I may be done with the NBA. I love my Spurs, and I'll still watch them. But the opening minutes of this Lakers-Hornets game may be the straw that broke the camel's back for me. I just can't support it anymore. Some of the totally egregious plays in just the first few minutes of play:
1. Bynum elbowed Belinelli to the head and drew blood. Belinelli had to go to the sideline to stop the bleeding. No call on Bynum. Lakers score 2 points on the play. I wonder how the refs think the blood got there? Bynum is flailing his elbows constantly, and he already cut CP3 in the last game.
2. Gasol turns his back to the basket and starts backing down. He takes 4 shuffle steps without putting the ball on the ground. No travelling call. Lakers score 2 points. It's a lot easier to back your opponent down when you don't have to worry about putting that damned ball on the floor.
3. Ariza drives to the paint. Gasol jumps in front of him, doesn't get squared up, still moving his feet (backwards), and takes the contact on the side of his body. It wasn't even close. Charging call on Ariza. Totally inconsistent with charge calls elsewhere.
4. Kobe goes up for a jumper, and they call an absolute phantom call on Ariza. Ariza has to leave the game with 2 early fouls. Not coincidentally, I think, Ariza had 10 points in 6 minutes of play and hadn't missed a shot. Kobe is now being defended by the 6-3 Willie Green, instead of the 6-7 Ariza.
5. Willie Green drives it to the paint. Gasol leaps in front of him, and is in the air when he makes contact. Green makes the shot, and thinks he has an and-1. But nooo.... it's another charge on against the Hornets. And this one is even worse than the one against Ariza.
I know the game is hard to call. But there's no way that an NBA level officiating crew can miss that many obvious calls, that badly, in such a short period of time. I still don't want to call it a conspiracy. But the best case scenario is that they are biased in favor of the Lakers as a result of all the hype they get. Either that, or I have to believe that they are absolutely incompetent - on one end of the floor.
I'm not going to abandon the Spurs. But in a way I feel like a chump, even for that. This isn't a level planing field. It just isn't. I sure as don't have any soft spot for the Hornets, but they've been screwed over solidly, and the game is still young. The Spurs lost last night because they got outplayed. But why would I expect any better than what I see tonight, if they did get matched up against the Lakers, or Heat, or Bulls?
One thing I do know. If it's not the Spurs playing, I'll turn on Deadliest Catch or something. And if I ever want to see this kind of bull , I'll go right to the source and turn on the WWF.
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whiner
