Joey

Officiating: Quick quiz: What time is it? Quick answer: Zebra hunting time. Last night, Joe Crawfordy, Joe Forte, Mark Wunderlich and David Stern (in absentia) were The Four Horsemen of the Spurspocalypse. I mean, seriously, the no-call to end last night's game was completely, utterly and in all other ways inconceivable. I'm not even going to argue the point. The bottom line is this: Derek Fisher fouled Brent Barry. Marv Albert and Doug Collins knew it. Johnny Ludden knew it. Henry Abbott knew it. You knew it. I knew it. Nostradamus knew it way back in 1562. Helen Keller, Zeus rest her soul, would have known it. My 85-year-old grandma called me in the middle of the night to ask "What was up with that lousy no-call in the Spurs game?!" It's crazy.

Here's the video. It speaks pretty well for itself.


Now some people -- Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili among them -- believe that if Barry had gone straight up for the shot and tried to "sell the contact" (read that: flop), he would have gotten the whistle. I call shenanigans. Joey Crawford, who had the best line of sight on the play, wasn't going to toot his horn for any reason. And neither were his lackeys. Clearly, a choice had been made before the ball was ever passed inbounds: The players are going to decide the final outcome. Which would be fine if this was a pickup game at the YMCA. But this was a pro game, a big one, and there are referees for a reason. And that reason is to keep stupid incidents like this -- which, make no mistake, disgrace and dishonor the game -- from happening.

And let's face it, that grand faux pas wasn't an isolated case. Not historically, and not even in this particular game. The refs did not impress last night. Kobe Bryant managed to play 41 minutes without making a single trip to the charity stripe -- his series total for freethrow attempts is six -- leading Phil Jackson to quip: "It is impossible to take 29 shots and not be fouled, but tonight was one of those exceptions, I guess."

But wait, there's more! Before the foul that wasn't a foul even though it really was a foul, the Lakers had the ball and a two-point lead with 28 seconds left. L.A. dribbled out most of the shot clock before Fisher jacked up a baseline jumper that missed almost everything and got knocked out of bounds by Robert Horry with 5.6 seconds left. The official call was that the shot didn't hit the rim and so only two seconds were left on the shot clock. However...the replays sure made it look like the ball skimmed off the hoop. If the Lakers had gotten a new 24, the Spurs would have had to foul and the game would have been over. Instead, Kobe had to force up a shot that missed and fell right into the hands of the Spurs, who were left with 2.1 seconds to make a miracle happen.

But it didn't. The refs saw to that.

Random non-awful note: Kudos to the Spurs players and coaching staff for staying so classy about this whole thing. Most teams would be freaking the hell out about the injustice of it all. The Spurs were actually very Zen-like about it. Barry said: "That's not going to get called in the Western Conference finals. Maybe in the regular season. But that call shouldn't be called in the Western Conference finals." Gregg Popovich said: "If I was the official I wouldn't have called that a foul." And Duncan simply said: "Obviously we're in a hole and it's 3-1. It's one loss and an elimination, but we really feel that if we clean a lot of this stuff up we have an opportunity to get right back in this series." I guess you can never underestimate the inner-peace of a champion.

David Stern and the NBA: "Hm. Let's see. It's a critical playoff game between the Spurs and Lakers. Who should we get to officiate it? I know! How about the guy who was suspended for last year's playoffs because he ejected Tim Duncan for laughing! That'll make everybody totally forget about the Tim Donaghy scandal. Brilliant!"

Tim Duncan and Tony Parker: Other than Brent Barry -- who followed in Antonio McDyess' footsteps by having a 23-point turn-back-the-clock performance -- Timmy (29 points, 17 rebounds) and TP (23 points, 7 assists) were the only two Spurs to made a real offensive contribution to last night's losing effort. However, I'm sure you sense a "but" coming, don't you? Well, Timmy missed 16 shots and missed five layups. Mr. Longoria missed four layups.

Now, mind you, the Lakers were playing -- and were allowed to get away with -- an aggressive and physical defense. But instead of adjusting to that, Duncan and Parker kept flailing at contact, lobbing the ball at the rim, and looking around for a call that was never going to come.

Were they getting pushed around and hit on their shots? Sure. But I would have preferred to see them -- especially Tim -- do a better job at adjusting to how the refs were officiating the game. Especially in the first half.

Manu Ginobili: I guess that arthritic ankle is hurting him worse than we thought. Manu, how played like the Incredible Hulk in Game 3, transformed back into puny Bruce Banner for Game 4: 7 points, 2-for-8 shooting, 2 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 fouls. More than the officiating or anything else, Ginobili was the reason that San Antonio lost this game and is likely to lose the series on Thursday night.

The rest of the Spurs: Holy god, the Spurs roleplayers -- Barry excepted -- sucked. Francisco Oberto: Zero points, 0-for-0, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 turnover, 3 fouls, 21 minutes. Michael Finley: Zero points, 0-for-2, 1 turnover, 8 minutes. Robert Horry: 2 points, 0-for-2, 4 rebounds, 1 steal, 2 fouls, 15 minutes. Ime Udoka: Zero points, 0-for-0, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 foul, 8 minutes. Kurt Thomas: A mario. All I can say is that I hope the Spurs get a bulk discount at the NBA graveyard this summer.

Old legs: Was it just me, or did the Spurs look old and tired last night. They were a step slow to loose balls and they couldn't keep the Lakers off the boards. L.A. outrebounded San Antonio 46-37, which doesn't sound all that bad until you realize they enjoyed a 26-4 edge in second-chance points. Wow. I take it back, Manu. I guess it's not your fault after all.

Derek Fisher, quote machine: Here's Fish's explanation of the already infamous no-call: "I think we met simultaneously, and there was contact for sure. But I don't think I ran through him." Uh huh.

Sasha Vujacic: Well, if the Lakers had to win, at least Sasha blew chunks: 4 points, 1-for-6, 1 rebound, zero assists, 2 turnovers, 4 fouls.

Trevor Ariza: It's inspiring and everything that he's finally back from an injury, but I'm still going to mock his lowly one trillion.

Lakers fans: First off, they should not be allowed to sit near The Admiral. Second, they should be stuffed into an airtight capsule and launched into space for taking their picture with The Admiral without his permission.

D-Rob

Note on submissions: Due to technical difficulties, I haven't been able to check my e-mail today. So I apologize for omitting any worthy submissions. Hopefully, we'll get this blatant attack by Lakers fans taken care of shortly. (I'm kidding, Lakers fans. I know you don't have that kind of power.)

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36 Comments:
I don’t have a chance to read Basketbawful every day, so I’d like to take an opportunity to comment on a post from May 16th.

You issued a challenge to find:
“…an example in which either the Hornets or Suns were on the receiving end of multiple flop-style offensive fouls in a single minute -- or even a couple of minutes -- during a critical stretch of a crucial home playoff game. And the calls should put two of the opposing team's best players in foul trouble.”

Seriously? Hey, make it specific enough, and it’s an impossible challenge. Congratulations, you win. Can anyone else see the thought progression:

My challenge… show me an example of another team receiving multiple flop-style offensive fouls in a single minute – or even a couple of minutes… hmm… someone could do that, better limit it to the Hornets or Suns… actually, that will likely be found too… better make it a playoff game… no, a HOME playoff game… still, a google search or two could probably find this… ah, a CRITICAL stretch of a home playoff game… a CRUCIAL playoff game… there we go. You know, I’m still so unconfident about this that I’d better add that it puts a player in foul trouble… no, TWO players… Ah… two of the opposing team’s BEST players.

Are we sure that would prove that other teams are floptastic? I don’t see how any other team could compare to the Spurs unless you can find all of the above plus:

-It must have happened in the 2008 playoffs
-It must have happened in a game 6
-The opposing team’s best players put into foul trouble must be wearing yellow
-And they must have the initials C.P. and D.W.
-The flops must have occurred on May 15, 2008

Blogger Basketbawful said...
me. friend of bamboo. -- Wow. You accomplished what I thought was impossible: You got the point while also totally missing the point. That takes some doing. Congratulations.

I explained this in the comments section of that post, but I guess I'll do it again since you don't get here every day. Some people were complaining about how I was "picking on the Spurs" for flopping when everybody flops. And if I'm going to point out the Spurs flops, I have to point out every flop that ever happens, right? Otherwise, I'm a hypocrite.

So the point of that challenge was to provide a lateral thinking puzzle that was, apparently, too puzzling for some people. I wasn't picking on the Spurs, or the officials, for a single iffy flop. I was criticizing a series of iffy flops in a huge playoff game that got the opposing team's two best players in foul trouble. See, I tend to point out the worst of things, as opposed to every thing.

Get it now? Because I can translate into Pig Latin if that'll help.

Blogger The Third Heat said...
Hmm, I looked at the site last night and it looked reformatted and a lot nicer. Now it's been changed back. What happened?

I thought the the Spurs were really classy about it too. I can only imagine how livid D'Antoni and the Suns would be if something like that happened to them. San Antonio recognized they had been outplayed all night.

And while this isn't a place to note non-awful things, Gasol had a great game. Forced Duncan to miss a ton of shots, kept a lot of balls alive that he probably wasn't given a rebound for and was the main reason for the Lakers hot start that eventually won them the game.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
First thing, it was a foul. Refs swallowing the whistle so they don't decide a game must not realize that everything they do prior contributes to whatever outcome and calls should be made whenever. I won't complain because similar things have happened in the past and no call is made, but I still disagree with the idea that anyone should have to SELL a foul. I agree with you 100% on that. Listening to the post game on TNT pissed me off 1000 times more than the no-call. Reggie, Charles, Kenny (this morning Greg Anthony and others) saying he should jump into him to get an obvious foul is crazy.
Someone questioned why he dribbled(this morning too)? Because he was 35 feet from the rim, when I catch an inbounds running away I would like to get some forward momentum before I heave some shoot too.
Him trying to sell a foul is analogous to a flop and anyone that hates flopping should not be a proponent of such actions, I commend you Basketbawful for remaining consistent on this.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
and the Spurs played like crap anyway so thats why my boys lost.

Blogger Unknown said...
Add a shot-block that was called a goaltend, putting the spurs within 2.

I admit it though that it was totally a foul. I would say however that it was a non shooting foul, and he should have had only 2 shots.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
It was an exciting game that ended on a bunch of bad calls. I'm a Laker fan but even I feel cheated with this win. We played much harder the entire game but now everyone will talk about the non-call.

Yes it was a foul. I thought Barry should have gotten 2 shots, not 3 since the contact happened before he went up for the shot.

Yes Fisher's shot that bounced off of Horry's leg hit the rim and the shot clock should have been reset. Kobe wouldn't have forced the shot and actually sent to the FT line for the first time that night.

The only good thing that came out of this was my change in feelings towards the Spurs and their fans. They displayed absolute class with the way they handled this whole situation and they have my deepest respect.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
im cheering for the lakers (only because i hate them less) and i have to say.. that was a foul. glourious stern button!

Blogger Wild Yams said...
Mr. Bawful - pretty even analysis of the officiating disaster last night. I only have two issues with what you wrote: first, you said Tim Duncan was among the people who said that Barry should have "sold" that last foul better, but that's actually wrong. What Duncan said was that no matter what Barry wasn't going to get that call at that point in the game even if he had jumped right into Fisher to "sell" it, so he did the right thing by dribbling away from the contact to try to get an open look. The other thing I disagreed with was your assertion that the Lakers were allowed to get away with aggressive, physical defense. From what I saw the Lakers had some fairly significant foul trouble for a lot of the game, most notably Lamar Odom being limited to only 31 minutes with 5 fouls. Duncan also did a pretty good job adjusting to the defense by repeatedly going to the line for 11 free throw attempts.

Honestly the biggest problem with the officiating last night was just the horrible inconsistency of everything. In the first three quarters the Spurs had an absolute parade to the free throw line, getting there 26 times compared to only 12 by the Lakers. But then in the 4th quarter suddenly the Spurs couldn't get to the line at all (0 4th Q FTAs) while the Lakers got 7 FTAs in the last 4 minutes of the game.

What is most upsetting to me personally about the officiating last night is that the one bad call at the end of the game is inevitably going to completely overshadow what was otherwise a really great game, and that is a real shame. Even worse, if the refs had made the correct call on the ball touching the rim on the previous play, none of this would have mattered, but instead this is what we get. The league needs some kind of instant replay for plays at the end of the game like this, there really is no excuse for it. With all the down time in the last minute of play last night due to timeouts it would have been incredibly easy for the refs to quickly check the tape on a couple of those plays just to make sure they got it right. But the league doesn't have that, so instead we just get frustration.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
It was probably a call, a non-shooting call, but it should have never come to that given the aforementioned blown call on Fisher's shot and the aforementioned vicious block Odom had that was inexplicably called a goaltend.

The idea of an NBA conspiracy favoring the Lakers in this series is just whacked. The Spurs reaped benefits of the overwhelming majority of blown calls during the game. They're right not to complain about a bump that happened 35 feet from the rim in the closing seconds. The opportunity to tie or take the lead was, itself, an undeserved gift.

If fans have anything to complain about, it's the overall lousy officiating that tainted a competitive game.

Blogger Wild Yams said...
Tradebait, while I definitely agree that the idea that a player needs to "sell" a foul is nonsense (isn't that what flopping is all about?), Barry should have jumped into Fisher to emphasize the foul just because then it would have unquestionably been a shooting foul with three free throws. By him taking a dribble to attempt to avoid Fisher's contact it put the onus on the ref to call a non-shooting foul to send someone to the line to tie it up, rather than an obvious major collision on an end of the game shot. IMO refs are more likely to make that latter call than the first one, even though it's wrong that this is the case. A foul should be a foul, no matter the situation in which it occurs.

The Spurs players, coaches and fans have really displayed the quality of their character a lot with a couple of the losses in this series. The way they take ownership for their mistakes and their outright refusal to blame anyone but themselves is something that every athlete and sports team should strive for.

Since on the heals of last nights game, no one cares about your flopping challenge, I'll be brief.

I understood you point -- a series of iffy flops in a huge playoff game that got the opposing team's two best players in foul trouble is a bigger deal that random flopping throughout the season or otherwise.

I was pointing out that I thought your challenge was a poor demonstration of you point -- you made it so specific as to rule out any other "big deal flops" that one could fault another team for.

I won't accuse you of missing my point or offer to translate this comment futher for you -- I read your blog and comment for entertainment -- I ain't mad at'cha.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
I have a nomination for a worst of the night.

Craig Sager "So, Kobe- what did you think about that call? Was it a foul?"

(cue Kobe looking at Sager, incredulously.)

Oh, well done, Sager. What's next "Kobe, do you really think you deserved the MVP?"

Blogger Babyshoes said...
You keep using that word, I do not think it means what you think it means.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
Wow, does David Robinson ever age? He looks 25 in that picture.

I would have had no problem with him taking Horry's minutes last night.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
"That's not going to get called in the Western Conference finals. Maybe in the regular season. But that call shouldn't be called in the Western Conference finals."

Unless of course you're Dwayne Wade.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
Bawful - I hate the Lakers, but I can't agree with your assessment of the non-call. Reason being: the refs boned 3 calls in the preceeding 50 seconds that should have made that play meaningless. They were:

1. Odom's goaltend: replays clearly show it was a clean block. Lakers' lead should have been 4, not 2.

2. Fisher's shot clearly changed directions when it hit the rim, meaning the shot clock should have been reset. Lakers kill the clock, or Spurs have to foul. Either way, it would likely be more than a 1 possession game.

3. Barry changed his pivot foot before the non-call. It was clearly a travel and that should have ended the game. In fact, you could argue that the refs let 2 things go on that play: Barry's travel and Fishers foul.

All this said, in the end the right team won that game. Calling that foul and ignoring the above would have been much worse than what actually took place.

Both the Lakers and the Spurs know how the series is being called. A lot of contact is being allowed and I don't even know if that call is made in the third quarter. The Spurs are not inclined to complain because their aggressive, physical defense (esp. on Kobe) is being allowed, for the most part. The Spurs, overall, are getting to the line more. They have no reason to think they are being treated unfairly.

Also, Barry should have jumped straight in the air the moment he saw Fisher leave his feet. Refs swallow the whistle at the end of games except on shooting fouls. Those are still called (though only in clear cut cases, which this would have been).

Lastly, Joey Crawford should never have been allowed to ref Spurs games after he tossed Tim for laughing from the bench. Never.

Blogger DDC said...
Bawful, I know you already mentioned Finley's performance, but his sucktastic performance was beyond sucktastic. This guy only played 9 minutes and his +/- total was -18 and he was a starter nonetheless. Wow, how does that even happen? This to me is worse than a trillion or a mario. Talk about lack-tion.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
come on brent barry, you know better than that. you have to realize you're not gonna get that call unless your name is Kobe or LeBron.

Blogger Wild Yams said...
I have to think that despite what Duncan was saying, if Barry had jumped right into Fisher after Fisher left his feet, that would have been called. Fisher would have absolutely leveled Barry, and it would be unbelievable if a ref would have let that go. People say "you're not going to get that call at that point in a Conference Finals game" but I really can't imagine a play like that, where the defender just jumps into the shooter and creams him, where the refs wouldn't blow the whistle. It's not about "selling the foul", it's about actually being in the act of shooting.

I have a question about the officiating in this series though: Kobe Bryant has now shot only 2 free throws total in the last three games, and those two free throws came on long-distance jump shots that Kobe made where he got the and-1. Is Kobe just not being as aggressive in this series as he was in the last one (when he averaged 16 FTA/gm), is Bruce Bowen (and Ginobili, Udoka & anyone else SA is putting on Kobe) just THAT good at defense that they can play so tight on the world's best player without fouling him at all, or is it just horrible officiating (either in the Utah series or this one or both)? How does Kobe get 16 free throw attempts a game in the last round and outside of Game 1 in this series (when he had only 4 FTAs) he's getting less than one free throw attempt per game? What is going on?

Interesting to note: Kobe is shooting at a higher percentage, both from the field and from 3-pt range against San Antonio than he did against Utah and Denver, and Kobe is only averaging 1 more shot per game against the Spurs. The free throw discrepancy between this series and the other two though has him scoring over 6 points per game less. It's truly weird that the Spurs are guarding him better than Utah and Denver did, yet he's shooting a higher percentage against them than he did against the other two teams. Maybe the Spurs really are just letting Kobe get easier looks rather than risking fouling him. Utah hassled the shit out of Kobe and forced him into shooting below 50% in that series, but Kobe lived at at the line and scored 33 ppg. In this series Kobe is shooting 53% from the field, but isn't getting to the line at all, and is averaging under 27 ppg. If that's really Pop's plan, it does seem to be working, despite the increased FG%.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
I agree with Master Phu. As a laker fan this game was tight the whole way through but the lakers deserved to win. Came up with just enough big plays and now all everyone will say is how this call went the wrong way. If Gasol had just sunk his free throws at the end none of this would matter.

I commend basketbawful despite your immense hatred for all things LA to point out how the refs were terrible everywhere last night. From Duncans travel dunk from the 3 point line to the non resetting of the shot clock to the final play. the real losers are the fans who have to watch this crap.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
I was watching that final minutes of the game last night and was furious at the officiating, but also thinking "Finally! Now all of the Spurs fans/Laker haters/NBA Conspiracy Theorists/etc. can just shut the hell up because the Lakers are getting jobbed down the stretch here." And then that happened, and I knew it would never go away. Dammit.

Two questions about Barry's play:

1) Why pump-fake a guy that is 6 inches shorter than you unless you're just trying to draw contact?
2) Why are you putting the ball on the floor when there are two seconds left in the game, you need to get a shot off AND the defender has jumped into the air?

(yes, I realize he was trying the dribble-and-escape maneuver but time was running pretty short)

Barry should have known better, gone straight up and taken a shot through the contact-an obvious 3 free throws as opposed to a questionable 2 shot foul.

Fact is, you can't count on the officials to bail you out in a critical moment in the playoffs *ahem, Tony Parker, Pau Gasol* when there are YEARS worth of playoff games which clearly demonstrate that refs are prone to swallow their whistles in such situations.

It's been repeated ad nauseum, but the Spurs do deserve credit for taking this with grace.

Blogger Basketbawful said...
Crap. I let this get out of control. I'll try to answer all of these...

the third heat -- We're experimenting with a new look. More to come soon. Oh, and I agree...Gasol's defense on Duncan was an underrated aspect of last night's game.

tradebait -- I agree. Barry shouldn't have to flop. I freaking commend him for NOT flopping.

reuben -- Yeah. Prolly a two-shotter...unless you're Larry Johnson. [cries]

master phu -- Yup. Even I couldn't help but pat the Spurs on the back for being so cool about it. I know my boys in Phoenix would have been on the freak alert.

sebastian -- Glorious Stern Button, indeed. It's hardwired into Joey's cerebral cortex now.

wild yams -- Sorry. I read in one account that Duncan said Barry should have sold it. I just took that at its word, even though it was a paraphrase. My mistake. And while I agree that the officiating was inconsistent, I don't blame the seeming freethrow discrepancy on that...the Lakers shot more jumpers and the Spurs took it to the whole more (and missed way more layups). But more on that in a sec...

me. friend of bamboo. -- Well...okay.

jeff -- I turned it off before Kobe's interview. Do we have video of that?

babyshoes -- Thank you.

indyjones1024 -- Dude, D-Rob is eternal. And I love him. You catch the new Indiana Jones flick yet?

anonymous #1 -- When did Wade play in the Western Conference Finals?? (I keed.)

anonymous #2 -- Well, first off, I don't agree with makeup calls. If one call is boned, that doesn't make one team or the other any more deserving of a call or non-call. Two wrongs and all that.

The goaltend I can forgive because it happened so fast, and those are some of the toughest calls to make. Barry's pivot foot...well, they weren't watching that (and for the record, watch Kobe's pivot FEET every time he makes juke moves; he always shuffles 'em). Fisher's "airball," however, was a bad one. I guess you could call the non-call Karma, only, like I said, I don't believe in call Karma (even though the refs often do).

michael w. tucker ii -- Joey shouldn't even be in the league, IMHO.

desten -- Damn. You're right. I might have to go back and edit that...how IS that possible? Somebody call Mr. Lenovo.

anonymous #3 -- That's why he didn't bother to flop.

wild yams -- While I do think that Kobe probably has deserved a few more freethrows, it seems to me that Popovich set up the defense to encourage Kobe to shoot jumpers. Bowen cuts off Kobe's penetration or funnels him toward Duncan, and when Kobe shoots, he simply gets a hand up without fouling him. Thus Kobe's not getting to the hole (or fouled) as often. And he's hitting the shots that the Spurs are giving him (which is easier when you aren't getting mauled).

anonymous #4 -- Ah. Right. I forgot about Duncan's travel dunk. That was funny. And kinda sad.

Greenroom -- Well, I think Barry said that he didn't see Fisher at first, so he didn't expect him to be there. Also, as I've unfortunately discovered, even guys half-a-foot shorter can block your shot when you're a ground-bound white dude.

Lastly, since he wasn't set, he probably needed a setup dribble to get into his shooting rhythm.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
That maniacal sound you heard was thousands of fans in Phoenix and New Orleans issuing a collective... "BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Blogger Steve said...
This comment has been removed by the author.

Blogger Steve said...
Such are the consequences of leaving the fate of your playoff series to an ex-Clipper...

Blogger Wild Yams said...
Mr. Bawful, you must not have watched Inside the NBA last night if you missed both Sager's interview of Kobe where he asked him if it was a foul, and Duncan's interview where he said Barry wasn't going to get that call even if he had jumped into Fisher, so trying to avoid the contact and get a good look was the right play.

Regarding Kobe's shot selection and whether he's backed off of his drives, I haven't really noticed that myself, but you could be right. I checked last night's game log though and ESPN has him down for 8 layup attempts that I could see, although I guess two or three of those were wide open dunks.

BTW, I saw the new Indy movie this past weekend and thought it was pretty messy, confusing, and just not all that well thought-out. I know they were working on the script for 14 years, but maybe that goes to show that a good script really shouldn't take so long to write.

Blogger Basketbawful said...
yams -- According to CBS Sportsline, which has the most consistent shot log I've found, Kobe was 3-for-3 on dunks and 2-for-4 on layups (which included that terrible layup he missed with 30 seconds left). And 22 jumpers. Plus, I believe that Doug Collins said that Popovich specifically told his defenders to give Kobe the jumper.

As for the movie...I liked it. Honestly, I thought that, for the most part, it held together as well as the other Indy movies. Unlike Raiders, you actually got the feeling Indy was an archeologist. Unlike Temple, it actually felt like a real Indy movie and not a generic action movie starring Indiana Jones. And, unlike Crusade, it didn't feel like a scene-for-scene recreation of Raiders + Sean Connery.

I could have done without a few elements (I'll avoid spoilers), but it was enteraining and enjoying. To me.

Blogger Unknown said...
Actually Lebron couldnt get that call when Bowen mauled him in the last seconds of Game 3? last year.

And I thought the new Indy movie was a travesty. I had my Duncan face on the whole time.

Blogger Wild Yams said...
Mr. Bawful, the one layup discrepancy was when Kobe drove the lane and got stripped by Bowen, which didn't technically count as a shot attempt and was instead marked as a steal, but Kobe was definitely trying to get to the basket with that play. I'm not saying he was fouled (I didn't rewind and check it again or anything), just that I included that in the number of layups attempted so that's why I had one more than CBS had. I haven't looked at the other games in this series either though. Maybe if I get bored later I'll go through the Utah series and this one and see if there is really a big difference in the number of layups Kobe is attempting. I really think it ultimately is more just the coaches' philosophies, with Sloan taking the "no easy layups", foul 'em every time philosophy, whereas Pop has instructed his guys not to send Kobe to the line if it is at all possible, even if it means conceding a layup.

I gotta agree with Reuben about the new Indy movie, although I wasn't really surprised that I thought it was so bad. A couple years ago I was involved with the making of the DVDs for the first three movies, and as such had to watch them all a number of times (after watching them a lot when I was a kid, of course), and I found that the movies got progressively worse with each new release in the franchise. Out of the three, Raiders is the only one that really holds up well to a lot of repeat viewings like that. Temple of Doom holds up OK, although Short Round and Willie really put your patience to the test. Last Crusade though, went in a totally different direction and was almost a borderline comedy for much of it, and that doesn't hold up well at all. I think that movie gets a pass from a lot of people just because they think "It's Indiana Jones plus Sean Connery so of course it's good!" but I don't think so. Too much goofing around in that movie (Indy wearing a beret yelling about tapestries in a French accent? Come on).

This new movie though, was just really convoluted and there seemed to be a number of enormous plot holes in it (which I won't go into due to spoilers). The group of people I saw it with were all pretty much in agreement though that at the end when Shia said "I don't understand" that we didn't understand either. Harrison Ford was good though, my problems with it were all just related to the script (so ultimately they were with George Lucas, since it was his story).

This post is proof that I'm long winded about all kinds of subjects, not just basketball.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
Basketbawful: "Unlike Temple, it actually felt like a real Indy movie and not a generic action movie starring Indiana Jones."

That's exactly what it felt like to me.

I actually wrote a review of it on my blog, if you or anyone else cares to read my take on it and the Indy movies as a whole: pleonast.com/oldmanshirt

Anonymous Anonymous said...
without having read every comment made:
the refs had to call the foul and give barry TWO free throws
(foul before shot, lakers in the penalty) - OVERTIME or a miracle..

Blogger Elliot Cole said...
reuben,

Don't be quick to forget that Bowen's foul on Lebron (well, should-of-been-foul) would have actually hurt the Cavs' chances of winning.

They were down by 3, not 2. Lebron would of had to make the first and intentionally miss the second. Taking a 1-on-1 3-pointer was probably a shot for the Cavs than that sequence.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
this is an honest to god question

i know and you know that you're biased against the lakers but can you honestly think that the nba is RIGGED? it's like, if someone's team is called for more fouls than their opponents, its rigged and david stern wants the celtics vs the lakers. if that was so. but they dont wanna make it too obvious so its both series wont be sweeps. when has an official ever called a perfect game? i have so many thoughts on this but im rambling now but i just wanna know if you honestly think the nba is rigged or if its your sarcasm at work, which i completely don't mind. i love this blog.

btw, i am a laker fan and yes that should have been a foul at the end, but we also shouldvd had that shot clock reset like u mentioned. either way, i'll take the 3-1 lead.

Blogger Basketbawful said...
rigged? -- Nobody seriously thinks the NBA is rigged.