The Saints playoff run in 2008 made everyone teary-eyed with Katrina sob stories. Haters of the Hornets accused New Orleans’ NBA team last year of having the same appeal in an extremely pejorative way. I never saw it. In fact, I saw only hate from the League, other than giving us the All-Star Game. So sorry we’re not a big market like L.A., Boston, or New York. Maybe we should clear some cap space so the League would care. Until then, I hold my ground, that the League is against us. Case in point, the NBA refereeing system that rewards certain teams and punishes others on a strange, hazing-type, respect system, where superstars get calls, and “good defenders” never get whistled. It’s a joke. It’s by far the most subjectively called sport in the world, which seemingly allows individual refs to write their own versions of the rulebook. And they’ve always hated on us. Only I don’t know why.
Okay, superstars get calls. Obvious. For a non-biased example, Kobe got several ridiculous calls tonight, while Bynum got hacked several times with no call. That said, the referees completely killed this game. How can a team make a run when there is totally contact uncalled at one end and at the other every little contact draws a foul? The refs were horrible. Horrible. And while they totally fucked the Hornets tonight, the refs horribleness wasn’t limited to just that. I already pointed out the Kobe-Bynum discrepancy. Ridiculous. But they weren’t consistent from quarter to quarter or even play to play on how they called the game. Read the rulebook, bitches. A foul is a foul, no matter who commits it, and no matter who it is committed against, and whether that player is in foul trouble, the clock is expiring, or if he complemented your mother.
For those of you that may be watching from home, what may not be clear, is how upset the crowd was. I have never heard the NOLA crowd upset about so many calls. Yes, yes, we’re all homers, and yes, shove your jokes about the Hornets players’ bitching rubbing off on us. That aside, that given, and compared to that norm: people were loud, booing, screaming, jump-out-of-their-seat so mad that they couldn’t even coalesce their rage into a cohesive attack of boos, screams, or curses; it was just a cacophonous explosion of disbelief. I’ve never seen so many 40-year-old dads tell the ref to fuck themselves in front of their kids. Okay, maybe in front of the kids belonging to someone else, but the crowd was incensed most of the game. Some random big black woman behind us pierced my eardrums all night. Usually I’m that guy. Our season-ticket holder “neighbor” actually left some time in the second half he was so pissed. Listen, anyone that knows me knows I give respect to the Lakers. As of today, they’re playing better than us. Fine. But let THEM prove that. They don’t need the referees’ help. But then again, maybe this makes the Xmas showdown with the Celts look better if both teams come in high. Think about it.
David Stern says Tim Donaghy was a liar and there was no big NBA conspiracy. I say David Stern is a bigger cheat than Tim Donaghy ever was. Let’s say it again just because Stern is trying so hard to sweep him under the rug: Tim Donaghy, Tim Donaghy, Tim Donaghy, Tim Donaghy, Tim Donaghy, Tim Donaghy, Tim Donaghy. Why? Yes, I told TT6 I wanted to do this post in a game when we won (and I should have after the Spurs game), because there are serious issues with NBA refereeing that need to be addressed regardless of the outcome of games.
Look at the numbers, they don’t make sense. Our shooting percentage was less than 3% worse than the Lakers, we made 3 more three pointers, there was only one more rebound for them, we had 5 more assists, 3 more steals, were tied in blocks, and only had four more turnovers, and six more fouls. Where does that 13 point differential come from? It’s about timing, not quantum. Sure, they can give a bunch of meaningless fouls to even the numbers out. Any good conspiracy is self-effacing. But you need to question when they occur. What was happening? Was a team making a run? Consider that we got the Lakers in foul trouble early and had an 11-6 or so differential in free throws attempted early. They ended up taking 10 more overall. That’s a big switch.
At the end of the day, the Bees were baited into believing the game would be called one way. CP was drawing all the contact fouls and our guys were aggressive on defense to great effect. Suddenly, CP is getting hammered and getting no calls and our every defensive play is a foul. I call bullshit. I call Tim Donaghy. It’s a verb now. I’ll say again, Stern wants that name to disappear. He wants to pretend no ref ever tanked a game. I say we never let him or the general public forget. This game was Tim Donaghy’d. It was bullshit. Absolute bullshit. Way to showcase the sport on national TV. Blow your whistle every three seconds. It was bullshit. Horseshit. Donkeyshit. Monkeyshit. Any shit you can think of.
At the end of the day, though, that shit smells like Tim Donaghy. Or David Stern. Whatever.
I could not agree more. I usually don’t like to bitch about the refs , but this was blatant over the back non-calls and ticky tack calls the other way while CP3 gets raped. Look , the bottom line is that jumpers not falling early and defensive rebounds not secured are the real reason we lost , but the refs trying to okie-doke us in our own gym just to rub it in our faces makes you burn with rage!
From the couch, I didn’t think this game was that atrociously reffed except for the ridiculous 8 billion free throws Kobe got in the second half, some on plays where the replay clearly showed he wasn’t touched. I swear he had 9 at the half, because I commented we were doing an OK job on him at least. So then how’d he suddenly get all those calls? Yeah, right. When Posey laid him out was the best moment of the game.
In general though I do hate these games, and it’s always the pattern, where the players are allowed to be physical until the half and then out comes the whistle. It’s just not fair to them. Not to mention it sucks for the fans because the game slows to the pace of mud and everyone’s miserable because you can’t get through a possession without some kind of call. No flow.
My favorite ref rant is where I question them about the point spread… I wonder if I would get kicked out if I had a Tim Donaghy sign in response for the absolute crap I saw tonight.
Yet another perfect example of the inconsistency of the calling by the ref’s tonight was the hook & drive that CP3 did against Fisher… then Brown or Butler does the EXACT same thing against Fisher on the NEXT hornets possession on the same side of the court officiated by the same ref. No call. I lost my shit; I actually yelled about a no call that favored my team.
I saw Kobe get tackled by a ghost on a replay… it was quite awesome.
I swear, Tim Donaghy was the best thing to this league because it exemplifies the incompetencies of the sport, as well as validates any potential discrepancy of calls. I’m totally not being sarcastic either (as hard as it is to believe). I really love this sport. I acknowledge the difficulty of un-biased calls. But I am also very suspicious of the referee’s bad calls, despite (Niall’s?) previously posted article on the integrity of the refs.
I understand superstars get special treatment because people pay to watch the player, but that always drew a ‘bullshit’ bell for me, because if the player is truly a superstar, they would not relegate to rule-violating moves (whether it be of their personal fault or special treatment). They should score without traveling (D-I-still-can’t-spell-his-name-incorrectly-Wayne Wade), or get no free throws for invisible hands (Shobe). Even CP, who shouldn’t get some fouls because he flops.
Elsewhere, this happened with my Mavericks in the NBA Finals. Yes, we sucked, but I refuse to admit D-I-hate-spelling-his-name-incorrectly-Wayne got more free throws by himself compared to our whole team. Plus in one of the games, he backcourted (no call), travelled (no call), and got unwarranted free throws (surprise, call)… in one drive. F Communist Stern.
I must say the best exampe of this maddening ‘phenomenon’ (AKA Sternism) is by comparing to inferior leagues. The almost-dead Australian NBL, even Euroleague – the talent level is nowhere near the NBA, the officiating will suck overall to a proportionate degree, but when the whistleblowers suck, they suck the same for every player across the whole four quaters. The only way the outcome of a game is determined by the refs is accidental – a particularly sucky call made at a coincidentally critical time. But the guys go out and play the game and the refs call it and it’s often frustrating but never sinister.
A generous interpretation of the star/market-call in the NBA is that maybe the refs are actually as star struck as fans are up close and the pressure of having power on the court of the greatest league on earth gets to them. They are human after all. The realistic interpretation is of course less flattering to the league. So how can it be fixed?
BTW the photo makes me think Pose is quoting Pulp Ficton – “Oh I’m sorry, did I break your concentration? Please, continue…”
Don’t know if it shows up on a stat sheet, but they called like 37 travels on us. With one, Chris just stood there AT MIDCOURT (yeah, like he’d really randomly travel with little pressure), a dumb-founded look on his face, and literally repeated the move he had just done like three or four times, as if telling the ref: “Man, that was no travel. Look!” Crazy.
I mean, you can definitely take several issues with what the Hornets themselves did, and I’m sure all the other blogs will do that. And I already said the Lakers are playing better. Look at their record. But I reiterate, let the Lakers themselves prove that. Not the David Sterns. Not the Tim Donaghys.
Brown & Marks Contracting “You need bricks we’ll lay-em” 1-504-FOR-BRICK
Amen brother. Here is my song from last night:
On the game before Christmas, I got from the Donaghys:
12 rally killers (bad calls in the 3rd and 4th quarters)
11 grabs of Paul (uncalled)
10 phantom fouls (pad those stats Kobe!!)
9 MORRIS PETERSON!!
8 Minutes of fair calls (the other 40, not so much)
7 missed free throws (I think this pissed off the refs so they didn’t give us any more)
6 Tyson’s number (He MUST have fouled Kobe because the shot didn’t go in…)
FIVE BRICKS BY DEVIN (okay, not the refs’ fault)
4 technical fouls
3 travel calls (maybe West’s was warranted)
2 offensive fouls (on CP3 that should have gone the other way)
and a foul 70 feet from the ball….
Brilliant.
I say we just identify which player the refs are going to give preference to, sent Devin out to hard foul da fuck out of him and just stare at the offending refs until they realize they are endangering their favorite players.
I should stipulate that my angry responses sometimes involve a little of the ole ultraviolence. But I dont mean it (much).
@Matt-Storm Surge- with regard to both comments- my sentiments, exactly. i’m no bully, but refused to be bullied. I don’t like to play dirty, but sometimes you’ve got to smack a dog on the nose to let him know- this aint happenin’ any more!
Actually, I also agree 100%. Let’s do it old school. Let’s do it hockey-style.
I just reread this post, and I think the scariest thing about it is mW actually LIKES the Lakers. I cannot even imagine how much worse it could read.
Most of that 13 point differential comes from the fact that we were 14 for 22 from the freethrow line. We are better than 80% freethrow shooting as a team, top 3 in the league. So the fact that we shot 63% from the stripe cost us at least 5 points. The Lakers attempted 10 more freebies than the Hornets did, but 8 of those were in those final two minutes. Up until that point, they had only attempted 24.
Here’s what pissed me off about this game, and it had nothing to do with the game itself. There was a family sitting behind me with their Kobe jerseys on. Nothing wrong with that, only that I’ve seen them there before, IN HORNETS GEAR!!! THEY ARE FROM NEW ORLEANS! THEY HAVE NEVER BEEN WEST OF LAKE CHARLES, EVER! The only loyal one was their 6 year old son, who continued to cheer for the Hornets, while they cheered on Kobe. I turned to them at the end of the game and said that I never want to see them im my section again, or I will personally make their experience a living hell. I started calling the couple Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, but I don’t think they knew why I was calling them that, which is sad.
The only call I really had a problem with was the goaltending call on Tyson Chandler. First of all, let me say that he got the call itself correct. My problem was the manner in which he called the violation. I thought that the way the official (who’s name eludes me at the moment, which is good for him) sold that call appeared that he was trying to show up Tyson. There is a way to sell a call, and then there was that BS display! If a player does something like that, he gets a technical, or perhaps even ejected. As an official, you are simply out there to manage the game, and call the game how you see it, not show up the players.
@saltandcarbon: Comment of the day.
I don’t think there’s any conspiracy in the NBA. But the officating is often questionable and certainly inconsistent. That doesn’t mean something fishy is going on, it just means most of the refs in the NBA are bad at their job. They let things like homecourt and the prescence of superstars cloud their judgement way too much. Which is not to say the Hornets (and Chris Paul) don’t sometimes benefit from this… but that’s not really the point.
The officiating was just plain bad last night… and I almost never get particularly upset about calls. But three our four times last night the refs called those phantom fouls in regards to Kobe and I was just dumbfounded. They outplayed us regardless…. our shots weren’t falling and our offense looked like crap compared to theirs (it isn’t crap, it’s pretty good relative to most of the league… but when I see the kind of ball movement the Lakers consistently engage in, it makes me envious).
I know reffing basketball is probably the toughest officating job in sports… but it ought to be more fair and consistent than it currently is
You know, one of the most baffling things about calls for the Bees Is that we rarely get those home court calls. What’s with that?
Yeah, honestly I’m with Caleb, but it’s hard to believe that especially when it was pretty evident San Antonio and Cleveland brought horrible viewership for the NBA finals, and commentators were pretty vocal of that fact, redeemed last year with big “rivalry” teams in big markets (for the record, I didn’t watch that series, nor any games past the Hornets game 7 last year).
I’m still on my happy cloud regarding no special treatment for superstars and market-specific targeting, but yeah, basketball’s probably the worst sport to get calls accurately. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be done… right?
@mW: Yeah, what did happen with those home court calls? We never get them. Must be something about the league hating on us. I guess the Lakers are better than our home court.
And @ Everyone: That picture of Posey pushing Kobe on the floor is the wallpaper on my iPhone! Bahahaha! I feel so cool with it.
Okay, anger subsided, I really don’t feel that there is an NBA conspiracy against the Hornets. But as I blogged once before, I think there is a major problem with the way calls are made in the NBA, and which just happens to work against our team. I’d like to do another post on it when I can be more objective. I wanted to after San Antonio, but I never got the chance. With any luck we’ll beat the Rockets despite getting no calls, because that is what history says should happen. They’re a “defensive” team and we’re a “high-foul percentage” team and those stats play into themselves. Although CP will draw many fouls that will drive Houston fans nuts as he always does. It will be also curious to see if refs call CP’s steals/steal attempts any different now that his streak is over.
Looking back at this post and the last comment, it’s interesting that the Hornets showed a SUPER ton of poise when they got in foul trouble and won the Rockets game. After being called out in the TP by Byron for bitching too much.
Hmm…
As a (still) bitter Jazz fan all I can say is wait ’til you get them in a playoff series.
I watched this game and i felt the reffing was bad (what was there like 8 techs called in the game?) but the reason NO lost was the fact they couldnt hit a open jumper if there life depended on it til the 4th where they started making some 3’s. West was something like 4-15. Reffing had nothing to do with that. At this moment the Lakers are just better than the Hornets. Theyve had the Lakers twice at home and have been down by 20 points or more in both games. And to MC Welk. The Jazz are a bunch of hackers. They lead the league in opposing teams ft attempts per game last year. And the playoffs just put it on a national stage for everyone to see. No more whining please!!!
I’m not a Hornets fan (I’m a Pistons fan and found this link on yahoo! sports). I assure you, from reading other teams blogs and other teams message boards that EVERY single fan base in the NBA thinks there’s a conspiracy against their team. Heck, even Lakers fans (yes you heard it right, Lakers fans!!) think the NBA hates them. I’m not kidding. I’ve seen it all. So think about it: is there a conspiracy against every single one of the 30 NBA teams or is just the fact that officiating sucks for the most part? I’d go with the 2nd one. For instance, I watched the Pistons/Jazz game a few days ago and the Pistons had FOUR guys fouled out. And you can only imagine how Pistons fans talked about a conspiracy against their team (also, funny how Jazz fans keep saying the NBA hates their team even though the refs were pro-Utah that night). Few days later the Pistons played the Bulls and the officiating was pro-Pistons and the Bulls had 3 guys fouled out. And you can imagine how Bulls fans got mad at the refs. Some of them even said the NBA is in love with the Pistons and want them to win (even tho Pistons fans claim the EXACT OPPOSITE lol). So yeah, this just shows that some nights the officials will “screw” your team and some nights they will “help” your team. It doesn’t have anything to do with the NBA hating a particular team, especially the Hornets since they’re a great spot for the league (just think to how likeable Chris Paul is). The main problem is that refs are bad for the most part, not to mention the fact basketball is the hardest game to officiate. There are so many judgment calls that can go either way, meaning you will always have people disappointed, no matter what. People tend to complain even when the refs get it right so go figure. Plus the quickness of the players and the fact fans are so close to the court (meaning they can yell at the refs) make it even more difficult to officiate.
So, there’s not a conspiracy against anyone. Just bad officiating. Maybe next time you will be the team getting the benefit of the doubt.
We’re all equal but the Lakers are slightly more equal than everyone else.