OT: Refs in NBA finals game 3
Anyone else get the sense the refs tried to swing the series to Dallas tonight? Miami played a very aggressive and athletic style. Points in paint went to Miami 40-22, but fouls went 27-14 against Miami. Edit (new stat): Of the final 11 foul calls against the Heat, 10 were not in the act of shooting. It seemed every time the Heat pushed the lead out to 10 or so they'd get called for a couple loose ball or ticky tack fouls.
The officiating in that game was terrible all the way around. I would say Miami was getting more calls against them but it is probably to be expected playing in Dallas.I know at one point in the third quarter Miami had six or seven fouls and Dallas had one.
when are people gonna realize that the NBA rigs these games so that the series goes 7 games. Dave Stern wants to generate all the money he can cuz the ratings are getting lower each year. NBA is a scam. who wants to bet that this series goes the full 7 games with the Heat winning it all?
10,000 mgopoints
What other brilliant conspiracy theory's do you have for us? I bet you were one of those that stocked up on freeze dried food, gold coins and ammunition in anticipation of the Y2K meltdown like my cousin.
i cant stand watching the NBA. the phantom fouls is what pisses me off the most.
but the same thought entered my mind as I was watching.
Pretty strange. I figured Stern would be for the heat. NBA, WWE. It's all the same.
I've found that it's best not to argue with people on here about LeBron, or the Heat. The opinions of most readers of this blog are so biased against them that it doesn't matter how good of an argument you make. I agree with you, as does any rational basketball fan, that last night's game was called in favor of Dallas, whether it was intentional or just a coincidence.
After reading this thread, I have a lot of thoughts to add. Sorry for the long post; I'm warning you so you can skip over it if you wish.
First of all, I'm originally from Rochester, MI but currently live in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. I do not consider myself a Miami Heat fan, or a fan of any team for that matter. I do find Heat basketball to be entaining and being a fan of the sport, I watch almost all their games. I'm not emotionally invested in the Heat like teams I consider myself a fan of, so I believe I can provided and educated but unbiased opinion.
In regards to the officiating, I think some people are being way too hard on officials in this day and age that features instant replay. I thought most of the calls in last night's game were fine, and if every call wasn't being put under a microscope there probably wouldn't have been any complaints. I think Dallas benefitted slightly due to the officials trying to keep the game close, but I never felt like they were trying to push the Mavs to victory.
People are overreacting to the back court violation. I think it was the correct call after factoring in the speed of the game and human reaction time. Chalmers' front foot was completely in the front court and only the back of his heel was one the line. Was it technically a back court violation based on the definition? Yes, but one cannot possibly expect a human eye to see him catch the ball and move down to his feet before Chalmers got his foot off the ground. In real time, it looked like a good play and only after the play was freeze framed and Chalmers' foot was blown up could you tell his heel was on the line. Correct me if I'm wrong please, but I don't believe that's reviewable. They can review the shot but they can't review to see if it was a back court violation or not. When it is that close, you have to give the player the benefit of the doubt. You can't call it unless you're 100% positive.
I can't stand flopping, but it seems like it is here to stay. As long as players are able to continually get away with it, they're going to keep doing. If the NBA started to fine and/or suspend players for flopping then it might go away, but that won't happen.
As far as who's team the Heat is, I can tell you one thing after watching almost every game: It's no one's team. It changes from night to night. Whoever is playing the best leads the team and takes control. We've seen both Wade and LeBron defer to Bosh at times when he's been hot. LeBron looked like the alpha dog for much of the regualar season and playoffs, but Wade was in control at the beginning of the season and now in the Finals. Honestly, these three are some of the most unselfish superstars I've seen in the sport. They don't care who's playing the best, who's leading the team, who's in control, or who is scoring points. All they care about is winning. Bosh has been abysmal in the Finals, but the other two have picked up the slack. While everyone worries about who's team this is, the Heat are going to continue to play unselfish basketball and rack up wins.
The most infuriating thing is the anti-LeBron bias or selective memory, whichever you want to call it. Some of the things said in this thread have been absurd. First of all, blaming all of the Game 2 loss on him? That's ridiculous. Just about every player on that team could've done something different and they might have won. If I had to blame one person (it was a team failure) I'd say Bosh way before LeBron. If Bosh doesn't **** his pants on defense, the Heat win that game.
Secondly, anyone who says Wade is the better "closer" just has selective memory. According to 82games.com, LeBron shot 43.6% in "clutch" situations this year while Wade shot 39.7% in those same situations. LeBron was better at the line in those situations as well (84% compared to 73%). Finally, LeBron has hit 2 game winners this season while Wade has missed every attempt. Neither player is very good in late game situations, but LeBron is still better than Wade.
I won't even acknowledge the absurd comment claiming that LeBron James is merely average defensively (I'm praying that he meant Wade) and move onto my final point: who's the best player in the NBA. It's LeBron and it's nearly impossible to make a serious argument for anyone else. In some people's eyes LeBron will never be the best in the game, regardless of what he does. First people held onto Kobe for 2-3 years after LeBron had passed him. And then they moved to Kevin Durant before he exposed as nothing but a pure scorer. Then they tried to jump on the Derrick Rose bandwagon but Miami exposed him as overrated. Now everyone is suddenly claiming that Wade is the best player. Now Wade has been the best player over the last three games, but that's about it. Overall, there is NOTHING that Wade does better than James. LeBron is the better scorer, shooter, rebounder, facilitator, and defender.