Stirring the pot...

[AZ Sports Native]

Well, since I just love (as a long time lurker that I am) seeing the constant bickering here whenever there is a thread about how NBA officiating is terrible (in particular against the Suns) I thought I would add this to the fray, from big time Celtics homer (i.e. impartial observer) Bill Simmons (btw, I agree with Bill on this one):

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/080326

Quote from the above linked article:

"Biggest weakness: Other than the obvious defensive deficiencies with Nash (and to a lesser extent, Barbosa and Amare), you know what's weird about this team? They never, ever, EVER seem to get calls in big moments. You'd think with good guys like Nash, Shaq and Hill that the refs would be falling all over themselves to favor Phoenix, but it's actually the opposite -- for instance, in that Detroit game this week, the Suns lost in overtime because of three indefensibly horrible calls in a row. We might see Mike D'Antoni pistol whip a referee before everything's said and done this season.

(Follow-up tangent: It's incredible to me that Shaq, one of the 12 greatest players of all-time, doesn't get any respect from the refs at this stage of his career. Remember the way Kareem was treated from 1985 to 1989? You couldn't breathe on him without getting a foul, which made no sense because nobody liked Kareem! Meanwhile, everyone loves Shaq and he gets called like he's Jamaal Magloire. It's legitimately bizarre. Even Reggie Miller was getting every call at the end of his career, and he wasn't one-fourth of the player that Shaq was. I don't get it.)"

 

[Louis]

Refs caused the 20 point loss to the Celtics!

 

[jandaman]

Most will agree that the Suns against Pistons got some questionable calls, and the Pistons got some lenient calls towards them.

Again its just a factor, the Suns had no answers for Billups or Wallace in both ends. 9 points in OT for Billups... geez.

Bad calls + the not having the ability or focus to "contain" players in the last 2~3 minutes of the game consistently, which puts the Suns in close 1-2 basketb situations... relying on referee calls... isnt good...

That team didnt have Hamilton either... they just really are a bad matchup.

And if the Suns manage to get out of the west.. somehow... and faces the Pistons... its pretty much a sweep. And if its the Celtics... it could go 5-6 games, but Celtics have the defense and go to guys come last 2~3 minutes of the 4th which is THE DIFFERENCE.

 

[dodie53]

Refs caused the 20 point loss to the Celtics!

is this true?
i didn't watch the game..

 

[AZ Sports Native]

is this true?
i didn't watch the game..

Nope, I think he just forgot to add this:

 

[BigRedRage]

the refs did call against us the whole game, they didnt give them 20 points but its hard to win when every time you shake your leg its a foul

 

[TJ]

We have no one to blame but ourselves for the Celtics loss.....the Pistons game should have had a different outcome

 

[phxrising]

Refs caused the 20 point loss to the Celtics!

is this true?
i didn't watch the game..

This article was posted up by Bill Simmons before the celts game he is commenting on calls going against the Suns in general.

 

[Sovereignz]

He didn't even mention the worst part of the Suns in terms of getting terrible officiating, and that's the ticky tack fouls Amare gets which just murder us.

I remember when Karl Malone played, everyone said how he was a great 1 on 1 defender (and he was, anyone remember what a 40 year old Malone did to Duncan in the playoffs when he was with the Lakers? That was unreal), but man - that guy would absolutely hammer chop people's forearms going for strips on the ball and never, ever get called for it. Amare is an all-NBA first teamer as well, but he barely breathes on someone and he gets called for it. All you can do is scratch your head.

The funny thing is that it gets noticed by non-Suns fans like this. When do you ever see fans of one team sympathize with another for constantly getting stuck with bad calls? Never. On another board I visit, a general NBA board, there was a thread after the Detroit game and even a Wizards fan came in and talked about how poorly Shaq is being officiated now after the way he was for so very long during his dominant run of championships.

 

[jbeecham]

Simmons might be a huge Celtics fan, but I think the Suns might be his 2nd favorite team. He's also the one that wrote how the Suns-Spurs game 3 (with Donaghy) was the worst officiated NBA game in league history. I appreciate any national coverage that we get on this issue, but I kind of wonder if he noticed the same things when his Celtics got all the calls against us.

 

[Matt L]

I definitely agree that the Suns hardly receive any beneficial calls. One thing that I wondered about after the Piston loss is when did Chauncy Billups start getting the Jordan treatment on his drives. It seemed like he always initiated contact and then would get a call to send him to the free throw line.

 

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

Simmons is a closet suns fan no doubt.

p.s. this excerpt is included in the "how the west might be won" thread.

 

[nowagimp]

I definitely agree that the Suns hardly receive any beneficial calls. One thing that I wondered about after the Piston loss is when did Chauncy Billups start getting the Jordan treatment on his drives. It seemed like he always initiated contact and then would get a call to send him to the free throw line.

"beneficial calls? Hell, I'd take a call on a "hack a shaq" move now. the pistons game was a disgrace at the end. As far as Billups getting the jordan treatment, only against the suns apparently. In the two games previous to the pistons/suns game, Billups had NO foul shots. That should get you and some of the others thinking. He gets 11 FT's against the suns but NONE against the two previous opponents.

 

[devilalum]

I just figured it out.

This is payback for all the griping the Suns have done about Donaghy!

 

[Phade]

Most will agree that the Suns against Pistons got some questionable calls, and the Pistons got some lenient calls towards them.

Again its just a factor, the Suns had no answers for Billups or Wallace in both ends. 9 points in OT for Billups... geez.

Bad calls + the not having the ability or focus to "contain" players in the last 2~3 minutes of the game consistently, which puts the Suns in close 1-2 basketb situations... relying on referee calls... isnt good...

That team didnt have Hamilton either... they just really are a bad matchup.

And if the Suns manage to get out of the west.. somehow... and faces the Pistons... its pretty much a sweep. And if its the Celtics... it could go 5-6 games, but Celtics have the defense and go to guys come last 2~3 minutes of the 4th which is THE DIFFERENCE.

no soup for you troll..

 

[nowagimp]

I just figured it out.

This is payback for all the griping the Suns have done about Donaghy!

Hopefully you dont have to earn a living with your quick mental wit!

 

[BC867]

Guys, it's been said before. Calls against the Suns are the result of being a soft team for 39 2/3 seasons.

A month of Shaq isn't going to change that.

Especially every time Diaw goes back in to play Center and we go soft again.

I think Boris has that backwards. He's flacid on the court and apparently hard in Scottsdale.