They call that forearm when a guy is going to the basket(without being blocked,) and a defender is guarding him(not blocking him.) It's called when someone is trying to get more room against a defender who's legally guarding him. Tonite, this was a block, and a forearm. Why has Gasol turned his body sideways? It's because he's illegally blocked by someone who is not in that spot soon enough to own that spot. He's not there soon enough. So, he must give ground, or it's a blocking foul. He's blocking him. So, Gasol has to turn sideways, or they will hit heads. If no block, then no forearm. The forearm is put out to protect the ball from someone illegally blocking him. He didn't use the forearm to gain room from someone guarding him legally. He did it because he's been turned sideways by an illegal block, and he's protecting the ball. In that situation, the block is what is normally called. People don't want it called in this situation ,because

1)It's the 6th foul on NENE.

and

2) Nene was close to having position( but he's clearly still moving.) Would of been an offensive foul if the defender wasn't blocking totally. He needs to give ground, but he's a retarded thug. So ,he thinks he has established position. He hasn't. He's moving. See, this is what people are ignoring about many of these Denver players(they simply aren't playing smart enough.) He ignores the rules, and complains on almost every call. He has had atleast 5 fouls each game. Not like he respects the rules on how to play defense.

I know just like Tuesday night as well. That clear foul by Howard on Varejao with 0.5 second left when he hooked Varejao's arm and pulled him down flopping, begging for the foul. Like when with 6 seconds left after Pietrus bricked the 3 pointer and West had a clear path to the ball and Howard slammed him to the floor denying him, and Orlando got the ball setting up Lewis' three?? Like the clear offensive goaltending call on Howard in the overtime that wasn't called?? You mean horribly reffed games like that??

Yeah, I agree. Bad reffing is in the eye of the viewer. People see what they want to see. You have an agenda watching these games as do I.

What games do you watch dala?? Is my first paragraph really what happened, or am I making stuff up?? You make the call. There are two sides to every story. My side is every bit as legitimate as your made up stuff. There is no league conspiracy, and it galls me to see my team down 3-1 and people still insisting on how one sided the refs call their games because of one player they were fortunate enough to get. It's complete insanity.

You have 7 foot people moving at the speed of light, the refs do the best they can for the most part. I would have huge problems calling an NBA game.

The agenda of many on this thread is to make LeBron James an overrated, league created non-entity not worthy of anything. A horrendous shooting, selfish, moronic un-intelligent basketball player who is handed gifts by the referees every game. The most overrated athlete ever to walk the planet. That is fine. Just realize what it is. Taken at face value it seems pretty silly to me, what is written here. He may be that. For me, he is the best athlete in my lifetime to play for a Cleveland professional team and he pretty much saved the franchise. They were a 17 win team when he got there. Morty would say it is Ilgauskas and Eric Snow and Drew Gooden and Varijao who saved the franchise, I would have to disagree. The team has their best season ever, and I read how it was only because of the referees. It's stupendously insane in my opinion to reason that with any logic or common sense. He gets a call now and then...wow. I mean wow. Never happened before I guess. He's the first one in league history?? OK. There is no league agenda to put Cleveland in the finals. None. If they got there it would be because they got there. Nothing more, nothing less.

Y'all enjoy yourselves. I'm having a great time watching the melt down again. It's lots of fun. And I know if by some incredible happening the Cavs come back and win the series, it won't be because Mo Williams started shooting like Mo Williams or LeBron doing something great, it will be because the refs simply handed it to them. The script is set. They lose, LeBron is a loser, moron who can't play in the clutch or they win and the refs handed it to him. Fun stuff. Can't beat it.

Whine whine whine.

\ a respected JOURNALIST for one of the oldest newspapers in the country. I think this trumps your "blog" cannon. You will have to find a column or article to trump this:)

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/wiz...wizardsinsider

He was handed the chance to force overtime on a very suspect call with 0.5 seconds remaining, when he tripped and charged head first into Mickael Pietrus, who tried everything in his power to back out of his way. After James made the free throws to tie the game, I got several text messages from friends who thought the fix was in. I was scratching my head, too. The call was terrible, but I understand superstars get borderline calls in the final seconds. My first thought, however, was: When was James going to shoot the ball, actually? He fell down with less than a second left and had yet to look at the rim. If Cleveland won the game after that call, you would have seen conspiracy theorists going berserk for a long time.

Ok a Wizards blog is sure to be the final unbiased place to settle the matter.:tro:

So tonight I'm thinking Lebron goes off for 50, the rest of the Cavs get hot from 3, Orlando goes cold and the Cavs cruise to a 120-95 win. The media goes nuts for Cleveland tomorrow saying they've solved Orlando and they go back to Orlando Saturday and lay an egg.

I don't know. Though I fully expect it to be 8-on-5 tonight (I wish I didn't), I was sure the Cavs would murder the Magic in Game 2 also. The only way tonight's game is a blowout is if Howard either gets called for bogus fouls or goes back to being passive. He was exposed for his flaws in the Celtics series but he's showing his strengths in this series. The Cavs' bigs can't guard him.

You are just a clown now.

They will have 13 refs present this game to make it 18 against 5.

You guys are clowns. all of you. Complete and total clowns. There aren't enough circus' on the planet to house all of you.

Honest to God. For a die hard...37 year Cleveland fan to read this thread is beyond hysterical. It is like I have arrived on bizzaro opposite day planet. The sheer hysterionics going on in this thread are platinum. The pure and unadulterated disdain and hatred that the City of Cleveland actually got a good player is reallly sad to me. They aren't good enough to win the title this year, obviously, are down 3-1 and still people are non-stop that the singular reason Cleveland ever wins a game is refs. They are down 3-1 and people are still non stop that there is simply no way they can win a game without referee assistance. IT is sick to me. It is beyond sick. There really are no words in the English language to describe the mentatlity on this thread. There are simply no words to describe it. It really is pathetic. OF course we are now getting the obligatory "this series is the end of LeBron in Cleveland" national articles popping up of course. So fear not. Really, don't worry so much. Cleveland coming back 3-1...please people. Even the refs can't do that. You want a team down 3-1 to win a series...PLAY against Cleveland (2007 ALCS).

Good lord, just shoot me people.

So get the fu ck out of here and stop reading then. Why the hell would you want to read 600+ posts of clown chat? Your tired and boring old "poor Cleveland could never get any breaks ever, it's impossible" routine won't be missed, that's for sure.

Like I said, I think these playoffs have been called surprisingly evenly, but if you think LeBron isn't treated like a diva, you're just a homer. The guy was freaking called for one foul per game this season. Even Kobe gets whistled more.

For the record, I think the foul on Pietrus was the right call, and the only reason I think Game 5's whistles will be one-sided is because it's the NBA's modus operandi and has been for a while. We can't have short series and we can't have superstars looking human and losing on their home courts. Just like I expect the Nuggets to get the calls in Game 6, then the Lakers to get every whistle in Game 7. The NBA wants two things: long series and big markets/names in the finals.

I hope I'm wrong about tonight and the rest of the playoffs, and I thought Game 2 of this series was remarkably fair, I've just seen this story one too many times.

.."Complete and total"..:$:

Good names for a pair of lesser animals (rabbits,cats, hamsters etc.)

You need some serious therapy my friend...or like 20 mg of xanax.

Get a grip...its just basketball and we are all just having fun. Lebron is great and cleveland isnt a crappy city. Okay... Lebron is great.

I'm not the one who needs therapy. I'm not the one who cries, cries, cries about the refs every stinking game. You guys need therapy. By the way the refs are jobbing Cleveland again this game....Turkoglu clears out the world every single drive worse than LeBron, and Van Gundy played into the refs favor Cleveland thing big time with the technical on the most recent Turk clear out the world drive. Classic stuff.

You live in idaho and you are from cleveland.

Case closed.

Ah, Skip. Thanks for playing.

1-for-10, 3 points, 4 fouls, 3 turnovers, -20 +/-, clear path foul, letting the ball be thrown off your leg out of bounds, etc. The fact that he had a -20 +/- in a game that saw a 30-point turnaround by the Magic says something. No one else on the Magic had worse than -11 and Anthony Johnson was +15. Maybe next time in the postgame you'll stop bragging about how you "burned" the Celtics and Cavs when they left you alone and instead worry about shooting worth a sh it more than once per series.

Chuck, still think the loss of Jameer Nelson doesn't hurt much? Holy crap is Alston useless. You go from an All-NBA guard to an And1 dribbler.

No major complaints about the refs tonight from me. The clear path foul was bullshit and the Cavs got a few more calls overall, but it didn't make the difference in the game.

Did he really say going from jameer nelson to rafer alston doesnt hurt much? Thats just a horribly bad opinion.

Something like that. I'm too lazy to look up the exact quote.

I'm not even trying to call out Chuck, that was secondary. I'm just mad that Skip was talking like king sh it after his one good game in Game 4. I bet he'll be real quiet about his performance tonight. With Jameer Nelson this series would've been a sweep and with an AVERAGE point guard, it would've been 4-1.

Sorry Chuck. This is from Bill Simmons, the sports guy. I would say he is my little trump card here. He is about as well known a sports columnist as you will find. Game over:)

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2...8&sportCat=nba

In that respect, Jordan was both the best and worst thing ever to happen to the league. You know the good things he did, but he also paved the way for a generation of one-on-one players who careen toward the basket in big moments, create some form of contact and hope officials will bail them out. With four seconds to play in Game 4 and his team trailing by 2, LeBron put his head down, dribbled as fast as he could and prayed Michael Pietrus would either bump him or trip him. If you watch the clip, he's moving so fast that it would have been humanly impossible for him to make a shot. That wasn't his goal. He wanted a call. And he got one. Their feet got tangled, LeBron lurched forward, and the refs bailed him out.



Dwyane Wade won an NBA Finals for Miami that way. Three years later, LeBron nearly saved Cleveland's season that same way. It's a reprehensibly effective strategy that has nothing in common with anything we would ever see on a playground, an intramural game or a one-on-one battle in someone's backyard. I have been writing this column for 12 years dating back to my old Web site. Never have I received as many "I hate the referees" and "I hate watching these guys drive to the basket and get bailed out" and "Why can't they just let these guys play basketball and act like human beings?" e-mails as I did this spring.

It was impressive watching LeBron attack the basket instead of settling for jumpers. Also getting his teammates involved was pretty cool too. Now if he can only do that consistently.

now that was a rout.

I was playing the new Punchout on Wii after the half. Talk about a team that quit, that was pathetic. PM me your address and I'll send the check. Congrats.

LeBron's fourth quarter the other night was basketball brilliance. Season on the line and he just takes over. Scores 17, assists on 15 more. That's what I love about him. He's about making the right play and knows it doesn't always mean him shooting. The only reason he doesn't average a triple double is because his teammates can't shoot that well. Watching him in this series, I don't think I've ever seen a player do more. Watching a guy averaging 40 a night, getting a 37-14-12 triple double in an elimination game, and single-handedly keeping his team alive is great stuff. And imagine, all of this is coming from a guy that would be an all-pro tight end in the NFL. I almost feel like it's blasphemy to say because I love Michael Jordan but there's no doubt in my mind that when James is done, he's the new standard.

cool. you want to double on the final? Should be interesting

He is version 2.0. But he just doesnt have that "it" Mike had. Mike was more of a surgeon while this guy is more of a blacksmith.

What are the odds on the finals? I haven't checked.

lakers -260 come back +200

Thanks.

Fu, want to just do a second bet and square up after? My $50 against your $110 for the finals. If I win you owe me $60. If you win I owe you $100.

Lewis still hasn't created his own shot. Only scores when he has open jumpers or maybe gets a mismatch with a smaller man on the post and he can just turn and shoot. He cannot create anything off the dribble at all.

This years Lakers is the worst championship team I have seen in my lifetime. I've never seen a team win three series in a row that they should have lost and played like **** and still won a championship cause their opponents played shittier. It is like watching Big Brown win the Preakness, you knew you were watching dogshit but people still wanted to praise it.

I have to agree. Orlando has to go away kicking themselves. Simple free throws and they are tied. Inches away from being up 3-1. It can turn so easily. You have to give the Lakers credit though. It's not pure luck when you consistently come out on top and even though so many of their games could have gone either way, the majority of them are going their way. There's something to be said for always keeping yourself in it and giving yourself a chance to win. Gotta give it to Fisher too. Some big shot. Big shots. Gotta give Jackson credit too for sticking with him.

Was it just me or was Kobe trying to "punk" howard a little there?

Celtics last year were not very impressive either imo.

Really? Garnett and Pierce are hall of fame players and perenial all everything. Ray Allen, although not as good, has had a wonderful career and is still a good player. They had a great mix of young and old and played outstanding defense.

Why weren't they impressive?

I'm going to guess he's going to say it's because of how Atlanta took them to seven games. That was a shock but after that, they beat a good Cleveland team that had been to the finals the year before and got progressively better in the next round against Detroit and finally against the Lakers. The difference between this Laker team and that Celtic team is that you never got the feeling that the Celtics were fortunate to win games they should have lost. It's sort of like the 1988 Lakers who were extended to seven against Utah in the conference semifinals and also by Dallas in the conference finals but you never got the feeling that they were lucking up to win. Just a good team winning a tight series.

i agree with this and i actually agree with the argument that this Laker team is probably the worst i have seen besides the 07 spurs team which was really bad. I think this team beats that 07 spurs team hands down.

On the great Delonte West:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playof...minated-090531

"Delonte West, who played well on Saturday, is ideally a first guard off the bench, a tough, skilled player who can man both guard spots. But at just 6-foot-3, he's too small to start at shooting guard, especially next to the 6-1 Williams"

Interesting. Broussard, a respected NBA columnist, views the great delonte west as too small to be a starting 2 guard even for a team that Jerry West said would be a lottery team without Lebron.

LOL. I guess he doesnt know what he is talking about either.

Yeah this is useful. West had a real tough time guarding Rip Hamilton, Joe Johnson and Turkoglu, all who are much taller than him. Broussard is hardly an expert on anything and he says a lot of stupid stuff. yeah a guy who played 45 minutes a game in the playoffs should be coming off the bench. Cleveland's problem isnt its guards height, it is its lack of a long swing defender outside of Lebron.

"In not surprised by his success this season because a lot of players prevail in different systems. A guy might not be the same player in another coach's scheme. It's all about the way you're used. He's found a home in Cleveland, and I credit Mike Brown for using Delonte's talent to the best of his ability.

"They didn't utilize him the right way in Seattle. But in Cleveland, he's an X-factor for that team. He gives them toughness, scoring and defense. If you take him off that team, they lose a lot. He's in a situation in Cleveland where he doesn't have to score 20 or 30 points to make a difference. Then again, he's not just an extra player out there on the floor.

"He hits big shots, he knows his role, he puts pressure on the defense and he gets to loose balls. Of course, playing with LeBron changes things because LeBron attracts a lot of attention. He gets double- and triple-teamed, so his teammate
Maurice Evans of the Hawks on West

LOL. Charles barkley and doug collins are idiots. Broussard doesnt know what he is talking about. But suddenly, maurice evans is a genius. LOL Even funnier is that Broussard use to be the cavs beat writer although i think that was before the great delonte came to town.

Try again Chuck. Im still waiting to hear again that Trevor Ariza is a bum and Delonte West is a much better player. :)