aznsk91 wrote:og15 wrote:Found this:
https://youtu.be/YZ0XRTOOOx0I expected worse actually, just a lot of landing space fouls, not fouls due to acting really. In replays you can see the fouls. Kuzma extends a knee in one, Lonzo illegally moves his body into Harden's path in transition, not a hard foul, but a foul. Chandler's arms are leaning forward, ref even indicates it. The first foul though, Harden initiates the contact, I didn't examine it that thoroughly, so if you see something else, cool. There was one on Kuzma (or Lance for a reach in) at 1:45 ish where there was no replay and the angle isn't the best, so I can't judge the call, probably some sort of body foul. Then two were technicals.
Okay, looked at that first one again, looks like Harden beat him to the spot and Kuzma came in late, so yea, that's a foul.
Harden always sticks his legs out when he shoots, or at the very least he jumps forwards into the defenders feet. the first one, Harden obviously sticks his feet out to get the call on hart. think he got called for at least 3 jump shooting fouls in that game. the last one was the most frustrating/bs because its the type of foul where Harden manufactures for a foul, not even looking to making a serious shot attempt. the one wheres he out at the 3 point line using a screen, since hardens using a screen the defender is chasing/hugging right behind him in order to stay connected as they should. Harden then abruptly stops and goes for a fake three point attempt, knowing he is going to get atleast some contact with the defender right behind him
Zo looks more like he is trying to get out of Hardens way, he isn't even in hardens direct path to the basket. Harden slightly lowered his shoulder and swirves into zo's direction to bump zo completely out the way, in other words he initiates 100% of the contact
don't really want to dissect the other plays, but 10 free throws being gifted is a start
I do jump forward when I shoot, it relaxes my shoulders and gives me better arc, a lot of shooting coaches teach you to shoot like that for better accuracy.
https://youtu.be/HzEFOOQD1HI Go to 1:25 and watch the players feet when they are shooting. Most players will land at the least slightly forward from where they shoot, but some more than others. If you’re a player who leads with your shooting foot which many do, that foot will be in front while you land, which is why Harden’s left foot is in front. This is why in the vid I linked, you see Kobe’s right foot in front when he shoots as he’s a righty. Also check here
https://youtu.be/27rKuvHk1cM at 0:41, he is another lefty, Isaiah Thomas, he is pulling up from mid-range, not trying to draw any foul, and look at where he lands and how his left foot is forward. Now, that said, players will at times extend the foot more than their natural motion to get the call, but most of the examples in the video don’t look like that. The one at 2:20-ish is the one that is questionable for me for sure.
I guess what happened for me is that I saw bits and pieces of that game, then I saw all the outrage and was expecting some wild stuff, so when I saw that video I was very dissapointed. I know most of us fans are a lot worse referees than we think we are, so that is always a factor, but still, there was not much that was exciting going on there in terms of what kinds of fouls were called though. You could be mad at the refs in that one if you wanted to be, but Harden himself has certainly don’t much more annoying things to draw fouls, these were primarily run of the mill fouls.
With the Lonzo example though, that one is way too clear. Replay it a few times, start at 0:57. Harden gets slightly ahead of Lonzo with the crossover and it is EXTREMELY clear that Lonzo moves into Harden’s path and he does it while being in an illegal defensive position. That is an easy foul call. Harden doesn’t even look like he lowers his shoulders, it’s how any player picks up the ball as they go for a layup. You can’t just run into the way of a player going towards the basket.
I hate how the players have made it almost impossible for defenders to fight through screens my stopping on a dime to shoot and basically making them foul you. While it is a foul, I find that one annoying. My main reason is because moving screens aren’t called as much, so if you want to call that on me, which I am fouling, yes, but you need to be better on moving screens which league wide are just let go so often. In that situation Hart tries to anticipate and beat the screen, and sure, if Harden does just stop there, it is a foul, but, but that’s just an on the floor foul. It isn’t until an offensive player like Harden anticipates it and goes to shoot to get a shooting foul that it then becomes FT’s (unless you’re in the bonus of course).
Look at the Kuzma foul at about 40 seconds, he got mad, but it is a clear foul. He has his right leg leading, he is unable to switch his defensive stance quickly enough as Harden moves, so he slightly sticks out his knee, and his knee impedes the offensive players progress. That is a foul. Now, if Harden didn’t trip it might not get called, but that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be a foul, and the trip doesn’t look specifically forced or any sort of flop. I just expected more than what I saw after all the posts about it.
