The NBA: Where stuff happens, but league management wants us to believe it doesn't.
There are many lifelong NBA freaks like myself, but you'll search far and long to find one who has had a deeper love affair.
But there is no way San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich, Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson, Spurs swingman Brent Barry, TNT commentators Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Reggie Miller or anyone else can tell me a foul shouldn't have been called at the end of Game 4 of the Western Conference finals when Lakers guard Derek Fisher left his feet and landed on Barry's head and shoulders.
That is a foul. It's not a bump. It's not a nudge. It's a foul. It's not up to Barry to sell a foul. What if Barry flops and the officials use the same philosophy and don't make the call? Why is it a foul if Barry is attempting a shot and not a foul if he isn't? The contact is no different.
It's a foul. A combined 45 were called on the two teams and it's doubtful any were more blatant. The NBA acknowledged Wednesday that a foul should have been called. A lot of good it does the Spurs now.
That the Lakers held a two-point lead with a little less than two seconds left doesn't matter. For the record, I could care less if the Spurs or Lakers win. There's no dislike here of any group, except a little for the league's upper management and its policy of backing any official who has not been alleged to have bet on games.
I don't subscribe to the concept that referee Joey Crawford – who has had major issues with Tim Duncan and then had beef with Popovich earlier in the playoffs – should not work Spurs games. Crawford, who worked Tuesday night's game, with Mark Wunderlich and Joe Forte, either never should have been brought back after last season's suspension related to his battles with Duncan or should be able to referee any game.
A bigger issue is having a league in which Wunderlich and Forte – average officials at best – are working playoff series.
The proper call would have been a foul on Fisher that would have given Barry two free throws.
This garbage about referees not deciding the outcome of a game smells to high heaven. Making a call does not decide the game. Failing to make the call does. Fisher's inability to stay on his feet and avoid making contact with Barry is what decided the game.
Certainly no game, regardless of importance, is decided by one possession. The Lakers outplayed the Spurs and probably deserved to win the game from that perspective. However, many games are won by teams that probably deserved to lose.
No doubt, the Lakers had been jerked around seconds earlier when a shot by Fisher clearly hit the rim and then caromed down so quickly it bounced out of bounds off the leg of Spurs forward Robert Horry. But it was ruled an air ball, making the Lakers inbound with two seconds on the 24-second clock instead of getting a new clock and forcing the Spurs to foul.
I never bought into the conspiracy drivel espoused by Kings fans and activist Ralph Nader when the Lakers won the 2002 Western Conference finals.
However, there will be those who believe the NBA is determined to have a Boston-L.A. Finals. Who could blame the conspiracy theorists from popping up again?
And calls to NBA representatives Wednesday went unreturned – of course.
Sac vs. Bay dates changed
The high school basketball showcase known as the Sac vs. Bay Showdown scheduled for this weekend at Newark Memorial High School has been moved to June 7-8.
Event director Phil Handy said the California Interscholastic Federation informed him the tournament was viewed as an all-star game and could not be held this weekend without jeopardizing the eligibility of underclassmen.
Handy said conversations between himself and his representatives and CIF Executive Director Marie Ishida have assured him the competition is good for the new dates. Ishida could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Call The Bee's Martin McNeal, (916) 326-5504.
