It was more Barry's fault than the official's for not drawing more contact when he got Fisher up in the air.
i agree. Blaming Barry for the non-call is weak. I personally hate the strategy of getting a defender in the air then intentionally going up into him to draw the foul. I find it inelegant and not real sporting and It's not exactly what makes basketball a fun game to watch. However, that is what gets called 99% of the time. And it's what should have been called this time.
Fisher did foul Barry, that much is clear. Calling that a "fix" is kind of ridiculous. That said, with all the talk about Kobe's lack of FTs, I'm pretty worried that no matter what the refs are going to make sure he gets double-digit FT attempts in game 5. I hope I'm wrong, but I've seen this sort of thing happen before in the NBA.
I bet there's a lot of posters on this board who scoff at the 9/11 conspiracists, but somehow thing the NBA playoffs are fixed. I think they're about equally likely.
I am not saying there is a fix, but there is some validity to the league wanting a Lakers/Celtics match up. ESPN plays it up, ESPN wants it, the hype was in full overdrive as the playoffs started. It's good for the league, harkens back to the glory years of the 80's. Blah, Blah, Blah. The league encourages and stokes that hype, and you can't help but imagine that that mindset creeps to the officiating. The league can find subtle ways to manipulate the officiating without directly "ordering a fix". See above. The league knows it would be a rating disaster if the Spurs and Pistons played in the championship. It's all about money, so it's in the league's best interest to have a Lakers/celtics matchup. You don't think money is a big enough reason to manipulate a few games to make this match up happen? What sucks if you are a Lakers or Celtics fan is that more than likely your team has reached the championship game on its own merits, but there will still be whispers of conspiracy. OK, i will take off my tinfoil hat now.
That article is so one-sided its sickening. He conveniently forgot about all the calls in the last 30 seconds that went against the Lakers, just as many of you Spurs fans have.
At least in this case the game can hardly be called fixed or why didn't they call a foul on Kobe's ill advised drive to the bucket (not a foul, but enough contact that if it's fixed, you could easily do it), or give LA the ball on the missed call on Fisher's shot, or not call the goal tend, or call Berry for traveling before Fisher hit him? I mean if it was fixed, why give SA the chance to win it at the end when there were so many ways to keep that from happening? I mean why use logic when making a point on the web when you are dealing with illogical people? Or if you want SA to win, why not call the and 1 on Parkers drive or the obvious foul on Berry. The answer is that NBA refs sucked big time at the end of that game. But as the calls went both ways if it was fixed they did a crappy job of making sure one team won it. I'd want my money back.
To answer the original poster's question, yes, it is outlandish. Derek Fisher's shot with 7 seconds left hit the rim. Replays clearly showed that. LA got the ball back, but with only 2 seconds on the shotclock. Should have been a fresh 24, which would have caused SA to foul and LA to shoot two. How exactly does that play into your fix conspiracy? Pretty sure that would have been an easy one for the refs to fix if they really wanted LA to win. Get over it. It might have been a bad non-call, but it wasn't because of a fix.
Well, the league apologized for missing the call against Barry, and not for the shot clock thing. I would say as far as the NBA was concerned there was one missed call in the closing seconds.
The refs kept San Antonio in that game. I thought it was reffed in their favor most of the game. And there was a large free throw disparity until San Antonio had to foul at the end. The botched call on Fisher's shot moots any bitching by Spurs fans. They should have never been in that situation but for that gift from the officials.
The Spurs did not lose Tuesday night because of the no-call against Barry. They lost because as soon as they tied the game or got within 1-2 points, they went ice-cold and got back down by seven. But that no call against Barry was pure bad officiating. I would like to have seen that game have an OT to decide it.
are people forgetting that the Lakers could have run out the clock if the refs had seen fishers shot hit the rim? just be thankful they had a chance to tie/win the game..
Yeah, I thought it didn't hit the rim when it happened, and I think the replay doesn't conclusively beyond a doubt change that. The relative silence from the play by play, studio crew, and media demonstrates to me that most people believe this way. Likewise, most people agree that some sort of call should have been made against Fisher. Including the NBA. Look at it this way, do you think the NBA/ESPN machine would keep silent about the ball "grazing" the rim if it was conclusive it did? Hell no! They would be pointing everyone's attention there because it makes the Lakers win look better and takes attention from the more egregious no-call at the other end of the floor.
You had to look at replays to notice the ball didn't hit the rim. The foul, on the other hand, was different.
