James Harden: 'Can't have two officials in a professional game'

[CelticsElite]

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/21907159/james-harden-houston-rockets-critical-late-game-calls-two-referee-crew-boston-celtics-game


BOSTON -- Whistled for two critical offensive fouls in the final 7.3 seconds of play in Thursday's loss to the Boston Celtics, Houston Rockets star James Harden vented about a rare two-man referee crew and the late-game calls against him.

"Well, first of all, I'm wondering how do you only have two officials on a national TV game? That's the first question," said Harden, whose first offensive foul allowed Boston to take its only lead of the game with 3.7 seconds to play. The second prevented Houston from having more than a last-second heave after Boston rallied from 26 down for a 99-98 triumph at TD Garden.

Thursday's game featured only two on-court officials after referee Mark Lindsay hurt his back during pregame warm-ups, according to the Celtics. That left only referees Tony Brothers and Gediminas Petraitis to call the game.

[CelticD]

"A lot of grabbing, a lot of holding," Harden said. "I mean, how else am I supposed to get open? Gotta ask with two arms wrapped around my whole body."

Harden complaining about lack of foul calls is just too funny.

[Boris Badenov]

You can’t have zero nuts in one either.

[tenn_smoothie]

"A lot of grabbing, a lot of holding," Harden said. "I mean, how else am I supposed to get open?

Start by shaving that idiotic beard off your face.

[blink]

Cry me a river Harden.  He must have not seen the incredible moving screen that Nene laid out on Larkin, or the other time that Larkin got tackled into a rocket and then they called the foul on Larkin.  Or Gordon just with the most obvious arm clear out...

There were a lot of bad calls against the C's.  Harden is a big f-ing baby.

[SparzWizard]

Your team was up by 26 points and you alone had 15 free throws.

Why are you still complaining. That's why I will never respect the likes of James Harden. Kinda wish Metta World Peace was here to give him that elbow again.

[green_bballers13]

Harden is a terrific player, but post-game comments like this make me think that he's not the best leader in the league. He's still top 10, and most likely top 5, but I value intangibles. I think there are definitely better leaders.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

I'm sure that Harden (with his 15 free throws) was quite pleased with the officiating before the final 7 seconds of the game.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

"A lot of grabbing, a lot of holding," Harden said. "I mean, how else am I supposed to get open? Gotta ask with two arms wrapped around my whole body."

Harden complaining about lack of foul calls is just too funny.

Yup. Harden, LeBron, and Wade are (for me) the poster boys of what's wrong with much of today's NBA officiating—these guys initiate most of the contact, yet the defenders get called for fouls. On the rare occasion it doesn't work out, they want to complain? Kinda makes sense, I guess, since they're used to getting those calls.

[gouki88]

Cry me a river James

[Ilikesports17]

Fouls: Rockets 23, Celtics 22
Free Throws: Rockets 31, Celtics 24
Points in the Paint: Rockets 28, Celtics 56

[hpantazo]

Having two refs used to be the norm in the NBA. Both Bill Russell and Tom Heinson have said that today's problems with officiating are because they switched to three refs. Harden should learn a thing or two about NBA history.

[GreenEnvy]

When I originally heard his comments, I took it as there were bad calls all game, on both sides. His gripe was the inconsistency of the calls throughout. I actually agree there should never be 33% less officials in a game, whether a Finals game or game #3 on a Saturday afternoon.

With that said, he and his team got some favorable calls. The two offensive fouls were clearly fouls, but yeah, maybe they don’t always get called. Marcus did a phenomenal job making them blatant. It’s very rare to see two calls like that against the same superstar while being defended by the same player. But I don’t see what was wrong with either call.

It was definitely shocking. And I fell in love with Marcus all over again. He’s the lineage from the KG-Pierce Celtics. Even if he never suited up alongside them, he’s their breed.

[Granath]

The game was poorly called. Whether it was due to just having two officials or those guys having a bad game is up to the viewer.

However, those last fouls - especially the very last - weren't bad calls or even marginal calls. On that last one, you could see Harden and Smart jawing at each other with Smart's hands out in a defensive posture. The ref had to walk over to them to make sure nothing would happen. They body up for the throw in and Harden blatently tried to run through Smart. Smart toppled after being shoved back more than 6 feet. You can't do that, especially when the ref is still watching after the jawing seconds before. That was just Harden losing his cool.

[Celtics4ever]

I agree with Granath, Marcus used the technique of getting in his opponents head and sold the retaliation.  Not just once but twice.

I think this is a clear case of Harden trying to justify the loss. 

As I likesports 17 has demonstrated:

Fouls: Rockets 23, Celtics 22
Free Throws: Rockets 31, Celtics 24
Points in the Paint: Rockets 28, Celtics 56

Not the mention the two technicals we got when we complained about a wrong call that bordered on getting personal with that ref.   I think Baynes got whistled too, later for a complaining to a call regarding Tony Brothers, the next play too.

The bottom line is Houston took their boot off our throat and did not play D in the second half, we did and we came back to beat them.