In Sacramento he got one of his techs for touching one of the refs, which players very rarely do and is an automatic tech. Players also typically know to be on their best behavior when they already have one tech. If Steve did something players do all of the time, then players would be getting at least one tech all of the time. Just because the ref admits that he wouldn't normally eject a player for what Steve did, doesn't mean that Steve is not an idiot for doing it.
And everyone will talk about how he's a cry baby. And Phil will counter by saying the Lakers are the ones getting screwed.
I can't believe how surprised some of you sound. I thought pretty much everybody knew about this kind of thing. Yes, referees don't call a game exactly the same throughout--as was said earlier in the thread, if you yourself don't personally care as to the outcome of a particular game, you want the best players to play the game out against each other. Superstars are important to the individual teams, to the league, and to the fans of the league. Is it perfect? No--the NBA will always be a business, and a damn entertaining one at that. And the league's policies on reffing games aren't going to change no matter HOW angry you get, because you seem to keep watching the games. It can be a bit frustrating, but you have to know the "rules" of the game before you play. Now that we're all aware (or were before) of this kind of thing, what are you going to do? Stop watching? Because I'm not. This kind of thing will always be around because it gives the NBA a very marketable product that we all seem to enjoy way too much.
I agree with some of the stuff you're saying, but by the same token, watch Shaq when he's BEING fouled. I want the Lakers to lose this series as much as anybody, but there may not be another player in the NBA who gets fouled as much as Shaq without calls being made. Does he get away with a ****load of fouls as well? Absolutely. No argument there. I just can't stand a lot of this stuff because I live in Salt Lake City--the home of NBA Conspiracy Theories. Bad breaks are going to happen in any sport and can happen to any team--I don't think that referees dictate championships to the glee of Mr. Stern. But it's a fact that it's an imperfect profession where mistakes are going to be made--and when these mistakes are made and they benefit another team directly, I still hesitate to say that this whole thing is a traveshamockery. Teams beat themselves up enough that I really don't care if they complain about this or that call. Take the Rockets/Lakers series, for example. We can complain about individual calls in that series, but can we honestly say that we couldn't have improved even a LITTLE on our own boneheadedness? It's not the MOST effective analogy, but I think you know what I'm saying. I didn't find Hollins' words particularly incriminating and not at all shocking.
MJ doesn't always get calls go his way. Remember the 97-98 eastern finals vs the pacers? it was down to the last shot and the pacers were trailing. The ball inbounds the Miller with MJ guarding. Miller runs around some screens, pushes off MJ and hit the turn around trey which won the game.
Yes, I agree he gets fouled a lot and it is not called. That is the referees attempt to be fair to the opposition because Shaq initiates so much contact and doesn't get called for it, because he is a marquee player and they want him in the game. But, if they called the game straight, he wouldn't be in there, or he'd have to change his style. Personally, I think Shaq is talented enough to make adjustments. If the game would have been called straight from the time he entered the league, he would have made the adjustments and still dominated. But because they let him get away with all the contact, the bumps, the pushes, the hooks, they have to let a lot of contact go on the other end. Otherwise, it would more than blatently obvious that they were favoring Shaq. By letting a lot of contact go, it leads to poor, sloppy basketball. And it still doesn't explain the refs blowing the whistle on the opposition throughout the fourth quarter, and letting Shaq and Co. back in games that they have no business being in. All that being said, I was pleasantly surprised at the officiating Sunday night. I really thought when the 4th quarter came around that they would be whistling the Pistons to the bench. But they seemed to let both teams play which was more fair, but not any prettier. However, I still sense a bias towards the Lakers, Shaq and Kobe, specifically. Shaq gets away with way too much and Kobe is allowed to do a whole lot of bumping and slapping on the defensive end.
