See, that's exactly where I think the difference stems from. So many of the calls against us are of the ticky-tacky variety that should go uncalled in the Playoffs. Harkless and Collins especially get called for stuff that would probably go uncalled half the time in the REGULAR season. And these calls are often made early in the quarter, in a seeming attempt to be able to control when the penalty sets in, and how aggressive we can play on defense for the remainder of the quarter. Then on top of that we've got the Dame Face defensive foul, and the Jokic Face Flop foul bullshit to contend with, along with mysterious travel calls when the pivot foot maybe drags two inches. And Dame is getting hacked across the forearms with no call made.
Yep, I see (and gripe about) the same thing. Just trying to take a more objective look at things... That said, Collins was a badass last night -- really hope he keeps that up!
I remember a pretty funny promotional video for the Dream Team...1992? anyway, they had Jordan, Magic, and Bird sitting together on a bench for the video. Magic was in the middle and the photographer asked Magic to move a little closer to Jordan. Magic said "I can't get any closer, I'll be called for a foul". Both Magic and Bird yukked it up pretty good but for some reason, MJ didn't think it was funny
there was a poster on RealGM (Agenda42) who made a pretty interesting argument: "I get bad calls and non calls. Basketball is fast and it's going to happen. The thing is, I'm pretty sure it's not honest mistakes. Playoff officiating to me sure looks like the refs are trying to influence the game. Officials that seem to be able to call the game well in normal conditions make "bad calls" when a team is threatening to break the game open. Star players get long or short leashes depending on the state of the series. Foul trouble is suspiciously common for the team trying to close out a series, while getting a second foul on the behind team's star is almost impossible. I don't think they're bad at officiating. I think they're company men." maybe that's a little too conspiracy theory, but it does seem to fit
I don't think officials are part of a conspiracy. I think they're humans, subject to the standard cognitive biases all humans tend to be. Stars get "star treatment" not on purpose but because all humans have a tendency to see what they expect to see. We expect to see stars play at a higher level than other players and make fewer mistakes and referees aren't immune to that, so that bias leaks into their judgments at the margins, entirely subconsciously. The bigger the star (and "star" implies the perceptions around the player, not just the stat-driven analysis), the more likely for it to creep in. Referees, as experts in a field and supposedly trained observers within their field, should be less prone to such a bias, but no human is going to be entirely without it, no matter how trained or expert.
