http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/john_canzano/index.ssf/2009/04/ugly_loss_is_no_excuse_for_bad.html So, are we feeling properly chastised? Seems to me that a bit of what he says is on target, but he totally ignores the 1,000 lb. gorilla in the room. It's pretty clear that many, perhaps most, NBA fans think that the officiating is bad, that established players get the benefit of the doubt over younger players, and that some think the fix is in. We've seen a few around here who are convinced that the Commish really wants the Rockets to win so that all of those millions of Chinese fans will keep following the playoffs. No, the refs didn't make the Blazers play like crap, but IMO they certainly did have an impact on the game. If Canzano thinks that the fans are wrong about the refs sucking last Saturday, he ought to make his case. On the other hand, if there is a legitimate beef, are fans wrong to voice their displeasure because it might make Stern uncomfortable or make other NBA fans elsewhere think that we're small time?
Ref's were bad.. but plain and simple our D and Offense was worse.. I agreed with him yesterday on his show, quit making excuses.. The FT disparity was so big because we were shooting Off Balance Jumpers against the clock. With the refs being better we would have maybe lost by 17 not almost 30.. why does that seem to make people feel better that we would have only lost by a lesser amount?
Okay...Im fine with saying the majority of the calls went HOU way, cause they did...but that did not affect who won the game, just the point differential. Please dont tell me anybody here actually believes the refs are under order by the higher ups to ref the games in Hou's favor. Anybody REALLY believe that?
I think some of the contact Yao was putting on our guards warranted a foul-call... Do I believe it was the reason why we lost, no....
Canzano still suck. I love how he talks about depression and suicide levels in Portland. He is the reason some of us will go homicidal. I can not stand him. He walks around in the RG, like he own the place. He is God’s gift to Portland. Paul Allen should fire his ass. I hope he takes a promotion to a major metro area. Get a fuck out of here John.
I think Blazer fans who are convinced that there is a conspiracy going on (the NBA wants Rockets to advance to appease Chinese fans) need to make their case. The burden of proof falls on them. It's been pretty well established that the NBA put out a memo during the 2006 playoffs for the refs to focus more on calling fouls against Yao in the HOU-DAL series. Did the NBA start pulling for the Rockets only recently or something? Oh, I know, they were trying keeping the German fans happy that year. Now attention has shifted to China. That must be it.
The problem is, whether we lose by 30 pts or 5 pts, Canzano writes the SAME column. No, the refs didn't cause the Blazers to lose Saturday night. What does that have to do with the quality of the officiating? Even if Houston was going to win anyway, how does that justify making bad calls against the Blazers? Of course, even if the refs had caused the loss, Canzano wouldn't care. He's more concerned with "image".
I guess I'm in the minority that believes that a ref crew can actually determine the winner and / or loser of a game. Take the 1st game, for instance - Blazer players were driving to the hoop for awhile but got absolutely no benefit of the doubt. There were numerous hacks, shoves, etc. So if you aren't going to get the call and you can't go in without getting clobbered what do you do? You start taking outside shots. Yao is another instance. Dikembe can block shots, sure, but he's no Yao. He doesn't have nearly the complete all-around game. You call 2 or 3 of the fouls that we all know should've been called on Yao and suddenly he's out of the game - and quite possibly early on. Game-changer right there. The burden on D and O fall to other players and not just for brief spurts, the game is closer, the players are more inspired, etc. I'm not saying in particular that Portland's players were uninspired just that it has some affect on their mental approach. If you want to argue point differential and it's effects on morale I think that's fair game to. You lose by 1 or 2 points and people believe that they have a good chance to win subsequent games. You lose by 20 or 30 and..well.. I'm sure everyone puts on a happy face but inevitably there are people who already concede the rest of the series. I'm referring to players here, not the fans (who should have a heavy dose of medicine nearby during the playoffs).
Canzano has a point about complaining about the calls in the game. However, I would say a big instigator of this issue are the folks who call the games for the Blazers. All game long Barret and Rice will piss and moan about the refs. You know, it is possible to call a game and ignore the refs for the most part. If Portland wants calls, they need to force the refs to make them. If Portland wants to prove they are getting the shaft, then attack the rim every single play and present the league with evidence the refs are fucking them. If that doesn't work, present the media with the same film. Further, if Portland is going to get called for fouls on the defensive end no matter what they do, they need to make those fouls count. And by count I mean they need to be very hard fouls. As for calling out fans for leaving during the last game, fuck him. If Portland doesn't bother show up for the game, what reason do I have to stick around and watch? It's a Saturday Night. I have better things to do then watch Portland suck for 2 1/2 hours.
Simply put.. Yao only played 24 minutes when he was sitting.. the lead still got bigger for them. Saturday We got killed by Brooks, Yao, Artest, Scola... Its not like Yao scored all 108 points for them.
Canzano seems to flip-flop on this issue a lot. Sometimes he says, we as fans shouldn't care what the national folks think about us. We are who we are, we're passionate, and we should be proud of it. And now, he thinks we should care. It's not like the crowd yelling "these refs suck" suddenly made NBA fans think Blazer fans are the worst in the NBA. I think he has trouble relating to the fans' point of view on these things since he comes at it from a totally different perspective.
That's not the point I was making...and I certainly don't believe it. The point is the perception around the league that the refs don't call things fairly night in and night out. It's certainly not limited to Blazer fans, but if Canzano believes that the fans were off-base in calling out the refs, then he should make his case instead of simply telling them to shut up and be "classy". Blazer fans are pretty knowledgeable. They saw the Blazers taking the ball to the hole early, getting hacked, and getting no calls despite being aggressive. It did have an impact on the game and the Blazers fell into the trap of changing their attack and shooting jumpers...which they missed. The officiating, IMO, impacted the game, but didn't cause the loss. A more experienced team might have stuck with the game plan and forced the refs to start making some calls. The Blazers aren't that team...yet.
Yao got called for a foul on Roy within the first two minutes of the game. 3 fouls were called on each team in the first quarter. In that first quarter, Roy got into the lane routinely and hit a high percentage of his shots. That was the start of the game. Still, the Rockets led by 11 after one because they just played better. Your description is off.
I'm still pissed about Battier getting 3FT and Blake not getting his 3FT. Battier was BARELY even touched. Then the fact that Scola was riding Aldridge's back while Przy would pick up fouls for putting a fingernail on Yao. Overall I don't think the refs decided the game but they were definitely in the Rockets favor.
