The officiating sucks

[tommcnabb]

That's all I have to say.

 

[fordronken]

It's not like I'm sick of all the whining or anything...

 

[Joe Mama]

I think the officiating has been more even after the first two games. I wouldn't say the Suns have gotten the better of the officiating in any of the games, but it has been better or more evenly bad. We'll see what happens at home tomorrow night.

Joe Mama

 

[tommcnabb]

Originally posted by Joe Mama
I think the officiating has been more even after the first two games. I wouldn't say the Suns have gotten the better of the officiating in any of the games, but it has been better or more evenly bad. We'll see what happens at home tomorrow night.

Joe Mama

Yes, that will be interesting. I just hope we go to seven games.

 

[JS22]

I hope they play better tomorrow night. I have NEVER been to a game in which they have won. 0-6

I am the Suns jinx.

 

[Cheesebeef]

here's a tip then - DON'T GO TO THE GAME! Not to be rude or anything, but if you are calling yourself the jinx, by all means stay away!

 

[mribnik]

First time poster on this board. I have been posting on the ESPN message boards for a long time and recognize some familiar names on this board. I try to be objective as possible, but here is an interesting stat on the officiating in this series.

In the regular season, the suns went over 30 fouls once in 82 games. What game was that? Our one loss to the spurs in OT. In this series so far, we AVERAGE 29.6 fouls a game and have gone over 30 3 times! That is ridiculous. You can't blame everything on the officials, but it is quite ridiculous. Even spurs fans admit that the spurs are getting calls based on rep alone. To me, basketball is basketball regardless of the time and place. A call is a call is a call.

Someone asked me to find up the numbers for the fouls committed by Amare and lil Jake. In the regular season, Amare averaged 3.3 fouls a game, and Jake averaged 2.6. Against the Spurs in the playoffs, Amare is averaging 4.6 fouls a game while Jake is averaging 5.0. Now, someone tried to tell me that the stats are misleading because we are playing against the "twin towers" and we are going to get more calls. I thought this was a valid point, but when i looked into it further, I found that in the regular season against the spurs, both Amare and Jake averaged almost exactly the same amount of fouls against the spurs as their regular season average? It's also notable that little jake is only playing 3 more minutes than he did in the regular season, and amare is playing his usual role. Am I reaching? Perhaps, but to me it clearly shows that the spurs are getting the majority of the calls based on rep.

It also doesn't help when you look at the total fouls for the series and see that the suns are +44.

The problem with the officiating is this...To me, it seems the the spurs clearly get all the calls in the beginning of the game. Most of these fouls are tacky fouls that the ref's wouldn't call in the regular season. The ref's then realize that big disparity and call tacky fouls against the spurs to make up for them. In the end, a bunch of crappy fouls pile up. This being true, the suns have gotten the worse end. That "foul" on marbury against Bowen on the three point line was ridiculous. Anyways, that's my long take. Sorry for the novel fellas. I'll try to keep them short and sweet next time.

 

[elindholm]

Welcome mribnik. It's great to see some of the more coherent ESPN posters come over here. "Ctraeger" is here too, but I'll let you figure out what his handle is here.

Due to work conflicts, I haven't been able to watch that much of the series. But I'd guess that part of the reason for the foul disparity is that the Suns are resorting so exclusively to their small lineups, more than they did during the regular season. That leads to a lot of reaching and scrambling on defense, which in turns leads to fouls.

Meanwhile, the Spurs have done a good job of limiting Marbury's penetration, and that reduces the Suns to a perimeter team. Until the Suns make some of those shots, the Spurs won't really have to guard them, which means fewer foul opportunities.

In general, though, I agree with you that the disparity of "reputation calls" gets more severe in the playoffs.

 

[SirStefan32]

It's not about officiating. It's about the Suns lack of ability to make open shots and the "fear" of going to the basket.

 

[JS22]

hehe cheese.

I hope to break that jinx tomorrow.

 

[Goldfield]

Originally posted by SirStefan32
It's not about officiating. It's about the Suns lack of ability to make open shots and the "fear" of going to the basket.

true...

 

[Cheesebeef]

Originally posted by WastedFate
hehe cheese.

I hope to break that jinx tomorrow.

No man - don't do it!!!! I'm serious - my best friend was the jink - I mean Game 6 Suns-Bulls, Game 7 Suns v. Rockets, The first game the Suns ever lost to the Timberwolves, First time in 22 home games, Suns lost to the Clippers, Game 1 of D-Backs v. Mets in 1999 playoffs - the only ay I believe a curse can be broken is in a Game 7 of the championship series - I gave him a ticket for the World Series because he wasn't strong enough to go against the other 50,000 people in the stadium - and he broke the jinx - but it had to be something that big - don't risk it - PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

 

[ASUCHRIS]

Hey fate.....my question to you is, can you live with the fact that if you go to the game, and they lose, it will be utterly, and completely your fault? Are you willing to shoulder the burden that you have let thousands of people down? I don't know if I would chance it.....

 

[Wally]

Originally posted by cheesebeef
No man - don't do it!!!! I'm serious - my best friend was the jink - I mean Game 6 Suns-Bulls, Game 7 Suns v. Rockets, The first game the Suns ever lost to the Timberwolves, First time in 22 home games, Suns lost to the Clippers, Game 1 of D-Backs v. Mets in 1999 playoffs - the only ay I believe a curse can be broken is in a Game 7 of the championship series - I gave him a ticket for the World Series because he wasn't strong enough to go against the other 50,000 people in the stadium - and he broke the jinx - but it had to be something that big - don't risk it - PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Somebody needs to lock that dude in the closet with my buddie Jack.

 

[mribnik]

"It's not about officiating. It's about the Suns lack of ability to make open shots and the "fear" of going to the basket."

We have definately had a problem making shots, but there have been many times in the games where we made a constant effort to keep attacking the basket. Anybody know how many FT's marbury has taken so far? I don't know the number, but I doubt it is justified.

 

[mribnik]

oh, i didn't realize how you respond with a quote. sorry about that..

 

[JS22]

Haha. I dont really believe in all of that stuff. I just think its funny that i have NEVER been to a Suns game in which they win. 0-6!

Let's see about tomorrow. I just want to see a freaking victory in person!!

 

[capologist]

Originally posted by SirStefan32
"fear" of going to the basket.

Quick stat:

According to the boxscores on NBA.com, the Suns beat the Spurs in points in the paint in each of the last three games, including double-digit margins in each of the games in Phoenix.

 

[Chaplin]

Originally posted by capologist
Quick stat:

According to the boxscores on NBA.com, the Suns beat the Spurs in points in the paint in each of the last three games, including double-digit margins in each of the games in Phoenix.

Yeah, no kidding cap. I thought it was quite obvious that we were losing because of our poor outside shooting, not our inside-the-paint offense.

 

[sly fly]

Wasted,

I herrrreby take away your jinx. I herrrreby take away your jinx. I herrrreby take away your jinx.

There, all done.

 

[JS22]

Thanks!

 

[capologist]

Do you think holy water might help?

<img src="http://media.nba.com/media/playerfile/tony_parker.jpg">

 

[sly fly]

Do you think holy water might help?

"May the power of the beast repel him!"

 

[cly2tw]

From game 5 I only recall one very bad call, on Marbury fouling Bowen for three. The problem is that the Spurs seem to have more than their fair share of no-calls in their favor. Or maybe they did get the "fair" share due to Duncan and Robinson's status in the league?

 

[S_Nash]

Originally posted by cly2tw
From game 5 I only recall one very bad call, on Marbury fouling Bowen for three.

And that call happened to come with a minute and a half left in the game, and the Suns down by 6.

I don't care if Marbury touched him (which he didn't), in a close playoff game like that, you don't *repeat* DON'T make those calls.