50 to 16. Lots of phantom calls one way, no calls the other way, bad out-of-bounds calls too. There was one where I saw the ref looking straight down at Howard stepping about two feet out of bounds and blatantly ignoring it. Even when Kobe got hurt, nobody touched him and he went down, and of course they called a foul. Makes you sick. Of course, Kobe getting hurt is the bigger story. Great player, I don't blame him for taking what the refs give him, I blame the refs. It's sad to see a great one get hurt. But we can at least hope the injury puts the spotlight on the game and something is done about the refs and about Stern. This guy is even worse than Grondona. And you know that's saying a lot.
Call me crazy but I don't think the refs were all that bad and I was ready for a royal screw job to go down in the fourth. Warriors were purposely fouling Howard and it didn't work. He made a lot of those free throws. Funny that most teams all they ask of their role guys off the bench is to hit wide open mid range and three point shots. Golden State flips the script. Because the Warriors have Klay and Steph the guys like Landry and Ezeli just have to make the occasional wide open five footer. They came up short.
I should point out that I was at the game so I didn't get to see many replays. I definitely noticed Curry getting robbed a couple times. There was one play where Dwight pulled a sneaky back shove on Curry, then moments later Curry stole the ball from Dwight and they called the foul. Also on a three Curry got shoved almost to the ground, no call.
What I don't understand, what difference would the Lakers making the playoffs matter? OKC is a fantastic team and the Lakers would lose badly to them, even with a healthy Kobe. It is shameful that the calls went the Lakers way. I wasn't here in the states when the Lakers won their title in the early 2000's, but I recall reading about a ref saying refs would make bogus calls. And that Sacramento-Lakers series was all but fixed.
All sport is corrupt....have u not seen the penalties given at old trafford? The stamford bridge years when mourinho was there? The blatent doping in other sports? Sport is about that tv money....lakers have many bandwagon fans who would watch them get bounced by okc....
Tough break for Kobe. The Jazz fans are now salivating at the opportunity to get a mud hole stomped in their chests by OKC.
The Bulls haven't said that. The "not mentally ready" story comes from reporters and fans trying to make sense of the facts -- Rose practicing for 2 months now, all reports of his condition are good, his return is later than anybody else's return (at least over the past 15 years) from an ACL injury, and Rose's comment that he doesn't want to come back until he is at 110%. The story is not coming from the Bulls. They ain't stupid. Franchise players are to be handled with extreme care.
I hope Kobe can come back, but in a way it would be poetic justice if his last play is one in which he was given a phantom foul for falling without contact. As fitting a conclusion to his career as any.
Yes, Rose was cleared by the medical staff in February. That's about the time that he started to do full-contact, 5v5 practices. That's about all that can be said with complete accuracy, everything else after that is rumor or reading between the lines or what somebody somewhere said.
Who comes back first, Rose or Kobe? Before you laugh it off, remember Metta WP came back from knee surgery that should have kept him out for six weeks in less than half the time. Obviously the Lakers medical staff work miracles. Obviously.
I suppose it could be the same day, opening day. Too bad about Kobe, of course it didn't look as if the Lakers were doing anything this year but he doesn't have many years left and Lord he does love to compete.
He should be back early next season, maybe even by opening day. It's not like the Lakers even had a chance in the playoffs with him
He'll have his own standards to wrestle with. He's the biggest piece in the Laker puzzle, and he's there to get one more ring. If he feels that he can't play well enough to help make the Lakers a troo contenda, I won't be surprised if he hangs it up.
So you're saying that if a golfer, hypothetically, broke a rule that normally demands disqualification from the tournament, but that golfer happens to be the number one draw in the sport -- the tour and tournament officials would conspire to adjust the punishment to one that keeps him in the hunt and keeps the television money rolling? Color me shocked.
What would be even more shocking is if a tour official didn't know that same rule. Could you imagine that?
It will be interesting to see what happens if the Lakers amnesty him. Lets say he is ready to play sometime around March next year. Wouldn't it be a great luxury to any contender to have Kobe on their roster, even if they are merely "renting" him for the remainder of the season? Imagine Kobe winning his sixth ring as a member of the Bulls.
How much have NBA refs been helping the Los Angeles Lakers make the playoffs? http://www.blazersedge.com/2013/4/1...eferee-free-throws-officiating-conspiracy-nba I kind of feel bad for the refs. Such a herculean effort to get the lakers to the playoffs and then they lose kobe. Now they are really going to have to step up!
I wonder if a case can be made that the refs have an indirect financial stake in the Lakers making the postseason. Lakers = ratings = revenue = more in the kitty when it's time to negotiate ref's salaries. Not saying I believe this, mind you.
Lol........ this old chestnut again... (not directed at you monty) http://instagram.com/p/YGO6FiQC7X/# Made me smile a bit. Especially the Pierce one.