I usually like his write-ups, but this guy has been getting more and more bitter as the losses pile up. He basically says "I don't blame the refs BUT it's their fault, too." I feel like we're the Jazz and they're the Rockets of yesteryear, only in this case, they're just not used to the playoff intensity. They must have forgotten all about it, being stuck in the lottery and all. This article is basically making excuses for their team when they just got beat by a team with a 22 million dollar hole. God, we're gonna be good next year.
Woops, here's the link. http://www.blazersedge.com/2009/4/27/855543/game-4-recap-rockets-89-blazers-88
In a close game like this, it's normal that you would whine about the refs a little bit if you are on the losing end. If you read the comments below the article, I think the Blazers fans show a lot of class. They deserve more respects than those phony Mavs and racist Jazz fans who whine about virtually everything that's not in their favor.
we dont have a superstar player that gets superstar calls, imagine if they were in a series against Kobe,wade,lebron. its hard to complain against us, aside from the occasional flops by scola.
I like how someone says that Portland is better than Houston, they're just not executing. I'm not sure what leads them to believe they're better. Is it the fact they are down 3-1? Or something like 2-11 against the Rockets now the past two years or so? What am I missing?
That was almost too much whining for me to take. I barely made it through the article. This guy is crying about Ron's flexing for the home crowd as well as talking trash about Houston fans because they boo when the Rockets are whistled for a foul? Get some thicker skin, Nancy. Look, if you're going to blame the refs, call out Ron Artest, voice your dislike for Houston fans and then blame the refs again you need to at least be a better writer so it doesn't come across as such obvious sour grapes.
Usually this guy is right on the money in terms of getting the analysis right and being objective. Now, however, he's just being a wimp. It's not just him, either. It's Mike Barret (some Portland homer commentator) and their legion of fans who are complaining and whining about the calls we're getting. They mention foul disparity and FT disparity as indicators of this 'bias' Stern and the NBA have against the Blazers because apparently, the Rockets have China on their side and Houston has a larger population, so that makes us a better marketing tool. Give me a break. The Blazers are a finesse team. A jump-shooting team. A team who has fans who try to make excuses instead of realizing that their players couldn't handle the pressure in the 4th quarter on the road. That kind of team doesn't get free throws. That kind of team cries about the refs. They give Yao a scar on his face, scars on his arms, and then flop when he finally puts his arm up to receive a pass. That's wimpy. Now, when the refs finally get their heads out of their asses and realized that Yao isn't ballroom dancing with these guys and their arms aren't tangled by coincidence...when they started to let Yao MOVE, the Blazers and their fans are all of a sudden pissed off? Pathetic.
Reading opposing views really make you understand that every team's fan only look at their own mistakes, or their own misfortune. He feels that if only Portland played a little better, made less mistakes, been luckier, that they'd have won. And would even likely be up 3-1 in the series. Yet he never think that the Rockets could've also played better. Been luckier. Made less mistakes. And we'd have won this series 4-0 already. Obviously, to Portland fans, every foul against Prizbilla/Oden is a sign of Yao getting star calls. Yet to Houston fans, every non-foul or Yao offensive foul epitomizes how Yao never gets a fair shake. I do feel that NBA refs make some of the weirdest judgement calls. But really it seems they can't win in the eyes of fans.
If they were able to keep their home-court advantage, the tune would be a lot different. Game 1'll be the story when this series is over. We beat them by 30 then, and we're still beating them after losing, and this'll be felt more when we face the Lakers, our only other large interior defender for the rest of the play-offs. It's not as if we haven't exactly been playing our A-level ball, either.
I don't know about People saying Portland is the better team... SO far havent Rockets bee leading the majority of the time? In all 4 games? Portland maybe a better shooting team- midrange onwards, but those are not high percentage shots- In a 7 series Game, Mathematics will take over. Charles Barkley said it best, if they develop some inside presence, this team willl be scary. I think in Game 5 they are going to drive more and get some more fouls, and try to take yao ming out, develop something inside. Thats how they won Game 2, and thats the only way their going to win. Unless they have one high percentage shooting game or more....
I just thought it was funny that he's whining about the alleged Scola shot clock violation when a non-call on Finley's shot clock violation in the Spurs/Kings game essentially robbed us of a division title, the 3rd seed, and a chance to avoid the Lakers in the second round. So yeah...newsflash Mr. Portland blogger guy...**** happens. Rockets fans have dealt with it in the playoffs too...just take it like a man and move on.
Of course he's a little bitter, his team is down 3-1. That being said, his complaints of the Houston fans, the officiating and the Rox players is not even close to what is posted here after a Rockets loss.
If the tables were turned, most of us would be bitter about those missed calls as well. A good writeup from the perspective of a dejected Blazer fan; I don't have any problem with it. Yao did set at least one moving screen. But they let that go for Portland a number of times earlier in the series. Actually, how many times have either side been called for a moving screen? I'm not sure why the refs haven't been looking at that more closely. Yao did get called for an illegal baseline screen in the game 3, though. As for the disparity in fouls, it's pretty simple. We have Yao Ming, a dominant low post threat, and they have don't have a low post presence. They are grabbing and holding, Pryzbilla admitted as much before the game, and the refs chose to clean that up a bit more. On the other end, we don't have a player to contend with that's comparable in the lost post to Yao, so we don't get as many fouls called on us.
Durvasa had described it perfectly well. If you don't have a post player, you will usually not fare as well with foul calls. And if you are throwing double teams/fronts at the opposing team's arguably "best center" in the game, you should expect more fouls to be called on you. The fact of the matter is that fronting/sandwiching is an aggressive defensive strategy that is more prone to fouls than traditional defenses. The only gripe I have with the whining about foul calls is that Brandon Roy tends to be a beneficiary of a lot of calls too. I think Houston fans could be sour grapes about the treatment Roy gets from the refs just a much as Portland fans complain about Yao. Roy shot 13 free throws last night by far the most of any player and that doesn't count the numerous touch fouls he drew that didn't result in foul shots. The fact of the matter is that good players tend to get more foul calls -- Yao and Roy both.
I quit on the article. I thought it was a decent, objective write-up of the game, but I came across these. Sickening. "In fact I was actually quite discouraged to hear the Rockets' fans booing every call that went against them tonight, even when most came off of Portland drives, as if the refs alone were responsible for their struggles and the Blazers had nothing to do with it. I would suggest that Portland fans not duplicate that tendency, even in the face of a loss. Save your ire for the calls that matter." It should be the other way around. It's the Blazer fans who started this whole "these refs suck" chants in the first place. Saving their ire again for another whining episode. Anyway, no Rockets fan from any team will be going down to that level. Wait, I forgot the j*zz. "Greg didn't really get off the launching pad tonight, drawing 5 fouls in 11 minutes but he played solidly." - And since when did 11 minutes and producing nothing but 5 fouls became solid? Okay, I get it. Being just a mere solid mass between Yao and the rim whose job is to foul, foul, foul - it's what the punka** old man does best. What a laugher for a write-up. Ha-ha. Source for humor. The crackhead who wrote the article should quit the whiny crap. Agree, **** do happens. These bunch of young guns called Portland Trailblazers really don't have any idea what playoff basketball is like. And they have this sore loser who is writing half the page on what he has seen, and half on which he doesn't have a damn idea. Ugh.
I agree. Just imagine what Clutchfans would be like if we were down 3-1 losing two by incredibly close calls. Imagine if the charge call hadn't been Roy on Hayes but Artest on Oden.. This place would just explode with negativity. Heck this place already gets a fair share of negativity even when the Rox win. I don't blame the buy for feeling a little bitter but I've felt his analysis has actually been surprisingly even handed for a fan blog. He also happens to be right. Even though Portland is down 3-1 the last two games the Blazers have had the chance to win and let it slip from their hands. As he notes it wasn't the refs fault either but poor execution on the part of the Blazers, the Pryzbilla kick out to Blake being the prime example. The Blazers aren't the Jazz or the Mavericks and for the most part their fans have been classy. The games have been hard fought and outside of Pryzbilla flopping and mugging Yao I haven't gotten the feeling that Portland is trying to game the Refs to win. I of course want the Rockets to win but I'm not hating on Portland or their fans and if they were playing anyone else I would root for them.
I don't mind most of the article. He admits, overall, that they just got beat. But he's clearly peeved by the booing of fouls by the crowd. Has it been that long since he's seen a road playoff game? I know Portland has been rebuilding, but come on. I'm surprised he didn't complain when the crowd cheered whenever we made a shot. And the crowd yelling when Portland was trying to take free throws, the horror! Also, just take one look at Yao's face and arms, and tell me if all those scratches and bruises are from 'normal jockeying for position.' The difference is the refs FINALLY called them, instead of turning a blind eye. If Oden develops into a top offensive center, they'll learn what we've been complaining about all these years.
How can he complain about fouls? We shot 5 more FTs than them, and didn't 6 of those FTs come from the Blazers intentionally fouling? You take away those intentional fouls, and they shot 1 more FT than us.
