Really don't see how that's not a travel. He picked up the ball and established his front foot as his pivot foot and then jumped backwards off that foot, set that foot back down, and then shot.
The theory is that the NBA needs content for its partners, not that they want a certain team to win. ESPN is already out of content. TNT was facing having no weekend content. Go look up what TNTs ad rates are for normal Saturday night programming vs what it'll be for Game 6. Thus, if the refs can assist in lengthening a series for a game, that helps the partner, which helps the league in its tv negotiations which are beginning this off season
But in a series this close, why would you risk pushing this series to 6 or 7 games and risk the Heat losing? If it's all about negotiations with the networks, you'd ensure that Miami made it to the Finals no matter what. It's hard to argue they're thinking 'big picture' about TV contracts but also risking an Indiana vs San Antonio Finals.
Its a really close call. He picked up the ball at almost the exact same time as he put his left foot on the floor.
The hesitation in mid-air threw it off, too. It wasn't a straight step-back. He hung in the air for a minute that made it appear he had set his placement.
Another point on the NBA 'rigging' games. If they're rigging it to get an extra game out of this series, then there is NO WAY you can argue they wouldn't also rig it so the Heat made the Finals. So who cares that the Heat lost this game? If you believe the NBA is rigging the series, you have to believe they're going to make sure the Heat win, right?
If there is an obvious ref to target in all this, it shouldn't be Crawford. Rodney Mott is much worse.
Yeah, I think it should have been a no-call. Just like the LeBron foul at the end of H1. His 6th foul should have been a no-call as well. There was one foul on LeBron that wasn't even a foul. The Paul George and-1, LeBron went straight up. Not a foul at all.
Curious to see what Spo does in game 5. Depending on how the game goes, I think Miami would be best served reducing Ray Allen's minutes.
I didn't mind LeBron's 6th foul as much. He literally stepped on Stephenson's foot - and widened his stance pretty excessively. If it wasn't LeBron's 6th, I don't know that we'd be freaking out as much. If someone stepped on LeBron's foot as he tried to get around a screen we'd all be screaming it was a dirty play. But I also don't subscribe to the "you can't call that in the 4th quarter" or "you can't call that as his 6th foul" argument. We complain about refs enough, constantly changing what is a foul based on time / circumstance makes it nearly impossible to enforce anything.
One would guess that if the games were fixed, then you'd have more a more compelling playoffs than what we've seen so far. Been pretty boring IMO.
Again, it's not about "rigging" in the literal sense. I don't think anybody, or at least I'm not, is suggesting that David Stern walked up to Joey crawford and said "The Pacers are gonna win this game, right?". What I am suggesting is that the league alerts officials on things to look for when calling games where it becomes obvious what the intent is. This is what Donaghy claimed happened all the time. It doesn;t always work, and the Heat still could have won last night even with the officiating. It's subtle. It's the guy at the deli putting his finger on the scale when you order a pound of turkey but you really only get .95 of a pound.
Thats pretty standard for NBA screens though. Everyone would foul out if they called them that tight.
Why reduce Ray's minutes? He is finally getting his shot to drop now. If anything, I can see Spo wanting to put Joel in a bit as he played nice defense last night. Also might be time to take Mike Miller of ice and let him rain from downtown.
I guess my larger point is that if you think the games are being influenced to help with TV contracts / ratings, then you would have to assume they are going to work as hard in the Heat's favor to win the series as possible. The Pacers in the Finals is worst-case scenario for the NBA / TV nets.
Because Allen is getting lit up by Lance Stephenson. Nobody on the Heat is going to rain from downtown this series. The Pacers are too intent on running off the three point shot. They're going to make guys like Battier and Allen put the ball on the floor. I think they need to give more minutes to Cole. Anthony is intriguing because of his defense, but when he's in the game it makes it so easy for Hibbert to guard the rim. I could see them using him more though, depending on how the game goes.
No he didn't. Stephenson was rewarded for spazzing out over Wade's cross over. He got faked out of his shoes and stumbled toward Lebron. Lebron was stationary.
San Antonio doesn't sweep....this series is now 3-1 and who knows...maybe it's over already. The loss of revenue with less games is significant. Even more so than just having a mediocre finals. An Additional game in this series can mean upwards of 50 million in Ad Revenue. They lost money with that Spurs / Grizz series. Ratings went down drastically from game 3 to 4.
He literally stepped directly on Stephenson's foot. Whether Stephenson was faked out or not, LeBron stepped on his foot, which should be a foul and also shows that LeBron was not stationary. Not to mention his leg was extended out far enough it looked almost like a trip.
Again - if your argument is that the NBA is rigging games for TV revenue, then there's no argument that they wouldn't favor the Heat to win the series in the end. There is no angle that the NBA would want the Pacers to win this series. So if you believe the NBA is rigging anything, you also have to believe it will end up in the Heat's favor.
Officials don;t officate with still pictures that may or may not show a foot on another foot. They ref it in real time. In real time, he is absolutely stationary and DOES not step on his foot since he was set before Stephenson bumps into him.
you are failing to understand. They aren't flat out rigging games. They are massaging games, and handicapping one team. They know the Pacers are no threat.
you are failing to understand. They aren't flat out rigging games. They are massaging games, and handicapping one team. They know the Pacers are no threat.
? I'm confused. You are saying that still images of something that happened don't reflect what actually happened? Watch the replay. :50 mark. He extends his leg and steps on Stephenson's foot. The fact that his foot is on top of Stephenson's means he could not be stationary when Stephenson runs into him (because he couldn't be set if his foot was landing on someone else's foot.) http://youtu.be/9u4t-wDuQOQ
The officials were a joke... Both ways. The 24 second violation was a huge momentum shifter. The refs sucked even worse than usual. Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2
Agreed. The thing is that there were bad calls both ways. That 24 second violation was AWFUL. And I still haven't seen how that replay showed the ball glanced off David West to give the Heat possession at the end of the 4th. There was certainly some awful officiating - but it's pretty hard for me to see it as lopsided in one direction.
Can't read? There is an infallible way to see that it has been lopsided. it;s called paint attacks per Free Throws. The Heat has had two games so far where they almost double the paint attacks of the Pacers and then lose the FT battle by double digits.
Officials don't launch zapruder film level investigations to make one call. they don;t send out for still pics to make a call. They cal it is realtime. In realtime, that was not a foul.
I don't think the Heat took more shots in the paint than the Pacers last night. At least it doesn't look like it on the shot chart.
It's not about shots, per se. It's about simply attacking the paint and getting to the basket. Many times Wade/Chalmers and LeBron got into the paint and were hacked or bumped before getting a shot off with no whistle.
The Pacers got into the paint more from what I could tell. Mostly from offensive rebounds. They rebounded half of their own misses. Of course they're going to go to the line more. The Heat weren't nearly as aggressive getting into the paint as they have been before IMO. Chalmers was really the only one that showed much energy. Can't expect LeBron to do it much when he's guarding West either.
Dude almost NONE of the fouls were on putbacks. You need to quit while you are ahead, because Ive never seen someone be more uninformed about a topic IN MY LIFE.