Harden: Scott Foster Shouldn’t Referee Anymore Rockets Games

Crying so much wah wah

 

LOL he owes you a couple of rings too?

 

And the fine for speaking out will be ....$?????

 

How many of the fouls did he receive that you would say were clear-cut bad calls, as opposed to "that could have gone either way"? I think I missed the first couple to start the game. After that, there was one in the 4th, I think, where it appeared like Rondo just ran into this elbow which I thought was a dumb call. Otherwise, the offensive fouls were routine calls that you see all the time.

By "not getting calls", I meant not getting the benefit of the whistle. Again, I consider games like this to be a test. Because inevitably there are going to be games in the playoffs against elite teams with star players, and they will get the benefit of calls that we won't like. The Rockets need to be resilient in the face of this. Great teams find a way to win games despite unfavorable officiating.

 

Harden's comments about not being able to discuss calls with Scott on the court is what's telling. I don't think they believe the reason they lost was only because of Scott. It looks like they believe he was a big factor of tipping the game and has built up a big enough sample size to warrant further discussion on the League level. Out of the 10 losses that keeps getting brought up with Scott reffing, I'm sure the players are tired of trying to figure out how he will officiate.

From how James has processed this season, I give him the benefit of the doubt that he knows their play caused them to lose. Him airing grievances about Scott should be seen as a separate and greater issue from this game in a microscope.

 

i love that the rockets are being outspoken about this. its about time

this needs to be brought to attention and glad its being covered

 

250k, same as JVG after calling out Timmy D against the mass.
Probably 25 million if Harden mentioned Donaghy

 

Rockets had no chance last night. It wasn’t a test, it was the NBA ensuring the Lakers and Lebron remained relevant.

On paper the Lakers have no chance against Houston. None. I was telling my wife the game was being officiated oddly. Harden with 3 fouls early in the first half? McGee has 2 goal tends that weren’t called. Harden and Paul had 6 fouls each? Lebron had 1 foul? This was an NBA story loss.

 

I think they need to get fined right before any and all games he officiates to put the magnifying glass on foster. Remember JVGs comment about how Yao was officiated levied a 100,000$ fine

 

Those stats are damning. There’s NO way that is coincidental. Should be fun to watch...

 

Scott Foster is brother in laws with Tim Donaghy. Pretty telling, This is my guess, I think they became best friends by gambling, rigging games together, than his sister got involved by meeting Tim.

 

This is not a usual frustration rant after a loss. He didn't complain about "the officials." He singled out one particular referee. He didn't complain about not getting calls in a generally badly officiated game. He said that a particular referee had personal agenda. That's a very different complaint. It is specific and it is personal.

In a normal workplace, if an employee complains about a company official targeting him or a specific group of people, the company should investigate it, rather than punish the complainer. But we all know that the NBA is not a normal workplace. We all know that if Harden or the Rockets filed an official complaint to the league, it would just like a stone sinking into the ocean. The only recourse a player has is airing it out in the media.

That said, I agree that doing that would not make life easier for Harden and the Rockets on the court. But to hell with it.

 

Glad to wake up this morning and here CP3 and Harden go in about this. Exactly what I wanted.

The thing is, it is a FACT that refs hold grudges against players. Iverson and Donaghy pretty much confirmed this.

 

It's real easy for Joel Embiid to say "the referees suck", Rachel Nichols praised and applauded Joel on The Jump.
Joel is in the Top 2 in drawing Fouls next to Harden.

If Harden says anything about the Referees, The Media, Fans, League, T-Wack, Pippy will all gang up and criticize.

 

interesting point. i wonder if harden could possibly seek protection behind whistleblower laws. surely his attorney can broach the rigging issue w/ some congresspeople on this...

 

Harden's right. Foster is crooked against the Rockets and should not be the official for any of their other games.

They should be allowed to blow huge leads with fair officiating

 

we just got a glimpse of playoffs. same story, different year. awesome.

 

All calls against Harden:
Foul | Qtr | Time | Ref | Type | Player Drawn
#1: 1 7:15 Kirkland -blocking Ingram
#2: 1 5:50 Kirkland -shooting Mcgee
#3: 1 3:51 Foster -offensive (elbow) Rondo
#4: 4 6:03 Kirkland -offensive (elbow) Rondo
#5: 4 2:47 Foster -offensive Kuzma
#6: 4 1:24 Smith -offensive Lebron

Of those, #1 and 4 were bogus. #6 was 50/50. Of the ones I had problems with, #3 by Foster was 50/50 for me - on its face, it looks like Harden shoved him for separation past the halfcourt but it looks like the screener made contact first with Rondo that tripped him up following the contact from Harden. It was called primarily because Luke felt Harden should have been called for a shove on the previous defensive play and Foster made his first call against him while listening to Walton giving him an earful.

What was really bizarre looking back is something I'm not sure is common: the referees throughout the 4th had rotated full circle on the court. I'm looking at Foster and he starts the 4th on our baseline, then moves to the right-side sideline, then left-side sideline. Not saying there's anything implicating in that - just weird and not sure if it's common for refs to rotate mid-quarter. Not sure if this affects consistent playcalling and adjusting to the whistle a harder task.

I'll also add that the other weird thing that probably frustrated him most and us fans was that the foul spread was obviously front-loaded to the 1st qtr. It limited his play (aggression, style, defense) dramatically for the worse. Not only does it make him look bad for the minutes he's given but it's highly conducive to the other team making large, easy runs. It doesn't look like it was all Foster - if they want to gripe it should be if that was gameplanned pregame.