Gotta Stop Complaining About Officiating

[thecampster]

NBA officials for tonight

Eric Lewis (#42) - Has a reputation as a no nonsense type of a ref and one of the best in the profession. Has a quick tech whistle and is a student of the game. Has butted heads with numerous NBA stars over technical fouls.

Ben Taylor (#46) - He has a reputation for a quick whistle, respect for player spacing and for calling hand checking and rough play. Side note: in the Trae Young bumped an official running in from out of bounds play and got a technical, Ben Taylor was the official.

JB DeRosa (#62) - Very young official. The home team wins 75% of the time he ref's a game. Has a reputation for missing calls, swallowing his whistle.

Miami @ Atlanta

Eric Lewis (#42)

Ben Taylor (#46)

JB DeRosa (#62)

Aaron Smith (#51)

[kg01]

21 hours ago, macdaddy said:

Did Trae get fined for talking about the refs?  I missed it if so.

What did he say?  Sorry, I'm tuning out NBA media the past week or so for ... reasons.

[JayBirdHawk]

5 minutes ago, kg01 said:

What did he say?  Sorry, I'm tuning out NBA media the past week or so for ... reasons.

He hasn't said anything worth getting fined...so no fine that I've seen.

[macdaddy]

7 minutes ago, kg01 said:

What did he say?  Sorry, I'm tuning out NBA media the past week or so for ... reasons.

Just that if the refs keep letting them play the way they are without calling fouls it's going to be real difficult to win.   Seems like guys have been fined for less.

[Atlantaholic]

55 minutes ago, thecampster said:

NBA officials for tonight

Eric Lewis (#42) - Has a reputation as a no nonsense type of a ref and one of the best in the profession. Has a quick tech whistle and is a student of the game. Has butted heads with numerous NBA stars over technical fouls.

Ben Taylor (#46) - He has a reputation for a quick whistle, respect for player spacing and for calling hand checking and rough play. Side note: in the Trae Young bumped an official running in from out of bounds play and got a technical, Ben Taylor was the official.

JB DeRosa (#62) - Very young official. The home team wins 75% of the time he ref's a game. Has a reputation for missing calls, swallowing his whistle.

Miami @ Atlanta

Eric Lewis (#42)

Ben Taylor (#46)

JB DeRosa (#62)

Aaron Smith (#51)

Kudos on putting together this ref scouting report. Gotta say it's a first for me seeing something like this lol. 

[FL_BRYANT]

On 4/21/2022 at 7:47 AM, AHF said:

The answer should be that the refs call out their BS and whistle them.  Flagrant for Herro on Trae.  Flagrant for Lowry throwing himself at Trae's knees.  Flagrant for Lowry for elbow to Trae's face.  Offensive foul for Butler when hitting Gallo's face.  Blocking foul on Vincent when he moves his feet into Trae's path and bumps him.  Etc.

The core of your question is "why should the Heat change their style of play when the refs aren't making the calls"?  And the answer is there is no reason not to continue it if they aren't going to get held accountable.  

It is like asking why should the Heat not dunk their free throws.  If the refs are going to allow them to walk up to the basket and dunk the ball instead of requiring them to stand at the free throw line then there is no reason for them to actual shoot free throws.  Dunk away.

The proper answer should be that the refs aren't going to allow flagrant rule breaking to go unpunished and will call a foul a foul and that is why they shouldn't keep throwing elbows in our face.  But if the refs allow it to happen then they should continue irrespective of whether the Hawks retaliate or not.

Quit whining! This is basketball. Basketball is physical.  If your getting pounded do something about it. If the HAWKS retaliate the refs will change the way they are calling the game to keep the game from getting out of hand. If you just whine about it the refs won't listen and you'll end up with a tech. Play ball,if it gets rough then get rough. Play with more pace before the Heat set up, move the ball,play some D and rebound. This will get you a win not crying. 

[sturt]

 

 

[thecampster]

 

David Guthrie - History of being seen as a diva, making the game about himself, performing in the moment. History of calling the game even regardless of home/away team. Fairly even home/away record, which is rare.

 

Courtney Kirkland - Lives in Atlanta, Georgia and has a passion for working for homeless projects in the area. Known for a let them play attitude, does not have a tight whistle but is a well respected referee, preferring a fast paced, entertaining game. 

 

Brent Banaky - Live in Clearwater, Florida.  Has a history of being a non-confrontational referee with a consistent whistle. His most controversial moment was when he chose to stand for the national anthem during and NBA authorized player/coach protest. He stated he supports the social justice cause and peaceful protest but believes in standing for the national anthem.

 

David Guthrie (#16)

Courtney Kirkland (#61)

Brent Barnaky (#36)

Aaron Smith (#51)

Edited April 24, 2022 by thecampster

[thecampster]

8 minutes ago, sturt said:

 

 

Read the replies to the tweet. Multiple reference the Atl v Mia series.

 

[thecampster]

Zach Zarba - Young official to be considered the crew chief in a playoff elimination game....hmmm.  Notorious quick whistle who doesn't like tight play. Reticent to change the outcome of plays via replay. Players are highly critical of him on numerous occasions. 

 

Bill Kennedy - Seasoned official with a notorious quick whistle and a quick hook. Very quick with a technical and ejections. Games are typically higher scoring when he officiates, calling more and 1's and more shooting fouls per capita.

 

Mitchell Ervin - Very average NBA rep with little reputation around the league with players or coaches either positive or negative. However, there is this notable moment.

Atlanta @ Miami

Zach Zarba (#15)

Bill Kennedy (#55)

Mitchell Ervin (#27)

Kevin Cutler (#34)

Edited April 26, 2022 by thecampster

[thecampster]

So any takeaways from this, this is the most friendly officiating crew we've seen so far. Some quick whistles, quick technical fouls and dislikes of tight, handsy play.  I full expect Zarba to get an earful from Spoelstra tonight. 

Might want to watch this before the game, its insightful.

 

[thecampster]

In the video, you can see how the refs set up. Talking about "nuances of the game".  The players are aware of these things as well. Take the fouls, baiting that Lowry has been doing.  The players know how the refs are running up the court, when their backs are turned, etc. They know when they can get away with BS. Its a fine point in the game and part of the rookie vs vet mentality. Learning what's coming in the playoffs because players pull out all the stops. And the refs know this too and do things to try and limit it....its a constant NBA cat and mouse. One coach on each bench tasked with calling out to the refs to watch what's going on behind the play and trying to get them to turn around. Anticipate the shenanigans.

[benhillboy]

On 4/22/2022 at 8:13 PM, FL_BRYANT said:

Quit whining! This is basketball. Basketball is physical.  If your getting pounded do something about it. If the HAWKS retaliate the refs will change the way they are calling the game to keep the game from getting out of hand. If you just whine about it the refs won't listen and you'll end up with a tech. Play ball,if it gets rough then get rough. Play with more pace before the Heat set up, move the ball,play some D and rebound. This will get you a win not crying. 

In the end the Hawks took more free throws, made more free throws, and were called for fewer fouls, same as all regular season.  I’m so glad they didn’t play the victim in the media.

Edited April 27, 2022 by benhillboy

[macdaddy]

5 hours ago, benhillboy said:

In the end the Hawks took more free throws, made more free throws, and were called for fewer fouls, same as all regular season.  I’m so glad they didn’t play the victim in the media.

Not sure that's indicative of anything.   You could certainly make the case that Hawks were forced to play less physically because of the poor officiating coming their way.   Look at what Hunter fouled out on.  All the physical play by the Heat and they are going to call that?  Look at the offensive foul on Trae in game 3 where Martin flopped without contact.   

Hell look at clown Morris.  How is that not an ejection?  Can you imagine any other sport where a guy from the bench comes on and interferes with play?  Heat are like this because they can be and they know it.   

All that said, the officiating in the last two games was decent.   It certainly wasn't one sided like we saw in the first two. 

[Spud2nique]

3 minutes ago, macdaddy said:

Hell look at clown Morris.  How is that not an ejection?  Can you imagine any other sport where a guy from the bench comes on and interferes with play?  Heat are like this because they can be and they know it.   

That was bad. The NBA needs to fix its agendas and narratives and of course they won’t.

[Spud2nique]

4 minutes ago, macdaddy said:

It certainly wasn't one sided like we saw in the first two. 

That’s the thing though they put us in a hole with dictating the way calls were being made. Trae got bounced up and down 5 times down the court by Jimi and Tucker with NO WHISTLE. That’s not right.

[kg01]

5 hours ago, benhillboy said:

In the end the Hawks took more free throws, made more free throws, and were called for fewer fouls, same as all regular season.  I’m so glad they didn’t play the victim in the media.

It's comical and disingenuous to suggest actual free throws taken is some indicator.  Don't be that guy, heat fan.

[thecampster]

On 4/19/2022 at 2:24 PM, thecampster said:

So during last year's playoffs, I met a feller who runs a nice Youtube channel focused on wagering and is a Bucks fan.  I sent him the SI article and gave him a short primer asking him for his take.  Would be nice to have an outsider, non Hawk fan opinion.

 

He runs a decent channel if you want to check it out...enough said sports on Youtube  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYVV7vTf04W5YXgZKMhAw3Q/videos

 

I'll let you know what he says.

The response from Aaron from Milwaukee,

 

"

Hey buddy! I am so sorry I just now saw this email. Yes actually I agree with the article. I do believe the officiating in general is this whole series has been unfair to the Hawks. I believe Trae has been officiated unfairly all season. Same with James Harden. The officials have made an conserted effort not to call fouls because of how great Trae is at getting to the line. There is definitely a bias. 

Thanks 

Aaron "

[kg01]

3 minutes ago, Spud2nique said:

That was bad. The NBA needs to fix its agendas and narratives and of course they won’t.

The idea that a player can come onto the court and make physical contact with a player and have it "just" be one technical foul is egregiously bad.

And for the, "that's not basketball" people saying we shouldn't whine/complain, is that "basketball"?  We supposed to just chuckle it off, 'boys will be boys' or w/e?

For anybody wondering why Jokic tried to amputate that guy's upper body from the waist up ....

[macdaddy]

Lowry going out was the only thing that made the games watchable.   The fact that he likely pulled a hammy on one of his ridiculous flops makes it a little more fun.   

Since we're all pulling out old predictions where we were vaguely right I need to go pull my preseason one where i predicted that once Miami got in the playoffs the NBA would let them foul with impunity and with Lowry, PJ and Morris they have the guys to do it.    Morris got so tired of not fouling he had to do it from the bench.