Lebron changed his tune today - said there was contact at the end of the game

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

So much for the high road.

[ClingingMars]

well no duh there was contact

but the ref was trying to help him out. end of thread.

-Mars

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Thanks for that excellent take there, Mars boy.

Seeings you're so damn dense, this is about all the folks patting LBJ on the back for being so 'classy' last night. Now they're trying to get ready for game 4 and avoid the sweep, it's time to get the refs on their side.

[ChumpDumper]

Is there a link for this? He's already said there was contact.

[T Park]

I see no reason otherwise to think hes still not a classy, good guy.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

I'm sure it'll turn up ChumpDumper. Do they post the media interviews anywhere? I was watching NBATV and they were (still are actually) showing today's post-practice interviews.

First James said 'yeah, there was contact, but I don't want to blame our loss on that.'

Then someone else came back and asked a different question to him and he said something else like 'we all know there was contact at the end. and that's all I have to say about that.'

I looked on NBA.com but didn't see anything.

[missmyzte]

There was contact, doesn't make him any less classy for saying there was contact. He's still maintain that there are no excuses for the loss.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Now Varejao is trying to explain what he was thinking with that last shot :lmao

"The lane was open, I thought I could get to the basket, and then Duncan just showed up."

He also said he'd do what he did again. :lol

Thanks, Side Show Bob :tu

[ChumpDumper]

Well, he said there was contact last night. Had he said he was fouled in the act of shooting a three, that would be much more of a change of tune.

[timvp]

So you want LeBron to lie and say there was no contact? He said it didn't effect his shot. And saying there's contact isn't saying it was a foul.

If this happened had happened to a Spur, you'd see a lot more outcry than we've heard from the Cavs. This Cavs team makes less excuses than any team I've ever seen.

[Spurs Dynasty 21]

this will have no effect on GM4



just dead this issue

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Dang, we need a youtube of this or something. It wasn't his quote, the second statement about it you could tell from his body language and facial expressions he was pissed about it.

It was enough of a difference from how he acted last night to make me question the sincerity of his actions last night.

[Fabbs]

Why would it supposedly be *The High Road* for lieing and saying there was no contact? For Petes sake Bowen was doing an intentional foul.

Had the refs called it correctly he would be at the line for a 1 +1, not 3 FTs. Bruce grabbed him with his right hand well before the continuation started.

As to Sideshow Bob, yes he missed the shot. But all the bullshit people are laying on him. It was a good shot selection. He just freaked out and blew the angle. Should he have given it back to Lebron, yeah maybe. Maybe not.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

:lol Bowen getting grilled about the last play now.

"Did you foul Lebron at the end?"

Bruce: "The refs didn't blow the whistle..."

"Was it your intent to foul him?"

Bruce: "My intent was to keep him from shooting a three." *shrugs*

"Should you be Finals MVP for your job on 'Bron'?

Bruce: starts laughing and shakes his head no

[ChumpDumper]

I'd rather have him whine about it. More fun that way.

[timvp]

LeBron was fouled and should have gone to the line for three free throws. The refs didn't call it and now the Cavs are in an almost impossible hole.

Who wouldn't be mad at the no call?

[ShoogarBear]

He was definitely fouled. The 3 FTs is an interesting question. The only comparable play to it I can think of is Larry Johnson's 4-point play against the Pacers in the 1999 ECF. A lot of people say the continuation call was very shaky on that one. This would have been a similar situation.

[FromWayDowntown]

He was definitely fouled. The 3 FTs is an interesting question. The only comparable play to it I can think of is Larry Johnson's 4-point play against the Pacers in the 1999 ECF. A lot of people say the continuation call was very shaky on that one. This would have been a similar situation.

Last night on ESPN, Rick Carlisle specifically cited to the LJ play in arguing that it would have been the wrong call to give LBJ 3 free throws last night. Carlisle said (and I seem to remember) that the league admitted that Bavetta shouldn't have given Johnson continuation on that play -- of course, Carlisle was (IIRC) an assistant for that Indiana team and might have a bit of an axe to grind terms of his view of that play and its successors.

I think Delaney must have decided that Bowen's foul was before the shot and that there was no continuation and thought it would be a better exercise of his discretion to give Lebron the chance to tie the game with a 3. That's an awful lot of calculation to do in that split second, but I'm convinced that the officials, in those late timeouts, think through those situations and prepare themselves for how to handle them. I still think Delaney erred by not making a call, but I could see that he felt he couldn't give Lebron continuation.

[ShoogarBear]

Bavettahttp://www.nyc.gov/html/sports/gif/knicks-title.gif

[td4mvp3]

LeBron was fouled and should have gone to the line for three free throws. The refs didn't call it and now the Cavs are in an almost impossible hole.

Who wouldn't be mad at the no call?
i just want him to say it. it bugs me that he hasn't just owned up to the fact that it was a blown call when no one would deny that. it smacks of rasheed two years ago after manu torched them the first two games saying ginobilli was "alright." lebron doesn't want to be painted as a whiner for saying he got fouled and it affected his shot or that he got fouled and should have gone to the line. he screws his team by not just admitting it since there is less pressure on the ref to call other questionable fouls.

[Viva Las Espuelas]

http://spurstalk.com/forums/images/smilies/jack.gif

[TampaDude]

IMHO, the ref did the right thing by not blowing the whistle. The contact was light, and he let LeBron have that last shot...win or lose, it was going to be decided on the court, not by the refs...and that's how it should be. :toast

[td4mvp3]

IMHO, the ref did the right thing by not blowing the whistle. The contact was light, and he let LeBron have that last shot...win or lose, it was going to be decided on the court, not by the refs...as it should be. :toast
the omission of the obvious call means the refs still affected the outcome. it was not a light tap or incidental contact, bowen grabbed lebron's arm. a foul's a foul. of course, a win's a win.

[MrChug]

You know? I was just texting my brother that I was "officially" a Lebron James fan. I thought he was a classy guy with a classy interview and a classy take. That's the kind of stud it takes to lead a team to a championship.

If this is true and I get audio/video I will reconsider my position.

[TampaDude]

the omission of the obvious call means the refs still affected the outcome. it was not a light tap or incidental contact, bowen grabbed lebron's arm. a foul's a foul. of course, a win's a win.

It didn't affect his shot.

Yup...cheap, but we'll take it! :toast

[T Park]

LeBron was fouled and should have gone to the line for three free throws. The refs didn't call it and now the Cavs are in an almost impossible hole.

Who wouldn't be mad at the no call?


I'd be devastated honestly.

[Corn on the Colb]

So were the Jazz the only team that didn't bitch when they got beat?

[td4mvp3]

It didn't affect his shot.

Yup...cheap, but we'll take it! :toast


i think you can go either way about whether it affected his shot. i know he said it didn't, but it seems like he'ss fading partly to separate from bowen.

[Thunder Dan]

if it wasn't obvious to you that Bowen was trying to foul him before he took the shot, you better get your eyes checked, seriously. Whats Lebron supposed to say? That there wasn't ANY contact? doubt it, because there was contact

[judaspriestess]

John Hollinger: (4:08 PM ET ) It's possible Bob Delaney decided to ignore the foul and let LeBron shoot the 3, since by calling the foul -- if he ruled it was on the floor -- he would have essentially handed San Antonio the win. By the way, the odds of LeBron making all three foul shots were about 34%.

Thats Hollingers response to the contact question, any opinions?

[TampaDude]

Thats Hollingers response to the contact question, any opinions?

Sounds reasonable to me...

[FromWayDowntown]

So were the Jazz the only team that didn't bitch when they got beat?

Game 4?

[ploto]

Much less contact is called a foul on the perimeter all the time in the NBA.

As to LeBron's comments today- he was just answering the question posed to him. What did you expect them to ask about today?

[hater]

LeBron was fouled and should have gone to the line for three free throws. The refs didn't call it and now the Cavs are in an almost impossible hole.


you forgot to add that he would proceeded to miss 2 of those free throws.


in all honesty I seen replays and replays and I do not see contact. Yes Bruce tried to foul, but Bronze moved away and Bowen's left hand did not contact.

[koopa]

not sure if this has been said since i don't feel like reading everyones post, but lebron never said there wasn't contact in the first place, what he did say was that it was accidental contact and that it didn't change his shot............... so he never said he didn't get touched by bowen............

[Corn on the Colb]

Game 4?

The players bitched? I never heard it.

Did I? Hell yeah. We got robbed. We'd have lost anyway (most likely), but even you can't say it was a completely fair game. Either way, Spurs are the better team.

[leemajors]

you forgot to add that he would proceeded to miss 2 of those free throws.


in all honesty I seen replays and replays and I do not see contact. Yes Bruce tried to foul, but Bronze moved away and Bowen's left hand did not contact.
god, please. if you can't see that contact you shouldn't be driving. it's irrelevant though, the game is over.

[JamStone]

I don't know if it's weirder that someone started a thread about this or that it got this many responses ...

LeBron saying there was contact today in interviews doesn't even contradict what he was saying last night after the game. I don't see how he changed his tune.

Shit, if I were LeBron I would have bitched about it being a foul and deserving 3 free throws on the play. Fuck being classy. It's about winning. Ask Robert Horry if he cares about being classy. Who remembers classy losers? Fuck that. A poor sportsman of a winner is still a winner. I can call Bruce Bowen dirty or Robert Horry a punk or Tim Duncan boring. But, I can't call them losers.

That's the thing.

[JamStone]

you forgot to add that he would proceeded to miss 2 of those free throws.


in all honesty I seen replays and replays and I do not see contact. Yes Bruce tried to foul, but Bronze moved away and Bowen's left hand did not contact.


wowwwwww
:drunk :dizzy