<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">It was the decisive play, the crucial sequence, and it ultimately cost the Jazz a victory. And Devin Brown would do it all over again. "I wouldn't change anything," Brown said Friday of his defense against Kobe Bryant a night earlier. "I didn't do anything different in that possession than I did in the seven or eight possessions before that." But the critical shot - Bryant's 22-foot jumper as time expired in regulation - was judged to be a foul. Behind by two points, Bryant sank the free throws to tie the game, and the Lakers eventually handed the Jazz their third straight loss, 105-101, in overtime. Brown said he didn't hear referee Ron Olesiak blow his whistle as Bryant's shot bounced off the rim. As the Delta Center erupted in celebration over the Jazz's apparent victory, "I was watching Kobe. He was walking to the bench, and then he stopped at half-court and went into his free-throw routine," Brown said. "I looked back at the ref again and he was making the call. I was like, 'Oh, you've got to be joking.' " Replays showed slight contact between Brown's hand and Bryant's wrist, though it appears to be initiated by Bryant. The players' legs also collided as they landed, which the Lakers guard insisted was the basis for Olesiak's call. "He fouled the hell out of me. He kicked my legs out from under me," Bryant said. "When it's a questionable call, the refs usually won't make the call when the game's on the line. But that was an easy call." It probably seems that way if you're a superstar, or so the Jazz feel. Would the same call have been made had the roles been reversed,? "Not at the end of the game, not in that situation," Brown said. "No way." </div> <div align="center">Source</div>
No offense to jazz fans, but I will never feel bad for a "phantom call" going against them, karl malone and to a lesser extent stockton invented the flop
"He fouled the hell out of me. He kicked my legs out from under me," Bryant said. "When it's a questionable call, the refs usually won't make the call when the game's on the line. But that was an easy call." Whoa..... what an asshole. BS. There was absolutely no contact with Browns hand and Kobes wrist, that's BS. It clearly shows in the reply. The leg thing is harder to tell. Either their legs slightly hit eachother, or Kobe flopped badly. There's no way brown forced his legs out from under him..... That's why Kobe just started walking off to the bench.... If Brown fouled the hell out of him, he would have begun arguing with the ref immediately..
Horrible call...but I do believe why it was called, as TNT explained how the ref was looking as to where Bryants feet were aligned (whether it was a 3 or not) and then when he looked up, all he saw was Bryant's arms flailing about...so he assumed a foul had to have occurred... even as a Rockets diehard, I felt bad for Utah because they played their hearts out that game and deserved to win...
