NO Blood, No Foul!

 

43-16! No, that’s not the score of a Patriots-Dolphins preseason game. That is the amount of free throws taken by the Lakers and the Jazz, respectively. When you see such a gigantic disparity, you assume either 1) the Lakers were extremely aggressive and the Jazz settled or 2) the referees were extremely aggressive and it left Utah unsettled. After watching the game, I subscribe to numero dos. Both teams played hard.  Both teams played great basketball. Both teams were very aggressive offensively. But neither team had a hand in determining the game. That, my friend, was the ref’s job last night. I watched Kobe, Pau, Odom, and Co. get call after call. But I also saw Deron Williams plow through a sea of purple and gold all night and not get any calls. I witnessed Paul Millsap scrapping like a chihuahua in the paint, on both ends of the floor, and not get any calls. Now don’t get me wrong, when you’re as aggressive as the Lakers were, you should get a lot of free throws. Personally, I’ve never saw Kobe spend so much time on the block.  I almost thought he was playing center! The Jazz were just as aggressive, but the game wasn’t called evenly; and That’s My Beef. The last thing people want to see in the playoffs are games tainted and/or decided by poor and uneven refereeing; its not like the refs in the NBA are perceived as the most honest in sports.