Was pierce's foul on hinrich the worst call in the history of sports?

[Hoops]

From what I remember, Pierce's foot caught Hinrich's and forced him to get his legs tangled up and fall.  By this time, it looked like Pierce wasn't even close.  But, from what I remember (although my initial reaction was horrible call, when I saw the replay, it was a good call).

This is the same way I saw it.

I'm not so sure of this.  The way I saw it, Hinrich fell at least a couple seconds after he was near enough to Pierce to have any kind of contact.  Maybe Pierce's foot touched Hinrich's, but it wasn't until a little afterwards that Hinrich fell.  So if it was contact at all, Hinrich fell on purpose.

Simply not true. Pierce caught Hinrich's foot (looked to be entirely accidental). Hinrich didn't immediately fall down. Hinrich was pulling the one foot off the ground to pull it forward for his next step when Pierce caught that foot. Because of that, when Hinrich pulled that foot forward, it didn't pass by the other foot like it normally would while running or walking - Pierce's contact caused the path of Hinrich's moving foot to be redirected such that it essentially ran right into his other foot as he pulled it forward. Hinrich actually fell once he hit his own foot. But there's no question that Pierce's contact caused Hinrich to trip on his own feet. Again, whether or not that should have been a foul is a different question. But Pierce definitely caused Hinrich to fall.

[PosImpos]

From what I remember, Pierce's foot caught Hinrich's and forced him to get his legs tangled up and fall.  By this time, it looked like Pierce wasn't even close.  But, from what I remember (although my initial reaction was horrible call, when I saw the replay, it was a good call).

This is the same way I saw it.

I'm not so sure of this.  The way I saw it, Hinrich fell at least a couple seconds after he was near enough to Pierce to have any kind of contact.  Maybe Pierce's foot touched Hinrich's, but it wasn't until a little afterwards that Hinrich fell.  So if it was contact at all, Hinrich fell on purpose.

Simply not true. Pierce caught Hinrich's foot (looked to be entirely accidental). Hinrich didn't immediately fall down. Hinrich was pulling the one foot off the ground to pull it forward for his next step when Pierce caught that foot. Because of that, when Hinrich pulled that foot forward, it didn't pass by the other foot like it normally would while running or walking - Pierce's contact caused the path of Hinrich's moving foot to be redirected such that it essentially ran right into his other foot as he pulled it forward. Hinrich actually fell once he hit his own foot. But there's no question that Pierce's contact caused Hinrich to trip on his own feet. Again, whether or not that should have been a foul is a different question. But Pierce definitely caused Hinrich to fall.

I'll take your word for it but I just remember Pierce being a few feet away when Hinrich fell so I'm still skeptical.

[Rida]

you know the play i mean. pierce loses the ball, heinrich steals it around halfcourt, starts to break away, loses his balance, falls down, and pierce, roughly 4 feet away from him, gets called for the foul.

the amazing thing is the ref is sprinting to get back in the play down the sidelines. he has his back to the play. he never saw anything, yet blew the whistle. we can laugh about it now (i guess), but this was the worst call i have seen in a very long time.

Everypne in the garden last night was shocked at the reffing. Steve javy was whistling everything against us. It turned into a joke in the stands.

No wonder Tommy hates javy

[Cman]

I apologize but I can't remember the game or the other player involved, but it was during last year's finals.  Pierce pump faked, got the man in the air, made contact, shot a three, made the three, and was the called for a charge!  THAT was the worst call.  What should have been a 4 point play turned into 0 points and an offensive foul.  Even if Pierce jumped into the man (which he didn't) it should have been a no call.  You can't reward a defender who bit on a fake and thus has lost control of his body.  As I remember, Pierce basically jumped straight up, which any shooter should be allowed to do at any time.

I forgot about that one.  Pretty sure it was against Detroit.  A ridiculous call, but ... we won't dwell on it as the Cs handily won that series!  And the trophy!

[GeoDim]

I apologize but I can't remember the game or the other player involved, but it was during last year's finals.  Pierce pump faked, got the man in the air, made contact, shot a three, made the three, and was the called for a charge!  THAT was the worst call.  What should have been a 4 point play turned into 0 points and an offensive foul.  Even if Pierce jumped into the man (which he didn't) it should have been a no call.  You can't reward a defender who bit on a fake and thus has lost control of his body.  As I remember, Pierce basically jumped straight up, which any shooter should be allowed to do at any time.

I forgot about that one.  Pretty sure it was against Detroit.  A ridiculous call, but ... we won't dwell on it as the Cs handily won that series!  And the trophy!

Yeah, it could have been against Detroit.  Not dwelling on it now, but it was a big deal when it happened.

[GeoDim]

Yep, you're right.

With the Celtics down five after a Detroit run, Pierce, standing beyond the arc on the left wing, got his defender in the air with an up fake, drew the contact, and somehow made the triple as he fell backwards. The Palace of Auburn Hills was silenced until the call was revealed to be an offensive foul. Tayshaun Prince would get two free throws on the other end to complete a six-point swing.

[ACF]

Yep, you're right.

With the Celtics down five after a Detroit run, Pierce, standing beyond the arc on the left wing, got his defender in the air with an up fake, drew the contact, and somehow made the triple as he fell backwards. The Palace of Auburn Hills was silenced until the call was revealed to be an offensive foul. Tayshaun Prince would get two free throws on the other end to complete a six-point swing.

That game made me understand how low
the standard of NBA officiating has
become. The C's didn't whine, though,
but overcame it. I loved that (and still do).

[colincb]

I believe this award was retired after the 6-opposing-men-on-the-court basket which was allowed to stand against us in a game at Portland earlier in the season where the three zebras managed to make it through the explanation to Doc with a straight face. The basketball was actually bronzed and sent on to Springfield where it resides next to the gold-plated leaked  memo that the NBA was watching KG's antics, also a first in the annals of the NBA.

[Carhole]

It was terrible but wasnt even the worst call in the game. The Perk Tech still has me baffled

[CoachBo]

I don't know where people are coming up with the notion that Pierce tripped him.

The play was replayed on TNT and it was clear Pierce wasn't near him. The announcers commented that Hinrich tripped over his own feet.

[connerhenry43]

I believe this award was retired after the 6-opposing-men-on-the-court basket which was allowed to stand against us in a game at Portland earlier in the season where the three zebras managed to make it through the explanation to Doc with a straight face. The basketball was actually bronzed and sent on to Springfield where it resides next to the gold-plated leaked  memo that the NBA was watching KG's antics, also a first in the annals of the NBA.

good point. and good point by all those who bring up the perk technical during the game.

i thought about this portland game when the refs added a point to chicago's total midway through the 4th quarter. gordon's shot earlier in the game was clearly a three, but when that portland game went down, one of the explanations the nba gave was that you could not go back and undo what had already happened. they had no problem helping out the bulls in that regard saturday night.

[Drucci]

Yeah, I've watched the play again and you can see on all the replays that there was absolutely no foul, Hinrich falls all by himself, even the announcers acknlowedged it (saying that the Bulls caught "a break"). Doc and the Celtics discussed the call but the refs didn't listen. I'm glad that Hinrich missed his free throws ("ball don't lie" ) because it could have been a huge difference at the end of the game if he had made that play, especially when you consider that the C's had a chance to increase their lead before halftime.

Still, and after having watched it again too, I'm amazed by the technical foul called on Perkins, he did nothing else than grabbing his shoulder in pain...

[CoachBo]

Yeah, I've watched the play again and you can see on all the replays that there was absolutely no foul, Hinrich falls all by himself, even the announcers acknlowedged it (saying that the Bulls caught "a break"). Doc and the Celtics discussed the call but the refs didn't listen. I'm glad that Hinrich missed his free throws ("ball don't lie" ) because it could have been a huge difference at the end of the game if he had made that play, especially when you consider that the C's had a chance to increase their lead before halftime.

Still, and after having watched it again too, I'm amazed by the technical foul called on Perkins, he did nothing else than grabbing his shoulder in pain...

Right, there was absolutely no foul on the Hinrich play. And the Perkins technical baffles me. It seemed that at times the officials were intent on not penalizing Chicago in any way, shape or form.

Bad as those were, none of them measure up to the Salvatore offensive foul on Pierce in Game 6 at Detroit last year when he was clobbered on an up-fake on the three. That's a HOF bad call right there.

[Greenbean]

It seems like incidental foot contact threw off Hinrich's balance and eventually caused a fall. The entire series, this was called a foul so they were being consistent. But my question is why in the world was this called all series. I remember quite a few instances where a Bull would get in the lane and step on a Celtic foot and fall and the ref would call tripping. I have never seen so many tripping calls in one series than I just saw. Can someone explain if they called this right the whole series?

[vwoodruff]

It was a trip... they showed the replay and Pierce's foot clearly grazed Hinrich's. I guarantee if you take the time to go back and watch the replay you'll see it.