Officiating tonight

[UZER]

First of all, Miami was more aggressive. They deserved to get more calls. The calls were definitely in Miami's favor but they earned that right with the way they were relentless. No complaints on that.......however.....

WTF was that defensive 3 sec call on Duncan! It was a key momentum swing in this game. The Spurs looked like they had settled down and started taking control of the game right up until this call.

The worst part is, it wasn't like Duncan was cheating on D. His man was just coming across half court and it had no baring on the play whatsoever.

[4lifecowboy]

I think momentum changed with a run of touch fouls against the Spurs at the end of the Third quarter, while the heat were still allowed to be aggressive on the defensive end. Along with the 1 second, defensive 3 second you were speaking of. When the ref start doing that we should make sure we get our money's worth and start fouling hard instead of regressing and becoming less aggressive.

[KaiRMD1]

I didn't think the officiating was terrible tonight

[testies]

That defensive 3 seconds was pathetic, they got 3 points in that attack.. Referees are too interveining and wanting to show off

[UZER]

I didn't think the officiating was terrible tonight

Neither did I, just that def 3 sec call was my only gripe.

[4lifecowboy]

I didn't think the officiating was terrible tonight

I'm not bitching about the refs. I'm bitching about the Spurs reaction to the refs.

[KaiRMD1]

I'm not bitching about the refs. I'm bitching about the Spurs reaction to the refs.

Yeah that was stupid. All in all, this trend continues of good officiating, it will only help make the series that much more entertaining from a basketball stand point

[HI-FI]

Normally I spend a lot of time complaining on the refs but tonight I didn't notice them too much. I was too busy watching Manu dribble like he was in an Argentinian AARP league.

[UZER]

I like the way the games have flow. To many times in the playoffs the officials just keep stopping the game over and over and over, then swallow the whistles in the last 3 minutes.

I'm enjoying these games from a basketball fan prospective.

[T Park]

Best reffed game by Ken Mauer I've ever seen.

I was more pissed off at the constant whining.

[blizz]

Tony was getting manhandled and they got phantom calls for and 1s on chalmers. That started their run.

[UZER]

Best reffed game by Ken Mauer I've ever seen.

I was more pissed off at the constant whining.

Werd

[Budkin]

There were a few hard bumps by the Heat that should have been called. Only one besides the defensive 3 I thought was bad was the one on Chalmers were he shot the floater and wasn't ever touched. Other than that, things were good.

[TheGoldStandard]

Embarrassing game for the Spurs. Danny Green is the only guy who showed up tonight and the rest of the Spurs were somewhere in the hotel smiling about game 1. Fuck, the refs were calling touch stuff but we were still in the game and we blew it.

[pgardn]

Zero impact.

As it should be.

[DJ Mbenga]

Spurs have been packing the paint entire series. Theyre fortunate theyve only been called for one

[mercos]

For a game 2 where the road team is up 1-0, this was a pretty decent officiating job. Miami got a touch of home cooking, but not enough to matter. They didn't make Manu forget how to dribble or pass, or force Parker to turn the ball over 5 more times than he did in game one. Spurs better bring the focus for game 3.

[FearDaDuncaN_SA]

Its funny how the refs called two quick fouls on Green cause he was hot and the lead stretched from 5 to 10. And with a lead like that you can play free. And the asshole wasn't as puckered.

[kaji157]

Manu did just say that ... oh i´m gonna translate it.

Source is in spanish here: http://www.ole.com.ar/basquet/tirar-cohetes_0_935306463.html

i´m translating only the ginobili quotes.

“Me voy muy desilusionado, no estoy para tirar cohetes. Perdí un partido de final, voy a mirar el video para repasar errores”,

"I am very dissapointed, for sure not to light fireworks. I lost a Finals game, gonna watch the tape and review mistakes"

“Nos pasaron por arriba del tercer cuarto en adelante. Sabíamos que podía suceder, ellos tienen rachas así”.

"They run us over from the 3rd and on. We knew this could happen, they have these kind of runs."

That´s the first and second quotes, nothing important there but then he said...

Por último, aseguró que no estuvo “cómodo en ningún momento”, y lo puntualizó en un momento del segundo cuarto. “Fue especialmente desde que me cobraron la tercera falta”.

At last he assured that he wasnt "comfortable at any point", and he focused on one point during the 2nd quarter. "Specially after they called the 3rd foul on me".

So going back i have to ask, where any of those fouls ticky tack?

[Kidd K]

I thought the officiating was okay except for the 3rd quarter. The refs only missed a few calls (two the Heat did and one the Spurs did) and blew just one in the first half (the ball that Haslem knocked out of bounds).

. . .then in the 3rd, they missed several calls against Miami (fouls at the basket), kept calling the Spurs for cheap brush contact, and bailed out LeBron on that charge that they called a block. Not to mention there were two kicked balls that the refs let go for turnovers.

I was fine with the refs except for the 3rd which they officiated terribly. Once they had all that momentum, the flood gates opened up and it was over.

[DeadlyDynasty]

Thanks, Obama

[heyheymymy]

i counted 3 kickballs that they let miami make fastbreak turnovers out of, then when the spurs got a kickball deflection that they actually recovered oh all the sudden refs knew how to call that?

the 3 sec call on TD was awful, and the way they let miami be aggressive on D but called spurs on little contact ticky-tack fouls on the other end was pretty shitty.

the mario chalmers and one was weak.

parker, splitter and TD gettting eaten alive in the paint offensively and no breaks all night.

the lebron charge non-call was a nice break for them as well. when you're talking about the heat, they don't need much to get them going. they were dead in the water before the help came.

hell, i thought the moving screen call on lebron was total garbage. thought it was a pretty legit screen lebron set.

oh well, in the end, the spurs had to many TO's, not focused, manu was on crack, TP and TD were off, and neal needs a summer long defense drill.

/bitching

[heyheymymy]

ultimately though, hats off to miami, a few calls dont add up to a blowout like that. that's on S.A. 100%

[dbestpro]

Pop pulls everyone with 7 minutes left to send a message. Was the message for the players or the NBA. The kick ball issue was bad, and Parker was getting brutalized. I know everyone is trying to go the high road, but when you watch some of the stuff in slow motion, you have to scratch your head. I know, I know, the NBA has got to move that merchandise.

[John B]

Several drive by Parker, no fouls; Lebron block on TD with his hands on Duncan's face, no foul. NBA wants to make it a longer series. They know it would be over in San Antonio.

[spurraider21]

i didn't think officiating was a huge factor. were there calls here and there? sure. but thats every game. we flopped a lot, so refs started doubting the validity of actual fouls too

[DeadlyDynasty]

Pop pulls everyone with 7 minutes left to send a message. Was the message for the players or the NBA. The kick ball issue was bad, and Parker was getting brutalized. I know everyone is trying to go the high road, but when you watch some of the stuff in slow motion, you have to scratch your head. I know, I know, the NBA has got to move that merchandise.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eT9aU8-ofdA

[senorglory]

I think momentum changed with a run of touch fouls against the Spurs at the end of the Third quarter, while the heat were still allowed to be aggressive on the defensive end. Along with the 1 second, defensive 3 second you were speaking of.

This is what happened, even assuming they were all good and fair calls, this still happened.

[Tuddy]

The block on Danny Green should have been a charge. When LeBron blocked Duncan he smacked him on the hand on the follow through. Birdman hit Duncan on the elbow on the turnaround jumper

[TE]

Pop pulls everyone with 7 minutes left to send a message. Was the message for the players or the NBA. The kick ball issue was bad, and Parker was getting brutalized. I know everyone is trying to go the high road, but when you watch some of the stuff in slow motion, you have to scratch your head. I know, I know, the NBA has got to move that merchandise.
Whoever guarded Parker played extra physical...that's playoff basketball. Parker should've stopped trying to sell the physicality as a foul and tough it out.

[Mal]

I dont think refs were a big factor. They allowed Miami to play very aggresive, but teams like Spurs must adapt to it. And I think Spurs played well, up until this huge run, but it wasnt because of calls.

[KenziE]

they even called the KING for an offensive foul good game by the ref it was san antonio's fault they lost not the refs moving on to game 3

[TampaDude]

I saw at least one out of bounds play that the refs missed badly. Refs are NOT why Miami won, though. The refs didn't go on a 33-5 run, the Heat did.

Spurs need to FOCUS and play like they did in Game 1, but with better 3-point shooting.

[Jenks]

My favorite part was when they were calling non existent, on the floor fouls on Heat role players early in the fourth to even out the foul totals. I'm just thankful that Stern wasted Ed Malloy and Joey Crawford in the same game.

[spurspokesman]

Miami kicked a few balls that werent called that resulted in to's and the 3 second call. Other than that meh...

[UZER]

I dont think refs were a big factor. They allowed Miami to play very aggresive, but teams like Spurs must adapt to it. And I think Spurs played well, up until this huge run, but it wasnt because of calls.


This was one of my points before the series. Miami is gonna get bumpy, slappy, reachy with their defense and the spurs have to find a way to play through it.

[Spur-Addict]

LOL "Key momentum swing"

[littlecoyotecoin]

ultimately though, hats off to miami, a few calls dont add up to a blowout like that. that's on S.A. 100%

On the contrary, the officiating taints their win, IMHO. Although it wasn't the worst officiated game I've seen, it was bad. The fact that Miami played so well and San Antonio played so poorly covers it up. I am glad that kicked balls were mentioned, earlier. That is something I noted right off, and throughout the game. The Spurs kicked the ball, twice (maybe unintentional), that I noticed, and were called for it on BOTH occasions. Starting early in the game, The Heat had 3-4 possible (a couple were unintentional, maybe) kicked balls (4-5 on the whole), NONE called, resulting in "turnovers" and quick easy points for The Heat. (And, adding to the discussion of "How badly the Spurs are playing".) There were lots of little things that went both ways, but this was glaring. I don't make much of the missed call out of bounds on Haslem, that is in the heat of the moment...MAYBE not intentional. However, the swallowing the whistle on Heat kicked balls is systematic. The defensive 3-seconds is suspect, too. Blocking/charging/screen calls can often go either way - I didn't notice much on first watching. One maybe for us, one against. But, The Heat were going to be allowed to play a different game than we were, clearly.

The touch fouls called on Spur defenders vs. the aggressive hacking and swiping (and kicking) that leads to quick fast break turnover points with a swallowed whistle for the Heat defender, that's also systematic, and reminiscent of the switch that was flippped in the officiating during the OKC series last year (worse). Simply two sets of rules for defenders. Pushes on Spurs players, hacks on "blocks", drives, etc. All "no calls" on one end. Lebron has a body foul and follow-through slap in the side of the head on Tim or Tiago on one "block" - It's a highlight! Of course, you breath on Chalmers going to the basket on the other end, AND ONE! 5/5 from the line. Miraculously, foul shots end up equal at the end of the game. I think Corey Joseph got 4 timely free throws after the game had been decided to bring it nice and tight. 14=14.

Anyone see Bosh simply double hand push one of our guards in the chest on offense to get free? He was inside five yards, so I think it was legal, but hilarious no call.

You expect some home cooking, but it was too much. It's often impossible to overcome, but easy to disguise in the stat sheet with good timing with the fouls (Danny Green hot? Foul on Green.), making players sit early, and making up with a few meaningless calls at the end of the game, or once a run has occurred. In the end, you can always just blame someone that points it out as being a homer.

The fact that Miami capitalized so efficiently on those "turnovers" is no surprise. But, had many of them NOT been turnovers (been called a kicked ball, for example), The Spurs enter halftime with a lead. With Danny's great play, we were killing them in the first quarter, and that couldn't be allowed.

When an offense is clicking like Miami's was, we lose two-three potential points on a swallowed whistle turnover, and they gain a three at the other end...

It only takes a few of those...five-six point turn-arounds.

The refs take a team that is shooting 40%, give them 8 no-calls, but the team shoots 80%, and the refs shrug their shoulders and say "oops".

"How were we supposed to know they were going to shoot 80%?"
"How were we supposed to know Ibaka is going to go 12/12?"

The Spurs did respond poorly to the bad officiating. They continued to try to force things, and it led to a lot of the ugly play. They should have handled it better, but they probably still would have lost. Save Green and Kawhi, as mentioned, no one played very well - but a lot of that "bad play" is manufactured. Tim taking shitty fade-aways, because he'll be pushed or hacked in the lane. Tim took what he was "allowed" to take, to our demise.

Combine that with The Heat going unconscious from three, and they look like world-beaters.

Call an even game, Spurs have a half-time lead, and they absorb a hot shooting team (with significanly many opportunities) for a win or lose a much closer game. A game against a juggernaut like Miami is a tenuous thing, and a ref can twist the knob on the high strung situation very easily to pop the string.

[littlecoyotecoin]

"I dont think refs were a big factor. They allowed Miami to play very aggresive, but teams like Spurs must adapt to it. And I think Spurs played well, up until this huge run, but it wasnt because of calls"

They don't have to be a BIG factor. It wasn't ONLY because of the calls. But, there are too many people willing to give a pass, and Heat "greatness" and Spurs "crappiness" are ampliphied by the calls.

You are right...if you are in a fight with a bigger opponent, you must adjust. Now, let's tie your hands behind your back, then go ahead and make those adjustments. Some fights just aren't fair. When you have two equally matched opponents, giving one of them an advantage causes a GIGANTIC shift. A shift that is insurmountable, as they were evenly matched.