I posted this elsewhere - but I wanted to point out that the Refs called some ticky tack fouls on BOTH Yao AND Shaq - then late in the game (when the Rox were looking for a foul - and getting no calls) the refs swallowed their whistles. Were they TRYING to screw the NBA/ESPN - or did they not get the memo from Mr. Stern that the NBA needs these kinds of matchups, so stop fouling everyone out ?! a truly paranoid fan might argue that the Refs were making a little statement about their buddy that got suspended last week. Just show Stern that they were in charge by taking Yao and Shaq to five fouls (right up to the edge) - then backing off ... of course ONLY WHACKED out unibomber types would EVER believe this.... ... or would they ?!
If anything, they know the fans want to see the stars play. Blame Cuttino's broken shot. Refs are refs. Nothing new.
I wasn't blaming the refs for the loss - just pointing out that they were ticky tack on both sides. If you all haven't been following the story, the league suspended a ref last week for blowing a call in the Denver-LA game. On Friday all the refs wore their jersey's inside out in protest - and this was the first MAJOR game since the incident. (in the future, I will give more background - so my posts are not mis-interpreed and a run of the mill..."they're out to get us" comments so prevalent on this board)
My old and constant beef is -- why is a foul a foul a foul for 47 minutes, but 'let's let the players beat each other up oops, I mean play' in the final minute? The reffing was pretty even, evenly atrocious. They didn't cause a W or an L. But they were annoying as hell...
I watched the ESPN broadcast last night (only because the 51 picture signal sux) - and the broadcasters were commenting that the refs were "letting them play" at the end of the game - but I agree - it is at the end of the game when fouls (at least hard ones) need to be called the most maybe if no one is in foul trouble (for silly calls in the 1Q) then maybe the refs won't let the game get away from them in the last 3 mins
The refs didn't do what the fans wanted last night. The fans wanted to see Yao foul Shaq out...........again. Shaq did foul out..........at least 3 separate times. Were the calls atrocious on both sides? Yes, but with a player like Shaq, he creates many more opportunities to call fouls than a player like Yao, because of his physicality. Shaq got away with at least 2 hooks on the offensive end, not to mention the blocked shot of Yao, which clearly was a foul (his fingertips are on Yao's wrists, not even on the ball), along with the trip on Steve and the bump on Yao at the end of the game. If the game was called efficiently both ways, Shaq would have been on the bench for most if not all of the 4th quarter. And if the game were called consistently, Shaq would be about 70% of the player he is now, because he would have to tone down the aggression so much and play more tentatively defensively. It's as if Shaq is daring the refs to foul him out and intimidating them into not fouling him out. It's just unfortunate the Rockets didn't realize that last night and give the ball to Yao and let Yao just take it to the rack to make the refs have to give him the calls or show blatent favoritism to Shaq. I just don't understand it. Makes for a very disappointing game to watch. As for me, I think the refs let WAY too much rough stuff go on down low and then they toot every little bump on the perimeter. I still believe strongly that if today's bumping and grinding went on back in the 70's when players like Jabbar, Walton, etc. were in their hayday, that today's players would be in foul trouble at the end of the 1st quarter. There is no way that if you put today's Shaq back in 1976 against a premier Kareem Abdul Jabbar, that Shaq could do all that hooking and bumping and running over the defender stuff he does and get away with it. He would be on the bench in 3 minutes with 3 fouls. That proves how much the game is regressed in the last 15 to 20 years. We get to watch this bump and grind 80 to 70 contests every night. The refs let all that stuff go and then they try to contain it to a certain extent in the 2nd and 3rd quarters. And then at the end of the game, they just turn it loose again, except they are discretionary, depending on the players involved, on when to blow the whistle. No one will convince me that the refs did not control the outcome of the game last night. Those teams were evenly matched last night, both playing well at times, and both playing poorly. If they would have called those fouls on Shaq, we would have been talking about what a great game it was for the Rockets instead of how the Rockets bogged down in the 4th quarter. You can say all you want that the refs did not make the Rockets lose, but the fact of the matter is this, if they would have called all the fouls that should have been called, the outcome of this game, would most likely have been different. What players, coaches, and true fans want to see in the refs is consistency. Call the game consistent from beginning to end, and from player to player. Do not show favoritism for certain players and do not change the way the game is being called because of how many minutes are left in the 4th quarter. The fans left Toyota Center disappointed last night because the game was not called consistently from beginning to end, and because the game was not called consistently from player to player. Call all the fouls, and clean up all the sloppy contact, and recognize a flop when you see it. It's really pretty simple. And be human enough to acknowledge when you make a mistake. Just because a team is a 3 time champion doesn't mean they should get favorable calls at the end of the game. Just because a player is the premier player in the league, doesn't mean he should get away with hooks, and hacks, and trips at the end of the game. Just because one players nickname is the glove doesn't mean he should get away with bumping all night, while his opposing defender gets called for bumping back. Just because a team underperforms in the 4th quarter after building a good lead throughout the game, doesn't mean they are destined to lose and deserve to lose and the other team deserves to win so they get the calls. Just be consistent, zebra.
Some of the calls or lack of calls last night where questionable...We still lost the lead and couldn't finish, just as usual...We won't be going to the playoffs...
About the last two minutes. I used to agree that the refs should not change. But I was wrong. You have to change because the game changes. The intensity picks up. In my opinion the idea is for the referees to maintain that both teams play fairly and under the rules. If both teams pick up the physcial play because of the intensity then let them do it. The key is to not let one team get an advantage over the other. In the last two minutes everyone knows it's going to get more intense. The players want it that way. they want to earn it. So why call a foul when it doesn't really affect the play enough to change it. I think it's ok for refs to swallow the whistle. It's in the best interest of the game to do so. It's in the best interest of the players to do so.
If by 'intensity' you mean physical contact beyond the rules, my response would be : Only if you allow it.
If indeed that is the case, then why was the foul called on Steve that gave the Lakers free throws? You have to call the game fairly and consistently from beginning to end. Otherwise, the end of the game becomes a joke. It becomes a matter of who can run over who. To me, that is not basketball, that is football. If the players knew the whistle was gonna blow, they'd still be competitive and intense at the end of the game, but they would be forced to play smarter basketball, instead of running the Lombardi end around.
This is nothing new. In a close game, refs are NOT gonna foul out a superstar. Especially in the closing seconds of a game. The refs don't want to be "seen" as bearing an impact on the outcome, so by NOT calling fouls, they're making it appear that the players decide the game. It's understandable. However, when you let players do things outside the rules of the game, that's still bearing a significant impact on the outcome of the game. Though no one can yell at the ref for calling a foul on the last shot of the game, they're still impacting the outcome. That said, the Rockets need to learn how to close out games, so situations like this don't even pop up. We had 'em for about 22 minutes in the second half, but didn't have 'em for the 2 that mattered most - the last 2.
I really want to see a replay of the Yao's shot where first he was bumped hard while receiving the ball, and then Shaq went across his body while he was trying to shoot a jumphook. I'm pretty sure that there was some serious contact there, and Yao missed badly. It almost looked like shaq was trying to foul out again. I'm convinced that it's better for the Lakers when Shaq picks up his 5th foul because he becomes invincible from there on out. It's been this way for years.
Funny thing. I recall Yao fouling out (or coming close so he has to sit) plenty of times this season.
What else is knew....we have seen the Lakers get the most atrocious of calls/no calls go their way. This goes back to their first title. It's just very frustrating when the refs don't make consistent calls on both ends of the floor.
Let me just clarify that I'm not complaining about the ref job last night. I thought that the ref job was as good as we can expect, especially against the Lakers. It's not that they were making the right calls as that they didn't OVERTLY screw one team over the other. That's as much that can be said about NBA refs. What I absolutely hates is that when at the end of the games, ref don't have the balls to foul Shaq out. Someone here has said they don't want to be the ones to been seen as determining the outcome of the game. Well guess what, when they don't make a call, it's ALSO determining the outcome of the game. If they called things right, both Yao and Shaq SHOULD have fouled out. And that's the way it should be.
