Why the NBA will never be the NFL - biased refs

Great argument - The fact that Kobe Bryant was the only Lakers player to have to sit down for any length of time due to foul trouble proves your case. Kobe gets all the calls.

If you want to blame someone, blame the Jazz players. I'm sure Sloan got on Carlos Boozer for slapping a Lakers player's arm going for a rebound he had no chance to get. Note to Boozer...when you have foul trouble, make the other fouls count.

I also think Sloan will point out the need for Jazz players to draw charges or try to stop the Lakers from driving outside of the Charge circle. They were so deep, the refs had no choice but to call them on the defense. Thats what the circle is for in case you were wondering.

Sloan got a technical arguing a call that was a no-brainer. Kobe steps out of the way, Jazz player falls back, kobe pokes the ball away and Jazz player grabs him intentionally to stop a break. What should that have been called?

Lastly...I enkoy AK47's game, but to think he can stay with Kobe 1 on 1 from the outside is crazy. Or any other jazz player for that matter. His first step caused more reach-ins and putt the Jazz in the bonus early on in each quarter. Don't expect home cooking to change that.

Does anyone have a fresh Diaper? Roll is crying again. Game three will be different as to who gets called for what but that wont change the fact that Utah fouls more thatn nay other team in the league. You said earlier that it was only 8 more fouls. That is a difference of 16 points or 24 points if in the penalty or during a shot attempt. Your argument makes no sense. Further more in game two, Deron didn't start driving to the whole until the last quarter. If he had been doing that the whole game it mighthave turned out different. But he didn't . The lanes were closed in the first half. L.A. wasn't as aggresive in the second half and still one. As far as refs. I paid them all off out of my personal account. $$$$$$!!!!!!!!!! CASH MONEY BABY!!!!!

It's crazy to think that the Jazz play so differently on the road than at home.  It's the same team, same coach running the same play with the same players.  What's more likley is that the officials call games differently in Los Angeles.  RTS is right.  Why not call games similarly regardless of location?  A foul is a foul.  Doesn't matter if it happens in Los Angeles or Salt Lake City.

But even if you think the Lakers are just more aggressive than the Jazz (although most of the people making that argument also seem to think that the Jazz are a more "physical" team, which implies at least some degree of aggressiveness), can you really say with a straight face that the Lakers are so much more aggressive that it explains the free throw discrepancies we've seen so far:  Lakers +16, Lakers +27, Lakers + 9?  And if so, why the big drop-off in Game 3 in Utah?  Think the Lakers suddenly became less aggressive or that the officials stopped handing them so many calls?

As for Game 5, the Jazz had the opportunities to take the lead, but just couldn't do it because they weren't clutch, couldn't execute or never got a break. However, it is sometimes obvious why they don't get that lead in L.A. despite numerous chances. The NBA will not allow a fairly called game in L.A. It just won't happen. Kobe went to the FT line an unbelievable 4 straight times down the court in the 3rd quarter when the Jazz were trying to take the lead. Jazz score and then the refs send Kobe to the line - 4 times in a row. Also, in the last 2 minutes of the game, Gasol ran over Harpring with an obvious charge to hit a finger roll to put the Lakers up by 3, and then he pushed Okur in the back twice to get key offensive rebounds in the last minute.

But forget my biased opinions, and let's look at some numbers that tell all:

3 games in L.A. - Lakers have shot 131 FT to the Jazz 74, and the Jazz have lost by 11, 10 and 7. In other words, the Lakers are shooting 19 more FT a game. All they have to do is hit 50% of those and that's the difference. Let's say the Jazz foul 3 times down the stretch to attempt a comeback. That means the Lakers still shot 13 more FT during the regular course of play.

2 games in Utah - Utah shot 11 more FT than the Lakers in those games combined which is about average considering the Lakers never led in either game and they fouled down the stretch. So in Utah, the Jazz got 5.5 more FT a game - NBA average for home playoff team. So adding those 2 up - should the FT difference between Salt Lake (+5.5 for Utah) and L.A. (+19 for Lakers) be 24.5? Those numbers don't make any sense. I can see 10 or 15, but 24.5? Is the basketball played between the two cities that different?

Boozer is an All Star post player who goes to the hole, but he's shot only 28 FT this whole series (5.5 a game). Kobe is an All Star perimeter player who probably should go to the line more than Boozer because he has more touches, he drives hard and he gets treated like Jordan, but he has shot 79 FT (16 a game). It's absolute crap that any player should go to the line 3 times as much as an all star post player. I would understand if it was Millsap or some bench player not going to the line, but we're talking about a damn allstar. Also, Kobe shot 17 or more FT 3 times the entire season & postseason combined prior to the Jazz series. He's already shot 17 or more FT in 3 games in this series.

Another mind-boggling stat - Kirilenko played the entire regular season and entire Houston series (against McGrady) and did not foul out once. Not one time did he foul out during that stretch. In the 5 games versus the Lakers, he has fouled out in 4 of 5 games.

One more: The Lakers averaged 20 fouls a game during the regular season and the Jazz averaged 24 (most in the league). If you take away the overtime Game 4 where the teams combined for 59 fouls, the other 4 games look like this: the Lakers committed 19, 23, 21 and 26 fouls for an average of 22.5 a game. The Jazz committed 31, 29, 31 and 33 fouls for an average of 31 a game. The Lakers' and media's argument is that the Jazz foul more as to rationalize it; but Utah is getting called for 8 more fouls a game than the Lakers and 7 more fouls than their season average. That's 3 times the foul increase the Lakers are showing (2.5).

We all know that the NBA would love to see Celtics versus Lakers in the Finals. It would be cool to see considering the history, players, etc. But wouldn't it be nice to see the Lakers earn the West on a fair playing field?