The LeBron play in 2007 Finals was another example of referee mistake. It actually almost worked against the Spurs' intention to foul. The Spurs were up by 3 at that time and wanted to prevent a 3 point attempt. However, LeBron's unusual strength allowed him to escape from Bowen and somehow get a shot off. A foul (and 3 foul shots) should have followed. Tonight's game was another referee screw up, but under complete circumstances. There is no indication that Fisher was trying to foul. It did not make sense for him to foul. He simply made a mistake by jumping into the shooter. But J Crawford and the crew bailed him out. In the end, Joey Crawford got his revenge on TD and the Spurs...
1. The Spurs deserved to lose this game. They didn't respect or fear the Lakers enough to come out and play hard from the opening tip in a crucial game at home. That's ******* embarrassing. The bottom line is that the Lakers wanted it more than they did. They got every loose ball and the Spurs missed countless open jumpshots. Congrats to the Lakers... they deserved the win. 2. Kobe isn't going to the line because he's settling for jumpshots. Go to ESPN and look at his shot chart. He took only 4 shots in the paint last night. You aren't going to get to the line that way. The Spurs game plan is to back off of him and let him shoot. If he would take the ball to the rim, he would get more calls and get to the line. Tim Duncan goes to the free throw line because he's at the rim all night. It's not a conspiracy or the Spurs whining... it's just basketball. 3. I can live with the last no-call. Barry should've gone up strong into Fisher when he left his feet. It was still a foul, but like I said earlier, the Spurs didn't deserve to win the game with the way they played. The fact that Joey Crawford was sitting there swallowing his whistle is a travesty -- it just looks really, really bad for the league. He shouldn't have been within 200 miles of that arena last night. If any other ref is in the same situation, it doesn't look nearly as bad. 4. I don't know why, but I wouldn't be stunned if the Spurs came back and made this a series. I can actually see them winning games 5 and 6, and losing in 7.
how do i not know what goaltending is? either the ball hit the backboard and then odom and it's goaltending, or odom blocked it into the backboard, and it is not. the replay i saw odom blocked it into the backboard. maybe you have another definition of goaltending i should hear. edit: wait, you think that ball was on the way down? what? and odom hit it before it hit the backboard, he didn't pin it. he knocked it into the backboard.
and Stat, i know kobe shouldn't be shooting 10 ft a game in this series or anything. he is taking a lot of jumpers and the spurs are letting him. but he drove in games 1 and 2 and basically got nothing. and now has 1 ft in 2 games (and that on a 3 pointer no less). this is basically the most favorable kobe officiating any team has ever received and it seems hard to think he couldn't get a couple of 50/50 calls somewhere along the way. even in the regular season he got 5 a game against the spurs, who presumably used mostly the same tactic. anyway, i'm not saying the lakers are getting screwed, just that it's basically impossible for any spurs fan to say they are (not that you did) b/c of this one call. if the league really wanted to make it happen, one would think they'd give kobe the "dwade in the finals" treatment. but it's essentially been the exact opposite. they won't send him, or the lakers, to the line on 50/50 calls.
You can always argue 1 or 2 calls in any game. Overall the calls went the way of SA and as other posters have pointed out you just need to look at the # of FT's that Kobe has shot. Complaining about officiating now is just really wrong and sad. I would rather have discussion about where was Manu this game. Barry had a great game and almost looked like Manu out there at times. That being said is Brent Barry really the guy you want with the ball in his hands at that point in the game? Perhaps they thought LA would just foul otherwise. It could have been easily called a foul but it was before the shot and not sure if they were over the penalty at that point anyways. SA had many chances in this game but continually settled for outside rushed shots. I think they could and should have won this game and it was solely in their hands to do so. The game wasn't won or lost on that final play but over th entire 4th qtr that was very close. LA really had this game in the bag though with about 2 minutes to go and nearly blew it by missing shot after shot and fT after FT. SA just didn't put 2 good games together at home and thus lost 1 of them. I predicted they would lose 1 or 2 at home and I don't think it is a real suprise. But the series isn't over and SA can regroup. I agree with that hear tof a champion line...they have shown time and time again they have the toughness to win when needed. If they win game 5 they go back to SA and if they win that one they are all of a sudden in a game 7. It isn't over, so Spurs fans stop crying and enjoy the series. Anybody notice how many times Duncan got himself on the floor or into the crowd behind the basket. Dude didn't look tough at all last night and really got pushed around. For a big guy he needs to stop whinning and look to be more aggressive at times....like he was when he took that 4 step dunk. That beind said he had a great overall game scoring and rebounding and his other guys just didn't step up. Horry was a big liability out there and it is sad that Finley has been such a non factor. The Spurs need to win this year to be considered a "dynasty". 4 titles in 9 years includes one back in what 99 in which Duncan is the only remaining member. You can't tie in a title that was 5 years away from the next and call it a dynasty. Just doesn't work that way. Not trying to take anything away from them b/c they have shown they are a great championsip team with real toughness (that which Dallas and Phoenix has been lacking) but I really don't think most would call them a dynaty unless they win this year. SA realy lost this game on the boards. With all of LA's turnovers and the FT discrepancy SA should have won this game with just a few more rebounds and a few more made shots in the last QTR. Great game. This series has had its moments for sure.
Sorry, I thought this whole argument was based on that play to begin with...not because you wanted to call people out for not knowing the exact definition of goaltending. I'll remember to be more specific in my arguments next time. Well done.
I guess the point is, if you're going to refute people and try to "prove" things, at least know the rules. Way to focus on an aside rather than on the content of the post, though. Good job.
Barry did a great job filling in for Manu's absent play, and it was almost enough. If the refs call the game properly, the Lakers are kicking themselves in the *** with the series tied 2-2. The Lakers sucked less than the Spurs sucked. I do not believe that trend will continue. f**k the Lakers. f**k Crawford. f**k Jackson. The Spurs will not lose another game in this series.
It is possible for Crawford to not have seen the ball touching the rim on LA's last possession. It was close and he might have simply missed it. But he certainly chose to swallow the whistle on Fisher jumping into Barry, which happened right in front of him. An OBVIOUS foul. Same thing with Parker's lay-up. The replay showed it was not a goal-tend. But it was difficult to see without the replay, and the refs could have missed that easily. I also wandered why Parker did not go to the FT line after being pushed... It looked obvious to me. I don't usually like to blame the refs, but there were a lot of missed calls (both ways) in the critical last minute of the game. It is impossible to know whether they 'evened out.' It is very frustrating when you come out on the losing end, esp playing against the NBA darling Lakers, with J Crawford 'officiating.'
Saying the Spurs didn't deserve to win that game because they played like **** for most of it is a stupid reason to rationalize that a foul wasn't called on the last play. That is gay, sounds like something matt lienert would say.
OK Spurs fans, I'm removing the referee bias! Many have been harping on the referee patterns that may have tainted the NBA. Let's talk about it. You complain that at the end of the game, a call was blown and the Lakers benefited from it. I agree. Now since you're so in favor of proper officiating, let's just change all calls in the last 30 seconds to the right one. Let's see, that's one phantom goaltending and one shot clock reset that never happened. The result: Lakers are up 93-89 with the ball with five seconds to go. Spurs are forced to foul to get the ball back, and even if the Lakers miss both, it's still a two-possession game. Assuming the Spurs foul instantly, both free throws are missed, and Berry still gets the same shot off with the foul called on the shot, the Spurs can only make the score 93-92. You complain that the Lakers get preferential treatment in officiating. You're right. The NBA wants a Lakers-Celtics matchup so bad that the Spurs currently hold a 76-74 advantage in free throws attempted. Those ********! Al Gore wanted a recount, investigations, because he had LOST the human vote. The Spurs are shooting more free throws, damn it! WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT?? How can you allege fraud in the officiating, when in the end, it WENT IN YOUR FAVOR? Here's a thought....maybe the Spurs lost because they got out-rebounded 46-37, and 13-8 on offensive rebounds. Maybe they lost because the Lakers had 26 second-chance points. Maybe they lost because Manu Ginobili had only 7 points on 2-8 shooting. Or maybe it's because Robert Horry wasn't the one taking the last shot (or hardly any at all). Man, I used to sort of like the Spurs because I liked their balanced team, attention to fundamentals, and tough, grind-it-out style of play. Now the team is built around flopping and begging for calls worse than a Mexican soccer player, and the fans are the only ones buying it.
