I'm very disturbed about what happened to Camby's sister but I'm surprised how anti-NY the latter half of this ESPN article is. Hardly objective journalism. I'm not a big NY fan, but did you guys feel the same about the game as this writer did? Regardless, I thought his support for his argument was stupid. He said New York got away with a lot of physical behavior (quite possibly; it is New York) and then pointed out that there were 17 calls on the Knicks compared to 20 on Toronto. Pretty weak factoid, if you ask me. The Raptors, meanwhile, were back in Toronto preparing for Game 2 and wondering whether the referees would call as loose of a game as they did in Game 1. Numerous times on drives to the basket, Vince Carter felt the Knicks got away with committing fouls that weren't called. The referees whistled 17 fouls on the Knicks; 20 on Toronto. "It was a quick whistle against our side," Raptors coach Lenny Wilkens said. "If you're going to let them play aggressively, let us play aggressively. We want to be able to play just like everybody else." Carter missed his first seven shots and finished 5-for-22 from the field for 13 points. It was the second straight year that the Knicks' physical, double-teaming defense forced Carter to have a timid Game 1. "If Vince doesn't play better, it's going to be hard for us to beat New York," Raptors forward Charles Oakley said. "Vince has to have a better game – point blank." ------------------ [This message has been edited by Relativist (edited April 24, 2001).]
I don't remember anything too obvious in that game, but I was in and out of the room, so I can't judge too well. But in the past, the refs and David Stern always know who gets good TV. Watch this series closely, not to mention the Kings. The Lakers won't need much favoritism but maybe in later rounds. ------------------
I hate it when people talk about the number of fouls called as a measure of favoritism. If you want the same number of fouls called on each team, why have fouls at all? ------------------ "Of course, thats just my opinion, I could be wrong" -- Dennis Miller
I cannot tell you how down I am on the lack of quality officiating I have seen this entire year. Some games seem one-sided, others seem bad from both sides. But overall, the referees are just doing a poor job and making inconsistent calls. ------------------ HEAD KNIGHT: We are now... no longer the Knights Who Say 'Ni'. KNIGHTS OF NI: Ni! Shh! HEAD KNIGHT: Shh! We are now the Knights Who Say 'Ecky- ecky- ecky- ecky- pikang- zoop- boing- goodem- zoo- owli- zhiv'.
The foul discrepency doesn't seem like much (20, raptors and 17, Knicks), especially considering that 3 of Toronto's fouls came in the last 30 seconds when they were trying to stop the clock. Typical loser's lament - blame the refs. ------------------
Isn't David Stern Jewish? You'd think he'd be pulling for the Raptors. ------------------ www.swirve.com "Pre-born, you're fine, pre-school, you're f*****."-George Carlin
He's referring to Charlie Ward bashing jewish people. Stern condemns Ward's 'zealotry' ------------------ To resist is to piss in the wind, Anyone who does will end up smelling, Knowing this why do I defy, Cuz my inner voice is yelling. [This message has been edited by Band Geek Mobster (edited April 24, 2001).]
Blame the refs may be the loser's lament, yes. But sometimes you can't help but lose when your opponent plays for a large TV market. Or when your opponent knows how to play the refs and/or gets the respect calls, like Utah. But in this case, the Knicks didn't need much help. Good defense. Carter played tight; 5-for-22, or something like that. Carter will need to start coming up big in the playoffs or he will always lose the Kobe vs Vince arguments. Of course, once he leaves Toronto, he might play alongside another great scorer, as does Kobe. Next year, zones are gonna collapse on Vince worse than the Knicks' double teams. ------------------
I hope the Raptors come out on top in this series though no matter what anybody says. ------------------ Arkansas' Biggest Rocket Fan!
