I went to sleep blaming Houston’s style of offense and Harden having no changeup, but then I watched that compilation of no calls. And I was speechless. We all know GS has the refs as the 6th man, but they got 4 all stars vs one...if they couldn’t find a way to lead on their own merits, they shouldn’t have gotten bailed out. Most of the no calls I saw in the vid were when Houston was close to pushing the lead to 20, Houston was finding ways to score without shooting every possesion and Klay was in foul trouble (which completely disappeared after the early 3rd)
There also has to be some attention given to how demoralizing it must be to be hacked every other possesion and get nothing for it. I think the 4 pt play that never was the point where harden basically shut it down for the night. And while that’s morally weak, I couldn’t imagine being in his shoes. Any brehs that watched the game 6 in 02 tell me if there’s any parallels between that and this game
The only parallels are that they were both blatantly one-sided affairs to any unbiased observer.
The unprecedented free throw discrepancy was the story in Kings Lakers, but Foster has gotten more slick from the days of Donaghy's rigging (good friends who worked together since 02). Just as today's players have gotten more savvy, the refs of today know that people have much quicker access to simple numbers like raw free throw numbers, so they have to be more tactical with their approach i.e. the good block that was immediately called a goaltend on Houston in the 2nd quarter and wasn't reviewable and no one ever mentioned again.
A game full of calls like that not only helps Golden State in dozens of little increments and helps to sway momentum constantly back in their favor, but it also breaks the spirit of the team they're screwing over. The back to back obvious 3pt hacks then the 4pt play getting wiped away sent a clear message to everyone on the court that a) Houston is not supposed to win this game, b) Golden State should feel free to be as physical as possible because we arent even calling BLATANT fouls, c) Klay Thompson is not picking up another foul anytime soon so stop drawing them it wont work, and d) We are not afraid to blatantly rob one guy of 10 points in a row if we have to.
That's soul-crushing and it's by design. By the time Bell set the most obvious illegal screen of the season to get Steph going from the corner, Houston had accepted the message. No team, much less a team like Houston, misses 27 straight 3s unless they are feeling hopeless and just going through the motions.
I said before the game that Foster and Callahan needed to step up for the Warriors to win and they sure did. Worked to perfection and used Harden's ft rep as a smokescreen to do it.
Houston 0-6 now all time in playoff games officiated by Scott Foster. Voted worst official by NBA players. Selected lead official in 2018 WFC Game 7.
Imagine that
