Mike Barrett's take on the officiating

[Miksaid]

http://mikebarrettsblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/blazers-nipped-again.html

Now then, let's get to the 2,000 pound elephant sitting in the room. The Blazers were on the short end of the calls by the referees, once again. If you read this blog often, you know that I don't usually ever discuss officiating. But, I'm sorry, it's too big a factor in this series to ignore, and I can't figure it out.

Portland is not a physical team, and outside of Greg Oden, we almost never see the Blazers in foul trouble. Houston is one of the more physical teams in the NBA, and are known for possessing a suffocating defense that survives on hard fouls, rough play on the perimeter, and absolutely pound you down low. Yet, in this series, the Blazers have been called for 101 fouls. The Rockets have been called for 83. That's a huge disparity. Houston has attempted 96 free throws, and the Blazers 79.

I can't say I disagree, despite how objective and partial I typically try to be.

 

[Nate Dogg]

I don't think the officals are to blame in the serious. Nobody's stepping up and being aggressive except ROY. Outlaw is lost in the fog and LMA is being a pansy. RUDY is playing his guts out for his limited time played and Joel is the beast. Oden is like a deer blinded by headlights. Blake is on/off like hes being drinking V-8 juice on his own time frame. The series is done as the only person who gave "true grit" in this playoff run is ROY.

 

[Haakzilla]

...it is impossible to ignore this elephant though!!! The timing of the calls and/or non-calls is what kills any type of momentum for the Blazers [you might have players "stepping up" more often had they been able to get their rhythm going instead of stopping play with whistle after whistle against them]!!!

 

[Sug]

If you want the calls you need to be more aggressive. There have been bad calls, and the Blazers get the short end of the stick. At the same time if you were to look at the total number of shot attempts and where those attempts are coming from you would see why they have shot more FTs and why the Blazers have had more fouls called on them.

 

[Mediocre Man]

It's too bad Nate won't stand up for his team like the play by play guy does. Nate needs to learn that whining about the officiating when the margin is that large helps. Post game news conferences are for that. Take the damn fine and move on Nate. It's probably too late now though. It would also be nice to see Nate get a T once in a while.

 

[Boise Blazer]

It's too bad Nate won't stand up for his team like the play by play guy does. Nate needs to learn that whining about the officiating when the margin is that large helps. Post game news conferences are for that. Take the damn fine and move on Nate. It's probably too late now though. It would also be nice to see Nate get a T once in a while.

I have been BEGGING for this all season and even more so in the playoffs. I dont want to become the team that whines on the court about everything but every once in awhile you have to stand up for yourselves if for no other reason than to get a little momentum off of the T.

 

[BoBoBREWSKI]

#'s dont lie.

 

[LittleAlex]

When Portland is aggressive it makes no difference. Houston shoots at least as many jump shots as Portland, so I am not sure why anyone thinks this myth is true.

The fact is that the officials have decided every game but the first one. They are controlling the game from start to finish. Nothing either team does on the court matters. That is what saddens me about this series. Even if Portland comes back to win the whole thing it won't feel good to me as a fan of basketball.

The shear number of calls being made is absurd. I am watching other playoff series and I am not seeing the same level of calls being made. Other teams are allowed to actually play the game. Both Portland and Houston are not.

 

[Blazerfan22]

Its not just about the Offensive side of the ball, Portland is getting LAME ass calls on the defensive side. We cant play D without getting a ticky tack foul called. Which leads to wide open shots, open lanes etc. Because we cant afford no more fouls. Both centers out last night before end of 1st quarter is absurd especially with the way Yao Hooks everyone on every offensive play he has ball.

 

[STOMP]

#'s dont lie.

Houston runs their offense through Yao, Portland through Roy. For the series, the two primary guys covering Ming (Joel & Greg) have 36 fouls, the two primary guys covering Brandon (Artest & Battier) have 13. If the Rockets are to advance against the Lakers, would anyone want to take the under in an over/under bet that those two are averaging more/less then 1.625 fouls each per game after 4 games?

Is it sports or is it sports entertainment with Stern just trying to please his paying customers? Certainly Blazer fans do not add up to Rocket fans + China in dollars generated for the league. I very much doubt Nate whining publicly about the officiating in the press or making an ass of himself on the sidelines picking up the occasional T results in anything other then him being portrait as a whiner. I'd rather he and the team continue on the high road. If the speculation above matters, the Blazers need to build their brand/appeal to succeed in the long run.

Remember when Stern promised transparency in reviewing the officiating following the embarrassing Donaghy scandal/accusations of the league actively manipulating playoff results through it's officials? If anything came of that, I missed it. Everyone and their mother suggested that the league allow the officials to exist independent of the commissioner's office like they do in other sports to avoid the obvious appearance of shenanigans. Stern gave this subject lots of lip service a year back but for some reason he kept things the way they were.

STOMP

 

[Ghost Pepper]

I'm just sick of the biggest guy in basketball being treated like he's a pansy every game! Yao is 7'5, treat him like a man! Hell.... half the time he's at the line he's laughing because he knows the calls we are getting are BULLSHIT!!!

 

[alex42083]

Man... if MB believes we're getting screwed by the refs, then it must be pretty bad. Totally a different stance than what Jay Allen and Tone were taking last night on the Fifth Quarter. What a tough weekend it's been..

 

[BlazerWookee]

I don't think the officals are to blame in the serious. Nobody's stepping up and being aggressive except ROY. Outlaw is lost in the fog and LMA is being a pansy. RUDY is playing his guts out for his limited time played and Joel is the beast. Oden is like a deer blinded by headlights. Blake is on/off like hes being drinking V-8 juice on his own time frame. The series is done as the only person who gave "true grit" in this playoff run is ROY.

Bullshit. This series is far from over. We took everything the Rockets had and lost two games by a total of four points. This from a team that struggled mightily on the road.

 

[Wheels]

Man... if MB believes we're getting screwed by the refs, then it must be pretty bad. Totally a different stance than what Jay Allen and Tone were taking last night on the Fifth Quarter. What a tough weekend it's been..

Mike and Mike are to of the most homerific tv guys out there. I wouldnt say that if MB says its bad it must be bad.. I would say the other way around if Jay and Tone says its bad.. then its bad. But The refs were not at all to blame. Our lack of hustle and sloppy play in the 4th cost us that game.

 

[Ghost Pepper]

Yeah I think we are going to explode on them here! We win by 18 and it's not close!

 

[maxiep]

If you want the calls you need to be more aggressive. There have been bad calls, and the Blazers get the short end of the stick. At the same time if you were to look at the total number of shot attempts and where those attempts are coming from you would see why they have shot more FTs and why the Blazers have had more fouls called on them.

The problem is that if our bigs try to be as agressive on Yao as Scola is on LMA or Yao is on Przy or GO, we get whistled for fouls and they don't. After our bigs were whistled for four ticky-tack fouls in the first half of the first quarter, any low post game for us disappeared. After that we were a perimeter team. Yao was whistled for one foul in 44 minutes. That allowed him the freedom to be agressive.

You can't just look at the number of fouls or the FT attempts. You need to look at the way a game is being called. I have zero problem if a game is called badly, but is consistently bad. I have a problem when the game is called differently for two teams. We're not being allowed to match their agressiveness, and it's put us in a real hole.

I think we should go down swinging. The data show it's highly unlikely that we'll win three straight. I think we need to stop worrying about fouling and demonstrate to the refs what a foul looks like. Oden is strong enough to make someone physically pay for coming down the middle. If he's going to get called for barely bumping someone, he should flatten them. It's still just one foul. However, the latter type of foul also sends a message.

 

[maxiep]

Mike and Mike are to of the most homerific tv guys out there. I wouldnt say that if MB says its bad it must be bad.. I would say the other way around if Jay and Tone says its bad.. then its bad. But The refs were not at all to blame. Our lack of hustle and sloppy play in the 4th cost us that game.

M&M are terrible homers, surpassed only by Pete Pranica in Memphis. I love Barrett, but he needs to realize it's okay to be objective. As for Rice, his schtick is to be overly dramatic. It's too bad, because he really knows hoops. I wish he would share what he knows instead of being a cheerleader.

 

[Wizard Mentor]

When Portland is aggressive it makes no difference. Houston shoots at least as many jump shots as Portland, so I am not sure why anyone thinks this myth is true.

The fact is that the officials have decided every game but the first one. They are controlling the game from start to finish. Nothing either team does on the court matters. That is what saddens me about this series. Even if Portland comes back to win the whole thing it won't feel good to me as a fan of basketball.

The shear number of calls being made is absurd. I am watching other playoff series and I am not seeing the same level of calls being made. Other teams are allowed to actually play the game. Both Portland and Houston are not.

QFT.

It doesn't bother me that the officials are deciding the games - that often happens. What bothers me is that the officials have been PROACTIVE about deciding the games. The fouls on our bigs at the beginning of the game were Donahidiculous.

 

[Wheels]

M&M are terrible homers, surpassed only by Pete Pranica in Memphis. I love Barrett, but he needs to realize it's okay to be objective. As for Rice, his schtick is to be overly dramatic. It's too bad, because he really knows hoops. I wish he would share what he knows instead of being a cheerleader.

Agree with you there.. Oh and Pranica is HORRIBLE.. coeincidence (sp?) that he used to work for our team? lol

 

[mook]

The reffing has been bad, but it's not a surprise. Artest, Battier and Yao are well-traveled veterans with enormous defensive reputations to hang their hats on.

Now look at Portland's three best defenders:
Oden: Rookie
Batum: Rookie
Przybilla: 24 mpg career center who used to have a reputation for fouling a lot, and outside of his own wife, has probably never sold a ticket in an NBA game.

It sucks, but that's life. When your best defenders are so low on the totem pole, that kind of foul disparity is just going to happen.

Here's the question I ask myself: "Why are our 3 best defenders these guys?" Outlaw's been in the league 6 years now. How is it, with his insane athleticism and his experience, he's not even as good a defender as a 19 year old rookie? And how is it that our veteran starting PG gets torched by Aaron Freakin' Brooks repeatedly?

 

[STOMP]

The reffing has been bad, but it's not a surprise. Artest, Battier and Yao are well-traveled veterans with enormous defensive reputations to hang their hats on.

I repeat... 36 to 13. Reputation shmeputation, that is flat ridiculous.

Outlaw's been in the league 6 years now. How is it, with his insane athleticism and his experience, he's not even as good a defender as a 19 year old rookie? And how is it that our veteran starting PG gets torched by Aaron Freakin' Brooks repeatedly?

I think Outlaw has done okay defensively this series. But his insane hops don't equate to insane lateral quickness. Blake is just a step slow to guard ultra quick PGs like Brooks. Nothing new on either of these two fronts... it's not a lack of effort, it's a lack of ability.

STOMP

 

[1 Eye Jack]

It's too bad Nate won't stand up for his team like the play by play guy does. Nate needs to learn that whining about the officiating when the margin is that large helps. Post game news conferences are for that. Take the damn fine and move on Nate. It's probably too late now though. It would also be nice to see Nate get a T once in a while.

Great point MM. I hate whining but it can make a big difference in the playoffs. Three of the biggest whiners are Phil, Pop and Adelman........whining gets results.......By the way I'm disappointed Nate hasn't stood up for his players by getting a "T". Not sure he's the coach that can take us to the promise land. Isn't his contract up at the end of the year.......?

 

[LittleAlex]

The reffing has been bad, but it's not a surprise. Artest, Battier and Yao are well-traveled veterans with enormous defensive reputations to hang their hats on.

Now look at Portland's three best defenders:
Oden: Rookie
Batum: Rookie
Przybilla: 24 mpg career center who used to have a reputation for fouling a lot, and outside of his own wife, has probably never sold a ticket in an NBA game.

It sucks, but that's life. When your best defenders are so low on the totem pole, that kind of foul disparity is just going to happen.

Here's the question I ask myself: "Why are our 3 best defenders these guys?" Outlaw's been in the league 6 years now. How is it, with his insane athleticism and his experience, he's not even as good a defender as a 19 year old rookie? And how is it that our veteran starting PG gets torched by Aaron Freakin' Brooks repeatedly?

I guess my question really is "Why is this acceptable?". I haven't ever heard of the rules that state rookies and vets should be treated differently by the officials. I haven't seen the rules that say big name players should be officiated differently then roll players.

Nor, for that matter, have I seen the regular season versus post season rule sets.

Here is the thing. I feel as though I am being played for a fool. I have hope that Portland will one day receive the same calls that Houston is getting now. But that is a false hope. Historically this has never been the case. Can you imagine the fucking Portland would receive against the Lakers? Or the Cavs? It would make Houston look really good by comparison.

Going forward, our main competitors will have LeBron, Kobe and Wade on their teams. What do you think will happen in each and every one of those contests?

I don't believe it is a conspiracy. I don't believe that Stern sits in his office and dreams up ways to screw the Trailblazers. I do think Stern is responsible for the star system, which in turn causes the kind of shit we are seeing in this series. Portland doesn't have, more then likely never will have, a star in same way Houston does. That give Houston an implicit advantage that is not mentioned in any of the rules.

The fact is that Portland needs a media star to compete. I have no idea what they can do to provide one. Some sort of media blitz by the organization. Shove Roy, LA or Oden down the collective throats of the fan base. All I know for sure is if they don't, you can forget all about a dynasty and start getting ready for bitter loses to teams with that have the media star advantage.

 

[mgb]

I really felt bad for Rice at the end of the game. Right after we loss it showe Barrett talking and Rice looked lost staring into space. He looked very old and depress.

 

[mook]

I repeat... 36 to 13. Reputation shmeputation, that is flat ridiculous.

Yep, it is. But it's the way the league operates. Veterans and superstars get the calls. Rookies and obscure role players don't. It sucks, but it's the way the way they've run the NBA forever. The NBA is consistent in this inconsistency.

Might as well complain about the charge circle or the distance of three point line. They are all NBA conventions that they feel maximizes entertainment value and excitement. In this case it comes at the expense of fairness and sportsmanship.

Sigh. All the Blazers can do is wait for Batum and Oden to mature, or add more vets to the team if we want to speed the process along.

 

[STOMP]

Yep, it is. But it's the way the league operates. Veterans and superstars get the calls. Rookies and obscure role players don't. It sucks, but it's the way the way they've run the NBA forever. The NBA is consistent in this inconsistency.

Might as well complain about the charge circle or the distance of three point line. They are all NBA conventions that they feel maximizes entertainment value and excitement. In this case it comes at the expense of fairness and sportsmanship.

Sigh. All the Blazers can do is wait for Batum and Oden to mature, or add more vets to the team if we want to speed the process along.

remind me when Portland had the vets and got the calls or when their superstar mattered more then some larger market's team... that year slips my mind somehow. The stars get the calls crap started with Stern, it doesn't have to be. As a Blazer fan, 36 to 13 isn't some anomaly I'm surprised by.

As far as I can tell the star system seems to be about moving product nationally. A smaller market way out west has obvious disadvantages working against them in trying to connect with the masses. Why should I ever hold any hope for this turning around? Is Greg going to get even more handsome? Brandon a better interview/likable guy? Will Americans go on a French is cool phase and go crazy for Batum?

STOMP

 

[Nikolokolus]

If this team wants avoid playing 5 on 8 then I would suggest they start outplaying the opposition. In a series this evenly matched with a team with one established superstar playing in a big market, and another team with a budding superstar from a team in a small market I wouldn't want to bet on the latter. Now throw in the fact the Blazers have not played with any kind of poise down the stretch and have settled for a ton of jumpshots and I think Barrett and Rice should cut the bullshit and stop whinging.

Let's get real here, in this series Houston has out-hustled the Blazers, out-toughed the Blazers and out-executed the Blazers, end of story.

 

[Sinobas]

If this team wants avoid playing 5 on 8 then I would suggest they start outplaying the opposition. In a series this evenly matched with a team with one established superstar playing in a big market, and another team with a budding superstar from a team in a small market I wouldn't want to bet on the latter. Now throw in the fact the Blazers have not played with any kind of poise down the stretch and have settled for a ton of jumpshots and I think Barrett and Rice should cut the bullshit and stop whinging.

Let's get real here, in this series Houston has out-hustled the Blazers, out-toughed the Blazers and out-executed the Blazers, end of story.

You're bullshitting. Let me break it down really simple for you.

If Portland won the game by 3 points, and the referees decided to just deduct 4 points from their total at the end of the game, would that be grounds to "whine"? Well, in the same way, a ref can add or subtract points from the total by bad calls. No one is whining, they just want a fair game.

 

[number 10]

Remember when Stern promised transparency in reviewing the officiating following the embarrassing Donaghy scandal/accusations of the league actively manipulating playoff results through it's officials? If anything came of that, I missed it. Everyone and their mother suggested that the league allow the officials to exist independent of the commissioner's office like they do in other sports to avoid the obvious appearance of shenanigans. Stern gave this subject lots of lip service a year back but for some reason he kept things the way they were.

STOMP

Stern's response... Basically, a media day to explain the rules. This quote stands out:

* There was not a lot of talk about Tim Donaghy himself. Although at one point, Borgia did make a direct appeal to broadcasters for the various teams to go easy criticizing the referees. "We have sort of a perception problem. ... As announcers, you are very powerful. You keep saying they're wrong, and people are going to think they are wrong." Borgia then showed video of TV broadcasts with some correct interpretation of complicated rules, and showed some other broadcasts with some rules getting mangled, and some referees being maligned for making the correct call. There are a lot of reasons for the league to hold an event like the one today. But one of the biggest, surely, is to get everyone in the media thinking that "the referee blew that call" is something that should be said with extreme caution.

So Stern's solution was pretty much just to try and stop broadcasters from talking about bad calls.

Then there was the appointment of this guy, who doesn't seem to have changed a fucking thing.

 

[Nikolokolus]

You're bullshitting. Let me break it down really simple for you.

If Portland won the game by 3 points, and the referees decided to just deduct 4 points from their total at the end of the game, would that be grounds to "whine"? Well, in the same way, a ref can add or subtract points from the total by bad calls. No one is whining, they just want a fair game.

How am I bullshitting? Rice and Barrett whine all the time about the officiating, I'm sick of hearing it from them, that's a simple statement of my opinion.

As for the refs adding or subtracting points through fouls and no-calls that may be true, but the Blazers are still getting out-worked and out executed in this series, which is the real reason they are down 3-1, not because of some perceived slight or fix job by the refs.

simple enough for you?