Anyone else...

[reedny]

The losing team in a close game is always going to point to the refs. If you want to advance, you need a little luck, but you also can't put yourself in a position for the game to be decided by one or two calls.

OSU was the better team sans Melo. The refs were a huge distraction and altered the flow of the game, but pound for pound OSU was the better team that night. With Melo, that completely changes the conversation and the refs would have called the game more straight up, but you play with who you've got.

While it's often true that sore loosers blame the officials (see UNC Ashville), and it is definately true that Melo's absence hurt us in the middle, the reffing was stupendously bad in the OSU game.

I'm sure you remember that the refs called 48 or 49 fouls (depending on the box score you read). Of these, 28 or 29 of them were called on SU, the great majority by one official. This is beyond overkill; it was just a criminal hatchet job. All the whistles would have affected any game. And I hardly blame our guys for becoming gun-shy ... they couldn't score (or defend) withouth being called for some ridiculous infraction (one of the worst was the guy that slid over and under BT to draw a "charge", lol).

SU actually had more fieldgoals in the game than OSU -- the free throws (from all the calls) were the difference. Therefore, as a fan, while I have no resentment for OSU, I certaintly can't say OSU was the "better" team that day. If this sounds like poor sportsmanship, sorry.

 

[sheaj]

LeBron is just getting the same #1 star treatment that MJ got. MJ got plenty of brush calls and he got away with more push offs on his drives than any other player I can remember.

Regardless of whether or not I agree with you here (I don't... completely at least, MJ actually had fouls called on him to go with those calls he was "gifted"), the point was the NBA has let one of its best players get beaten and battered on the court in each of his 4 seasons. and the last was as the reigning MVP. Is there a debate on whether Rose is an elite player? No. So why doesn't he get the same treatment?

"Star treatment" is graying the lines enough, but when the league starts to favor just certain stars (like LeBron and Wade) like it currently does, the league loses it's integrity.

The NBA should take note of how they call games on Melo. It is fair... There will always be bad calls and ticky tack fouls but I like the way they call it for him. They let the league guard him roughly overall, but they don't let it get out of hand. (at least that is how I see it)

 

[Knicks411]

I'm not sure if there is a way we can really quantify if Rose does or doesn't get star calls. the MVP year he shot 6.6 free throws per 36 minutes; the year prior he was at 4.2. Is that because he was driving more? Probably. Is it because he started getting more respect from the refs? Probably. Since coming to Miami, Lebron has seen his FT rate drop off. He's averaged 7.8 FT per 36 minutes in each of his 2 years in Miami, he was over 9 the last 3 years in Cleveland.

Free throw attempts is certainly a crude way to measure this type of thing

 

[sheaj]

Not to start a petty argument, but I did not reference FT attempts at all. And I preface this by saying I am a Bulls fan. But all you really have to do is watch a Bulls game to see how much they let defenders get away with on Rose. I don't care about the FT attempts, but it is frustrating that they put a players health at risk (insert jab at my team and Thibodeau for leaving Rose in a game that was already won this playoffs).

LeBron's decline in FT attempts can easily be attributed by the lack of need to put the game solely on his shoulder now. He has become a much more efficient player with the Heat.

Sure it is magnified because he is the #1 name in the NBA right now, so I will leave it that maybe I just notice his more.

I'm sure you saw the way your Knicks were allowed to hammer Rose time an time again this past March, yeah? That would never happen to LeBron. Hell, it wouldn't even happen to Ricky Rubio... I don't fault the Knicks for playing that way, it is smart if you're getting away with it. I fault the refs for lacking the cajones to take control (not take over) a game and protect the players.