The Blazers and the refs

by truls on Feb 23, 2009 3:00 PM PST Comment 19 comments

Ran across this little gem when purusing Sam Smith's blog on Bulls.com

"-- It was an interesting interview with Brandon Roy in the Oregonian about the lack of foul calls for Portland players. I'm not a big fan of this thinking, but Roy said he believes because the team is young and regarded as nice guys who don't complain, they get taken advantage of by referees and don't get appropriate foul calls. Roy said he'll need to complain more. Said Roy: "I look at all the players who get the most calls in the league, and they are the most arrogant players. The ones who chew the refs out. So I'm like, 'Wait a minute. I'm not getting any calls and I'm not saying nothing.' But I'm watching guys like Chris Paul and those guys, and they eat the refs. From here to there, all game long. I mean, from the opening tip he's coming out saying 'Oh! He's touching me! Get him off me!'" Roy says as he flails backward. "Then, I'm like, 'Oh, he's going to get a call in two plays.' Don't get me wrong. I don't want my reputation to be that of a whiner. But I want to win. People say Chris Paul is a winner when he does it. Kobe is considered a winner. So I'm going to do whatever I can do to help us win. It's not to point out an official or a player. I just think we need to start being a little more aggressive in our ways. Good teams are aggressive. Physical. And vocal. And maybe this is me realizing I have to come out of my shell a little more." A memo to Derrick Rose? I'd hope it doesn't work that way."

Roy has a very good point, as much as It pains me to see him complaining about calls more this year. Whenever I watch CP3 I wonder not only at some of the calls he gets but also at the fact that he rarely gets many fouls called on him despite the way he slaps others often when going for steals.

Likewise it's amazing to me the things that the Boston Celtics can get away with on defense, and don't even get me started on the wussy touch fouls that Paul Pierce seems to get on a nightly basis.

Bottom line is someone (or ones) for the Blazers probably does need to step up and get in the ref's collective ears. It is however unfortunate to my mind all the talk that happens to refs in NBA games and how much it does seem to affect how they call games.

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agreed

This is the unfortunate state of the NBA, where all players are not treated equally. If Brandon feels his yapping at the refs will have an impact on the winning percentage, then he should do his Kobe impression as much as possible. Honestly though, I haven’t seen a big increase in the amount of calls going his way this season, even with him complaining more. I think getting the calls in a game has more to do with a player’s reputation around the league than how much he complains; the calls will come with continued success.

"His name is Jeremiah Johnson and they say he wanted to be a mountain man." -Neil Everett

by SabonisBonus on Feb 23, 2009 3:18 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

yeah

how many times have i seen roy get nailed by like 3 players going for a layup and nothing is called.

by AllHailRoy on Feb 23, 2009 3:25 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

...or Wade have three people step out of the way and someone still gets called for a foul...

".. is gumby an alien?"

by staylost on Feb 23, 2009 3:45 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs

rec!

My favorite teams are the Blazers and any team that is playing the Lakers.

by OCBlazerFan1 on Feb 24, 2009 6:57 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

A play against the Clippers

Roy attacked the hoop and rookie DeAndre Jordan completely demolishes him in the air, no call. If Oden does the same thing, he gets called for a foul.

The worst ones are the calls made by refs how don’t have a view of the play and guess a foul.

The cake is a lie. Do not bake it.

by blzrfan on Feb 23, 2009 3:39 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

agreed on both of those things, the non-call against Jordan was ridiculous

Truth never was or can be propagated by fire and sword - Albert Gallatin

by Zaron5551 on Feb 23, 2009 3:44 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah that was out of control.

Also, if Oden hit Roy as out of control as Jordan did there, we’d be wiping Roy off the floor.

by Zaig on Feb 23, 2009 3:48 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I have been saying for years that the team that complains the most is San Antonio

Everytime there is a stopage in play each one of the big three grab a ref and have a close personal talk with that official. Watch them in our games against them this week, it is sickening.

I think whenever a player is complaining to a ref our guy who is guarding him should run up, position himself in between the opposing player and the ref, and talk over the opposing player telling the ref we are getting held and whatever else it is those cry babies complain about.

I’m with Roy, if you can’t beat them then join them.

This is what Lucas would do. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0aPkIE2qK0

by 123_G.O._RipCity on Feb 23, 2009 3:57 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Unfortunately, it doesn't appear to be working

And Quick’s reporting might be part of the problem. A couple of months ago, Quick quoted Roy saying that he was finally getting some star treatment from the officials. Was it a coincidence that, beginning in the very next Blazer game, the fountain of favorable calls was shut off? Now there’s this latest piece, in which Roy is quoted as saying Chris Paul & Kobe Bryant are “arrogant” players who whine constantly about officiating and are rewarded.

As I’ve said before, Jason Quick’s columns are an entertaining read for Blazer fans. They also, arguably, often serve to damage the team. I’m all for freedom of the press. But come on: the Blazers’ beat ain’t Washington D.C. Since when did local sportswriters decide they’re Woodward & Bernstein? Personally, I think it’s an absurd ego trip, and I’m tired of it. Cover the team, and point out the occasional wart or controversy if you must. But please use a little discretion. We want to hear some behind the scenes stuff, of course. But not at the expense of undermining the team.

"We don't back down to nobody." --Joel Przybilla

by hurryup09 on Feb 23, 2009 4:34 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I also think that ever since that article Roy has gotten fewer calls

Wasn’t sure if it my imagination or not.

by pualo on Feb 23, 2009 7:56 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Noticed the same thing...

…coincidence?

by Wotan on Feb 23, 2009 8:19 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

The quote is from the Oregonian 3 days ago

Link

Karma

by Sabonis4Ever on Feb 23, 2009 4:29 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

That’s part of becoming a mature team… you have to learn to use the newspapers to your advantage. Look at the Zen master in LA. He’s the king of baiting the refs to his team’s advantage through the press.

MLB2PDX!!! (someday...)

by The Cactus Leaguer on Feb 23, 2009 5:15 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Words can't describe how much I'd love to officiate an nba game.

Some whiny player starts jawing, T him up. If he doesn’t shut up, T him up again and throw him. That’s how every single game should be called.

by postup on Feb 23, 2009 6:31 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

People don't pay a bunch of money to see the refs eject players

You would be fired, quick.

Karma

by Sabonis4Ever on Feb 23, 2009 6:39 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Even David Stern says...

..referees make the wrong call about 10% of the time, and that’s the highest performance standard anyone can realistically expect. Players at least need the ability to communicate so they know how a game is going to be called.

by chnews on Feb 23, 2009 7:02 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

The NBA has a agenda

Since David Stern has taken over the NBA the officials have called the game differently. Prior to Stern you saw officials make the same calls on all the players not matter the players team or the players star status. I’ve seen games (not just Blazer games) where if one of the teams would get out to a good start or maybe they’ve been on a hot streak where one team would get all the calls to get them over the hump. Every time a team would get something going a foul or turnover would be called against them to break their run. You could always here the annoucers talk about phantom calls or bad calls (not anymore, they don’t say much about calls otherwise their not around very long). When fouls would be called on the team it would be non-shooting and out of bounds.

What I’ve seen from this blazer team is that it has the mental toughness so it can get past all this most games. There is one thing the NBA knows about Portland. As long as Portland makes the playoffs and has good players that don’t get into trouble MOST of the time they will come and pay whatever to fill the Rose Garden. They don’t have to win a championship, they just have to show up in the playoffs. It doesn’t matter what happens in the games as long as our players play hard.

by Bruise10 on Feb 24, 2009 8:10 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

Anyone remember when exactly that Roy quote is from?

by Zaig on Feb 24, 2009 10:11 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

Roy's FT shooting by month

October had 2 games, ignoring it.

November: Roy took 1 FT every 5.79 minutes. FTs were 30% of his scoring.
December: Roy took 1 FT every 4.23 minutes. FTs were 35% of his scoring.
January: Roy took 1 FT every 5.11 minutes. FTs were 33% of his scoring.
February: Roy took 1 FT every 9.57 minutes. FTs were 17% of his scoring.

There are a bajillion other factors here. Who we play, who is injured, etc. But Roy’s FT shooting increases from November to Decemeber and then evens out in January. Then in February he stops getting to the line. 9 games isn’t a huge sample size, but holy crap. He’d have to shoot 42 FTs in the next 2 games to match his January numbers. (11 games played.)

I think his quote was in 2008, which would mean it didn’t relate to a direct dropoff in FTs. We don’t see that dropoff until February and I’m not 100% sure why.

by Zaig on Feb 24, 2009 10:26 AM PST reply actions 0 recs