The irony: Lakers complain to league about calls

[Mamba Mentality]

Ham needs to stfu. This is a classic misdirection from his incompetencies as a head coach.

[Dominator83]

I think OP stole my thread lol

[reddyplayerone]

I really think this whole thing is totally overblown.

Didn't the Bobcats lead the league in free throw differential back in the day? You know, those league darlings lolol.

[DLoMor]

I think OP stole my thread lol

You made a thread about it? I did not see it. Sorry.

[Dominator83]

I think OP stole my thread lol

You made a thread about it? I did not see it. Sorry.

It's all good

[Sgt Major]

Read on Twitter

[whatisacenter]

[AussieCeltic]

I really think this whole thing is totally overblown.

Didn't the Bobcats lead the league in free throw differential back in the day? You know, those league darlings lolol.

Yeh but they had Dwight when hack a Dwight was a thing.

The other thing is, the difference between first and second was marginal. While the Lakers have nearly double the margin of free throw differential of second.

It’s actually come back a bit. But last season post Celtic meltdown loss, they had a +11FTA/game for 3 months which is utterly insane (the highest is usually 3-5 FTA/game). This season started off the same but has slowly decreased.

[KembaWalker]

Feel like this article comes out once a month. I guess that coincides with how often they have a negative FT differential game. Must be nice

[Marrrcuss]

lol…. AD had no free throws because Nurk is 300lbs and kept backing off and daring him to shoot uncontested middies

So you all hate the lakers enough to believe Nurk cracked the whole code for guarding AD??? I mean bruh, these responses...

LA averages 5.7 more FTs per game than their opponent. When you break it down like that, its not this huge disparity they make it. They also have AD, Bron, and Reaves.

Bron getting 5 a game convinces yall that they refs make an effort to cheat for LA? This board used to be better than this.

[JRoy]

I remember a game earlier this season when the FT disparity was something like 37-9.

POR is trash but wow.

[Quattro]

Predicting they'll shoot 40 FTs next game.

[Joshyjess]

I mean, you really can't blame them. When you are used to getting free gifts game after game, and suddenly for one game you don't get those free gifts, then yeah, it's probably does seem like you are being picked on.

[og15]

They need to stop.
They get tons of calls their way, TBH.

They are the lowest fouling team in the league, so it's tough to make an unfair fouling argument because every team feels they are unfairly regulated, so when they numbers are in your favor, the argument t becomes harder to convince others of. Doesn't mean you can't or don't have specific games where it was tough, but overall.

lol…. AD had no free throws because Nurk is 300lbs and kept backing off and daring him to shoot uncontested middies

So you all hate the lakers enough to believe Nurk cracked the whole code for guarding AD??? I mean bruh, these responses...

LA averages 5.7 more FTs per game than their opponent. When you break it down like that, its not this huge disparity they make it. They also have AD, Bron, and Reaves.

Bron getting 5 a game convinces yall that they refs make an effort to cheat for LA? This board used to be better than this.

5.7 more is actually a pretty good disparity, doesn't mean they aren't doing anything to cause that disparity, but people aren't just picking on the poor Lakers, lol.

[Marrrcuss]

They need to stop.
They get tons of calls their way, TBH.

They are the lowest fouling team in the league, so it's tough to make an unfair fouling argument because every team feels they are unfairly regulated, so when they numbers are in your favor, the argument t becomes harder to convince others of. Doesn't mean you can't or don't have specific games where it was tough, but overall.

lol…. AD had no free throws because Nurk is 300lbs and kept backing off and daring him to shoot uncontested middies

So you all hate the lakers enough to believe Nurk cracked the whole code for guarding AD??? I mean bruh, these responses...

LA averages 5.7 more FTs per game than their opponent. When you break it down like that, its not this huge disparity they make it. They also have AD, Bron, and Reaves.

Bron getting 5 a game convinces yall that they refs make an effort to cheat for LA? This board used to be better than this.

5.7 more is actually a pretty good disparity, doesn't mean they aren't doing anything to cause that disparity, but people aren't just picking on the poor Lakers, lol.

The seriously play different than most teams, partially due to the lack of shooters. They are also horrible on the perimeter defense aspect so teams get so many open 3s.

[Crives]

lol…. AD had no free throws because Nurk is 300lbs and kept backing off and daring him to shoot uncontested middies

So you all hate the lakers enough to believe Nurk cracked the whole code for guarding AD??? I mean bruh, these responses...

LA averages 5.7 more FTs per game than their opponent. When you break it down like that, its not this huge disparity they make it. They also have AD, Bron, and Reaves.

Bron getting 5 a game convinces yall that they refs make an effort to cheat for LA? This board used to be better than this.

Who said he cracked the code?
Did you not watch the playin tournament? Where the refs helped push lakers through to maximize ratings for when they sell broadcast rights next year? Did you not see refs hand lakers game over the suns?

[EmpireFalls]

Personally, I think all the outrage about rigging is missing the forest for the trees - the Lakers style is uniquely set up to not concede FTs on defense, at the expense of giving up tons of open jumpers, and also bc they can't really shoot they go inside a lot on offense.

That said, they absolutely get a favorable whistle and should never be aggrieved about the refs.

[EmpireFalls]

I really think this whole thing is totally overblown.

Didn't the Bobcats lead the league in free throw differential back in the day? You know, those league darlings lolol.

Yeh but they had Dwight when hack a Dwight was a thing.

The other thing is, the difference between first and second was marginal. While the Lakers have nearly double the margin of free throw differential of second.

It’s actually come back a bit. But last season post Celtic meltdown loss, they had a +11FTA/game for 3 months which is utterly insane (the highest is usually 3-5 FTA/game). This season started off the same but has slowly decreased.

That's not why the Hornets had the free throw differential that year though.

It was about having Dwight on it but the Hack a Dwight wasn't the main reason why. Instead it was the defense built around Dwight Howard. Basically we had very few shooters and Clifford's strategy was to go into the paint as much as possible offensively.

However the defensive scheme was basically the Budenholzer/Roy Williams strat, which is to drop everything and pack the paint on defense. We had awful perimeter defenders but they were instructed to keep guys out of the lane at the expense of open jump shots. That team set records for most 3PM attempted against us. When you look at the Lakers scheme the parallels become pretty obvious.

I will say that Dwight and AD get away with contact on drives that other guys don't due to their reputation though. They get 'superstar calls' but on defense quite regularly. Dray, Gobert, OG all get away with this stuff all the time too. People only think of calls benefitting stars on offense but if you have a reputation as a good defender, in practice that means you get away with 20% more contact and hip/arm bumps than a regular guy would.

[og15]

They need to stop.
They get tons of calls their way, TBH.

They are the lowest fouling team in the league, so it's tough to make an unfair fouling argument because every team feels they are unfairly regulated, so when they numbers are in your favor, the argument t becomes harder to convince others of. Doesn't mean you can't or don't have specific games where it was tough, but overall.

So you all hate the lakers enough to believe Nurk cracked the whole code for guarding AD??? I mean bruh, these responses...

LA averages 5.7 more FTs per game than their opponent. When you break it down like that, its not this huge disparity they make it. They also have AD, Bron, and Reaves.

Bron getting 5 a game convinces yall that they refs make an effort to cheat for LA? This board used to be better than this.

5.7 more is actually a pretty good disparity, doesn't mean they aren't doing anything to cause that disparity, but people aren't just picking on the poor Lakers, lol.

The seriously play different than most teams, partially due to the lack of shooters. They are also horrible on the perimeter defense aspect so teams get so many open 3s.

Yes, they try to avoid fouls, that's always been a Popovich special, fouling is bad defense because you're giving up FTA which are very efficient. The young Spurs are 3rd lowest in the league in FPG at 17.7. Boston is second lowest at 17.0, and Lakers foul the least at 16.3.

What I am saying is that the Lakers have a strategy of not fouling, which some other teams also employ, and they are the lowest fouling team in the league. Some opponents would probably argue that more calls should be made on someone like Davis on defense, but defensive rep can help with fouls too. They have an offensive strategy of making aggressive plays inside the arc and they are one of the better FTA drawing teams in the league. I wouldn't deny that guys like Jokic, Zion and Lebron could arguably get more FTA, but that's kind of the downside of being strong, balanced and able to finish through contact.

Due to their being some form of contact on many possessions, refs have to make judgment calls on the impact of "marginal" or "incidental" contact and certain types and styles of players will probably get like 2 or so fewer shooting foul calls than they should every game.

That said, the balance of the Lakers lack of fouls called on them, and foul calls they receive is pretty much in the expected range, maybe even a little better on defense. Their feeling of not getting enough calls is the same as how just about every basketball team feels, and some games can skew perception, because players and coaches don't remember games where the whistle was really generous and then contrast those to the ones where it was tighter and say "well, it balanced out". No, you remember and focus on when you don't get the calls.

[KembaWalker]

How coincidental that the Lakers just implemented this “acquire massive free throw differential” strategy the game after the refs “sleepless nights” tweet and it’s been carrying them ever since.

Definitely not the refs publicly whistleblowing the safest way they can about getting another memo from the boss