To Give or not to Give?… A Foul

On Saturday May ninth, Carmelo Anthony most likely all but put the Dallas Mavericks away with his one footed, off balance three point shot as time expired. Not only was this a tough basket, but it was a tough loss for the Mavericks who looked to gain momentum and captalize on finally making a good effort in the fourth qarter this series, where in the prveious two games they were gettting crushed. To add to the heart break, the real sadness comes from a foul to give that the officiating crew did not call and that even prompted the NBA to apologize about. From this controversy, there is one thing that we can learn, and one thing we can ponder.

What we can learn is that a player should not finish the foul until he hears that whistle. When the Dallas player groped Anthony, he got him hard, clean, and good, but the referee did not see it (perhaps). Anthony didn’t hear the whislte, and he played through the posession, got his shot, and hit it. Next time, don’t stop the press till you hear the refs.

What we can ponder is how now two straight seasons that an officiating crew led by Mark Wunderlich has had another controversial instance at the end of a playoff game that would have made a series competitive.

Last season in the Western Conference Finals between the L.A. Lakers and San Antonio Spurs, in San Antonio, Brent Barry attempted a three that could have potentially tied the series at 2-2. However, the refs failed to call an obvious fould by Derek Fisher, which the league once again apologized for, and would have send Barry to the line for three free throws. The Spurs went down 3-1, and lost their next game onward to elimination.

Maybe a coincidence, and probably so. But that’s what one bad scratch (i.e. Tim Donaghy) will do to you… create even more speculation.

Is there any Test in the West this Year for the Lakers?

The Los Angeles Lakers seem to be miles ahead of their other western conference counterparts. They are currently 9.5 games ahead of the second place Denver Nuggets. That’s pretty good distance even for a season like this, wouldn’t you say? I would say, sir. On top of virtually securing home field advantage until they get to the finals (Cleveland currently owns the league’s best record), they’ve also got some favorable potential opponents.

 

The eighth seeded Dallas Mavericks are clearly not at the top of anyone’s playoff brackets. Number six New Orleans has not found as much success as last year, and has been injury riddled, and has also suffered from the loss of Janeiro Pargo from last year. Number five, Portland, is pretty spunky, but they’re still young. The number four Houston Rockets look promising, but they suffer from a lack of scoring, although they are great at defense.

 

I’d say the ‘scariest’ teams for the Lakers are the number seven Jazz, who took them to six games in last year’s second round of the western conference playoffs. They are one year older and their other players are almost doubling their career ppg from last season. Then of course, at number three, are the experienced San Antonio Spurs. They know the Lakers well and have always been master executers in crunch time. Finally, the number two Denver Nuggets. They’re gaining a lot of confidence behind their calm new leader, Chauncey Billups, and players are getting their work done in a much more efficient basketball manner.

 

But the Lakers have Kobe Bryant surrounded by immense talent, and will not fail to make it to at least the NBA Finals this season.