The refs in Game 7

[drstarheel]

I agree that the refs were pretty solid last night. But why does Monty McCutchen hate the Warriors? A couple facts about McCutchen officiating the Warriors:

1)Warriors finished the season with 5 home losses - 4 of which were officiated by Monty. They were 1-4 with him at home and 34-1 without him (this includes the playoffs)

2) He became the 1st ref in the post-Donaghy Era to officiate 3 home losses for a team in a single postseason.

3) Here is the foul distribution chart from Game 7: (Note how Monty's distribution is somewhat unusual)

https://twitter.com/NBARefStats/status/744755931796234241

Any suggestions for how to explain this?

[toodles23]

I agree that the refs were pretty solid last night. But why does Monty McCutchen hate the Warriors? A couple facts about McCutchen officiating the Warriors:

1)Warriors finished the season with 5 home losses - 4 of which were officiated by Monty. They were 1-4 with him at home and 34-1 without him (this includes the playoffs)

2) He became the 1st ref in the post-Donaghy Era to officiate 3 home losses for a team in a single postseason.

3) Here is the foul distribution chart from Game 7: (Note how Monty's distribution is somewhat unusual)

https://twitter.com/NBARefStats/status/744755931796234241

Any suggestions for how to explain this?

He happened to officiate games that the Warriors played poorly in? Not that hard to figure out. Two of the four games he officated the Warriors got blown out, the third was game 7, and the last was a 3 point loss against the Celtics.

[phanman]

Refs let them play. That block by Lebron could have easily been a goaltend/offensive interference too

That block was clean.. and absolutely amazing.

Only call I thought was sketchy was the rip through by Green that gave him 3 FTA's. Overall I thought it was one of the best called games.

It was a legal move though, something that's been called for awhile now.. Plenty of players take advantage especially say KD, and Bryant to name a few. Bron had his hand down across green to contest. That said he did pretty much get even with the Ezeli's foul on the other end though.

[Devilzsidewalk]

If the Cavs hadn't won, I would've been outraged if I was a Cavs fans after they came back from break and showed that Iggy "block" on Lebron was all hand. That was such a pivotal moment - good on Lebron for not losing his head after that.

[tidho]

If the Cavs hadn't won, I would've been outraged if I was a Cavs fans after they came back from break and showed that Iggy "block" on Lebron was all hand. That was such a pivotal moment - good on Lebron for not losing his head after that.

Iggy's play was just a "Draymond Block". Its like the "Crab Dribble" of blocked shots.

[d00lttle]

Let the men play and the boys watch.

[Devilzsidewalk]

Let the men play and the boys watch.

we're not interested in your weird fetishes

[drstarheel]

He happened to officiate games that the Warriors played poorly in?

My point exactly. I'm just asking why?

It seems like such an anomaly in this situation because the Warriors were so good at home all year. A 3-4 home record with a specific ref would be easy to explain if that teams was roughly .500 at home all year. If lightning continues to strike the same individual over and over would we say “he just happened to be standing where lightning hit each time, not hard to figure out” or we would start to consider cause and effect (i.e. the individual might be highly conductive to electricity or spends a lot of time chasing thunderstorms).

[blitz41]

Refs let them play. That block by Lebron could have easily been a goaltend/offensive interference too

That block was clean.. and absolutely amazing.

Only call I thought was sketchy was the rip through by Green that gave him 3 FTA's. Overall I thought it was one of the best called games.

It was a legal move though, something that's been called for awhile now.. Plenty of players take advantage especially say KD, and Bryant to name a few. Bron had his hand down across green to contest. That said he did pretty much get even with the Ezeli's foul on the other end though.

Slight clarification, the rip through move (KD et. all), where you bring it across the front of your body from left to right (or vice versa) before pulling up for the shot, is not longer worth FTs unless in the penalty. What is still called (and was called for draymond) is if you immediately rip up, instead of through, its counted as a normal part of shooting motion, and thus FT's.

[NuggetsWY]

If the refs don't want to affect the game, so they don't make a call that they would normally call during another part of the game or during a different game, isn't that affecting the game?

I had zero problems with the refs in game 7 EXCEPT the NBA's continuous "rules are different during the last two minutes of every game" and "rules are different during the playoffs" --- it sure seems like the rules should be applied the same way for every play of every game regardless of time left on the clock or if the game is playoffs or not.

[Smitson]

I thought the Reffing in game seven was the best officating we've seen this entire post season.

[Duffman100]

As someone who was completely neutral in watching that game, I thought it was a decently reffed game.

[JonFromVA]

I agree that the refs were pretty solid last night. But why does Monty McCutchen hate the Warriors?

Maybe the league imposed slightly more than a $25,000 fine on the Warriors for their whining after the previous game?

Still, unless someone wants to claim he called the game unfairly, you can't say he didn't do his job.

"Monty is just solid," a player said. "He explains things. He doesn't have an attitude. And he does wear some nice suits. But if he's going to call your game, you know he's going to be fair."

http://www.latimes.com/sports/nba/la-sp-nba-best-worst-referees-20160131-story.html

[Tave]

Irrelevant. If the ball is in contact with the hand and backboard, it's a violation. Check the rule book.

It's never called though and a correct swallowing of whistle IMO. But technically a violation.

Not exactly.

A player is not allowed to trap the ball against the backboard. For a trap to occur, all three elements you mentioned must be in contact, but the corollary isn't true: all three elements in contact doesn't necessarily make it a trap. I.e., you can "bat" the ball against the backboard and not be called for a goaltend even if there's a split-second where all three are touching.

They should get away with the trap rule altogether anyway, it was a stupid, needless addition.

I read the 'batting' part as being clear that hitting the ball onto the backboard is fine. It seems clear that any time the hand, ball and backboard are all touched at the same time, it's a violation.

Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Tapatalk

No, it still needs to be trapped to be a violation, spiking =/= trapping, even if there might be a millisecond where all three are in contact. "Trapping" is used in its literal sense, it's when you try to completely stop the ball from moving and pin it against the backboard. They're never going to call a trap when someone goes up, smacks it, and the ball immediately bounces off the backboard.

On my phone but posted the rule earlier (think the thread I replied to was deleted). Its on NBA.com.

Basically, yes. If you are touching the ball and the ball is touching the backboard at the same time, yes its a violation. It's referred to as 'trapping'

Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Tapatalk

Wow you are correct. For anyone else on the thread this is the relevant section:
Section I-A Player Shall Not:
f. Trap the ball against the face of the backboard. (To be a trapped ball, three elements must exist simultaneously. The hand, the ball and the backboard must all occur at the same time. A batted ball against the backboard is not a trapped ball.)

Has this call ever been enforced? This seems like the kinda thing that could be deleted from the rule book in the future. Man if they had reviewed and overturned the call to award igoudala a basket, jeez the sports would would gone nuclear.

It was enforced all the time when they first introduced it (about 10-15 years ago IIRC), but it's rarely called now because everyone has learned the rule and almost no one does it.

Not exactly.

A player is not allowed to trap the ball against the backboard. For a trap to occur, all three elements you mentioned must be in contact, but the corollary isn't true: all three elements in contact doesn't necessarily make it a trap. I.e., you can "bat" the ball against the backboard and not be called for a goaltend even if there's a split-second where all three are touching.

They should get away with the trap rule altogether anyway, it was a stupid, needless addition.

I read the 'batting' part as being clear that hitting the ball onto the backboard is fine. It seems clear that any time the hand, ball and backboard are all touched at the same time, it's a violation.

Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Tapatalk

pretty stupid rule.. it should be exactly what everyone thinks it is.. if you get the ball before it hits the backboard it's a legal block.. this is the first time i've heard of the trap rule and I hope they scrap it

It was originally introduced because refs were having a hard time figuring out whether the player trapped the ball before/after the ball hit the backboard, but it was stupid then and it's even more stupid now that they go to instant replay on calls.

[chetshome]

On my phone but posted the rule earlier (think the thread I replied to was deleted). Its on NBA.com.

Basically, yes. If you are touching the ball and the ball is touching the backboard at the same time, yes its a violation. It's referred to as 'trapping'

Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Tapatalk

Wow you are correct. For anyone else on the thread this is the relevant section:
Section I-A Player Shall Not:
f. Trap the ball against the face of the backboard. (To be a trapped ball, three elements must exist simultaneously. The hand, the ball and the backboard must all occur at the same time. A batted ball against the backboard is not a trapped ball.)

Has this call ever been enforced? This seems like the kinda thing that could be deleted from the rule book in the future. Man if they had reviewed and overturned the call to award igoudala a basket, jeez the sports would would gone nuclear.

This NBA rules memo from last year says it's goaltending, and there's a video example that shows the ball being even less "trapped" than what Lebron did. (see bottom of page 2)
https://turnernbahangtime.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/2014-15-poe-memo-7-defensive-goaltending-offensive-basket-interference-and-exiting-the-huddle.pdf

[MaxRider]

Refs let them play. That block by Lebron could have easily been a goaltend/offensive interference too

It was close but the block def happened before it hit the backboard. That being said, refs did swallow the whistle on quite a few physical plays

That's true. The replays didn't have an angle to really see what happened.

I still don't know why Iggy double pumps on every layup like that. He could have dunked it or layer it up normally without pausing in the air for some reason. JR barely contested it

he was avoiding JR Smith block

[MaxRider]

On my phone but posted the rule earlier (think the thread I replied to was deleted). Its on NBA.com.

Basically, yes. If you are touching the ball and the ball is touching the backboard at the same time, yes its a violation. It's referred to as 'trapping'

Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Tapatalk

Wow you are correct. For anyone else on the thread this is the relevant section:
Section I-A Player Shall Not:
f. Trap the ball against the face of the backboard. (To be a trapped ball, three elements must exist simultaneously. The hand, the ball and the backboard must all occur at the same time. A batted ball against the backboard is not a trapped ball.)

Has this call ever been enforced? This seems like the kinda thing that could be deleted from the rule book in the future. Man if they had reviewed and overturned the call to award igoudala a basket, jeez the sports would would gone nuclear.

This NBA rules memo from last year says it's goaltending, and there's a video example that shows the ball being even less "trapped" than what Lebron did. (see bottom of page 2)
https://turnernbahangtime.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/2014-15-poe-memo-7-defensive-goaltending-offensive-basket-interference-and-exiting-the-huddle.pdf

that is not a good example at all
the ball clearly hit the backcourt first before the block

[StraightShooter]

They did very well last night.

[gino_giode]

For all the comments of the refs throughout the series it seemed like the refs completely swallowed their whistle the last 4 minutes of the game. They didn't really call any fouls. There was one drive where I pretty sure Iggy fouled lebron, but no call. I guess it is how it should be, but I found it quite ironic how the unlike previous series the refs didn't want have any hand in the outcome of the game.

Lol Iggy indeed fouled James with a slap on his hand. And when both teams continually take jumpers it's a lot easier to call things. It was a well reffed game IMO.

[chetshome]

Wow you are correct. For anyone else on the thread this is the relevant section:
Section I-A Player Shall Not:
f. Trap the ball against the face of the backboard. (To be a trapped ball, three elements must exist simultaneously. The hand, the ball and the backboard must all occur at the same time. A batted ball against the backboard is not a trapped ball.)

Has this call ever been enforced? This seems like the kinda thing that could be deleted from the rule book in the future. Man if they had reviewed and overturned the call to award igoudala a basket, jeez the sports would would gone nuclear.

This NBA rules memo from last year says it's goaltending, and there's a video example that shows the ball being even less "trapped" than what Lebron did. (see bottom of page 2)
https://turnernbahangtime.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/2014-15-poe-memo-7-defensive-goaltending-offensive-basket-interference-and-exiting-the-huddle.pdf

that is not a good example at all
the ball clearly hit the backcourt first before the block

wow I think you're right--that is a bad video example. But the text explanation says Lebron's should've been goaltending.