Taking the high road after a good non-call

Was it a foul?

Probably.

Was it the right non-call?

Sure.

There was a lot of hand-wringing around Oklahoma City last night about whether LeBron James fouled Kevin Durant there with about 10 seconds left in a two-point game that the Thunder didn’t deserve to win.

Lots of contact?

No doubt.

But there’s lots of contact on almost every play and I have no problem at all with no whistle and the best part was that the Thunder took the high road, to a man. Especially Durant:

“You know, I think I shot a good shot. That’s a shot I shoot all the time, I just missed.”

Even pressed with a follow-up question, he wouldn’t bite.

“I was just worrying about the shot. I really couldn’t tell you (if there was contact). I’ve got to watch the film, I guess.”

What he’ll see is James get him a bit with the elbow, as almost every shooter gets hit on a lot of those shots, but it was still an eminently makeable look that he just didn’t make. One of those make-or-miss situations that often turn games, this time it turned against the home team.

We know that NBA officiating is incredibly under the microscope these days what with all the flopping and slow-motion HD replays being played a billion times after every contentious call or non-call.

Sure, there are missed calls and debatable non-calls and that was one of many in the game. The Thunder knew better than to make it an issue because they knew it wasn’t the reason they lost. Forget for a moment that the Heat still would have had about seven seconds to win the game (and wouldn’t that have been wonderful to see unfold; to see who took the shot, what the play was; the angst that would have followed), they had been so sluggish for so long earlier in the game that it never should have come down to it.

That was, for the most part, a delightful game and I’ve got a feeling this series is going to turn into something special

And think of it this way:

All that chatter about the James-Durant play took the attention away from the blown goaltending call earlier in the game that also went against the Thunder.

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Pretty good day for the Canadian women over in France yesterday. They beat Croatia 66-49, which isn’t too bad since that’s one of the teams at the Olympic qualifier and even a possible quarter-final opponent as the women try to make it to London starting next week.

But, as I do almost every summer, I warn not to read too, too much into it; teams – including Canada at times – have been known to hold back stuff when they are playing exhibition games against teams they’ll meet when things actually count.

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Mail?

That’d be nice.

You know the drill.

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So today’s the day the dude walks across Niagara Falls, or something like that, on a wire, right?

Yeah, we know how to attract ‘em to the old hometown, don’t we?

Look, there is a lot to like about Niagara. There’s Mick and Angelo’s (hell, Ralph and everyone else), the park is really pretty, the Falls themselves are breathtaking and we have lots of really nice golf courses where you can negotiate enough strokes on the first tee to make the day worthwhile.

But, and I fully admit this, there is a level of tackiness that’s, in some weird way, part of the city’s charm.

Lots of weird wax museums – the Criminal’s Hall Of Fame was a personal fave from way back in the day – and it’s the most neon city in the country, I would bet.

And now some guy is going to traipse across the river on a wire for some TV show?

Okay.

While I wish the guy luck and hope it all works out, this dude is no Blondin.

That guy pushed a wheelbarrow across the Falls while walking on a wire, carried a guy on his back; Blondin was a daredevil.

Was always cool to drive down Clifton Hill, look up at the statue of him crossing the street and give a nod.

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HOTH are just about done the majority of their pre-draft stuff. Only main name they’ve got to get in is Jared Sullinger of Ohio State as Ed told me last night; after that it’s a bunch of second-rounders they’ve already seen a time or two.

But here’s one thing to think about when the debate gets around to Syracuse’s Dion Waiters and whether the Raptors would take him without having him in for a private workout and interview, which is probably the biggest thing in the equation:

Waiters is from Philly and Ed and Alvin Williams, who are as tied into the Philly basketball scene better than almost anyone so they’ve got a good idea of what the kid is like without having to involve sports psychologists or chats over dinner.

Not saying they’d take him if he’s there, but they know enough about him to feel comfortable doing it if they want to.

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Off to Miami today (have a 40-minute layover in Atlanta, it’s 1,000,000 per cent sure my bag doesn’t make it; I’d say it’s 5-95 that I make it) and can’t wait to get to the hotel there.

It’s a short walk, less than a mile I’d guess, from where the guy tried to chew the face off the other guy in a most recent episode of cannibalism.

Yeah, I live in some cool neighbourhoods on the road, don’t I?

One thing’s for sure, I’d expect this evening to begin or end, likely both, at Mike’s, one of the great locals on the road, a little hole in the wall place on the ninth floor of a condo building next to the Biscayne Bay Marriott that you can barely find with a GPS and a search warrant. It’s for locals and by locals, good food, a pool table, a patio and precisely the kind of joint you could get to like over the years.

And seeing how I’m not exactly the South Beach type (I know, you’re stunned, right?) that’s the kind of Miami place I can enjoy.

Any other recommendations would be welcome, we’re going to be there a week with a few nights to waste away.

(And, no, I won’t be going back the Clevelander at the ballpark)

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Comments

[charles]

Doug...excellent place in Miami is Perricone's. Downtown - two stops or so by monorail. Great food, patio, drinks. Best staff.

Blogger's note: Much appreciated

[Striker 77]

Morning Doug.

We had a little back and forth yesterday during the IGBT about the best fans in the NBA, OKC being one of them. Maybe this is more of a mailbag thing, but do you have a top five "most dull, lifeless fans" in a building list?
Cheers

Blogger's note: Sure; can you send it to the mail, I'll forget to look here for sure

[Matty-Pix]

Hey Doug, all the best in Miami - and great coverage so far ... but in a world of differing opinions, I don't drink the kool-aid on any logic about that last play being a good non-call. I lost sleep over that play!

[Mike]

Yeah Durant still could have made that shot so I agree with your take.

But the bigger impact on the play was when Lebron hit Westbrook's left arm. Directly because of that he wasn't able to come down with the offensive rebound. That's a much harder call to make (especially in real time) so it's hard to deem it a blown call.

[AT]

nice hometown plug of our wonderful tacky city. I am not sure about this stunt but heard from one of our former mayors that this will be the biggest one day event this city has ever seen....
after looking at that replay, it probably was a good non call. KD did have a good clean look

[john]

Hey Doug, have to agree on James thing that it wasn't a foul. It did look like Miami got more than one call go their way in the second half. If OKC wants to win they can't keep giving Miami 15 points leads.
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Have you ever made it down to Coconut Grove? You can’t go wrong at Jaguars for some Ceviche and a Mohito on the patio.

Cheers

Blogger's note: Used to stay at Coconut Grove in early years of Raps, pretty cool area

[Juan]

Doug
I lost track during the game whether the goaltending call was reversed or not. I gather from your blog today that it wasn't. What are the rules regarding video review ie. was this a reviewable call?

Blogger's note: Not reviewable; that may change, they are looking to expand replay rules this off-season

[SteveG]

No doubt it was a foul...plus a travel on the rebound. But good for the Thunder for taking it in stride, pretty classy.

[David]

On Waiters, the Raps also can get a reading of him from Jim Boeheim, the Syracuse head coach. Yesterday, Boeheim was quoted saying Waiters is the most NBA-ready player he has ever coached. If he says things like that in private, he can provide an additional level of assurance. Boeheim and Waiters didn't click in the player's freshman year, but there was a big improvement last year and Waiters appeared to win over his coach in a big way.

[Peter]

I'm not sure about your "OKC didn't deserve to win" comment. They lost the first quarter, tied the second, and won both quarters in the second half. An argument could be made that for 3 quarters of the game, they were the better team. It seems a little harsh to say they didn't deserve to win because of the awful start. I think when a team plays an entire game well below their abilities, than it's fair to say that they didn't deserve to win, but the OKC played fairly well for 3 quarters. I'd say, tough loss. They had their chances and couldn't capitalize, but I wouldn't say that they didn't deserve to win.

[jb]

Durant was definitely fouled but you can argue he should have fouled out when Battier took the charge a few plays back. It would have been Durant's 6 foul but it ended being a no call.
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I thought the refs were fine, I didn't notice them too much and that's a good thing. It was a great game by 2 excellent teams.

[nasko]

Hey Doug, great game yesterday. OKC should, must start games better if they are to win the series. That being said, if I was Scott Brooks I would feel well about this match up, as even on a bad night, they had a pretty good chance to win. On the final play, I think a foul is a foul. There was contact => should have been called, combine that with the previous block/goaltending call and there are two BIG mishaps on the referees

[Mike D.]

@SteveG....where have you been, dude? The NBA rulebook has a special section on the travelling rules for Lebron and Wade.

Doug, out of fears of a pending zombie apocalypse I read a few follow-up articles on the Miami face-chewing thing and apparently it's related to some new street drug. In addition to the urge to bite, the side effects include delusions and hallucinations but also a dramatic increase in body temperature, which is why the attacker and victim were naked. So if on your travels you see a naked, ranting individual in your general vicinity you should try to avoid them.

Blogger's note: What if it's another writer?

[Tim H.]

Hey Doug:

Is this a typo, or are you upset at some people? ;>)

"There’s Mick and Angelo’s (hell, Ralph and everyone else)"

Blogger's note: Oops

[john]

Hey Doug, with all the rumors and speculation surrounding the Raps trading their pick, do you think if there was a deal out there it would have happened already so that the team that got the pick would have time to look a prospects or do you think it would be a draft day deal where said team would wait for the best deal to get a higher pick?

Blogger's note: Wait 'til draft day, see who's there; no one knows who's going 2-12 in what order

[Rob.V]

So my (generally very reliable) crystaI ball was wrong. Way wrong!
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Apparantly Battier "can" continue to hit 90% of his 3's.
Bosh can dominate (OKC's bigs) inside and protect the rim.
The Heat are in fact capable of playing complete 48 minute game.
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If they can do that 5 more times I agree this could be a classic series.
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OKC has got to be upset with themselves though. They spotted the Heat the first quarter and almost came back however they simply ran out of time. I've always thought that games are won and lost in the 1st quarter (although I agree with Mike, the foul really was on Westbrook on that last play).
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That Bosh fellow is pretty good, eh?. What, 8 offensive boards (15 in total). Yes, yes, I know this is old news however all I will say is this. If you don't have a committment from a player to re-sign - trade him early!!! Thank you.
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Anyway, it will be interesting to see what OKC does to neutralize Bosh in game 3. I imagine Perkins and Ibaka will lean on him and try to be a little more physical with him. Credit the Heat in doing a better job of keeping Westbrook out of the paint and they imposed their will on OKC early.
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The Thunder have adapted in every series so it will be very interesting to see how they respond early in game 3. Last nights lesson was a good one for them I think. Being at home isn't enough, they just didn't compete hard enough from jump ball and it cost them.
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I still believe that OKC can be the better team on the glass though, which I think is going to determine the series. We'll see.
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Raps? You know, I was all for trading the 8th pick however I'm not so sure anymore. The Raps have to be really careful with this draft. If there's a Dwayne Wade (type) player there, or a PG that they project can be an All Star in the league they should keep the pick and work on FA's or trades that won't cost them 3 years from now. Maybe that Lillard kid IS the next Kidd (as he suggests). The next 30 day's are going to be huge for this franchise... lets hope the Basketball God's are nice to us.

[DaveT (Ottawa)]

At first I thought it was a foul, but in retrospect I think the contact was fairly light and incidental on LeBron. To me, you get a better sense of the "right call" in full-speed (unless it's a sneaky push to the back, etc.) I probably would have been OK with either call and originally started writing that I thought it was a foul before looking at the play again and changing my mind. I really do appreciate the professionalism of the Thunder, especially Durant. It's amazing watching him drain a HUGE 3 at the end of the game, and rather than getting pumped up he gets even more locked in to the game. Stone-cold.

Now, I DO think it was a goaltend. The reason being, yes, Durant blocked the ball, but Bosh pushed through it and pushed the ball off of the backboard towards the basket. Was it going to go in? Probably not. But I think Bosh was the last player to touch the ball before it went off of the backboard, it was descending towards the basket and a ball off the backboard is a no-tolerance call 99% of the time.

[Pauol]

The big question for me is: Would James or Wade have gotten that call? They shouldn't...but if they draw a foul on a similar play in a similar situation it will be a big deal. Right now it isn't.

[Joe S.]

I am not sure if I agree with everyone regarding the goal tending call or rather blown call. The way I see it (and I have been unable to find it addressed anywhere, nor do I know what the official ruling would be) when Durant's finger touched the ball, for what is being called the first 'block', the ball was still in the Heat players hand. He hadn’t completely released the ball. It looks like the shot continued after Durant touched the ball.

So I guess my question is, doesn't the ball have to be released before it can be considered a block?

Blogger's note: yes

[D-Mac Ottawa]

Must say I am in minor shock today that OKC dropped game 2 at home.
Great point, @jb. KD could/should have fouled out on that earlier play. And his "I missed the shot" really is the story. That kind of foul (a good non-call in my books) is so normal when you're 100% into the flow of the game he probably didn't even notice it as he was concentrating on job 1: putting the ball in the hoop. I wish I had a loonie for every time I heard a teammate chirp "call the foul" in non-reffed games when I didn't have a clue I'd even been hacked on a shot: too busy trying to create space and drain the 2 to notice the infraction.
It's called 'in the flow' and OKC, like so many Western Conference teams, is so good at 'flow' and 'energy' and 'being there' when it's the time and place to be there that, again, I'm in minor shock about this series being 1-1.
Ah well, as the sage grunt says, that's why they play the game...
Cheers. Think you'd notice a ticky-tack foul in the flow, being there, here?... (ignore the lame intro and just, you know, be there): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jipofeXemjI&feature=related

[GM]

OKC didn't dwell on it not because it was the right non-call but because of the threat from the league over talking about such things. You can't very well use that as an argument for why it was the right non-call. Obviously, I disagree with the assessment. But that's the problem with NBA refereeing -- every single play is totally explainable after the fact. If the refs had made the call, you'd be here today saying it was the right call, that Lebron was riding him. Yes, Durant had a clear shot, but if that's going to be the reason for not calling fouls, we'd see at least half the fouls called during the game. All those and-ones would be gone. It's just shoddy and inconsistent officiating. If they make that call in the first quarter, they should make it in the fourth.

[jim]

The draft seems to be a big roll of the dice where teams look at age, experience and potential. The raptors took Ed Davis as the bpa with the 13 th pick a few yrs ago. In your opinion, what is his value now ( ie if he were to be traded for a pick in this yr's draft) given that he is still young and that he has had two yrs of significant playing time.

jim

Blogger's note: Impossible to say; he played 50 games his rookie season, a lockout year and has never had a training camp

[Jonathan M]

This looks like a place a grunt of a certain vintage might like in Miami, with its burgers, craft beer and CCR playing in the background.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-filling-station-and-garage-bar-miami-2

[doug]

I think games are over-analyzed too much in all sports and to much emphasis placed on calls,non-calls or specific plays etc...that game last night came down to one thing and one thing only...the Heat made shots early and late..the Thunder never...and the Thunder missing wasn't because of anything special the HeaT were doing they just were missing...I have played a ton of b-ball and scoring is contagious some nights everyone is making shots, next night no one and the team knows it...so after the game Durant to me knew it, that call or non-call wasn't the issue to him, he knew they didn't make shots and the Heat did, that made bank shot jumper by James when they were up by 3 was a huge basket...it's a simple thing....and I think it has the makings of a special series...ok cheerio (in honour of Englands victory today)