11/21/24
April 25, 2003
"I didn't even touch him. I know how to foul," : Kevin Garnett said, after the Minnesota Timberwolves played through a lot of shady calls to beat the LA Lakers. [more inside]
posted by kirkaracha to basketball at 08:49 AM - 9 comments
I didn't watch this game (I was busy listening to the endless Stars game last night) but I have some thoughts anyways... 1) This has obviously been what everyone was pointing to last year when the Lakers "beat" the Kings in the conference finals. I can handle a loss of the Mavs to the Kings in the 2nd round if it will give Sacramento a chance to mop up the Lakers. 2) This has been one of the biggest criticisms of the NBA for a long time. The non-calling for palming, travelling, or double-dribbles for superstars is a legit and important complaint. If you look back to this thread, you'll see that pop up several times. 3) Just to be devil's advocate, and in the Lakers defense, I don't know that they actually seek something like this out. Actually, I don't know if any of the stars that have received gratious calls do. They may expect it, due to ego reasons, but I have no reason to believe that there's an active tit-for-tat kind of deal going on with the refs, and I hope that at least some players almost feel a bit of humility and shame when they're on the receiving end of shady call. 4) How great would it be for KG and the Wolves to get their first series win against the Lakers? 5) How big is the decision to turn the first round into a best of 7 series vs. a best of 5 series look now. Remember, this was a move made when the Lakers were struggling to even make the playoffs. A move that was controversially attributed to Laker bias. A move that will wind up screwing somebody in the first round.
posted by Ufez Jones at 09:09 AM on April 25, 2003
I came to work today thinking I was going to post about the lousy refereeing in the game, but hadn't gotten around to it. I'm neither a conspiracy theorist nor T-Wolve (T-Wolf?) apologist but I agree the officiating was lousy. The inbounds play at the end when Szerbiac was wrestled out of bounds was a horrendous call. Garnett is a superstar, so hypothetically he should be getting those calls. I don't know what the deal is. I can't stand it when officials think it's up to them to determine an outcome. The officials in the hockey game last night swallowed their whistles for the last three OT periods - I don't think there was a single penalty in that time, was there?
posted by vito90 at 09:17 AM on April 25, 2003
Not to derail the thread, but the Celtics-Pacers series (and I know there are some of you lousy Pacer fans here) is similarly troubled. You'd think it was a going-away present to Reggie Miller. He got three free throws last night because Tony Delk was in the same zipcode when Miller bricked a three and kicked his foot out at Delk. Reggie and Brad Miller should start an emoting school. At least Artest got tossed. Finally.
posted by yerfatma at 09:19 AM on April 25, 2003
I don't think there was a single penalty in that time, was there? There's almost never a whistle in a playoff OT period simply because the refs are trying to avoid accusations of "deciding the outcome." Which makes it look like they're favoring whichever side is more willing to push their luck.
posted by yerfatma at 09:21 AM on April 25, 2003
Any league that changes its playoff format in the middle of the season (!) is a league clearly not above deliberate referee favoritism. Shall we place bets on which major metropolis, despite the odds, ends up with LeBron?
posted by Mookieproof at 09:50 AM on April 25, 2003
Which makes it look like they're favoring whichever side is more willing to push their luck. That's okay by me...fate often rewards those who push their luck. At least the bus is being driven by the athletes and not the judges.
posted by vito90 at 09:52 AM on April 25, 2003
I'm not disagreeing, I'm just sayin'. Fortune should favor the brave in my world, I guess.
posted by yerfatma at 11:50 AM on April 25, 2003
Hang on, did we watch the same game? I thought referee Ronnie Nunn must have been on the Twolves payroll! How many times was Derek Fisher called for BS touch fouls? I did see the last Garnett (non-existent) foul. The officiating was just horrible for both sides.
posted by dusted at 11:52 PM on April 25, 2003
Sure, the refs didn't blow the 13-point lead the T-wolves had going in to the fourth quarter, but the officiating in last night's game was ridiculously biased in favor of the Lakers. There were a bunch of chippy or downright shady calls down the stretch, including some phantom calls where there was no contact by the T-wolves. Meanwhile, the Lakers can shove people out of bounds without getting a call. This continues a trend of pro-Laker bias going back to at least last year's semifinals against the Kings. My favorite call from that series was Kobe Bryant throwing an elbow into Mike Bibby's face, which of course resulted in a foul on Bibby. How much of the Laker mystique is due to sweet ref lovin'?