No trying to make excuses for the Rockets (despite their obvious problems), but the refs are not calling obvious fouls. This is especially true, for Taylor and Yao. I wonder if this is because of Francis and Mobley's constant baggering of the refs or it may be simply, they haven't earned enough respect. But you would have to imagine playing the rest of the game and not getting blatant calls from the refs is discouraging.
Yeah, I've been wanting to start a thread about poor officiating, but I was waiting for us to get a win so it wouldn't be like I was blaming all our problems on poor officiating, although I'll argue that lots of our problems come from just that. POOR OFFICIATING IS TAKING AWAY THE COMPETITIVE NATURE OF THE GAME. Here's the call that upsets me the most lately: Yao gets the ball in the post. His defender is pushing on Yao so hard, the defender is literally at a 45 degree angle, vs. standing straight up. Dude's entire force & weight are pushing against Yao. So what happens? Yao loses some of his balance, and has to readjust his pivot foot in order to not fall flat on his face. The official then whistles Yao for travelling. TRAVELLING?!? Last I checked, the rulebook stated you can put 1 hand on the guy's back, not totally push him off-balance for a travelling violation. The other call that REALLY gets on my nerves: When a defender bumps you out of bounds, it's a foul, okay? It's not a turnover, it's a foul. What's really ruining the game #1: preferential treatment for the "superstars." I'm sorry, but just because you wear a 32 or 21 on your back, doesn't mean you can get away with murder. What's really ruining the game #2: inconsistency. Call it the same on BOTH sides of the court. Call it the same regardless of how many fouls Vince Carter has collected in the first half. Call it the same regardless of the score. Call it the same regardless of how much time is on the clock.
Very good points. Those reasons are why the NBA is so frustrating to watch. Different rules for the superstars. If they are superstars, why do the refs have to help them? Call the game fairly. I don't agree as much with the Rockets getting screwed by the refs all the time. Yes, there has been some games and basically Yao gets screwed a lot of times, but I think the refs give preferential treatment to Francis. He gets a foul call almost everytime he drives to the hoop and misses. He is 5th in the NBA in free throws attempted and the Rockets as a team are 12th. There are bad calls against the Rockets, but basically NBA refs are awful every single game period no matter what team is involved.
If we lost Steve Francis getting some preferencial treatment but the refs actually called a fair game, it would be a much more entertaining sport to watch. I'm all for it. The Rockets do get screwed by the refs all the time. But so do most teams in the league. Another one that really bugs me: "make-up calls." Even announcers condone make-up calls. "Well, they got it wrong on the other end, so now we'll call it even." I'm sorry, but that's wrong. Same with calling it Moochie Norris' 2nd foul instead of Posey's 5th. Players should be accountable for their fouls.
Man . . . Eric. . . u hit a new high . .or low. . but you have actually found a way to blame Steve and Cat . . .FOR THE FRICKIN REFS!!! Rocket River I understand they were no where near the grassy knoll . . .
