Wolves @ Suns Game Thread

[nowagimp]

I'm not a big fan of NBA refs - Violet Palmer makes several egregious calls in almost every game and the refs were ridiculous in the Knicks game but I thought the Twolves game was well refereed. I just watched the last 7 minutes over and counted the number of hand checks on Nash - zero! Times Nash was grabbed so he couldn't move without the ball - zero. Garnett bumped him on a drive and got called for a foul.

I know the there was some contact on the perimeter during the rest of the game - I watched most of it twice - but I didn't have the sense that it was anything extraordinary so I thought I'd pay particular attention for a while and see how bad it was.

What I did see as I followed Nash was that Garnett bulldozed him down into the paint every time Stevie went under a pick Kevin set. The net effect was that Nash started going over the picks. I've complained for years about Duncan using the bulldoze maneuver but I've noticed that KT uses it some and Diaw has started doing it frequently so to be equitable I'll have to start complaining about them, too, I guess. In the seven minute stretch they each did it once that I saw. (Incidentally, this was the same manuever Rashard Lewis used to keep Bell from following Ray Allen when the latter hit the game winning three against us a couple of weeks back.) It's obviously a moving pick but for the present it appears the league has decided not to call it.

I did not have the opportunity to replay the game, though I would not expect to see banks and carter bumping or grabbing nash in the last 7 minutes of the 4th quarter, they had 9 fouls between them at that point and Nash appeared quite fatigued. As I recall in the first half, there was a lot of contact on the drives, forearms and chest bumping. I thought that the level of physical contact was substantially above what is permitted on other stars, especially by bigger defenders. All year this has been a theme: many big guys get away with "bodying up" Nash on the dribble, even on the perimeter, even centers and PF's with a limited number of foul calls. If you try to body up AI, Kobe, Ray Allen, even Baron Davis with a center or PF, the whistle will blow much more consistently. Calling that game "well officiated" requires a stretch that I am not willing to make. Diaw gets whistled for marginal contact fouls, but Banks chest bumps the MVP without a call. I guess you have to ask well officiated compared to what? In the NBA today, clearing the defender with elbow swings is permitted, even encouraged, it is a post-shaq phenomenon: it was not permitted before the shaqster came into the league. Note how the europeans are not very skilled in this area. Duncan does it alot, but it is generally not allowed in the international game. Note how few international players have the terminator biceps, they actually look skinny in comparison, kind of like showtime era NBA players. The NBA is concerned with making money, period. The rule$ are flexible and WWF is the best money making model out there.

I love basketball and thought changes in the first 30 years mostly represented improvements, but now it just seems like entertainment, like hollywood. Players argue the calls so much today because the foul thresholds in the officiating system "float", the players feel they must argue to get the calls as the rules are so subjective. For example, if the team has a rep for "playing physical", they can get away with more banging. If the law were this way, guys that regularly get into fights would not be arrested for battery. The fact that the fans buy in to the rhetoric(its consistent within a game, they play physical etc) just makes it worse, encourages more deviation in enforcement of the rules.

 

[Errntknght]

nowagimp, "I did not have the opportunity to replay the game, though I would not expect to see banks and carter bumping or grabbing nash in the last 7 minutes of the 4th quarter, they had 9 fouls between them at that point and Nash appeared quite fatigued. As I recall in the first half, there was a lot of contact on the drives, forearms and chest bumping. I thought that the level of physical contact was substantially above what is permitted on other stars, especially by bigger defenders."

I thought if they were getting away with unusually physical play we'd certainly see it down the stretch but I'll keep the tape and watch the second quarter again. BTW, I didn't notice that Nash appeared more fatigued than normal for the last seven minutes of a game - and I should have picked that up since I was paying close attention to him.

 

[myrondizzo]

he had the flu so that might of had something to dod with the fatigue.

 

[Errntknght]

nowagimp, "As I recall in the first half, there was a lot of contact on the drives, forearms and chest bumping. I thought that the level of physical contact was substantially above what is permitted on other stars, especially by bigger defenders."

Well, I watched the second Q over again. Nash sat the first four minutes and was guarded by Banks and Carter for about four minutes each. Banks harassed him full court twice and stayed right on him but there wasn't more than incidental contact. In the half court he didn't do any hand checking or holding - he bumped him once on a drive and got called for a foul. Anthony didn't hand check either but he grabbed him one time for sure and came close to it a second time - both times when Nash was using a pick and Anthony was going over it. He bumped and pushed Steve once on a drive and got called for it.

I've seen some games where I thought Nash was manhandled some but not in this game.

 

[F-Dog]

This game totally sucked. It might be the second-worst Suns game of the year.

What killed me was the complete lack of recognition by Suns players as to which players were threats. They were consistently letting Banks and Ricky Davis get open shots when they could have forced Madsen, Anthony Carter or Trenton Hassell to make the same play with a little intelligence.

I think the official was Richardson(?), the same guy who reffed the 3OT Knicks game. He's definitely got something in for the Suns--but the Suns helped him out by playing like complete garbage.


The goaltending call actually didn't bother me that much. I figured the Suns would find a way to get squashed in OT if they decided to count the basket.

 

[Treesquid PhD]

Keep dreaming... we need to get out of this ediotic funk against lesser teams... we played most of today's game sleep walking.

still feel so confident in your clippers?

 

[Treesquid PhD]

The Clippers arent going away. They are here to stay.

Having fiath in a team that has proven to be losers maybe easier becuase you don't live there but never wise. They will tank.

 

[boisesuns]

Having fiath in a team that has proven to be losers maybe easier becuase you don't live there but never wise. They will tank.

I'm not so sure of that.

 

[Treesquid PhD]

I'm not so sure of that.

hmmm another loss right on cue the clippers are. pretty soon we'll be freaking out about the lakers again