.pdf

 

To further emphasize that the NBA is not being consistent here, you can take a look at this play at the end of regulation in the Memphis/Utah contest the same night.

Hayward shoots the 3 at the buzzer from the corner. Gasol blocks it. Then makes contact with the hands after the ball is released. And they call it a foul. They've got the slow mow here starting at around 1:38.

https://youtu.be/KX0HjJCCo5Q?t=1m38s

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KX0HjJCCo5Q" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>




This call was reviewed and ruled as correct by the league office. Happened friday night, probably within an hour of the conclusion of our game. I watched it live. Totally inconsistent. The contact after the release is supposed to be a judgment call by the officials as to whether or not it was incidental or affected the follow-thru. Contact before the ball is released is an AUTOMATIC foul.

 

The NFL gets pretty subjective sometimes, buddy. Players and teams know to adjust to different "calling situations." Sometimes refs will start calling a game tighter if it's getting chippy (too feisty/heated/out-of-control), absolutely nothing wrong with that.

This has been happening for a very, very, very long time, man. At least for the last 20 years I've been watching. Again, nothing wrong with this...except that you're leaving out the actual, probable reason, which is that sometimes fouls are a 50/50 proposition. Was that bump incidental? Ehhh, maybe. Assloads of toss-up contact in a single NBA game.

My criticism of how these plays (close calls regardless of shooting or no) are handled isn't "bad reffing," but rather the style employed by the league now. 50-50 plays to me should be a no-call, a play on. There seem to be more whistles on those than there used to be, and that's unfortunate.

Again, 0 problem with this. What I see as a trend towards natural looseness towards the end of a game (saying to the players, decide it for yourselves, don't look to us for a bailout) that is not nearly as drastic as you make out (refs do still make foul calls in the 4th), you see as hypocritical. I just don't see it that way. Falls under the same idea that no 2 humans are going to see exact same game play out over 48 minutes in terms of how the contact plays out.

I think you're overstating it, and that in the bulk of games there isn't an egregious amount of one-sided officiating. You want to see clearly bad, one-sided reffing? Go back and watch the youtubes on the Kings/Lakers series from 2002, then check back with me.

Reffing, especially in a fast-paced team sport like the NBA, is not a pure science. If it were we would have robot drones rather than humans with the whistle.

If there hadn't been a "controversial" call at the end of the game Friday, we wouldn't be here talking like this. That shows me that you guys think the refs cost us the game, which is just painfully wrong.

The Hayward analogy doesn't stick for me - Gasol pushed the dudes arm AS HE WAS FLYING INTO HIM, clearly affecting the shot and hitting his hand/wrist simultaneous to also touching the ball.

I agree with the NBA that Duncan's block was a block through and through and that the contact afterward was after this block.

 

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports....block-on-james-harden-was-a-correct-non-call/

Well.. f****.

 

Before the shooter releases the ball, any contact to the shooter’s hand, wrist or arm is illegal and a foul will be called.

 

Just give it a rest, nothing is going to change the result. Heck they already released the report and stuck with the call. Its over.

 

Well fuuuuudgggggge....

 

Pelicans beat the Spurs and Rockets win the division...

"Ball don't lie"