Heat's preferential treatment: too much?

[bfrombleacher]

I didn't watch that game but the Heat once again are out free throwing their opponent: 31 versus the 21 Charlotte got today. Just in the first quarter Charlotte had 9 versus the Heat's 4, enough to kill any momentum the Bobcats had.

I have never seen anything near this level of preferential treatment.

Is it just me or does anybody feel this way too? Incredible.

[Cman]

The answer to your question is two-fold.

First, yes. Too much preferential treatment.

Second, the preferential treatment should come as no surprise.

This is how the NBA is run these days. This is why you need superstars in order to compete. This is why Danny wanted to trade for Chris Paul. We can grouse and moan about it all we want, but its not going to change any time soon.

Earlier in the last decade, the Cs would never get a call go their way. After the Cs landed KG and Ray, suddenly more calls would go their way.

[the TRUTH]

Like Cman said, that's just the way the NBA is today. It's all about money, so Stern will do whatever he can to make the teams with the most marketable stars succeed.

In our 2008 title run, the only series that was even close to fairly officiated was the Pistons series. That was the only time during that run that I felt that the league was actually letting the outcome be determined by the players. I know someone will reply to my post saying that I'm silly for complaining when we won the title, but we were literally that good that we overcame it against the Cavs and Lakers. That Cavs series in '08 was a complete joke in terms of officiating.

A ton of my friends are Cavs fans. What's funny is that when LeCrabDribble was in Cleveland, I always told them that they were the most coddled team by the refs that I'd ever seen, and that the day Queen James left, they'd see what I was talking about. They'd always laugh in my face and say I had no clue, but now they're all admitting that I was right.

[bfrombleacher]

Its kind of blatantly obvious now though don't you think? The refs would give you the benefit of the doubt and one or two "star foul calls".

In the Celtics game its as if all they had to do was just run into the paint and they'd get the foul. Then our guys would get too scared to even touch them and they'd get free layups. Its like they get a free throw drill then a layup drill. Ridiculous.

I wonder if the fans would start complaining. But then again there are lots of LeBron James fans and Dwyane Wade fans out there.

[PosImpos]

The Heat get lots of star calls, and they also have two players who get a lot of points by driving inside and getting fouled.

Those two factors combined result in a lot of free throws for the Heat.

[mqtcelticsfan]

The Heat get lots of star calls, and they also have two players who get a lot of points by driving inside and getting fouled.

Those two factors combined result in a lot of free throws for the Heat.

This. Stars get these calls because they're always aggressively attacking the basket. Aggressive moves tend to lead to poor calls in your favor, because a lot of times it just seems like the contact that results was a foul.

Further, I don't know that they get all that many egregious calls in the first place. They're just so good at drawing contact the right way that they get fouled outright.

Mistakes happen in officiating. It's better to be the aggressive party in a game because it leads to fouls, both good and bad.

[nba is the worst]

This pet peeve began for me years back, and resulted in my choosing this screen name after the Wade Parade (to the ft line) in games 4 and 5 of the '06 Finals.

I was watching Monday's Heat/Hawks game while on a chat board and the Heat being given their usual double-digit ft margin, which was being defended by their fans using the logic/cliche' posted by mqtcelticsfan,"the Heat are attacking the rim, and the Hawks are shooting jumpers"...

Only it wasn't true. A review of the shot chart showed that the heat was the team settling for jumpers against the Hawks zone.

As the Hawks were sealing the 5 on 8 win late in the 4th Q, the heat announcers confirmed the 48-28 points in the paint advantage for the hawks, who only ended up down 8 ftas due to late fouls by the heat.

Interesting indeed was what happened in the playoffs last season - the heat's season avg of +3.8 fts ballooned by 3X vs the 76ers and Celtics, ebbed slightly vs the Bulls (with Crawford abd Salvatore delivering +15 fts in game 4 and Foster/Davis +12 in game 5, and then in the Finals, it not only stopped, but went slightly the other way, with the Mavs shooting 7 more fts than the heat in 6 games...

[Moranis]

when you drive to the hole you get fouled.  When you stand around and shoot jump shots, you don't get fouled. 

Charlotte actually got more foul shots against the Heat than it has averaged in the other 4 games (21 vs 18.5). 

[Chris]

I will freely admit that I have not watched too much of the Heat this year, however, from what I have seen of them the last two years, they should lead the league in foul differential.  They are so much quicker and more athletic than every other team in the league, and because of that they are almost always beating other teams to the spots, and forcing them to reach and grab.

Now, I am sure they also get superstar calls, but I think they earn a lot of the calls they get.

[bfrombleacher]

Its kind of blatantly obvious now though don't you think? The refs would give you the benefit of the doubt and one or two "star foul calls".

In the Celtics game its as if all they had to do was just run into the paint and they'd get the foul. Then our guys would get too scared to even touch them and they'd get free layups. Its like they get a free throw drill then a layup drill. Ridiculous.

I wonder if the fans would start complaining. But then again there are lots of LeBron James fans and Dwyane Wade fans out there.

The refs *used to give superstars* the benefit of the doubt and one or two "star foul calls" was what I meant.

[Greenbean]

I will freely admit that I have not watched too much of the Heat this year, however, from what I have seen of them the last two years, they should lead the league in foul differential.  They are so much quicker and more athletic than every other team in the league, and because of that they are almost always beating other teams to the spots, and forcing them to reach and grab.

Now, I am sure they also get superstar calls, but I think they earn a lot of the calls they get.

Yup...and when guys staret attacking the basket relentlessly, refs will start to get used to calling the foul out of habit. We saw it with Rondo against NY this year.

If Rondo was built a little more like DWade and Bron, then he would be able to do it every night too.

[FreeGreen]

Stars get these calls because they're always aggressively attacking the basket. Aggressive moves tend to lead to poor calls in your favor, because a lot of times it just seems like the contact that results was a foul.

This is only partially true.  It's a Catch-22.  If you know the refs are going to bail you out for attacking the basket, then you attack the basket aggressively.  You think Avery Bradley would get calls if he attacked the basket aggressively?  No he wouldn't and he wouldn't deserve them either.

The Heat stars (and stars on several other teams) know that if they attack the paint then more often then not the refs will bail them out if there's even a little contact. 

They drive aggressively because they know they'll probably get the call.  You can't defend them too closely because you know they'll get the call.  So now they're driving aggressively, being defended less closely, and still likely to get the benefit of the doubt if there's a bump.  With all this in their favor, it makes it even more profitable for them to attack the basket recklessly, repeat ad naseum.

[Chris]

I will freely admit that I have not watched too much of the Heat this year, however, from what I have seen of them the last two years, they should lead the league in foul differential.  They are so much quicker and more athletic than every other team in the league, and because of that they are almost always beating other teams to the spots, and forcing them to reach and grab.

Now, I am sure they also get superstar calls, but I think they earn a lot of the calls they get.

Yup...and when guys staret attacking the basket relentlessly, refs will start to get used to calling the foul out of habit. We saw it with Rondo against NY this year.

If Rondo was built a little more like DWade and Bron, then he would be able to do it every night too.

And I think its important to realize, it is not just about attacking the basket.  It is about cleanly getting the basket, and going up strong.

Rondo would get a whole lot more fouls, but he has a tendency to fade away at the basket.  If he went up strong more (like he did against the Knicks), he would get more calls. 

[nba is the worst]

Yup...and when guys start attacking the basket relentlessly, refs will start to get used to calling the foul out of habit. We saw it with Rondo against NY this year.

If Rondo was built a little more like DWade and Bron, then he would be able to do it every night too.

There's "habit" and then there's "intent".

In '06, Wade avg'd 9 fts/game in the season and playoffs up until the Finals, and then in game 5 of a tied series shot 25, followed by 21 in Dallas, in games "won" by a total of 4 pts.

He holds the Finals record for fta's in just 6 games

[prov1ml34]

Stars get these calls because they're always aggressively attacking the basket. Aggressive moves tend to lead to poor calls in your favor, because a lot of times it just seems like the contact that results was a foul.

This is only partially true.  It's a Catch-22.  If you know the refs are going to bail you out for attacking the basket, then you attack the basket aggressively.  You think Avery Bradley would get calls if he attacked the basket aggressively?  No he wouldn't and he wouldn't deserve them either.

The Heat stars (and stars on several other teams) know that if they attack the paint then more often then not the refs will bail them out if there's even a little contact. 

They drive aggressively because they know they'll probably get the call.  You can't defend them too closely because you know they'll get the call.  So now they're driving aggressively, being defended less closely, and still likely to get the benefit of the doubt if there's a bump.  With all this in their favor, it makes it even more profitable for them to attack the basket recklessly, repeat ad naseum.

Did anyone notice how many times Pierce was aggressive and drove to the hoop and "appeared" like he was fouled big time and alas a no call? The last game was against the freaking Wizards and was at home. Two variables which some would lead us to believe deserves better officiating. If that would have been LeBron or Wade, he would have been to the line all night.

Granted, Pierce did draw a few fouls and get to the line but I can remember 3-4 times he went to the hoop and they swallowed their whistles.