With the Benefit of Instant Replay

Foul.

Yes It Was a Foul

Was that a foul? Yes.
Should it have been called? Yes. It was on the ground and should have been two free-throws.

Am I surprised that it wasn't? Nope.

I am a firm believer that a foul in the first minute should be a foul in the last minute. But, c'mon, how long ago did we all learn that this is not the case in the NBA? How many times have we seen people drive the lane with the game on the line and get absolutely mugged with no call made?

It sucks. But this is the world we live in. Purists and Idealists or whatever the hell you want to call them are going to bitch and moan about this for weeks. But, I don't see why. You know that refs tend to swallow their whistles at the end of games. You've seen it happen over and over and over especially in the playoffs. Yet, you're surprised - outraged even - about what happened at the end of game 4?

And then to try to tie to the fact that Joey Crawford was the ref as Basketbawful did or to go even further out on a limb and tie it (albeit weakly) to some conspiracy theory/referee scandal as Henry from Truehoop did, is just plain ridiculous. This is a completely separate issue, one that is not new at all.

This has nothing to do with Joey Crawford.

This has nothing to do with Tim Donaghy and the ref gambling scandal.

This has nothing to do with Stern wanting the Lakers and Celtics in the finals or some other general NBA conspiracy theory.

This is the NBA as we know it. As you knew it before game 4 started and for the last 30 years or so. Why all the shrieky indignation?

Tonight my team was on the winning side of a questionable no call at the end of a game. They have been and one day will be again on the losing side of such a play. But for now, I will go on enjoying the win.

***

Speaking of shrieky indignation, let's go back to Truehoop's "That Was a Foul!" post. I mean, jeez.

Laker Derek Fisher left his feet, and landed hard into Spur Brent Barry. The Spurs were down two and time was running out. That's a foul in my pickup game. That's a foul in high school. That's a foul in college. And, at just about every moment of NBA basketball that I have ever seen except this one, that's a foul in the NBA.

Dude, what kind of pussy ass pick up game are you playing in where you call that? An on-the-ground foul from 30 feet out. Do you take charges in these pick up games as well? Do you call technicals and three seconds in the key?

I actually do not think that the NBA is rigged (if it was the shot clock would have been reset on the play before, when Derek Fisher's shot appeared to touch the rim). But a lot of people do, and that's a problem. The way to solve that problem is to be scrupulously fair, which this was not.

I don't see how the refs not resetting the clock can be considered evidence that the NBA is not rigged. That makes no sense. Because you know what? Fisher's shot DID hit the rim and the Lakers should have had a fresh shot clock. You know, if the refs were scrupulously fair and all.

If the refs had made that call, the game would have been over. The Lakers would have had the ball with 5 seconds left and no shot clock and the Spurs would have had to foul. But it was too close of a call on which to essentially end the game. Again, the refs do NOT want a hand in deciding the game. Do we notice a pattern forming here?

***

Yes, if Barry had sold the call, he would have had free throws. But that doesn't mean that he should have flopped. It just means that he should have taken the contact instead of basically DRIBBLING AROUND IT.

It's a bit of twisted irony to see a team that flops the whole game lose on a play where one of their players had an opportunity to flop and basically shied away from the contact. I now have a new found respect for Brent Barry. He played it straight up.

Actually, all of the Spurs are showing some serious class and sportsmanship with the way they are handling the non-call ending. They are truly champions in every sense of the word.

***

What the hell was Kobe thinking at the end there. Thirty seconds left, up 4 and he drives to rim like we're down 4. He should have dribbled it back out obviously. Or hit Pau streaking down the middle rather than that tough shot over Duncan. Seriously, he could have totally blew it.

May Madness

The NCAA Tournament may be the favorite of millions, but THIS my friends is a Final Four. We have the defending champs coming off a game 7 win on the road. Perennial contenders from Detroit who have made the last 6 (SIX!) Eastern Conference finals and are starting to embody an Atlanta Brave like consistency. And then we have the league's two greatest all time franchises in the Lakers and the Celtics, playing the role of the new kids on the block. It's like the old guard meets the new guard. Except the new guard is actually the old-old guard who, for lack of a better term, is back bitches!

(I was trying to end that last paragraph with some sort of pendulum metaphor, but then I was like, screw it.)

This morning, so many are lamenting the exit of Chris Paul from these playoffs, the final straw after losing the likes of Steve Nash, Deron Williams, and to a lesser extent Josh Smith because these players represent the actual new guard. If not new by age, then new by style. An aggressive, athletic, and aesthetically appealing style. And just one year removed from the near possibility of a Phoenix Suns/Golden State Warriors Western Conference finals, it seems that these folks are jaded by the sight of who is still alive in these playoffs.

And you know what, the Lakers belong here with this particular final four. But when I say the Lakers, I'm referring to the ShaKobe Lakers. Because if you had told me six years ago that the Lakers would be in the Western Conference Finals with San Antonio in 2008, I would have shrugged my shoulders and nodded my head. But I would have been picturing the Lakers with an aging Shaq, Kobe dominating, some younger role players and the same boring, methodical approach that won them titles in 2000-2002.

They were definitely on that track. But of course, everything exploded after Detroit beat them in 2004. And then things got worse. And the Lakers were rebuilt. And this rebuilding took place during what will be remembered as the Steve Nash Era (2005-2008) in which uptempo offense and long, versatile players became all the rage around the league. So instead of entering the 2008 Western Conference Finals as a plodding, grind-it-out juggernaut like the rest of the final four, the Lakers are an extremely dynamic team full of athletic, long, and versatile players held together by Championship experience at the top and a proven system that allows for all of it.


The Lakers today are a team that seems to combine the substance of its final four counterparts with a style that even the layest of fans can appreciate. Because when the Triangle Offense is humming, and recently it has been, it is basketball at its finest. Passing, moving without the ball, screens, ball movement. Kobe's brilliance as a garnish. They are an example of how you obtain fast break excitement through half court execution.

Long story short. San Antonio is the thesis. The Suns were the antithesis. And as it happened, the Lakers are the synthesis.

And there is your pendulum metaphor.