9 thoughts on “Nuggets Don’t Love L.A.”

1. *DANGER – RANT AHEAD*

   Basketball… I just don’t get it. What *is* a foul? At one point in the game the announcer said the ref made a great non-call for “no contact” when it looked like bodies were flying out of the paint. Uh, ok. So “no contact” means what, collisions but no blood? But, in Game 4, the same play resulted in a foul call. Seriously, can some one provide a cogent explanation when a foul should be called?

   Nene looked confused and heartbroken after fouling out on what he perceived was a B.S. call (admittedly I did not see the play which led to the call). When a professional player can not understand what a foul “is,” there is a problem.

   Foul calling is too subjective in the NBA. Without some standardization, there will always be a taint of bias associated with the game.

   Did David Stern tell the refs to throw Game 5 with aggressive foul calling? I doubt it, the Nuggets missed way too many shots to win this game regardless of the foul calls. But, without eliminating the subjective nature of the officiating, there is no way to definitively disprove the allegation that Stern ordered the game be given to the large market team.

   Mike

2. Are you on crack Drew? This game was officiated very well. Kobe still can’t get a foul until the fourth quarter, and, honestly, the Lakers just out played you all, period.

3. To begin, I would like to say that the Nuggets deserved to lose tonight. Their shooters went cold late in the third quarter and never recovered, and they failed to adapt to the way the officials were calling the game in the fourth quarter by sticking to perimeter shots. The right team won tonight.

   Now, I am normally the last person to ever complain about officiating, or say that it can cost teams wins, in the playoffs or otherwise, but I had a serious problem with the way the game was called tonight, and it may have played a significant role in the outcome. First of all, I have to agree wholeheartedly with Mike’s comment above. Outside of flagrants, technicals and the occasional “normal” call, I really, truly have no idea what a foul is in the NBA. Heck, I don’t even know what traveling is. More than 4 steps if you’re not named Lebron, more than 6 if you are? It’s ridiculous how much guys are just running to the basket, sans dribbling, these days. Good points, Mike.

   But the main beef with this particular game was how inconsistent the officiating became in the fourth quarter, particularly in the final six minutes. Suddenly, nothing became a foul for about two minutes, where earlier in the game, it most certainly would have been. Guys were running into lots of traffic in the paint (both teams), plenty of contact was made, but nothing was called. I believe at this point, one of the national TV announcers (can’t remember which one) even said, “They’re letting them play. I love it.” But then, out of nowhere, I began to notice that the Nuggets were continually getting called for defensive fouls on plays no more harmful (more harmless, if anything) than the non-calls a few minutes ago, while the Lakers were getting more violent without getting ANY calls. Now, as a Nuggets fan, I obviously have a bias. But I’m talking about a SERIOUS discrepancy here. And how can you expect players to play the game if you’re not going to keep the officiating consistent? If you’re going to call it tightly, call it tightly, and vice versa. You can’t flip flop in the middle of a quarter, and ESPECIALLY not for only one of the teams. I mean, I don’t need to say that last part, but I really felt like that was the case in LA tonight.

   Again, the Nuggets should have adjusted to this and realized that they had to nail jump shots instead of layups and dunks, and that is their fault alone, but the officiating was awful at the end, just absolutely awful. And that final foul call on Nene was just pathetic. I can completely understand why he was so upset with it; he didn’t do a single thing wrong.

4. Good morning from Omaha,

   The players of the NBA should be aware of what is going to be called a foul.

   Just as in baseball, where the umps are learned by the players for there strike zone.

   In football, the corners and safeties know what pass interference is and while they push the boundaries when they get caught they know it, just like holding calls , they know what they did was wrong.

   the players in the NBA should be able to say to themselves ref A doesn’t allow hand checking, ref B has a loose interpretation of traveling etc etc etc. Its a matter of consistency. The NBA should not wait until the playoffs to start enforcing the rules to the letter.

   If the NBA office is meddling with the officiating and that is a big IF, then they are threatening the integrity of the game.

   If they want to play by the “rules” the NBA should play by the rules for the entire season and not wait until the playoffs are almost over and the teams with the leagues 2 biggest stars are on the verge of going home.

   It is kind of like parenting, you have to be consistent.

   Enough enough. GO Nuggets

   Strive for excellence, nothing but your best.

   Gene

5. Denver didn’t lose because of the refs, it lost because they were trying to draw fouls instead of hit shots and the Lakers simply played great defense late.

6. The last foul on Nene was weak. I don’t understand how Gasol can lower his shoulder and drive into the chest of Nene, cause Nene to fall then trip over the body he just knocked over. That is not basketball that is football.

   Other than that I thought it was a well called game. The refs did let them play, it was just the start of the 4th quarter that killed the Nuggets. I think the stat I heard was that Denver missed their first 11 shots to start the quarter. Can’t blame the refs for something like that.

7. I dont know about you but I am soooo sooo disappointed. The Nuggets were trying to draw fouls last night late in the game in a away situation (L.A.). Thats pretty funny!! Very few teams can get a call in Hollywood, because it is Hollywood duh!! Doop doop de doop! The Nuggets looked like they forgot to come out of the huddle at the start of the fourth quater. I got my hopes up way too high for this series, I should know better. Tell the boys to get their tee-times ready for Saturday the golf courses are gonna be packed. Thanks for another let down season Nuggets!!! Get a sports psychologist for Melo and the boys in the off-season so that they can beat L.A. because the Lakers will be more experienced and smarter next year. This was the year to catch L.A. off-gaurd and we failed to capitalize on a great oppurtunity.

8. If you can get a listen to Mike Mathis one of the good refs from yesteryear. He was on the drive home on KOA. Very good interview!! When the Nuggets come out as cold as they did nothing anyone could do about it. But everyone knows ABC/ESPN wants Kobe LeBron in the Finals!!! Wish it was about the game not the stars!!!!

9. I doubt that the officiating is fixed, because if it were, San Antonio would have only been allowed to win its first championship in 1999, otherwise known as the “*(asterisk)” season, courtesy of Phil Jackson. The NBA would have let David Robinson get his ring in the lockout season when everyone was so disillusioned with the NBA anyway, then sailed on to greener pastures.

   That said, I still wish that the Nuggets had won, because I support two teams, the Spurs and whoever is playing the Lakers that day. (In the NFL, I support the Broncos and whoever is playing the Raiders that day, which is why I’m commenting on a Denver-based board).

   Better luck next year, Nuggets. (Unless, of course, you’re playing the Spurs.)