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To understand why arbitration has become a hot topic in this series of Golden State-Houston, you must first understand this: James Harden may be losing the right number. one of his superpowers.
Harden was notable for his 3-point foul, one of basketball's most valuable games for a variety of reasons. At a minimum, it pushes the defender closer to the goal. Secondly, a defender who has been eliminated can not participate as aggressively afterwards if a foul is called earlier in the game. But by far, the most important, especially in the case of an 86% free throw shooter like Harden, is that a whistle can almost guarantee three points.
In the case of the abstention Sunday on Draymond Green, who played Harden at the end of the first game, which the league considered the correct non-whistle, these three points would have been critical. This would have linked the game and potentially sent in overtime. This call has never come, and now the Rockets are down 0-1 in the series, with both The teams have expressed grievances in the press about the Harden issue.
That's the game in the game. If Harden can regularly shoot that whistle in the series, it can change the entire landscape of the playoffs of 2019. The volume of complaints can only get stronger.
Numbers
The MVP title considers the pointer 3 dirty as a science. With a devastating step backwards and leading the defenders closer to him, Harden scored the league's first goal with 95 scoring 3 points in the regular season (75 three-shot fouls and 20-for-3). 1.22 per game. You might expect Harden to receive more calls of this type in the playoffs, as the teams have no intention of letting him appear clear and illegal contacts will follow. But in the playoffs, he has only received six of those calls in six games, a drop of 18%. After match 1, Houston coach Mike D'Antoni said the referees had admitted they had missed four players at half-time. It is 12 attempts of free throws in the first period only.
It was not just a problem of the first match. In fact, in each of the last three motives of the season, Harden did not get as much as 3 points. Last year, Harden recorded a .97 average in the penalty of 3 points in the regular season, falling to .76 in the playoffs, a drop of 22%. In 2016-17, it went from 1.53 to 1.18 per game, a drop of 23%.
You can say that it's not important, but in the playoffs, a failed 3-point call can change a game or switch a series. It may also lower Harden's 3-point shooting percentage, which now stands at 32.9%, marking the fourth consecutive playoff game he has shot below the downtown average.
There is also an element of fatigue. These falls are tiring. The more Harden collapses on the ground and gets back on his feet, the less fuel he will have in the tank for his last essential goods. When he receives a call and a trio of free throws, these basketball burpees are worth it. When he does not, he is a handicap on the pitch, especially during the transition with a Golden State team looking to push the ball.
For referees, this is not an easy call to make. But as a former NBA official said on NBCSports.com, it could quickly become very ugly.
The point of view of a former referee
The three points are more widespread than ever and are tempted more deeply than ever. Pace has reached levels never seen since the 1980s. Geometrically, referees must follow a greater range of action than ever before. In addition, the federal ban on sports games was lifted, allowing referees and the integrity of the game to make headlines.
The first match was particularly volatile. There were four techniques and an automatic ejection when Chris Paul stumbled upon the official Josh Tiven in the final seconds, receiving his second technical foul of the match. It was a controversial game that was marked by bizarre late Whistles.
"This sort of thing is difficult," said the former NBA official. "What the referees have to do is difficult. They are subject to scrutiny, more than ever. Look, when I officiated, the second round of the series did not attract any attention. This year, the first round attracted attention.
The concern is not just about equity. With very strong emotions and Harden emphasizing the integrity of the whistle, it could turn into danger.
"The problem you are having now: as soon as Steph (Curry) goes up (for a shot), they will go under him," said a longtime official on the phone. "Someone's going to do it, just to prove a point."
Which poses another problem.
"The referee is going to call (the foul), and the Rockets will say," You see, we get fucked. "
Complicating matters further is that Curry and Klay Thompson are nursing their painful ankles from their previous series against L.A. Clippers. An ankle trick could be an end of series. To be clear, the Rockets do not indicate that they will retaliate or start playing "dirty" to send a message. But there is also fantasy at play.
Just like a shrewd lawyer, Harden spoke of the precedent that Kawhi Leonard was injured in the playoffs in 2017 when former Golden State center Zaza Pachulia reportedly prevented Leonard from landing and where he would have been. missed the rest of the series because of an injury to the ankle.
"We all know what happened with Kawhi a few years ago," Harden said after the first match. "It can change a whole series, just call the game the way it's supposed to be called, and we'll live with the results."
Sunday was a difficult afternoon for top 16-year-old Zach Zarba, who, according to several sources, and confirmed by RefAnalytics.com, was making his semifinal debut as head coach. ;team. Zarba officiated in the NBA finals and served as team leader in the first round, but the highly anticipated Sunday of the first game of the rematch for the Western Conference final was his first game in the second round.
"These are huge matches," said the former NBA official, highlighting Zarba's debut.
It's remarkable for another reason. According to a report released Monday by ESPN, the Rockets published an audit of missed calls at the Western Conference finals of 2018 last year and told the league that the official had cost them the title (the NBA did not agree with the Rockets methodology.) According to Houston, one of the factors behind this perceived bias is that veteran officials "show the most bias against our players" and Houston argued that the referee's experience level should not be taken into account for series assignments.
However, the fact that these checks were revealed after the first match is an interesting twist given the relative inexperience of Sunday's crew. Beyond Zarba, Tiven is in her ninth season as NBA benchmark (sixth playoff) and Courtney Kirkland is in her 19th season, but only her ninth in the playoffs. If the Rockets were worried about too much experience, it would be an acceptable crew.
It is not uncommon for referees to review calls at half-time and admit that they missed one or two. But the former NBA official found it surprising that a referee could play up to four kicks on the same type of game, which D'Antoni said this weekend. It's not a question of honesty, but a question of time. A team of referees has only about ten minutes to report, review the film and prepare for the rest of the match at half-time. Asked about D'Antoni's complaint, a spokesman for the National Basketball Referees Association declined to comment on Tuesday.
"It's a problem because referees can not go public," said the former NBA official. "It's not unusual to say," Yes, we looked at the game and we started it. "Saying:" We looked at the four games, and we missed them all, "that seems like a lot."
In the era of analysis and increased transparency around arbitration, referee assignments are topics of discussion for the foreseeable future. For example, the team leader of the second match will not make his debut as Zarba. It will be Scott Foster, who is one of the senior staff officers. Referee assignments for games 1 to 4 are decided before the series, but the league has placed Foster on this series, even though it has a long history with the Rockets.
In February, Harden and Chris Paul were both punished with six fouls, prompting Harden to say to reporters, "It's safe, it's personal. I do not think (Foster) should be able to continue playing our games, honestly. "
It was the only time Paul had made it into a game this season. In 2018, after Foster imposed a technical foul on Paul, the playmaker told the media, "The story is there. It's the man. That's what they pay to see.
Paul is not alone in his problems with Foster. In 2016, Foster was voted the worst referee in the NBA in a survey of players and coaches of the Los Angeles Times. After Paul's disqualification in February, Paul again let himself be carried away by Foster, telling reporters, "I do not know what else to do."
The Rockets, which are as numerous as any team, are certainly aware of this fact related to Foster: Harden has committed only four fouls in 265 games in the last three seasons, including the playoffs , according to Basketball-Reference.com followed. Three of these games were refereed by Foster.
Does Harden have an arbiter problem?
Harden is so talented that he does not need a favorable whistle to play at a high level. But in the playoffs, he did not live on the free throw line as he usually does. He was limited to five free throws or fewer in three of his six games, winning all three with an average of 29 points in these competitions.
Part of that is the way Utah has aggressively protected it at its left hip early in the first round. With 14 free throws in the first game, Harden will have to continue trying to live in the category of charity in this series; the Warriors offensive will not be as tolerant as that of Utah if Harden is on the ground making a call.
It is necessary to supervise the match of the second match, in particular for the faults of three shots. Harden's free throws attempts per game have been unsuccessful in the past four seasons. None of these resulted in a final. Maybe the noise surrounding this series will change his fortune.
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