Ref Envy

The NBA Finals concluded last night. I'm a little annoyed at the outcome. Not particularly because I don't like the Heat. Mostly because they didn't deserve to win. I have been busy and so I wasn't able to catch all the games. I did manage to sit through most of games 5 and 6.

After game 5 it was clear to me (and to other people) that the league had decided that Dwayne Wade was going to be the next Jordan. They weren't going to allow teams to do shut down their new marqué player by smotherering him. Putting a hand in his face, or a body against his. Pushing Wade out of his comfort zone so he can't dictate, so he's putting up the shot you want, not the shot he wants.

The league has seen fit to bless Wade with the "you touch me, you foul me" attribute. Which means, if he takes a shot and falls down, the refs blow the whistle. If he bricks it off the rim and there's anyone standing around him, the refs blow the whistle. So his defenders back off, because they don't want to give him freebies. And Wade is too good to have that much space.

And yet, giving Wade the advantage wasn't enough. Sometimes, in critical junctures, the Mavs actually were able to shut him down, keep him from taking his shot. And in those situations, at least in the games I saw, the refs came to Wade's rescue.

In game 5, the refs bailed him out in the last 3 seconds. With the Heat down by 1, Wade dribbled aimlessly all over the floor, the Mavs cut off his angles and Nowitzki stepped over to contest his last ditch heave at the basket. They called a phantom foul (on Nowitzki) which got Wade to the line. The resulting free throws determined the outcome of that game. (Did anyone catch in the into sequence before Game 6 showing overlapping clips of Jordan and Wade, they showed Jordan put up an underhanded scoop where it went in. Then they showed that sequence from game 5 of Wade flipping the ball up, but they cut the clip before the ball bricked off the rim.)

In game 6, with the 26 seconds left, the Mavs had closed to be within 1 point. Wade was again shut down, dribbling around the top of the 3-point arch. Nowitzki came over on the double team and closed down the lane. Wade, in frustration or just instinct, pushed out a forearm shiver into Nowitzki's chest. Whistle. Foul. On Nowitzki? Wade hits both free throws and the Heat go on to win the game by 3.

Another rediculous call ensures that this game will be decided by foul shots. Whee! And in that final game Wade had more free throws (21) than shots (18).

So is Wade a good player? Does he make great plays? Yes. He's definately one of the best players in the league. Is he the next coming of Michael Jordan? He wasn't in this series. And we wont be able to compare the two unless the league and the refs are willing to let Wade win the games on his own.

I understand that foul shots are part of the game. And in that sense the Heat deserved to win. Foul shots are boring. Hitting foul shots in the final seconds of the final game is the most boring outcome I can imagine. Curling is more exciting than foul shots. Bad curling. Junior high-school curling.

Sigh. Thank god for the World Cup.