Game 4 -Not a Foul

6/1  Game 4 -Not a Foul

 

            It was game four between the Lakers and Spurs.  The Spurs were down by two points with three seconds left.  Brent Barry of the Spurs received the inbound pass near mid-court and pump faked Laker defender Derek Fisher into the air.  Fisher came down and bumped Barry who then heaved up a potential game winning three-pointer, which bricked off the backboard. 

            Ever since this play occurred, the argument of, “it was a foul” or “it wasn’t a foul,” has been swirling around the outcome of this game.  There is no way that play was a foul.  First of all, when Barry got bumped, we are talking about a little nudge.  Barry wasn’t even in the act of shooting when the bump occurred.  If Barry wanted this to be a foul he should have been much more aggressive in initiating the contact.  If you are going to pump fake somebody, you have to at least lean in to him to draw the contact. 

            The problem with the argument from the people who thought it was a foul is what the Spurs said after the game.  The Spurs acknowledged in the post game press conference that it wasn’t a foul.  Even Brent Barry agreed to this.  “That play,” Barry said, “was not where the game was lost.”  He is absolutely right about this.  The Spurs found themselves down three games to one after game four because that is where they belonged.  It was clear who the better team was.  How can you even argue the call when Greg Popovich, one of the most respected coaches, and Tim Duncan, one of the most respected players, both agree that it wasn’t a foul?

Some people are also saying that the call was not made due to who the nearest ref was to the play.  It was Joey Crawford who has had bad blood with Spurs’ head coach Greg Popovich and player Tim Duncan in the past.  This is complete garbage.  Crawford is one of the best refs in the game.  There is no way he would base a call on past experiences and if he did, that would just add more to growing controversy with NBA referees.       

In addition to this is the point where the Lakers and Spurs were in the game.  The Lakers had been leading the whole game, right from the opening minutes.  The Spurs may have gotten that call at the beginning of the game.  However, the refs are not going to call that when the game is on the line.  They don’t want to be the ones to be the deciding factor in a game of that magnitude.  Imagine what would have happened had the refs made that call.  That could have given the Spurs a chance to win a game they had no business winning.  Who knows how the momentum would have shifted?  It is a very delicate call that, like I said before, the Spurs might have gotten towards the start of the game.