Game Thread GAME# 31: SPURS @ BLAZERS - DECEMBER 20, 2017 - WEDNESDAY, 7:00 PM (PST), NBCSNW

Parker and Leonard are not playing in this game against Portland.

 

it's probably a good thing we got jobbed in Minnie....chip on the shoulder for the home game for a change!

 

You have a history even last season when people say refs played a role, you always say they didn’t. Yeah of course the blazers could of won the other night if they took care of the ball in crunch time and made shots but you could also argue that if the refs didn’t call the game the way they did we would of won there too. Dame was vocal about it after the game and if you watched it’s not hard to see what he’s talking about. 21 to 5 in fta attempts. That’s ridiculous especially when dame drove multiple times and you could definitely argue on some of his drives that they should of been fouls. When refs dictate how one team can play physical and the other team can’t even breathe on the opposing player without getting called, that’s a problem. That absolutely is crucial. It dictates the whole game.

 

Refs play a role in every game. As a coach I would never say different. What I can't dtand is the vocal whiny majority of "the refs cost us the game". They always play a part, but there are always other things.

It's like some assholes who say a player choked or blew the game when they miss a FT down 1 with a second left in the game, when in reality, the missed FTs through out the game and the turnovers or missed shots are all equally at fault

So no, I don't have a history of saying that. I have a history of saying they didn't cost us the game.

Two different things

 

Good players step up in big moments. So if you fail to step up, it's worse than missing a FT in the 1st quarter.

 

No worse. Costs you the same amount of points. Every point matters, so every monent is a big moment

 

That would be crueler than booing.

 

I get what you're saying and generally agree, in particular when there's bitching about a blown call on one particular critical play. You have to figure that there were other blown calls throughout the game that would balance out the impact of any one call. And, you're right that there are almost always other things that you can point to that contributed as much to the outcome as the refs. I think that NBA refs try to call a balanced game. By that, I don't mean that they try to balance out the number of calls, but that they have as a goal calling the game the same way on both ends of the court.

From my recollection, the fouls that Butler drew were the main reason for the discrepancy in the number of fouls that the T'Wolves got vs. the Blazers' measly 4 free throws for common fouls. Most of the fouls that he drew were for pretty blatant contact, while most of the fouls that Lillard was complaining about being missed on the Blazers' end were more in the touch category. That makes it hard on the refs to call a foul.

All of that said, if you knew for sure going into a game that one team was going to shoot 21 free throws and the other one 5, you'd probably be on your computer making a bet that the team with the 21 free throw attempts would win the game. I think it's also pretty understandable the impact that kind of disparity has on the psyche of the team on the low side of the equation. It's not surprising at all that Turner blew a gasket for a the foul that Teague drew on him by stepping into him on the screen. The free throw for the T ends up being the difference in the game. The Blazers also had an inordinate number of turnovers that certainly made a difference in the game. Were some of them the result of the T'Wolves getting away with uncalled fouls? Probably.

So, yeah, there are always other things that influence the outcome of the game than the refs. But, given the makeup of this board being a broad spectrum of ages and maturity levels, given the fact that the game threads tend to be dominated by certain more vocal board members who tend to vent at the refs, and given that this game was one where the difference in the number of calls was so out of balance, perhaps you could just once in awhile let the bitching slide?

 

CJ told me his favorite place to play is Memphis because they boo him so much there. Said he “feeds” off it. Booing doesn’t effect/affect real players the way fans think it does.

 

Kobe loved playing in Portland for that very reason...he fed off that shit!

 

I agree with that although I would submit a foul call/non-call in the 2nd quarter isn't called the same nor does it have the same impact as in at the end of the 4th quarter in most cases.

 

How does it not have the same impact?

 

If teams played every possession the same way, which they should, it wouldnt matter

 

A foul, let's say early in the 2nd quarter when the opposing team is not in the bonus and just results in an out of bounds play of a 2 point game.....no big deal. A foul late in the 4th that is say the 5th or 6th foul against one of your stars that results in 2 FTs for the other team because they are in the bonus of a 2 point game.....much bigger impact.