OKC and Miami

What an NBA finals, it has been a back and forth series so far.  Miami stole game two, barely hung on last night.  Lebron has been having, statistically, good performances. Durant is exactly what we thought he was going to be, and by that I mean a scoring machine.  The only things that seem to slow Durant down are Russell Westbrook and the officials.

Not to harp on officials, as I used to be one, but there is no other person in professional sports that can push an agenda quite like an NBA official.  They have complete freedom to bend, the already gumby like, rules to their liking, and no one is better at this than Joey Crawford.  If you don't believe me, maybe you remember this:

  

Mr. Crawford isn't wrong in how he implements the rules, just as a cop that gives you a ticket for 1 MPH over the speed limit isn't technically wrong.  He is wrong however in how his calls give direct advantage to another team.  The beauty of an 82 game season is that Lebron and Durant see a multitude of referee's over the entire season.  Some will give Lebron and Wade those ticky tack fouls that send them parading to the line, some however will not, but over an entire season it averages out.  However, in the Finals it can give a team a dramatic advantage over another and sustain that advantage forcing the team to make adjustments.

Watching the series, so far two things have become incredibly apparent:

1) Russell needs to get his in transition or when he has a match-up advantage.  He is not good functioning in the half-court offense and keeps the ball out of Durant's hands.  The Thunder also need to do a better job of forcing it to Durant when the offense is set, this forces Lebron to play defense on Durant, and honestly he can't keep getting away with what he has been.

That leads me to my second point.

2) The officiating needs to get better.  Its the true sign of a homer when you start complaining about the officials, but the Thunder are being forced out of their game because they DO NOT get calls when they drive the lane, and the Heat DO get calls when they drive the lane.  This changes everything, because now your shot blockers are pointless because breathing on Wade or James is an automatic foul.

I suggest that the NBA needs to rotate officials during the Finals, because otherwise it can give one team or another a distinct advantage over the course of the series.


tennessee titans tickets seattle seahawks tickets arizona cardinals tickets