Almu: Are you kidding me with this? Missed free throws happen. Missed shots happen. Turnovers happen. That's your own business. But you shouldn't be further handicapped by factors out of your own control. Phantom call on McGrady. Finley coming in from out of bounds. If the refs hadn't choked this one away, circumstances would have been different, and we wouldn't have had to rush the last minute. It's hard to win when its 5 on 8. We were robbed.
Almu- I'm reluctant to address such filth but I'll by brief. I've got a $100 tip jar contribution if you can find any time in the past 2 years that I've criticized the officiating w/o criticizing the Rox for not overcoming. If you are so blind you don't see the inequities that existed the entire game, we have nothing to discuss. Sharper minds than mine have amassed more than enough data to support that the Rockets were fighting an uphill climb the entire Game 5. Do us all a favor and if we pull this out...refrain from the celebration...you're not wanted.
Almu, I don't understand why you can't reverse your thinking a little bit. Change: to: Yes. Missing the free throws were awfule. But the damn refs cost us a chance to maybe advance. They miss TWO critical calls. Thats the difference. We would've won if either refs stops making bad calls or we made a few more shots/free throws, but I don't understand why you think one should be more focused on than the other.
Yes we were but what are we (the Rox) gonna do about it? JVG, Les, CD and us fans should rightly complain to the league about it but other than venting its unproductive and just plain whining to obsess about this even here on Clutch BBS. In the end the Rox have to play. Great teams take advantage of opportunities and the Rox have had a lot of opportunities.
Hitting the FTs and bad officiating are two different incidents. Why cant we complain about officating?
We did play and we played awesome at the end. It was virtually an impossible comeback. Down by 3 with only 50 some seconds left was absolutely unbelievable. It was a 4 point swing with very little time remaining. These games are razor thin. A few missed calls and the game is over.
Oh my god, someone plays Saint here. Mavs' FTs shooting 23 of 34, they missed exactly same FTs as we did, 11 of them, and they are a superb FT shooting team. This things happen! The difference was that Finley call, give them extra 2 more FT. I didn't even mention that Dirk slapped Yao's arm no call and he got calls on the other end while T-Mac barely touched him. F*** Refs, f*** Stern.
True. You're right in that there's absolutely nothing that can be done about this. But to come in here and say that we lost this game because of the FT's - that's just flat out incorrect. We were down HUGE, 11 points to be exact. It was hard enough coming back within striking distance in the first place. We can't be having to fight the refs and the Mavs at the same time. A couple of blown calls and we're rushing shots in the final minute rather than executing for the lead. And to say Yao choked? We would have lost for 20 if it weren't for Yao.
If Dallas took care of its business, Dallas could win. If Houston took care of its business, Houston could win. But, if Refs took care of their business, Houston would have won tonight. Any questions?!!!!!
Yao had a great game. But just choked on the FT's. This is another game we should have won. The Horrendous 'no' call by the refs when Finley made the steal from out of bounds which lead to 2 Dallas FT's, and the 5 missed Free Throws in a row, late in the game by YAO.
ROCKETS AT THE LINE: Dare I say CHOKE CITY Even with the horrible officiating this is another blown game because of poor 4th quarter foul shooting. Game 3 and 4 to an extent Rockets, went cold tonight the main reason was the foul shooting.
For you 'Choke City' folks, as ivanyy2000 already mentioned, mavs missed the same number of free throws (on fewer attempts) than we did. We could have made more...them also. They still could have won... ...now if the refs didn't miss so many freaking calls...
But was it the Refs fault that the Mavs got some wide open jumpers? Anyway was it the refs fault that the Rox couldn't stop the Mavs runs in the 4th quarters of games 3 and 4 and make this game academic? As I said I totally agree we got robbed but the Rox have had opportunities to take this game and series out of the hands of even the refs.
Com'on now, those bad calls turned the outcome of the game, period. Heck, we could even blow them out, but it wasnt happening. Man, this is what it is, no denial. Fact is fact. There is no ifs, ok. Refs ripped us, pure and simple. Geeze, those correctionist.
You can't make every free throw or get every loose ball. The Rockets were amazing down the stretch even if they gave up a few jumpers. The steal, McGrady's 3, Barry's 3, Yao unstoppable down low. The game ebbs and flows. You make some impossible shots, you miss some easy ones. This is only the 1st round. Remember a few years ago when The Timberwolves were robbed big time and Ralph Nader asked for an investigation of why the Lakers got every call? Crazy but true. This is no different. Just as Shaq and Kobe needed some calls to win their champioships, just as MJ got calls every time someone breathed on him. The missed opportunities are balanced by the great hustle and great execution. Even assuming Yao wouldve made a few extra free throws, would Dallas not scored by running their normal offense rather than getting fouled at the end? These games are decided by 1 or 2 possessions so getting screwed down the stretch is big time.
Look this debate is silly. There is no right or wrong answer here. Yes the refs suck. But, yes, we also sucked in terms of making the clutch play. Which played the bigger role? I don't know. A game should be officiated fairly, but everyone knows that's not gonna be the case most of the time. We must learn to expect it and do what we can to improve OUR game. It's hard fighting an uphill battle, but you need to do what you can to improve what's within your capability. Regardless of how you look at it, we still ended the game with poor execution. Defensive miscommunications leaving Stackhouse and Dirk wide open, missed free throws, poor defensive rebounding, etc.
Hmm... You guys are making good points. But to call me an idiot...well, whats the point in having a different view of the game if you can't portray it without the name calling? Anyways... Bad officiating is part of every sport. Last night, we missed so many defensive assignments and missed way too many critical free-throws to blame the game on the refs. Save 50 games in a season but blow 3 in three losses in the World Series isn't choking? Kicking 50 yard field goals left a right during the season and then missing 3 key field goals in the championship game isn't choking? Let me get this straight. If you hit for 30 points in a game but when its on the line you miss 7 key free throws, you are not a choker? Ok...in my book, you are. I am not a Yao hater. Say what you want. I am all for him being on the team. I question his toughness and his consistency just like everyone else who doesn't have rose colored glasses on. And thats not to say that if we lose this series we don't grow and learn from it. These guys are young. But since I have been in this BBS, there is this thing about refs being against Houston. If we don't get our way, its the refs fault. Thats been going on around here for 8 years. I remember all the stupid theories on how Stern wants big market teams to win year in and year out and thats why Houston is on the black list. Well, last time I checked, the Spurs are no big market team. And that we won despite the conspiracy. The league wants Jordan to win. And Kobe to win. And now Lebron, right? What about Melo? No T-Mac? No Yao? God forbid that we can get a billion people watching Yao all over the world. That wouldn't help the league in any kind of way, right? Well, whatever. In my opinion, the refs decide games if they call a phantom foul on a shooter that wins it at the free throw line. But to have chance after chance after chance to STILL win the game DESPITE AWFUL OFFICIATING and not take advantage of it can only be blamed on our team. Play like we did at the end of the game and make the free-throws, we will survive this series.
Last night's game came down to freethrows not the refs. There were bad calls both ways. Dirk did not slap Yao in the face, he slapped the ball into his face. Just less than a minute before the Finley play Terry slapped the ball out of Wesley hands on a break but a foul was called. I don't hear you complaining about that. That Finley play just gave both teams 2 freethrows. The phantom foul call just helped you out because more time would have ran off the clock. Finley would have just called a 20 if the pressure was intense. I think it is really funny how you win game 2 on a non call and noone complained about that.
