Kobe's end-of-game play: steal or foul?

[LeeGenius]

Did Kobe even touch the ball?


I doubt hetouched the ball. He got Paul and Paul wasnt able to catch his last dribble, which caused it to spurt out.


Someone show me a picture with Kobe's hand on the ball.

[D Dub]

Ya know what?  Who cares.

Expecting the refs to win the game for you is something a Laker fan does.

LA got it done last night fair and square, capitalizing on big games from all their role players.  Now its time to go back to Boston.

Inside the Garden, there is just too much Celtic momentum for them to hold us off this week.

[FLCeltsFan]

It was definitely a foul.   But, if the Celtics had played better defense themselves, it wouldn't have mattered. 

[LB3533]

The more OBVIOUS foul was Gasol holding KG's jersey right before KG was about to set that pick on Kobe.

The grabbing of the jersey delayed KG's pick slightly enough to allow Kobe to turn and swipe or poke at the ball and out of Paul's dribble.

[Redz]

Ya know what?  Who cares.

Expecting the refs to win the game for you is something a Laker fan does.

LA got it done last night fair and square, capitalizing on big games from all their role players.  Now its time to go back to Boston.

Inside the Garden, there is just too much Celtic momentum for them to hold us off this week.

Well said D Dub. The Lakers earned Game 5.

[Cman]

I phrased this topic as a question but let me give you the answer:

It was a clear foul.

I don't care if it's on the home court with the best player in the league.  That play potentially changed the outcome of the game and the officials did not whistle it dead.

Yes, most of us usually agree that we don't want the referees deciding game outcomes with whistles and free throws - but when the lack of a call can swing the momentum of a Finals series, they MUST blow the whistle to maintain the integrity of the game.

Probably a foul, but it was a good play by Kobe.  He needed to step up, and he did, so hats off to him. 
On a slightly different note, I am happy that PP didn't complain to the refs about that play (or others).  I am actually amazed at home much complaining Kobe does to the refs without getting a technical.  He really gets a kid glove treatment in this regard.  If it was Rasheed Wallace there would have been about 10 technicals called in the first 5 games.

[crownsy]

did you see him poking mauer in the chest in the 2nd quarter?

i would have slapped him and then t'd him. have some respect for yourself tim.

[Andrew Celtic Nation]

Of course we didn't play well and that hurt us but if the game is relatively close on the road Im willing to bet it was becuase we didn't play well because we are the better team. If they make that call, which would be the correct call like it or not, Pierce who had made all his free throws in the 4th would go to the line with a chance to tie the game. That was a costly play whether you want to take the high road or not.

[BrickJames]

Ya know what?  Who cares.

Expecting the refs to win the game for you is something a Laker fan does.

LA got it done last night fair and square, capitalizing on big games from all their role players.  Now its time to go back to Boston.

Inside the Garden, there is just too much Celtic momentum for them to hold us off this week.

I care.  If you actually read my original post, you'll see my rhetoric about this not being about the refs dictating the game one way or another, but rather by the lack of a call they did just that.

[pearljammer10]

I dont care what team you root for Celtics, Lakers, Bulls etc. Kobe Bryant's steal was a foul. He never even touched the ball. You cant credit someone with a steal when they dont touch the ball. Kobe not only reached in but he hacked Paul across the chest too.

[westupcali]

I know the NBA, its all about the money because an extension in the series equals more money. Well I kind of noticed at the end of the game it appeared that kobe had this look on his face like i got a away with one. But I wish i could get a better shot in details of what exactly happened. Kinda like when Perkins went down. I was disgusted with the look at odom's face, he had this sinister grin look with his face like yea i damaged their big man look.

[albas89]

This is a difficult decision for the refs to make...However,there was a clear foul at the beginning of that play,when PP got the rebound,that was more than an obvious foul,Odom and Gasol almost hugged him!!

And generally the Lakers are always "slapping" the ball on the boards,this is so frustrating cuz most of the times they slap both the basketball AND our players' hands... 

[fan33]

Agreed, I saw no touch on the ball on the Kobe reach-around, and at that point in the game(last minutes), a four point turn around was huge; But likewise I'm not complaining as I'm sure the better team will show up to win convincingly at the garden...

I'd much rather the refs keep their cotton picking hands off their whistles and themselves out of the game(the whole game), save for all but the most obvious and egregious violations, due to our style of play this eventually will favor the Green

I suppose the ref didn't get a good look enough to make a call on that play, and that's cool in my book! Even with replay you could hardly tell that the ball wasn't touched, IMO...

[ScoobyDoo]

I have to agree with BrickJames here. I was at the game last night. A Green KG jersey in a sea of yellow...Good game overall. I tried to start a wave at one point in the first quarter but I couldn't get it going...

On the jumbotron replay it looked like it was a clear foul. It looked like Kobe didn't even hit the ball, only his arm. That is a foul. Now, I Tivo'd the game so I'm going to rewatch it. If Kobe hit the ball first and then hit Pierce's arm after...then I'd be ok with the non call.

I believe a foul is a foul is a foul, period. And to call it any other way is completely ridiculous.

In the playoffs I think the players should be allowed to be a bit more physical but that mostly with hips and bodies, elbows holding someon off on a rebound/.

But when someone rakes another player across the forearm...and there is a noc call...like Gasol on Duncan towards the end of one game or Fisher on Barry...that is bullcrap.

And if you show me the clip where the celtics got away with the same thing I would also say it's bullcrap.

I believe last night was clearly a foul...that shouldn't be taken away from any team. It was, as someone else mentioned...a huge four point swing.

[galen]

I can't believe this.  I'm pretty sure they showed the replay of this "steal" about 30 times.  I have a nice big HD screen.  At no point in any of the 30 replays does Kobe touch the ball.  It is hard to tell how and where and even if he touches PP's arm.  But he clearly bangs his hand off of PP's side.  Also the ball goes off in an unusual direction based on the motion of Kobe.

Furthermore, a reach in should be called almost automatically every time.  It was on KG for most of the game (and admittedly those were stupid plays by KG).  How you can just go around and make a totally different non-call on this play is totally inconsistent from the rest of the game.

And as for it being a great play, Kobe get beat (as he did many times throughout the game) by PP, and was making a last ditch attempt to swipe the ball away.  He got doublely lucky that he both didn't get called for the clear foul, and that he managed to knock the ball away when PP was blowing right by him (again).

While I do not feel this was the cause for the game being lost, it does have a major role in the outcome, and that really disappointed me.