EIGHTY free throws - The Official Discuss The Officiating Thread

[jmard5]

It's possible that Dirk was getting away with some of his patented Karl Malone-style slap downs and inability to move his feet laterally on defense (see hitting Horry on the head as Dirk is pretty much frozen), because he's not getting the "respect" he deserves at the other end from the officials. I can give you that one, but if he's the Mavs "superstar," then it's a poor trade-off for the Spurs who have to lose Duncan (the Spurs superstar) to his 3rd foul (an offensive foul when the aforementioned Dirk pushed him into Jason Terry, who definitely was outside the circle with good position) - especially when Duncan is the only one playing well for the Spurs at that time. (I'll just mention that Duncan's second foul came on a questionable ticky-tack against Marquis Daniels when Daniels drove to the lane and double-pumped... the same type of call that Dirk got away with on Horry a few plays later.)

Once again, I'm not really discussing the numbers of calls missed, but the situational changes that arose from the inconsistent officiating (i.e. as a Mavs fan, you know that if I said Diop and Dampier would have 2-3 fouls apeice, but Duncan has to sit down with over 5 minutes remaining in the first half with 3 fouls, you would take that in a heartbeat). Likewise, so what if Jason Terry had to go out a few minutes later with his 3rd foul? He's still not your marquee player (Dirk) or your X-factor (Josh Howard) and he's getting outperformed by his backup (Devin Harris) who was just inserted into the starting line-up. (Sidenote: we all know Jason Terry folds in the big ones - especially back to when he lost in the NCAA Tourney first round on his home floor in Tucson to an Edjuardo Najera-led Oklahoma team... ending with Terry missing an 8-footer at the buzzer... I'm kind of confused why Pop was thinking they should focus on him.)

And to your other point - momentum and pace are two different things... the Suns run-and-gun at a fast pace - putting up a lot of shots and playing lackadaisical defense in order to spur their fast break. Momentum does not depend on pace, but can shift as a result of it - for example, the Suns and Clippers were still playing at a fast pace the whole game, but it wasn't until Elton Brand went out with 7 minutes left in the 4th quarter that the Suns gained momentum and went from 1-pt down to 7-pts up in a matter of minutes, and then rode that momentum to 130 points. So, in the case of the Mavs vs. Spurs, both teams wanted to impose their respective paces on the other (Mavs wanted to speed it up for Game 2, while the Spurs prefer the half-court game). In that scenario, a shift in momentum for the Spurs would have been getting defensive stops and getting their half-court game up and running with tight cuts and sharp passes instead of a lot of the problems they were having with it last night.

Therefore, the momentum shifting plays I refered to above and in my previous post helped the Mavs both maintain their pace and their lead (a lead that forced the Spurs to try and play more to the Mavs style because you can't come back from 20 pts down by running half-court sets until 5 seconds left on the shot clock). You see where I'm going with this? So situations arise, such as a Devin Harris 3-pt play that could have been ruled a charging call (where Ginobili took a shot to the mouth) can result in a potential 5 or 6 point momentum swing depending on how the Spurs would have fared on the next possession and the ones after that (i.e. taking the emotional and homecrowd upswing of getting an offensive foul and running it the other way). Say they hit a 3 on that possession, then the Mavs might be back on their heels... instead, a few plays later Brent Barry is called for a blocking foul that was pretty questionable and the Mavs are riding high. That is the essence of momentum.

Hey, I like this RonMexico guy! Pretty good explanation. Props to you sir.

[v2freak]

Good points, RM

[Bloodline666]

It may be just the angle the TV camera was pointing at, but I could've sworn I saw Dirk Nowitzki get away with goaltending and not get that called. I could be wrong, though...

[A-Train]

I was most upset with the 2nd foul called on Duncan. After that, the non-call when Nowitzki applied a similiar amount of contact on an Horry drive. The 2nd quarter was the worst officiated period of NBA basketball I've ever seen.

[Bloodline666]

It was not just the supposed goaltending committed by Dirk that set me off. According to the camera's angle, that ball was on its way through the net when Dirk rebounded it. And if I'm not mistaken, even if it hits the rim, if it's on its way through the net, and an offensive player touches it, they lose possession, and if a defensive player touches it, the basket automatically counts (which was supposed to be the case in this non-call; Like I said, I could be wrong, so only those who were at the game could've had a better view of that than me).

Another thing that set me off was Josh Howard pushing Tony Parker off with his off-arm, and TONY getting called for the foul. Now that one was a crystal-clear offensive foul on Howard. We were supposed to get possession on that call.

[mFFL03]

almost MVP? i think what at least being in the top 5 for voting gives one a POSSIBILITY to get an MVP vote, hence ALMOST MVP.

what players were on the ballot from the spurs teams....oh wait non were in the top five, or ten for that matter....20 even? i dont thinkso

[Mr. Peabody]

almost MVP? i think what at least being in the top 5 for voting gives one a POSSIBILITY to get an MVP vote, hence ALMOST MVP.

what players were on the ballot from the spurs teams....oh wait non were in the top five, or ten for that matter....20 even? i dont thinkso

I think you Mavs fans would trade Dirk, #3 in MVP votes, for Duncan, #8 in MVP votes, in a heartbeat.

[TxJudsonRocketTx]

almost MVP? i think what at least being in the top 5 for voting gives one a POSSIBILITY to get an MVP vote, hence ALMOST MVP.

what players were on the ballot from the spurs teams....oh wait non were in the top five, or ten for that matter....20 even? i dont thinkso

Duncan #8, Parker #9. Asshole, how bout knowing what you're talking about before you open your mouth?

[Trainwreck2100]

almost MVP? i think what at least being in the top 5 for voting gives one a POSSIBILITY to get an MVP vote, hence ALMOST MVP.

what players were on the ballot from the spurs teams....oh wait non were in the top five, or ten for that matter....20 even? i dont thinkso

shoulda stopped after top 5

[RonMexico]

Hey, I like this RonMexico guy! Pretty good explanation. Props to you sir.

Thanks, man - I'll be here all week (by "week" I mean playoffs)

[Spurologist]

who's the least biased, most consistent, and "fair" ref? Violet Palmer?

That would be Zebra Zack Zarba