Here's a good link to a Vine video of the Bradley "foul" on Irving's corner shot.
This was an absurd call. As someone points out in the comments on that link, it looks like the official, Bennett Salvatore, is looking up to see if there's contact on the arm on the shot, which there wasn't, but then he notices Irving on the floor and calls a body foul. In other words, it seems like he assumed there must have been a foul, since Irving fell. Not good officiating.
The call is for contact on the arm on the follow-through. It was pretty obvious on the in-game replay from the opposite end of the floor. This will be a foul every time.
Salvatore, by the way, is one of the better officials in the league.
that is absurd. salvatore is beyond awful, i can't think of any other ref besides maybe dick bavetta who has worked so many suspicious games. salvatore was on the court for game 3 of the 2010 finals, when the c's came out and looked like they were going to blow out the lakers, then the refs manufactured a slew of phantom fouls until the c's whole starting lineup was in foul trouble. lakers won a fairly close game, assuring the series would go back to LA.
people forget about how bad that game was because the really egregious calls came so early.
and, to provide some balance, watch game 2 of the 2008 finals. the celtics got an unbelievably good whistle that game. the refs were making up calls i've honestly never seen before.
in the magic/lakers finals a few years back, in the final game of the series, there was a stretch late in the 3rd quarter where the magic shot something like 20 straight free throws and the lakers had none. look it up. it was ridiculous, i was blatantly rooting against the lakers and i still noticed it.
another doozy was the bulls/nets game 4, two years ago. the bulls led the series 2-1, and the refs called maybe the worst game i've ever seen, trying to steal it from chicago, despite the fact that the nets turned in a listless, pathetic effort, and were terribly outplayed. i watched this game with a friend, and we were both stunned at how horrible it was. it actually made me really appreciate the bulls, who put in a gutty effort and basically beat an 8-man team.
and this is also the league that has elevated scott foster to one of its top officials; this is the same scott foster who was tim donaghy's best friend who the FBI claims donaghy called before every single game. seems like the perfect guy to have officiating playoff games.
but i digress. most NBA games aren't TOO badly officiated. the last couple years have been better than what we've seen in the past. but over the years there have been some really, really, really suspect performances, especially in games involving superstars and big market teams.
Topic: NBA Officiating... Human error or hidden agenda? (Read 10966 times)