Seems I'm not the only to think the mavs have been cheated out by the refs.
Johnson cries 'foul' over lack of calls
By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News
OKLAHOMA CITY – A perceived lack of respect from officiating crews toward Dirk Nowitzki has pushed Avery Johnson to the boiling point.
The coach has been confounded by the fact that Nowitzki is going to the free-throw line nearly two fewer times per game this season after averaging 9.1 trips last season.
Asked if Nowitzki is granted the appropriate respect by referees, Johnson said:
"Not like a superstar. If you look at all of the superstar guys who haven't won a championship, to me, he doesn't get the respect that he should.
"I don't know if he needs to wag his tongue more. I don't know if he needs to change his appearance. I don't know what he needs to do."
Johnson said superstars such as Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal and Tim Duncan, who have won multiple championships, can be excluded from Nowitzki's class. But others, such as Allen Iverson, LeBron James and Tracy McGrady, seem to get the benefit of the doubt from refs more than Nowitzki, Johnson said.
Indeed, Nowitzki is tied for 19th in trips to the line per game at 7.3.
"To me, he's one of the top players in our game," Johnson said. "That's a pretty select class of people.So, if he's a top five player in the world, and he's a professional and he works hard and he's not a quitter ... I don't know what we have to do to get him catapulted and change the perception of who he is. He is a legitimate superstar.
"It's just that we're living in a world where it's style over substance."
At the root of Johnson's ire is the non-call that went against Nowitzki in the waning seconds Friday night against Golden State. Nowitzki went to the basket strong, trying to finish with two hands, and came up empty.
Nowitzki refuses to get involved in the issue.
"I've never been a complainer," Nowitzki said. "I'm just going to try to keep going to the basket harder."
Johnson believes Nowitzki is going to the basket stronger, "but he needs to go probably twice as hard as he's been going."
While Nowitzki avoids the subject, Johnson is not alone in this complaint. Owner Mark Cuban added his two cents.
"When I talk to the commissioner about it, he said that, yes, they miss calls," Cuban said. "So I agree with the commissioner."
49 and counting: At least when Nowitzki does get free throws, he is making them.
He made nine without missing on Saturday, meaning his streak without a miss is up to 49, tying Steve Nash's club record.
"I'm not doing anything different," he said. "They're just going in."
Another complaint: Cuban, by the way, charts virtually everything when it comes to how officiating impacts his team and others. One of the things he can't figure out is how the referees treat Detroit.
"What I don't understand is how the two most aggressive defensive teams in the league are Detroit and San Antonio," Cuban said, "yet they've had the fewest fouls called against them. How does that happen? I don't understand it."
Detroit has had the fewest fouls this season, but 10 teams have been whistled for fewer than the Spurs.
Briefly: Josh Howard had three rebounds in the first seven minutes against New Orleans. That's one more than he had in the entire game Friday against Golden State ... After losing to Golden State on Friday, the Mavericks are a quite pedestrian 6-4 at home against Western Conference opponents. They are 5-0 against the East. They next play Portland at American Airlines Center on Tuesday.
See? That's my biggest gripe with the NBA. Refs should not be biased like that. Whether your a super-star, a superstar without a ring, or the 6th man of the bench...a foul should be a foul. No special exceptions/and or special attention should be made depending on the player. It makes the game that much less unfair and gives that much more control to the refs...
"gives that much more control to the refs"
And that's probably why the refs didn't call a foul on Adonal's slight, touch foul, in some opinions, on Dirk's 2 handed dunk. A hard dunk by Dirk would have scored and not been bothered by Adonal's presence. It was more of a two-handed put-in than power dunk. The refs don't want calls to control/decide the game, unless con uous, inarguable fouls.
I don't blame them, last season Dirk was a to the refs. After every drive or shot he looked and complained. It would get annoying to me as an official. Or maybe its because I just don't like him.
Cuban really pisses me off sometimes. He was the person who originally lobbied for the touch foul rules (which has killed the game, IMO). As for Detroit and San Antonio commiting so few fouls.... That's the REASON they're good defensive teams. Because they don't commit cheapy fouls, sending teams to the line constantly. They also have 2 of the best big men at altering shots without fouling (Duncan, Ben). Unlike Dallas's Dampier and Diop, who don't know how to do anything but body slam guys when they get in the lane. That's why Ben and Duncan are good defensive players. Doesn't take a genius to figure it out.
So, if he's a top five player in the world, and he's a professional and he works hard and he's not a quitter ... I don't know what we have to do to get him catapulted and change the perception of who he is. He is a legitimate superstar.
"It's just that we're living in a world where it's style over substance."
And FP22 is quite right about what a Cuban is.
Funny thing is that this year Dirk is averaging 9.3 FTA/48min, which is 1.1 OVER his career average. Nobody complained last year when he had 11.25 FTA/48min, which was a ridiculous 4.3 attempts/48min OVER his previous season's average. So, Dirk is averaging 1.95 fewer FT attempts per 48 minutes than last year's insanely high average while Tim Duncan is averaging 1.45 fewer FT attempts per 48 minutes than last year. Additionally Duncan is 1.1 FT/48min UNDER his career average. So, it's not like Nowitzki is the only one going to the line less, he still goes to the line more than only a handful of players in the league. It's just the inordinate amount of FTs he shot last year dwarfs this year's reasonable total. I guess Mavs fans are getting a taste of how not being spoiled by the refs feels finally.
Last edited by SpurCapita; 01-02-2006 at 01:23 AM.
Everybody in the Mavericks organization has zebra on the brain. Shut the ing up about the officiating. If you need an 8 on 5 advantage in order to win you don't ing deserve to win. Avery is just as much of a little as Dirk and Cuban are. The officials are graded by their peers according to a set of rules, and the bad ones are fired. They don't care about the outcome of the game over their own employment. The only bias that exists is by the teams and the fans.
When has Cuban not complained about the refs?
Exactly. The "Dairy Queen" game was against the Spurs, and Cuban was complaining about how the superstars get all the calls. By the way, Tim Duncan fouled out of that game.
I don't know if anybody else has noticed but there are a lot of new refs in the league this year. I barely recognize a handful of them anymore. Plus they're putting a lot of officiating squads together with a lack of experience and using them for bigtime games. All in all I think in the past 5-6 years the credibility of officiating has gone down. A lot of times if you just miss a layup now a days you'll get a foul call.
I understand refs miss a call every now and then, but this is one area of the Pistons I do not like, and was reminded of it on Xmas day. It seems like every time the whistle is blown, the Pistons are complaining about the call. I have a great deal of respect for the Pistons, but I really wish they would calm down after the whistle is blown.
Also, I think if Dirk played more inside than shooting threes and jumpers, he'd get some more calls. Even though he is a great outside shooter, if he wants more trips to the line, take it inside more.
Tell Dirk to do something besides shoot jumpers and he might get a ing call.
Damn I'm disappointed in AJ. I guess if you spend enough time around a walking vagina in Cuban you become one too.
Dallas is fifth in the league at 29.4 Free throw attempts per game. San Antonio is fourth to last with 22.8 free throw attempts per game.
Puban needs to STFU.
how many fouls can you draw shooting fade away jump shots?
wad, your pansy-ass Mavs have shot 150+ more FTs than the Spurs after 30 games ..."What I don't understand is how the two most aggressive defensive teams in the league are Detroit and San Antonio," Cuban said, "yet they've had the fewest fouls called against them. How does that happen? I don't understand it."
You've got a point. If its a game against an elite opponent and theres any doubt at all over a call our guys never shut up.
About Dirk ... maybe he'd go to the line more if he did something other than shoot jump shots.
The Pistons argue mostly about calls they get on defense, and rightly so. So do the Spurs, although they're somewhat less vocal. Timmy has a special, wonderfully annoying face he makes when he thinks he got a bad call. If Sheed did that, he'd be thrown out of the game for threatening the zebras.
There's a difference between complaining about fouls that are actually called on you and hamper your ability to play the game, and complaining about fouls that aren't called on somebody else. The at ude that Dirk, Iverson, LeBron, Wade and so on have, that if they miss then they were fouled, even if their defender was nowhere near them, is far more offensive in my opinion.
Tayshaun Prince still argues all the time, though. Not quite sure why, as bad as he's played this year.
I agree! The NBA seems to think that the fans don't want to see a Shaq, LeBron, or even Duncan foul out of a game, so they don't call fouls on those guys all the time. I'm with you, I think a foul is a foul no matter what! Not to take anything away from Jordan, but he commited would be fouls only for the announcer to rant on and on how great a defensive play Jordon made. Everyone commits fouls, and if the game was called like the way it should, you would see the superstars more in foul trouble.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
