Durvasa - Don't feel bad for being objective. Like I just posted, I watched the game 4 times. The rox shot jumpers and when the game was in the 4th, no one, I repeat no one went to the hole. Yao shot 3 fadeaway's, rafer shot that terrible floater, battier stayed on the 3pt line, wafer didn't drive to the hole in the 4th. So it came down to kobe dancing with bynums pick and torched shane and the space he created. Then Odom beat landry off the dribble twice, which I've been saying , the rox have no one to guard that guy. Those 2 and landry shot all the free throws in the 4th qt. Most of yall are crying like garden tools. It starts with a H and rhymes with dough.
Actually, he did. He said something along the lines of this: since they couldn't get off a 3, Yao should've gone in to try to draw a foul, but the way they were calling it last night, he wouldn't have gotten the call.
DD- you're right, 2 bum ft's. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playbyplay?gameId=290113010 Here is the play by play and people can see where the rox shot came from vs lakers.
For the season, the Lakers are 6th in free throw attempts per shot, and the Rockets are 14th. Defensively, the Lakers are 16th in limiting free throw attempts per shot, and the Rockets are 3rd in limiting free throw attempts per shot. Here are the numbers for the Rockets and Lakers on the season, and specifically yesterday: Code: [B] FTA/shot FTA/shot(allowed) yesterday yesterday(allowed)[/B] HOU .271 .230 .092 .262 LAL .293 .244 .262 .092 Looking at these numbers, the Lakers didn't shoot an abnormally high number of free throws. In fact, based on what the Rockets and Lakers normally perform against the league, you expect the Rockets to pull down the Laker's FTA somewhat (Rockets being very good at limiting free throws, and the Lakers being very good at getting them). That's what happened -- the Lakers usually get free throws at a rate of .293, and yesterday it was more like .262. On the other hand, the Rockets only shot 8 free throws, which is far less than what we come to expect from them. The Lakers have been about average at limiting free throws from the opponent, so we'd expect (if we were doing a simulation, for instance) that the Rockets should get around .27 free throw attempts per shot. It wasn't even close to that. What's interesting is that the focus in this thread has been on the calls the Lakers got on offense, not on the absence of calls when the Rockets were on offense. The numbers suggest that the focus should be the other way around. But if we attempt to do so, and we still can't point to specific instances in where the Rockets should have been shooting more free throws, then this charge of bad officiating being responsible for the outcome breaks down. I'll reemphasize a point I made earlier. A free throw disparity is not evidence of bias. A free throw disparity + questionable calls on one end of the floor isn't evidence of bias either. What needs to be shown is that calls made on one end were not being made on the other.
I have not read this thread yet, but obviously the refs made some questionable calls last night and they have done so in other big games this year. But we didn't lose this game strictly because of the refs. We lost this game because we couldn't execute in the 4th qt. and Kobe got hot. It happens, next time the Rockets should execute better and actually make the 2 key free throws that could of tied the game.
Again, I challenge you, take away technical FT's (technicals, illegal defense), find me one other game where only 1 player shot a FT the entire first 47.5 minutes of the game. Any professional NBA game. The percentage of games where that happens has to be so infinitesimally small that you surely don't want to go back and try and find one...it just doesn't happen that much (if at all). And since I am coming at this from a Rockets didn't shoot enough FT's (get enough calls) perspective (as opposed the Lakers got too many, which I don't believe to be true...a couple of questionable calls - 2 on Yao, but still, those types of calls happen every game)...now you're stuck with basically saying the unlikely of the unlikely of the unlikely happened last night. The Rockets offense, combined with the Lakers defense, produced a type of game where fairly ref'd, that's what happened. While it's true that somebody wins the lottery (even though the chances are very low it will be you), I don't think last night represents that game. Again, the Rockets had similar offensive rebound numbers, similar points in the paint number, similar steals numbers, etc. What happened last night seems, to me, to be a strong statistical improbability...unless the game was officiated wrong.
If you watched this game and realized the betting line on the game was Lakers +4, you'd have some beef with the refs. The Rockets were held back in that game by officiating by no calls against the Rockets all night and BS calls especially in the 2nd and 3rd quarters. Kobe got the most ridiculous calls all night. Go back to what Tim Donghnahy said. That guy wasn't lying but because he was involved in a scandle, people want to act like it was one guy. Where there's smoke, there's a fire. Go back to the way the rockets were officiating against the cavs earlier this year. Line was Cavs +8. Go back to the Mavs/Rockets 05 series and JVG's statments and the huge fine he got assessed. Go back to the Lakers/Kings game 6 in 01. How can anyone not think the refs impact the game? Refs impact basketball more than any other sport. And last night was a perfect example. The refs didn't interfere last night when the Rockets weren't hitting their shots (4th). When they were (2nd/3rd) the Lakers got their calls to keep it close. I was at the game and it was pretty blatant.
It would be more accurate if we count number of fouls rather than number of FTs. Some foul calls don't result in FT but still have significant impact to the game. I see your point. I have to admit that the "unfair" calls that stuck in my mind were more on the Lakers getting calls rather than Rockets getting non-calls. I don't have the video nor the time to review the game. One thing you have to consider, though. Some of those so-called 50/50 calls (such as blocking foul against charging) are double-whammies. If the refs wrongly gave the Lakers the call, they were also wrongly taking away the call from the Rockets. What I was trying to say to leebigez was that his theory didn't hold water. He claimed that the Rockets simply did not have enough aggressive and athletic players to get more foul calls. But the Rockets have been getting foul calls all season long. The extreme drop in last night's game should be legitimate reason for questions. I am not a conspiracy theorist. I am not claiming that the refs intentionally screwed the Rockets. It could just be a poorly officiated game and it happened to be against Rocket's favor. I just hate that a close game like that was tainted by bad officiating.
