Anyone else think that the officiating is getting a bit on the ridiculous side? First it was the Rockets getting cheap fouls called on Yao constantly, now it's Shaq being able to do whatever he wants without any calls. I'll admit in Game 4 that Shaq got alot of cheap fouls called on him, but in this game it seems as if the Ref's switched sides. Shaq throws elbows in the paint all the time and no one will call it. He also does that crap were he uses his off hand to clear people out, isn't that a foul as well? Last night it seemed like everytime he got the ball in the paint he was fouling people with no calls. And for god sake, why do they never call the walk when he switches his pivot foot all the time? In last nights game D-Wade should of had like 4 or 5 fouls in the first half, it was ridiculous. It was blatantly obvious that the refs were not going to call his 3rd foul in the first half. I'm not saying that they shouldn't let them play the game, all I'm saying is at least have some consistency with the calls, if your going to let Shaq elbow Ben & Sheed in the face all the time, don't call all these stupid touch fouls on the Pistons. And what was that in the 1st half, 4 or 5 offensive fouls on the Pistons in a row? Give me a break...
Didn't Shaq get called for an offensive foul when his elbow knocked down Ben Wallace? I know he got called for at least one offensive foul in game 5.
The officiating has been terrible all season long, there have been several calls they made or didn't make that effected the outcome of games. I think the referees are far too, inconsistent per quarter for the players to adjust to. One quarter they let teams play physical, the next quarter they are calling the same physical plays fouls. It's frustrating enough to watch, I can only imagine how frustrating it must be to have to play through it. Last night Larry Brown even argued a call against Shaq late in the game, after he got whistled for an offensive foul for a move he was doing all night. The other night the refs went whistle happy against the Spurs calling consecutive offensive fouls on them. I think the bigger problem is the griping after the games. The coach who can out whine the other guy is getting the benefit from it the next game. The NBA needs to do something about the refs and figure out a way to make them officiate more consistently throughout a game. Right now they are ruining the flow of games in the playoffs and becoming too, much of a factor in the outcome of games. Despite all the rant on the refs, the players need to shut their mouths and just keep on playing. Arguing and crying to the refs does nothing, but draw attention to yourself, which usually leads to another foul on you. The Pistons got too, caught up with fighting the refs instead of playing the Heat. They let the Heat role players get too, much confidence instead of turning on the killer instinct a championship team has, when Dwayne Wade got injured. The Pistons should have smelled blood at that point and put the Heat offense on lockdown for the rest of the game.
I Think everyone should stop complaining. The referees have a tough job on hand. If everyone would just shut up, theyre job will be 100 percent easier.
I agree about shutting up about the refs because no matter WHAT we talk about it wont affect a single thing in the games. But yes, the calls in detriot game 5 were BS. Thats pretty bad when Larry Brown argues about a foul they called on superman.
I'm not going to say the refs cost the Pistons the game as they had the chance to come all the way back when Wade got hurt. However the refs are the reason the Pistons big's weren't in the game much. Rasheed's performance was down to the fact the refs refused to want him in the game.
Yeah I'm not saying that the Heat won games because of the fouls, it helped, but the fact that they were playing great contributed alot more to their wins...I just wish they'd be consistent and call the same fouls on both ends of the floor, all throughout the game..Thats all I want.
The offciating gets me really frustrated..I mean one game they let them play like it's the 1980's..the next, the littlest contact will put offensive player on the line. It's getting ridiculious in my eyes. I honestly believe they should assign a 3 man referee team to every series, and stick with them, so the games won't change in how they are played. Instead of the first quarter being full of cheap fouls that tells the players that they can't be physical this game, they will know off the bat how intense their defense should be. The whole little transition time would be gone, and the first quarters would actually get under way more quickly. That means more points, right Mr. Stern?
The finals officiating were a bit bias.. on Game 3 when Bruce Bowen basically ran into Rip Hamilton and knocked him down, they called it on Rip..I understand how coaches and players feel when they have been jerked by the refs...
ya ..throughout the season and playoffs the referees have made real stupid calls but as a basketball team you just need to keep playin and not focus on the officiating.
How do you just keep playing when your not sure what you did 5 minutes ago is still going to be alright...It changes that fast, not just from half to half or in different quarters. The fouls are retarded. Anyone else notice when one team gets a lead, the calls seem to all go to the loosing team, like they've been told to keep them in the game or something...Thats stupid, cheapens the game and is really pissing me off lately..
