Maybe Henry Abbott knows better than I do. Hell, he probably does. BP at Awful Announcing thinks that was a foul too at the end of the game that put the Lakers up 3-1 with a chance to win the series back at the Staples Center. But the first thing I discussed with the sports guys at work (and they’re Warriors fans — they hate the Lakers) at the end of that game was that foul, and we all came up with this: if Brent Barry hadn’t dribbled to try and get around Derek Fisher, who’d fallen for the pump-fake, he would have gotten a three-shot call. All he had to do was go straight up as soon as he got Fisher in the air. Even if plays like that have been called as fouls before, I hate them, because they should be no-calls. You shouldn’t get a continuation once you get the guy in the air and are moving with a dribble to get the shot.
I’d have been okay with a foul call if Barry only got two shots, because the Lakers were in the penalty, but it was honestly a non-shooting foul at that point in my eyes. However, the Spurs are letting it go — with both Barry and coach Gregg Popovich saying it wasn’t a foul and moving on — because they weren’t able to keep the Lakers off the offensive boards for the entire game; not taking advantage of their obvious advantage against a very skilled Los Angeles team. The non-call might be the most memorable moment for those of us watching, but the Spurs got beat earlier; they were either lucky enough or, as D-Wil insinuates, got enough favor from the refs for most of the game.
Expect Joey Crawford calling this game to get a shit-load attention very, very quickly on the ESPN ranter programs.
Photo: AP/Matt Slocum
Filed under: Above The Rim, NBA, NBA Playoffs | Tagged: Los Angeles Lakers, San Antonio Spurs, Western Conference Finals
