Tag: officials

James Harden’s legal Eurostep confuses Jazz announcers, Twitter

Though Utah’s announcers and some Twitter users wanted a traveling call to nullify a James Harden bucket, the officials got it right.

The Utah Jazz television broadcast crew and many Twitter users wanted officials to call a traveling violation on a second-half basket by Houston star James Harden during Saturday’s 120-110 win by the Rockets.

But according to the NBA’s own rulebook, what the All-Star guard pulled off appears to be a perfectly legal (and lethal) move.

For the game, Harden led the Rockets with 38 points and seven assists on 13-of-23 shooting (56.5%), headlined by a 6-of-11 showing (54.5%) on 3-pointers. But it was a drive to the basket around two Jazz defenders that attracted the most attention around the league.

The immediate reaction from Utah’s broadcasters:

At every level of basketball, three steps is a travel. We know that.

However, that’s not what it says in the rulebook. From the NBA:

A player who gathers the ball while dribbling may take two steps in coming to a stop, passing or shooting the ball.

The first step occurs when a foot, or both feet, touch the floor after the player gathers the ball.

In this case, the former MVP is gathering the ball as he makes what he broadcasters seemingly believe is his first step. Per the rulebook, that does not count toward the two steps that Harden is allowed.

With a timeout called after the layup, Harden celebrated by mimicking the footwork of the Eurostep move on his way to the bench.

Fortunately, the league’s on-court officials got the call right, and it should serve as a teaching moment for fans and media members.

As for Harden, after going through an extended slump in January, he’s clearly turned it around of late. The NBA’s top scorer at 35.2 points per game this season is averaging 33.8 points and 7.8 assists per game over his last five outings, all on 48.0% shooting and 37.1% on 3-pointers.

Harden and the Rockets will look to keep their momentum rolling when they host the New York Knicks (17-39) on Monday night at Toyota Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Central time.

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Russell Westbrook on technical fouls: ‘I’m always the bad guy’

Rockets star Russell Westbrook is only three technicals away from a suspension, and he explains his displeasure with how he’s officiated.

After picking up two technical fouls (and an ejection) in Thursday’s blowout victory by the Rockets at Golden State, Houston star Russell Westbrook now leads the NBA with 13 technical fouls this season.

More importantly, that total of 13 means he can only accrue two more technical fouls before automatically being suspended for a game.

The one-game unpaid suspension is mandated once a player picks up 16 technical fouls in a single regular season, and then every second technical beyond that number (i.e. 18, 20) adds another suspension.

The count resets to zero before the playoffs, with seven as the postseason threshold for an automatic suspension.

Considering Houston (35-20) still has 27 games left to play, Westbrook needs to dramatically cut back his pace of technicals to avoid suspension. As the former MVP sees it, though, he’s often the victim of selective treatment from NBA officials based on his reputation and history, which includes a league-leading total of 16 technicals last season,

“You’ve obviously got to be aware of it,” Westbrook said postgame regarding his current total of 13 technical fouls on the 2019-20 season. “I’ll look at them and see which ones are real technical fouls and which ones are not. And then figure out how to do it. But, I’ll be fine.”

In Thursday’s game, Westbrook picked up his first technical during the first quarter for seeking a foul call after a drive to the rim.

In his postgame comments, the 2020 All-Star noted that he didn’t receive a single free throw attempt in the entire game.

I’m at the basket more than probably anybody since I’ve been in the league. I got no free throws today. But ideally I just got to keep going. … That’s just what it is. I’m okay with it. I’m a guy that’s going to compete every single night. I’ll go out and play my game and find ways to be effective. If they blow the whistle, they do. They don’t, who cares? I cannot allow it to affect who I am as a person and what I’m representing and who I am. So, that’s on me.

He was then called for another technical in the fourth quarter after he appeared to elbow Damion Lee and exchanged words with the Warriors bench. (Westbrook, however, said the elbow was unintentional.)

Westbrook explained:

I think it’s a situation where I hold myself to a very, very high standard. I think the refs, the fans, media, the NBA [are] put in a position now where I’m not really allowed to do much. Obviously, I’m an emotional guy. But if you watched the clip, obviously I hit Lee, but it wasn’t on purpose. I’m going to the glass, he got hit, he said something to me, I said something to him. I’m standing there, a guy [Juan Toscano-Anderson] came and snatched the ball out of my hands. Guys come running up to me, I didn’t move, but I’m always the one that gets painted to be the bad guy in the whole situation.

Westbrook said officials directed him to walk away from the situation and towards the Golden State bench, which he did, only to have a young plyer on that bench begin “talking mess” to him. One Warriors player who became involved was injured and plain-clothed star Klay Thompson.

I turned around and said, ‘What did you say?’ So now everybody’s running over to me, then I’m walking towards the thing, then [Kevon] Looney steps in front of me, so I feel like I’m in a position and it’s like, ‘Oh well, Russ is being Russ,’ which nobody knows what that means.

But I got to do a better job of holding myself accountable to a very, very high standard. And I’ll make sure I leave no room for error to allow somebody and people paint me out to be a guy that I’m not. I just think it’s unfair that after all that, I’m the only one that gets a tech or kicked out. That’s not fair. I don’t care what nobody says. It’s so many other people involved in it that are doing so many things that weren’t okay, but I’m the one that gets the tech, gets ejected, and then everybody else is cool, and goes back and play. But like I said, I take responsibility for that and I hold myself to a very high standard, which I’ll uphold.

Clearly, Westbrook believes that other players involved should also have faced punishment. But while he acknowledged that he needs to be smarter, Westbrook also said that he’s not going to back down.

I just got to control myself, that’s it, control myself. But I’m not backing down. I’m not. I wasn’t raised that way. So I don’t back to nobody, fear nobody but God, that’s it. Fear no man but God. I’ll always protect myself under any situation, but I also got to be smarter and understand what’s on the line for me. Or what’s my legacy, who’s watching me, my kids, my family. Make sure that I’m representing my family very, very well.

Prior to his ejection on Thursday, Westbrook tallied 21 points (10-of-19 shooting, or 52.6%) and 10 assists in 30 minutes.

Westbrook and the Rockets (35-20), who have now won six of their last eight games overall, return to action Saturday night at Utah (36-18) for what on paper is a crucial game in the race for Western Conference playoff seeding. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. Central time.

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Inconsistent week-to-week officiating is still hurting the snake-bit Saints

Stop if you’ve read this, but the New Orleans Saints were victims of an obscure NFL rule during their game with the San Francisco 49ers.

Stop us if you’ve heard this before, but the New Orleans Saints were victimized by inconsistent officiating by the NFL’s referees and their crews. They may have drawn half as many penalties (5) as the San Francisco 49ers (10) on Sunday, but an officiating gaffe (and an obscure rule) still ended up costing New Orleans.

This time it came when Saints coach Sean Payton called a bold fake punt against the 49ers, in which quarterback Taysom Hill targeted wide receiver Tre’Quan Smith on a pass deep down the sideline. But Smith wasn’t able to turn and make a play on the ball due to an enveloping bear-hug from the 49ers player covering him.

And no penalty flags flew because of it. Payton raced over to confront referee John Hussey, who dismissed Payton’s concerns due to a rule stipulating that plays run out of a punt formation are ineligible for defensive pass interference fouls. FOX Sports NFL rules analyst Dean Blandino agreed with that ruling on the broadcast.

Payton agreed with it too, emphatically arguing that the play still qualified for a holding foul which would have kept the ball in the Saints’ control. To that, Hussey shook his head and walked away, leaving Payton rubbing his face in exasperation.

What’s troubling is that this rule — that punt plays are exempt from defensive pass interference penalties — wasn’t observed just a few weeks ago, when referee Craig Wrolstad fouled the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for it on a fake punt pass by Arizona Cardinals punter Andy Lee.

So if this is truly what the rules state, why are the NFL’s officiating crews still messing up and hurting teams this late in the season? Why can’t they consistently call each game they work? The NFL either needs to stop pinching pennies and hire full-time, professional officials or look into automated referees, much like the “robot umpires” Major League Baseball is experimenting with. In a sport where one or two plays can make such a big difference, the NFL’s continued reliance on officials who can’t call a clean game from one week to the next is shaping into a crisis.

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Officials have brutal second half during Chiefs-Patriots

NFL officials had a brutal second half during the Chiefs game against the Patriots Sunday.

The officials in the Kansas City Chiefs-New England Patriots game were having an off-day to say the least in the second half of the huge AFC contest. They missed two calls that would have been scores for New England then they called a pass complete for a TD only to overrule it and say the connection was not made.

First, Travis Kelce caught a pass from Patrick Mahomes. The tight end was being tackled and lost the ball. New England recovered and Stefan Gilmore picked it up and seemed headed for a scoop and score. Oops, someone blew the play dead with a whistle.

The refs overturned the call and ruled the Patriots’ challenge was correct, giving New England the ball.

Tom Brady subsequently found N’Keal Harry for what appeared to all as a touchdown. However, the officials ruled the wideout stepped out at the 3-yard line, which he clearly did not.

The Patriots had used both their challenges so they were helpless to do anything. The drive wound up with a field goal that made it Kansas City 23-16, which is how the game ended. The loss snapped New England’s 21-game home win streak.

Bill Belichick was apoplectic.

Later in the fourth quarter, there was an apparent pass interference penalty the referees missed. CBS analyst Tony Romo said a flag should have been thrown as there was a penalty on the play.

And a mantra people have heard before after a 2014 loss to the Chiefs:

WATCH: James Harden makes dunk vs. Spurs, and it doesn’t count

Houston Rockets star James Harden made an uncontested dunk in the fourth quarter at San Antonio, but the officials somehow didn’t count it.

With the Houston Rockets up 13 points in Tuesday’s fourth quarter at San Antonio, James Harden picked off a pass at midcourt and had an uncontested breakaway dunk.

He made it. Or so nearly everyone thought.

Unfortunately for the Rockets, after going through the rim and all of the net, the ball bounced off Harden’s body and went back up through the rim — nearly going in a second time — before rolling off the rim and being secured by San Antonio.

Somehow, none of the three on-court officials ruled it a made basket, and the call was not within the league’s permitted replay review system for head coach Mike D’Antoni to challenge.

The call ended up being quite impactful, since the Spurs rallied to ultimately tie the game and sent it to overtime. Harden had 39 points in regulation, which expanded his NBA-leading scoring average, but he clearly should have had 41.

The sequence could certainly be cited in the future as an example of why to expand the scope of the league’s replay system.

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Russell Westbrook gets retroactive flagrant foul for Luka Doncic shove

The NBA retroactively gave Rockets star Russell Westbrook a flagrant foul for his shove of Mavs guard Luka Doncic during Sunday’s game.

Houston Rockets guard Russell Westbrook was retroactively given a “flagrant 1” foul by the NBA league office on Tuesday for his shove of Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic during Sunday’s game in Houston.

The action was ruled a common foul on the floor. The upgrade does not carry any direct game consequences, of course, since the game is long over. However, it does count as one flagrant foul “point” for Westbrook.

NBA players earn an automatic suspension when they reach six flagrant foul points over each regular season. Naturally, a flagrant 2 foul — which also means an ejection during that game — would count as two points.

It represents the first flagrant of the 2019-20 season for Westbrook, who led the NBA in flagrant fouls last year with four.

The contact didn’t appear to be malicious. In a transition sequence early in the third quarter, Westbrook sprinted to try and pick up Dallas guard Tim Hardaway Jr., who was open in the right corner. Hardaway had 19 first-half points, so reducing his open shots was a priority for Houston.

Doncic passed the ball to Hardaway, and Westbrook then pushed Doncic in the back in a desperate attempt to get him out of the way. The goal was to contest Hardaway’s shot, or at least chase off the three-point line.

The push caused Doncic to stumble, however, and his momentum carried him out of bounds. A foul was immediately called.

Doncic led the Mavs (11-5) in Sunday’s victory with 41 points and 10 asssists, while Westbrook had 27 points and six assists for the Rockets (11-6) in the 137-123 loss (box score).

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