Crying Foul

There’s been a huge hullabaloo over the questionable call (and that’s putting it as politely and as PC and as grossly understated as possible), that went in the favor of the NBA’s favorite son, well his team the Cleveland Cavaliers anyway, and effectively screwed over the hard-working, young 76ers, as well as the loud-talking Washington Wizards. Dropping both into situations, that should, quite frankly, not be—or, not necessarily be.   

The 76ers, half of whom had walked off the court, the other half lingering on it in celebration as confetti fluttered around them, hugging, congratulating each other on a hard-earned victory, lost the game due to a call, that in every single situation should have and would have been a no-call.  

Now, instead, the whole Eastern conference seeding has been touched, and in some cases, shaken. The Sixers are now locked into the 7th seed and must face off against Detroit, instead of having a realistic shot at winning their next game and heading for Orlando.

The Wizards are now locked into being the visiting team against Cleveland, again, as opposed to determining that outcome in their respective games tomorrow night.

My point is, is that mysteriously, some teams, some players, get more calls than other teams and other players. Getting Lebron James homecourt advantage, where they are 27-13 as opposed to 18-23 on the road, seems a little bit, I dunno, fishy.

I mean, just look at the lack of major calls that the Phoenix Suns have gotten (a phenomenon I thought would change with the addition of Shaq and hasn’t yet, though we’ll see come playoff time). All one needs to do is look at last year’s playoffs against San Antonio. Sure, one could argue that the Suns shot more freethrows, but my point is the types of fouls that were called and how they changed the outcome of the game. When Amare gets called for a touch foul and is forced to the bench four minutes into the game, and Bowen is allowed to kick him in the heel and knee Nash in the groin, all without any fines or suspensions, a normal person is bound to wonder.

Exhibit B also points to Dwayne Wade’s MJ-esque performance in the NBA finals two seasons ago. Uh…

I’m a Lakers homer for sure, but I try and judge the rest of the league fairly. Fisher was given a call against Golden State’s Monta Ellis that certainly seems magnified now that Golden State has been ousted from the playoffs. It should have been a no call or a foul on Fisher, but, for whatever reason, the call went against GS. Sure, Warriors fans can point to that moment and say, “We were robbed of the playoffs,” but, that was a tied game, and the Warriors have done their best these past four games to not make the playoffs anyway.  

I want to focus in on Kobe Bean Bryant, the one candidate who most everyone outside of L.A. will be infuriated at if he wins the MVP this season. I want to compare him to another player who, for whatever reason, gets more calls.

Kevin Martin, who I’ve dubbed the new school Reggie Miller is that guy. Like Reg, he’s a very intelligent player who, though somewhat limited athletically, has transformed himself into a near-allstar level talent based on knowing his strengths and using them to his advantage. He shoots a high percentage across the board, doesn’t force shots, and knows how to draw fouls. But with Martin, a lot of it is his deception. He’s sneaky. He knows when to pull up so that he gets bumped.

Martin goes to the line 9.5 times per game. Kobe’s sitting at 9. Let’s dissect that fact for a second. Kobe plays 39 minutes to Martin’s 36. Kobe’s usage rating is 29.3 to Martin’s 23.6. He plays less minutes, has the ball in his hands a lot less, and yet somehow averages .5 more freethrow attempts per game than the league’s premier wing.

And let’s not put Martin’s increased freethrow attempts on his craftiness. Kobe is no less crafty and sneaky with his game. He picks his spots on the court and he has tricks (like the move where he pulls his arms up to shoot underneath his opponent’s outstretched arms to get the whistle). The difference is, is that Kobe is also a high-fly act and attacks the basket.

When’s the last time you’ve seen Martin break off opponents and drive hard to the hoop through traffic? Exactly. For that matter, Kobe usually warrants a double and on rare occasions a triple team. Martin never gets those.

So how, or why is it that Martin gets more calls?

Martin rarely ever complains about calls, and well, Kobe can be seen complaining about pretty much every call. Is that it?

Just a fun fact for those people who think Kobe gets too much love. He’s 7th in the NBA in freethrow attempts by the way. Amare’s 8th.

Hopefully the both get their just amount of calls.