NBA Finals: LA Plays Through; Orlando Folds

I was forced to watch Game 1 of the NBA Finals on my DVR because I went to an incredible show Thursday night (guitarist Robin Tower, if you must know – think Jimi Hendrix… dude is almost 65 and still plays his ass off!).

Anyway, thank goodness for DVRs….. here’s what I saw.

It was evident from the first quarter that we can expect the NBA’s usual ragged officiating this series. Hedo Turkoglu held off Trevor Ariza with a stiff arm while dribbling for most of the first 12 minutes. Dwight Howard could not move more on screens unless he started dancing. Andrew Bynum got screwed as usual when he was whstled for his seond foul after clearly tying up Howard for a good three seconds. The baseline official, for whatever reason waited until Howard flailed in frustration and ripped the ball from Bynum’s hand before calling the Laker center for a foul. Howard also must be taking Euro-ball theatrics classes as he goaded Dan Crawford, the first legally blind NBA referee, to call a foul on Pau Gasol when, in fact, Gasol was about a foot away from Howard.

In his time in the NBA league office, Karl Rove sychophant Matthew Dowd must have rubbed off of David Stern more than we know. The NBA now looks more like the Bush administration. It is a world where  officiating incompetency means the offending referees receive a bonus – a slot officiating the Finals – for scads of poor calls throughout the regular season and earlier playoff rounds.

Not quite 10 minutes into the Finals both Bynum and LA’s Trevor Ariza were each saddled with two fouls where three of the four fouls were the result of poor officiating. Crawford’s sight disability came to the fore with about 2:30 left in the first quarter. Howard, as he always does ran in a straight line down the floor in an attempted to bisect the lane, get as close to the basket as possible, and have the shortest distance to his spot on the block depending on which side of the floor the Magic’s half court set begins. First, Gasol, after dunking on his end raced to catch Howard. Gasol drew even with the Magic center but Howard turned his back to Gasol and reverse rode the Lakers center inside the block-charge circle; and offensive foul. Then Howard took his right arm and pushed Gasol, doubling him over. By this time Howard was directly under the rim. With exactly 2:30 left you can see Howard violently push Gasol away. Howard’s open right hand is planted squarely in Gasol’s chest and Howard’s right arm is fully extended. Crawford never thought about ensuring that a clean game would be played. No, he waited until Howard bowled over Gasol after he received Turkoglu’s entry pass and mad a move to the rim before whistling Howard for a charge and his second foul.

With 1:38 left in the first Mikael ietrus was forced into a three-point attempt just before the  shot clock expired. The long rebound was coming down to a leaping Lamar Odom. Suddenly Odom was moving forward thanks to a shove in the back by Rashard Lewis. Because the play was more than three feet from his face, Crawford, who was positioned on the wing, could not differentiate between the blue-jerseyed Lewis and the gold-jerseyed Odom, Lewis grabbed the rebound and Crawford received a resounding chorus of boos from the Lakers faithful.

And as we saw earlier, what happens when the officials miss a call that would be in favor of LA? A lakers players gets called for a foul immediately afterward. This time it was Odom for having a forearm in Lewis’ back. Now, placing the forearm on the offensive player’s back is fine – which is what Odom was doing with Lewis. The Magic forward didn’t do the ‘oh I’m being pushed Mr. Referee’ bend at the waist move. No, he was bailed out by the baseline official.

Does anyone notice how ESPN doesn’t like to tell the viewing audience who the officials are? 

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The second quarter opened – Orlando led 24-22 after one – as did the first, with an incorrect call by Dan Crawford (and with Jameer Nelson in the game). This tim Lewis was ass-baking Sasha Vujacic down onto the block . Lewis got his butt beneath Sahsa’s waist and lifted Vujucic up onto his back. Offensive foul? In David Stern’s rulebook, yes, In Dan Crawford’s sight-challenged world, No. foul on Vujacic.

With 9:35 left in the half Odom drove the lane, was hacked by Lewis to the tune of no call. Then Lewis received the ball took three-and-a-half steps befor putting the ball on the floor with 9:32 remaining in the half. Instead of being on the bench in foul trouble, Lewis was able to shoot a jumper, miss, and snare his own rebound. On the Lakers ensuing possession Lewis was in a mismatch with Gasol and was allowed to drape both arms around the Lakers center, pin his arms to his sides and keep Gasol from receiving an entry pass until Courtney Lee was in position for a steal —- advantage Orlando.

But hey, we’re not done! After the steal Lee drove the lane passed the ball out to the corner. Three passes, two pump fakes, and Nelson dribbling later, both Lee and Pietrus were still standing where they were after Lee made the pass ——– in the lane. Lee received a pass from Nelson for a layin.

You know, I’d like to get to the game but something goes horribly wrong with the officiating on nearly every possession.

I can say I was wrong about Nelson in my evaluation of the series. From the reports coming from Orlando activating Nelson was a decision made more from Van Gundy assessing his team’s chances and making a last-minute desperate move. It turns out the Magic were working Nelson out for the last two weeks. The Magic point guard was totally lying when he said he was not going to play and the Magic management was lying when they said he was not ready to play.

Back to the hack fest. Mike Breen called for Bynum to pick up his third foul on an errant four-footer by Marcin Gortat. Breen said Bynum “hit” Gortat. However, a DVR replay showed that Bynum did not at all hit Gortat and that Breen was being a hater. But with 6:32 left in the haf Kobe Bryant split Lee and Pietrus. Lee fouled Bryant in the front while Pietrus hit Kobe in the head after missing his swipe at the ball and no foul was called.

Breen said nothing about the play other than Bryant “thought he got fouled.”

With 5:20 left Bryant hit another jumper over Pietrus. This time the Orlando guard hit Bryant’s wrist as he was releasing the ball and no foul was called. At this point in the game Howard should have four fouls as should Pietrus.  Turkoglu should have at least three. Lewis should have three, while Ariza should have none and Bynum one. Orlando is not yet in the penalty though they should have been two minutes ago.

I wonder what is said in the meetings when the games are played back for the officials. Nice going?

Desite the disparity between what actually is happening and what the refs have twisted into a grossly distorted reality the Lakers went on a 10-0 run to take a 38-33 lead. 

After some very rough play under the basket where Bryant and Bynum were fouled, Breen exclaimed, “Boy they sure are lettin’ ‘em play!”

Breen is such an asshole.

After a Derek Fisher three the LA run expanded to 13-1  and the lead ballooned to 41-34. On the next possession Howard was doubled on the block by Luke Walton and Gasol. with nowhere to go the soon-to-be-patented ‘DWil DVR Replay” showed Howard took the ball over his head, slammed it back into Gasol’s forehead and immediately made his spin move afterward.

The move and the result was actually pretty slick and was almost funny except for the fact that Howard  should have been called for a flagrant one. Instead he went to the line to attempt his seventh and eighth free throws of the half.

WOW!

With 1:57 left in the first half Kobe Bryant missed a fadaway over Pietrus from the right side of the court. On the other side of the basket Howard had position on Gasol with Nelson on Gsol’s right. As the ball begins its bounce off the rim, Nelson drops down into a low crouch, his head just barely above Gasol’s waist, and backs into the LA center’s right knee. At the same time he takes his left elbow and slams it into Gasol’s hip. The DWil DVR Replay shows Gasol doubled over from the double blow, a referee on the right wing looking directly at the play and turning his back and running down the court.

While Nelson cried abut an imaginary foul he wanted – after what he’s seen and gotten away with, why not – Bryant dribbles around a Gasol screen with Pietrus trailing. the Orlando guard pulls Bryant’s jersey as he begins to get into the lane.

Unfortunately fr Bryant, Crawford is there on the play and can only see blurry moving ethereal shapes of blending hues, so no whistle is blown. for the average human this image would be the result of ingesting a hallucinogen some 90 minutes previous to the play. For Crawford, it’s just another day at the office.

On the next Orlando possession, as Rashard Lewis attempts a too-quick three, Howard begins to run at full speed from the three-point line into the lane. As he enters the painted area he lowers his right shoulder and blasts Gasol. A glance at all three referees tells a sorry story. Instead of one set of eyes on the shooter and defender and the other two sets of eyes on the remainder of the floor. All of the officials are staring at Lewis shooting over Odom —- well maybe not Crawford. He could actually be staring at the Orlando bench but thinking he’s eying Jack Nicholson’s 19-year old daughter, Lorraine instead of an anonymous blond-haired Magic assistant.

With :25.9 remaining Fisher and Josh Powell double Nelson in the right corner near the baseline. Nelson attempts a pass but the ball hits Fisher’s leg. Nelson tries to catch the ball as it returns to him but it slips out of his fingertips. Lakers ball,right?

Not with Dan Crawford as the baseline official. In all seriousness, Crawford was clearly screened on the play and could not possibly see Nelson touch the ball with both hands. But Crawford makes the call anyway because as the images congealed before his eyes, their movement created a ghost-effect where white blank spots appeared to exist between the swirling uniform colors. And since to Crawford the ball is the same color as all three mens arms, when he thought he saw a brown object pass through the white space he assumed it was the basketball – actually it was Nelson’s hands.

Meantime, the wing ref on that side of the floor has a perfect view of the play, but says nothing.

Man, now I see how someone as slow As Hedo Turkoglu is, is able to seem quick. On the inbounds pass Hedo begins his move and pushes Josh Powell to have the space to get the ball. However Powell catches up easily with the glacier-paced Turkoglu. But as Hedo Jordan takes his first dribble he readies his right forearm. On his second dribble he ducks his right shoulder and jabs out the forearm into Powell’s stomach and pushes Powell off again. This time the Lakers forward gets caught in the wash of other players. This forces Odom to switch to Turkoglu, but it is too late. Odom is a Hedo’s mercy, so when the Magic forward pump fakes Odom predictably jumps and Hedo simply ducks into Odom’s legs creating contact and tosses the ball at the rim  - two free throws.

The Lakers lead by 10 53-43 at the half.

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LA is on no mood for b.s., either from the Magic or the officials. They are playing through everything and it seems like Orlando os more interested in jacking treys and playing one-on-one after a perfunctory pick-and-roll attempt.

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Bynum begins the third quarter with a block of Lee’s attempt and Kobe hits over Lewis. Bynum misses a bunny and Lewis hits a three.

Bynum then picks up his fourth foul when an obviously frustrated – except to the officials – Howard runs down the court and when he finds Bynum has him beat by three steps, slams directly into Bynum, then shoots a forearm that he meant to be an elbow to Bynum’s grill – I am looking at a DWil DVR Replay still frame of Bynum’s head being snapped back by Howard. Bynum purs his arms in front of his chest to protect himself from another Howard onslaught and gets whistled for his fourth foul.

You cannot make a much worse call than that. to do so requires the referees to have no feel for the game at all. It requires them to fail to realize that Howard feels a bit overmatched by the Lakers height and quickness and willingness to take his bumps, slams, forearms, pushes and shoves. It also requires the officials to interpret the rules in a Superman Bizarro World-type of way: a phantasmagoric reversal of reality.

WOW. 

Howard then goes up and gets his weak shot blocked by Odom, Gasol, and Bryant – all three have their hands on parts of the ball, and Odom gets called for the foul. If anything the replay showed that Bryant hit Howard in the chest after scraping by the ball but Odom had all ball from behind.

After Howard goes 1-2 from the line Kobe drives the lane, gets pushed by Alson on his hip, hit on his right shoulder by Alson, and hit on his left forearm by Lee as he goes up for the short runner in the lane – no whistle.

I mean, damn, is it that difficult to call the game the same way on both ends of the floor?… 57-47 Lakers 9:15 remaining in the third.

This time down the court a very pissed off Bryant makes sure the refs have no choice but to call a foul. Orlando also obliges in aiding Kobe’s want by hacking him to the floor…. after hitting a three to get the Magic to within nine at 59-50, Lee mugs Bryant on the baseline. When Bryant attempts to extricate himself from the demon wraith-mermaid death grip of Lee, the Magic guard is hit up with another foul. Instead of taking it like a man, Lee throws his arms in the air, grimaces through his mask and gestures wildly at the official.

Amazing.

Lewis fouls Gasol and repeats Lee’s act. The DWil DVR Replay shows that Lewis hit Gasol on his arm just below the wrist and never came close to getting the ball….. the Magic are clearly frustrated by the whole affair – the game, that is – and look about ready to fold their tent for the night.

After Gasol’s free throws make it 61-50, Howard is smacked by Fisher. Alston misses a three, Kobe hits a jumper as Pietrus slides up under KB. Howard gets called for an offensive foul on an elbow to Gasol’s ribs. Again though, in reality, it was the third foul and second elbow by Howard on the play. first, he clearly stuck out his knee on Trevor Ariza a moving screen, then shot Gasol an elbow as he established position in the lane, then finally got whistled for his second elbow in a span of two seconds (6:33 to 6:31). It is 64-50 LA.

Odom hits after a pretty high-low pass from Gasol. LO is pushed by Turkoglu. A slick pass by Kobe and a nice double=pump layin by Pau makes the score 68-50. The Magic are cooked with 5:42 left in the third. Unless they can go on a 9-0 or 10-0 run before the end of the quarter, this game is over.

Damn, Howard does his last-second jump out moving screen deal again and this time Fisher is the victim – but Fish gets hit with the foul. I guess the alternative is to call the game correctly and have Howard foul out by halftime, huh?

Kobe pulls an MJ move on Pietrus and all the other Magic players that wanted to get in the poster. Dude exploded by Pietrus and split Lewis, and Howard. I looked like he took off too early or might get his layin swatted but somehow in a plastic man move Kobe found an extra six inches of arm length and laid the ball in with his right hand as he was flying by the basket – 70-52, 4:27 left in the third. Bryant then hits a jumper to build the lead to 20. Kobe has 31 with 3:30 left in the third.

Oh NO! I know y’all saw that one! Bryant’ last second on the shot clock double-clutch while he gets hacked on the arm by Pietrus shot was a thing of beauty. However, it was nullified by Pietrus three…. After LO falls and Nelson gets his shot blocked by Gasol Hedo fouls KB…. Ariza hits a three – 80-55.

82-58 end of three.

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At halftime Kobe had 18 points on 9-18 shooting. In the third quarter he had 18 points on 6-11 shooting. So he’s 15-27 for the night and 6-6 from the free throw line. A few minutes later ESPN throws up a comparative stat: KB – 36 pts, 15-30; Howard – 10 pts. 1-6; Lewis – eight points 2-10; Hedo – 13 pts., 3-9.

Kobe 36, Orlando’s main scorers 31. Bryant 15-30 from the floor, Orlando’s big three 6-25. Ouch.

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Well, the final of Game 1 is 100-75. 

It seemed Orlando was surprised by LA’s overall defense, especially their ability to disrupt pass and shot attempts. But the Magic can take hope because they did miss their share of open shots. And though those misses were not enough to make up the deficit, hitting some of those shots could have led to more points in the flow of the offense. 

But something else is true for Game 1: Dwight Howard is very immature when he is losing. And if he is your team leader – well then he shouldn’t be, or you’re going down the tubes. It also appears that the Magic as a team are a bit young in the head. Nelson’s dirty play on Gasol was uncalled for. Lewis fouling Odom and then pushing him out of bounds was an immature act.

This was just the first game of what could be a marathon series. But if this is the way Orlando reacts to adversity, they have no chance to win this series. Maybe staying committed to the offensive game plan, playing defense with their feet instead of their hands, and hitting some open jumpers will help the Magic.

It had better.

Kobe finished with 40, eight and eight. Quite the game…. This is LA’s third well-played game in a row. They were largely unperturbed by the poor officiating. They were persistent, ran the triangle well, attacked the Magic’s interior defense constantly, and shared the ball. Orlando is not a team that can score in the 105-110 range and LA knows this. It appears the Lakers feel that if they just stay the course and take the best percentage shot on each possession they will score enough to make life so difficult for the Magic that Orlando might not be able to win on nights when they do play well.

Phil Jackson is 43-0 when his teams win game one of a series.

(Please excuse the typos. It’s 5 in the a.m. and I want to get this up – finally!…. I’ll go over it after I get some rest.)