Don’t Ever Underestimate the Power of the Whistle

For the most part, I have always been a firm believer in the fact that players not crowds, coaches, or zebras, determine the outcome of sporting events but what I saw during tonight Lakers-Boston game made me absolutely sick to the point where I feel compelled to steal my grandmother’s laptop and spend a few minutes venting about tonight’s loss at 12:39 AM EST.

I spent most of today traveling from Los Angeles to Chicago (a four hour flight by the way) and then driving three hours northeast to my grandparents home in Battle Creek, Michigan. All this traveling and jet lag tends to make one a little more cranky than usual so please forgive me if I come out to sound like your old and grumpy 75 year old neighbor, who carries a shotgun on his front porch while sitting in his Hanes underwear that is not worn by either Michael Jordan or Kevin Bacon .

So, let me put it bluntly, the refs sucked. Period. End of story. Sure that wasn’t the only reason why the Lakers lost but it sure as heck played a big role in it. It may not be popular to blame the refs but I can guarantee you that at least ninety percent of Laker fans are pointing fingers at the guys who determined that the Celtics were deserving of twenty-five more free throws than the Lakers. Ya, it was that much.

For the most part, it is easy to understand how important fouls are in a basketball game. It gives the opposing team free throws, which are money in the bank for the majority of these NBA stars. A foul difference of thirty-five to ten can easily alter the game by at least ten to fifteen points. Oh, and the Lakers lost by six if you didn’t know.

But where the importance of fouls really come in is how they hamper the opposing team’s defensive strategies. When Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher have three fouls instead of simply one, they tend to be a little more passive on defense. They’ll sag off and let guys like Rajon Rondo and even Leon Powe of all people to dribble the ball at the top of the key for a few more seconds, shoot wide open jump shots, and most of all, they will shy away from contact when they drive the lane.

Yes, when a player is in foul trouble he slowly morphs from the aggressive, hard-nosed defender into a soft Euro, evoking images of the timid Ollie from the movie Hoosiers. That soft defender is far less likely to take charges, step in for blocks, or rotate over into help-side defense. At this point he is far more concerned with staying out of foul trouble in order to just remain in the game.

During tonight’s contest against Boston, the Lakers had five Ollies on the court at one time. You’re screwed if you have more than two. Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol, Ronny Turiaf, Kobe, and Fisher, were all in foul trouble early on and subsequently played passive, relaxed defense for much of the remaining game. Suddenly, Boston was able to attack the basket at will, getting layups or three point shots off kick-out from the driver, mainly Rondo.

With an all-Ollie starting five, the Lakers had no shot to win the ballgame. Playing like nervous, pimply high school kids they were unable to stop Boston’s dribble penetration, which created open shot and even more

gifts from the referees

free throws.

So, being aggressive on defense is still a fairly abstract concept and its hard to determine how many points it actually cost the Lakers. However, the final seven minutes of the game proved that the Lakers’ aggressiveness on the defensive end is all they need to win this series.

Since most of the Lakers played with their hands in their pockets on the defensive end, they didn’t really pick up too many fouls during the third quarter and early minutes of the final period. Because of this most of the Lakers were not in danger of fouling out with just about eight minutes left in the game.

That’s when they just said to screw it and play. Not feeling any constraints by their foul situations or the striped convicts, not the Bengals by the way, the Lakers were able to play aggressive, tenacious defense, which forced some turnovers and easy scoring opportunities. This carried over to the offensive end where they suddenly became more assertive when taking outside jump shots or most of all, attacking the basket.

The refs, biased and horrific officiating hampered the Lakers throughout the game by putting them in foul trouble and turning them into a bunch of nervous wrecks instead of hard-nosed defenders. With the series headed back to Staples Center, look for the Celtics to be the ones in foul trouble and turn into the passive, submissive Ollies, while the Lakers turn this into their advantage and possibly win three in a row.

So as I get ready to turn off the lights here, I want to remind you all to never underestimate the power of the whistle.