Suns @ Mavericks Sunday Playoff game thread, R2, 5-8-2022 - Game 4

[Superbone]

So even the Fort Worth Star-Telegram thought the game was badly officiated:

NBA refs at it again; fouling out Chris Paul allows Mavericks to tie series with Suns

The referees serve up some home cooking for Dallas, which takes advantage behind a sizzling Dorian Finney-Smith. [Opinion]

news.yahoo.com

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NBA refs at it again; fouling out Chris Paul allows Mavericks to tie series with Suns​

 

[Mainstreet]

I found these video clips. They speak for themselves.

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[NoelPHX]

I found these video clips. They speak for themselves.

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Yup totally fair and not rigged /s

 

[AzStevenCal]

Yup totally fair and not rigged /s

Not rigged. Not fair, but not rigged. I've never seen a "fairly" refereed game. The aggressor gets far more leeway than the non-aggressor. Dallas was clearly the aggressive team.

And the team whose coach works the referees (calmly until more is necessary) gets more calls. And the players that know how to work the referees without pissing all over them get more calls. We're flat out of luck in those areas. Booker whines, Paul flops, Monty smiles and when really angry, almost frowns.

 

[Superbone]

Not rigged. Not fair, but not rigged. I've never seen a "fairly" refereed game. The aggressor gets far more leeway than the non-aggressor. Dallas was clearly the aggressive team.

And the team whose coach works the referees (calmly until more is necessary) gets more calls. And the players that know how to work the referees without pissing all over them get more calls. We're flat out of luck in those areas. Booker whines, Paul flops, Monty smiles and when really angry, almost frowns.

And Luka cries incessantly and is the golden child.

 

[82CardsGrad]

Had Paul's 6th "foul" occurred in Phoenix, it wouldn't have been called... And, if Brunson hadn't flopped to the floor, it wouldn't have bee called...
So yea... NBA refs suck and the NBA has a full-on problem. No conspiracies... No favoritism or anti-Suns agenda... Get over it guys.

 

[AzStevenCal]

And Luka cries incessantly and is the golden child.

He does. And he is. Yes, he's one of the protected few. But even he pleads his case better than we do.

And like Lebron, who also complains, whines, ******* and begs for calls, he's instigating most of the contact he's involved in. He doesn't get every call but he avoids most of the fouls he earns and he gets to the line on a lot of calls that should have gone the other way.

I don't care what level you've played at, if you've played with referees you know there is a way to deal with them - and you know there is a way to kill any chance you have of getting any of the borderline calls to go your way. This team, from the Head Coach on down need to take a class on relating to referees.

 

[Superbone]

He does. And he is. Yes, he's one of the protected few. But even he pleads his case better than we do.

And like Lebron, who also complains, whines, ******* and begs for calls, he's instigating most of the contact he's involved in. He doesn't get every call but he avoids most of the fouls he earns and he gets to the line on a lot of calls that should have gone the other way.

I don't care what level you've played at, if you've played with referees you know there is a way to deal with them - and you know there is a way to kill any chance you have of getting any of the borderline calls to go your way. This team, from the Head Coach on down need to take a class on relating to referees.

Unfortunately, if that's true and the Suns from top down don't know how to do it correctly, it's not going to happen in this series or even these playoffs. And if Paul doesn't know how to do it at this stage, he never will. I guess we're not going anywhere this postseason since we don't know how to play the referees.

 

[AsUpRoDiGy]

The refs aren't the ones who made us play soft and uninspired. The refs aren't the ones that made us play awful defense and get manhandled by a much smaller team. This team just doesn't want it...that's just reality. They don't deserve to move on with the way they've been playing. They need to look in the mirror before they start blaming it on the refs.

 

[Covert Rain]

Two of those calls were the most bull calls I have seen in a long time. Having said that, that's not why we lost. Chris has had 2 very very bad games in a row. The rest of the team's struggles have been talked about repeatedly. The Suns have two choices here. Expend all your energy complaining, whining about the refs, hoping they bail you out or just assume you are not going to get the benefit of those calls and rise above it.

This team has been tested with adversity all season long. Are they going to fold or do what they have done all season?

 

[AzStevenCal]

Unfortunately, if that's true and the Suns from top down don't know how to do it correctly, it's not going to happen in this series or even these playoffs. And if Paul doesn't know how to do it at this stage, he never will. I guess we're not going anywhere this postseason since we don't know how to play the referees.

It's not all or nothing. We didn't win 64 games by a fluke. We are a legimately good team but since CamJ's injury he's been a shell of himself and CamP is still struggling. So, our margin for error is smaller.

It's not the end of the world that we lost 2 games on the road to a decent team that was playing with desperation. But not being able to comfortably co-exist with the referees means we aren't as good as we could be and yes, it might well cost us a championship. Operative word being "might".

Paul used to work the referees well but I think his clashes with Foster have hurt him with other referees too. He pulled a couple stunts against the Pelicans that ESPN played over and over and perhaps as a result, he fell prey to the same kind of maneuvers by the Mavericks yesterday.

 

[Cheesebeef]

It's not all or nothing. We didn't win 64 games by a fluke. We are a legimately good team but since CamJ's injury he's been a shell of himself and CamP is still struggling. So, our margin for error is smaller.

It's not the end of the world that we lost 2 games on the road to a decent team that was playing with desperation. But not being able to comfortably co-exist with the referees means we aren't as good as we could be and yes, it might well cost us a championship. Operative word being "might".

Paul used to work the referees well but I think his clashes with Foster have hurt him with other referees too. He pulled a couple stunts against the Pelicans that ESPN played over and over and perhaps as a result, he fell prey to the same kind of maneuvers by the Mavericks yesterday.

Getting so little from Cam J and absolutely nothing (and actually not just nothing, but consistent NEGATIVE) from Payneful, has really hamstrung this team.

But Bridges becoming you see me/now you don’t Bridges again and Ayton just playing tissue paper soft have been killers too.

 

[Covert Rain]

Getting so little from Cam J and absolutely nothing (and actually not just nothing, but consistent NEGATIVE) from Payneful, has really hamstrung this team.

But Bridges becoming you see me/now you don’t Bridges again and Ayton just playing tissue paper soft have been killers too.

The entire persona of this team was that we had a deep bench. Guys like Cam Johnon, Cam Shame, and Holy Shamet have really provided little to nothing off the bench when it matters (all though Cam Johnson has been showing signs). We went from a team that has a persistent attack (starters to bench) back to a team where I am counting down the minutes when we can get the starters back in there. Monty isn't helping by being stubborn about his lineups. You can't have the bulk of your bench not performing.

Cam Shame and Holy Shamet alone would take so much pressure off of Paul/Booker who I think Monty plays to death at times. Booker at the end of the 1st looked completely gassed last game. The last great game Paul had he was doubled over.

 

[Superbone]

The refs aren't the ones who made us play soft and uninspired. The refs aren't the ones that made us play awful defense and get manhandled by a much smaller team. This team just doesn't want it...that's just reality. They don't deserve to move on with the way they've been playing. They need to look in the mirror before they start blaming it on the refs.

Why can't it be both? Neither contributed to us winning. Having said that, the reffing is out of our control, so we can only worry about we can control and that's playing inspired basketball. Hope to see it on Tuesday.

 

[DJ Tabooh]

The entire persona of this team was that we had a deep bench. Guys like Cam Johnon, Cam Shame, and Holy Shamet have really provided little to nothing off the bench when it matters (all though Cam Johnson has been showing signs). We went from a team that has a persistent attack (starters to bench) back to a team where I am counting down the minutes when we can get the starters back in there. Monty isn't helping by being stubborn about his lineups. You can't have the bulk of your bench not performing.

Cam Shame and Holy Shamet alone would take so much pressure off of Paul/Booker who I think Monty plays to death at times. Booker at the end of the 1st looked completely gassed last game. The last great game Paul had he was doubled over.

I really feel for Cam Johnson. He had a career game against the Knicks when he was hotter than fish grease and hit the game winner.

Then with the injury, all of a sudden he’s a shell of himself. He’s trying to hope the ball in the basket. Normally when he shot I thought it was cash money.

Dallas isn’t a better team than us….point blank period. If we get to play in transition then there’s no way for them to hang with us. But in a half court game with CP3 playing like he has, it becomes a toss up.

I love this team and I’m not giving up hope. Just disappointed that we’re not playing Suns basketball because we’re so much better than this.