Did the officiating look as bad on TV?

[GSH]

I was at the game tonight, and the officiating was horrible. I don't mind saying that they made a lot of bad calls in the Spurs favor. They made just as many, maybe more, in the Suns favor. But that's not the point.

There were times when the refs just looked lost, like they didn't know what to call, but it looked like they thought they had to call something. There were a couple of times where I swear they blew their whistles early, like they were anticipating contact.

They blew several ball out of bounds calls that looked pretty obvious. On one of them, the ref at the end line just stood there, even though the ball went out right in front of him. So instead the ref out by the 3P line had to make the call, even though he was totally out of position. (All the big bodies were between him and the end line. He couldn't see who knocked it out.)

There was one sequence where McDyess probably got there late, but they still called the charge on the Suns. Then the very next play, Grant Hill did the exact same thing and got called for the block. They could have called two blocks, or two charges. But instead they called both against the Suns. I didn't blame them for being pissed.

I could give a lot more examples, but you get the idea. This isn't another post claiming the refs favored the other team. They were just generally crappy all night. I know it's a tough job, and everybody is entitled to an off night. But I thought this outing was unworthy of NBA level officials.

Is it just me? Did it look different with the benefit of instant replay?

[Hooks]

I agree, they were pretty bad today. The Spurs got some BS calls and so did the Suns, it was going back and forth all night long.

[jestersmash]

Spurs didn't get the usual home court calls against Memphis, either. I think to start the game the Spurs received two favorable calls that were frankly bull shit, but the refs went back the other way and made it up and more for the Suns (not necessarily on bull shit calls but on many 50/50 "ticky tack" foul calls). I'd call it a wash overall.

[Cry Havoc]

The officiating tonight was really inconsistent. Both teams were really frustrated.

[timvp]

The Spurs got a ton of gift calls. The next time a Spurs fan wants to complain about a bad whistled game, remember this game. The Suns have a right to be miffed about the reffing.

[Cry Havoc]

The Spurs got a ton of gift calls. The next time a Spurs fan wants to complain about a bad whistled game, remember this game. The Suns have a right to be miffed about the reffing.

I feel like the Suns got quite a few calls too, especially after we made our first run to go up 13. I think we got called for fouls on the next 7 Phoenix possessions.

[ducks]

“It wasn’t so much tired. I think I was frustrated that we weren’t getting to the free throw line,” Hill said. “I think I was trying to prove a point to the officials driving and we weren’t getting calls. I allowed that to get me frustrated and not read the situation.”

[igruex]

While I also think the officiating was awful tonight, I perceive this season to be the best officiated in a long long time. I don't know if it's biased from watching the Spurs though. The other night 2 refs instantly called Melo's charge, that left me thinking.

Maybe, there's a correlation between playing a fast pace and getting better officiating... (just kidding, but...)

[GSH]

The Spurs got a ton of gift calls. The next time a Spurs fan wants to complain about a bad whistled game, remember this game. The Suns have a right to be miffed about the reffing.


At the risk of starting yet another flame storm...

A couple of the big runs that we put up benefitted mightily from some bad calls against the Suns. Especially in the second quarter. Don't fly off the handle - the Spurs played great, and the bad calls swung both ways. But the calls were a real momentum changer for us. Or I should say they helped with the momentum.

And I agree. Remember that when it goes the other way.

[TDMVPDPOY]

calls kept us in the game in first quarter, when the suns were scoring at a high %

then the calls didnt come in other quarters as we blew them out

then the suns continue to score at will, but kept on making puny mistakes on the defensive end...

[braeden0613]

It seemed like they were constantly making up bad calls (blowing the whistle when there was no contact, or before any contact was made). Not a good game for the refs.

[UnWantedTheory]

I was at the game tonight, and the officiating was horrible. I don't mind saying that they made a lot of bad calls in the Spurs favor. They made just as many, maybe more, in the Suns favor. But that's not the point.

There were times when the refs just looked lost, like they didn't know what to call, but it looked like they thought they had to call something. There were a couple of times where I swear they blew their whistles early, like they were anticipating contact.

They blew several ball out of bounds calls that looked pretty obvious. On one of them, the ref at the end line just stood there, even though the ball went out right in front of him. So instead the ref out by the 3P line had to make the call, even though he was totally out of position. (All the big bodies were between him and the end line. He couldn't see who knocked it out.)

There was one sequence where McDyess probably got there late, but they still called the charge on the Suns. Then the very next play, Grant Hill did the exact same thing and got called for the block. They could have called two blocks, or two charges. But instead they called both against the Suns. I didn't blame them for being pissed.

I could give a lot more examples, but you get the idea. This isn't another post claiming the refs favored the other team. They were just generally crappy all night. I know it's a tough job, and everybody is entitled to an off night. But I thought this outing was unworthy of NBA level officials.

Is it just me? Did it look different with the benefit of instant replay?

[UnWantedTheory]

The Spurs got a ton of gift calls. The next time a Spurs fan wants to complain about a bad whistled game, remember this game. The Suns have a right to be miffed about the reffing.
I am not so sure it is that cut & dry, but whatevs. I think the Ref's were consistently inconsistent. The Spurs got some gift calls, but I think the Suns got a couple themselves.

[Solid D]

There were a few calls that were missed but the Spurs basically won the game at the FT line. The Suns actually made more FGs than the Spurs, but the Spurs were very aggressive in the 2nd half. The Spurs ended up with twice as many FTs, making a dozen more than PHX.

[spurs1990]

The only time officiating truly affected the outcome of a Spurs game was the entire 2006 WC semifinals.

Other than than, talking about the refs is weak. We're 24-3 and sitting pretty.

[Solid D]

The only time officiating truly affected the outcome of a Spurs game was the entire 2006 WC semifinals.

Most of the Denver metropolitan area would disagree with you.

[DocDoc]

I was at the game tonight, and the officiating was horrible. I don't mind saying that they made a lot of bad calls in the Spurs favor. They made just as many, maybe more, in the Suns favor. But that's not the point.

Is it just me? Did it look different with the benefit of instant replay?

I don't know if it was so much bad as they called it a lot tighter than most NBA games.

The sneaky things that players do with "incidental contact" all got called and it slowed down the game.

[K-State Spur]

The Spurs got a ton of gift calls. The next time a Spurs fan wants to complain about a bad whistled game, remember this game. The Suns have a right to be miffed about the reffing.

Spurs did get a few gifts. There were a few blown layups where our guys were gifted FTs because a Suns' player barely touched them - but the tone for this was set early when Duncan was called for a similar foul on Lopez.

Suns also got away with some moving clear-outs on multiple transition plays. They also blew 2, maybe 3, out-of-bounds calls in the Suns' favor.

Overall, at the end of the game, I thought the foul count and FT #s were about where they should have been - it just took an interesting route to get there.

[lazerelmo]

I love the post game interview with Blair. The guy interviewing is all trying to hype the rebound he pulled from Fry and Blair is trying to play it down cause the refs didn't call him.

[fyatuk]

From what I saw, the refs went the Spurs way in the first quarter, then turned around and went the Suns way in the second. Didn't see enough of the second half to really say anything there.

But yes, lots of HORRID calls.

[FromWayDowntown]

I thought it was a poorly-officiated game, but I'm not sure that the league expected anything other than that; it did choose that game, for whatever reason, to be Zach Zarba's first as crew chief, and then sent 2 younger officials to work that game with him.

[Thompson]

There were at least two out-of-bounds balls off the Suns that they got anyway; I looked at a Suns board to see what they thought of our players, and in the game thread even they thought the refs were helping them out.

I didn't really notice an inordinate amount of calls in their favor; it seems like the refs frequently miss fouls on our players (when Tim/others get hit/bumped while shooting). There have been games that jumped out at me with horrible officiating, and this wasn't really one of them.

[Cane]

What I noticed was a shift in officiating before the 2nd half. The Spurs were getting a nice string of home favored calls and trips to the line up until Coach Pop called a timeout and yelled at a ref about a no-call on Blair. After that the calls all went the Suns way for the rest of the first half :downspin:

[kaji157]

I think the reffing has changed since the Spurs won the 2007 championship, or more so, since lebron didn´t win it.
It has changed both the rules and the judgment to favor offensive teams over defensive ones, the Spurs are being reffed more fairly to us, not because we are Stern favorite team, but because we are more offense oriented and the rules and judgement are now suited for our kind of game.

This game with the defensive minded Spurs would have been a nightmare.

[JR3]

The officials were whistle happy. But I feel it went both ways. Honestly.

[spurtech09]

The last couple of games the officiating has been a bunch of bull.....

[superbigtime]

I think the reffing has changed since the Spurs won the 2007 championship, or more so, since lebron didn´t win it.
It has changed both the rules and the judgment to favor offensive teams over defensive ones, the Spurs are being reffed more fairly to us, not because we are Stern favorite team, but because we are more offense oriented and the rules and judgement are now suited for our kind of game.

This game with the defensive minded Spurs would have been a nightmare.

That's an excellent observation, I think rings very true. Spurs are victims of fewer phantom fouls now. This game was still called poorly though.

[RobinsontoDuncan]

That's an excellent observation, I think rings very true. Spurs are victims of fewer phantom fouls now. This game was still called poorly though.

Celts beat the Lakers and the LeBrons since then havent they?

[DieHardSpursFan1537]

Yes, it was absolute bullshit.

[superbigtime]

Celts beat the Lakers and the LeBrons since then havent they?

Yes

[DMC]

My experience has been that MOST of the out of bounds calls are called wrong. You would think it would be a 50/50, but it seems invariably to be called wrong.

Fouls are subjective.

I cannot complain about not getting "home court" calls since Denver didn't get one in that final second either.

[DMC]

At least the bullshit technicals aren't being called as much. A wave of a hand and it's a technical for one guy, but another guy can stomp around cursing and nothing...

Also, when are we going to see a coach from a mediocre franchise give a shit enough to get a technical and get tossed?

[DeadlyDynasty]

:lolwhiner

[ducks]

that was in 2010 idiot

[GSH]

that was in 2010 idiot

And this was in the last week or so. What a douche.


I'll never understand why n!ggers get so defensive about their shitty qbs.

Fucking someone's wife is african american shit though, imho