duncan228
05-28-2008, 04:41 PM
http://blogs.mysanantonio.com/weblogs/courtside/archives/2008/05/tom_orsborn_pop_10.html
Tom Orsborn: Pop breaks down refs' thinking
Last night's decision by the officiating crew of Joey Crawford, Joe Forte and Mark Wunderlich not to whistle the Lakers' Derek Fisher for a foul on Brent Barry in the closing seconds is sure to spark renewed debate about how a number of variables seem to affect the way NBA referees work.
Had Fisher made similar contact with Barry in the second period, a whistle likely would have been blown. Barry also might have gone to the line had he sold the foul a little better. The call also likely gets made if a respected star like Tim Duncan is shooting rather than a grinder like Barry.
All of the above was presented to Spurs coach Gregg Popovich about an hour ago during his media session minutes befoe the Spurs departed for L.A. from Landmark Aviation.
"Officials will tell you no," Popovich said when asked if officials react differently to the same player-to-player contact at different points in the game. "But it's a very strange thing. If you talk to an official, an official will tell you the game is called at the end of the game exactly like it is during the meat of the game, and that's their story and they are going to stand by it.
"In reality, personally, I don't think that's true, and I could give a thousand examples that things are called differently down the stretch, where I think most referees feel, and I agree with them, that things need to be more definitive before you are going to make a call. A referee is going to be hesitant to make a call that can decide a game at the end of the game unless it is really either gross or obvious, that kind of thing. That's why I said that if I was an official I would not have called that a foul at the end of the game last night."
Asked if a superstar would have gotten the call, Popovich chuckled before saying, "Some people believe that that's totally true. You can find examples to prove that that is true. But that's not the intent of any official."
Still, to his credit, Popovich hasn't changed his tune. Given all of the factors involved - the player taking the shot, the time the shot was taken, etc. - the Spurs just weren't going to get that call. Suffice it to say, it's time to move on.
Tom Orsborn: Pop breaks down refs' thinking
Last night's decision by the officiating crew of Joey Crawford, Joe Forte and Mark Wunderlich not to whistle the Lakers' Derek Fisher for a foul on Brent Barry in the closing seconds is sure to spark renewed debate about how a number of variables seem to affect the way NBA referees work.
Had Fisher made similar contact with Barry in the second period, a whistle likely would have been blown. Barry also might have gone to the line had he sold the foul a little better. The call also likely gets made if a respected star like Tim Duncan is shooting rather than a grinder like Barry.
All of the above was presented to Spurs coach Gregg Popovich about an hour ago during his media session minutes befoe the Spurs departed for L.A. from Landmark Aviation.
"Officials will tell you no," Popovich said when asked if officials react differently to the same player-to-player contact at different points in the game. "But it's a very strange thing. If you talk to an official, an official will tell you the game is called at the end of the game exactly like it is during the meat of the game, and that's their story and they are going to stand by it.
"In reality, personally, I don't think that's true, and I could give a thousand examples that things are called differently down the stretch, where I think most referees feel, and I agree with them, that things need to be more definitive before you are going to make a call. A referee is going to be hesitant to make a call that can decide a game at the end of the game unless it is really either gross or obvious, that kind of thing. That's why I said that if I was an official I would not have called that a foul at the end of the game last night."
Asked if a superstar would have gotten the call, Popovich chuckled before saying, "Some people believe that that's totally true. You can find examples to prove that that is true. But that's not the intent of any official."
Still, to his credit, Popovich hasn't changed his tune. Given all of the factors involved - the player taking the shot, the time the shot was taken, etc. - the Spurs just weren't going to get that call. Suffice it to say, it's time to move on.