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Duncan: 'It seems like they got every whistle possible'
Last night, after the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the San Antonio Spurs for a fourth consecutive series win, Spurs forward Tim Duncan had a few words to say about the officiating.
I'm always the first one to say that a team should take care of business so that bad officiating can't make the difference between a win and a loss, but it appears several Spurs fans were up in arms about the Thunder getting every call, while Spurs coach Gregg Popovich and his players questioned some of the calls.
The worst part was that it came in the part of the game where the Spurs were making stops and executing on offense, which stopped any momentum and put the Thunder on the line for free throws.
"Down the stretch for a period there, it seems like they got every call possible," Duncan told the media following last night's game. "That really changed the tides. We were playing tough defense, we were trying to make stops and trying to push them back and the whistle kept blowing and they kept going to the line and getting some free points there."
While many Spurs fans will agree that any momentum the Spurs had was stopped by foul calls, Duncan also said the Thunder got to the line by being aggressive. In the end, a few points that may have gone the other way don't make the biggest difference when the Spurs had an 18-point lead in the first half.
The Spurs will now have a long offseason to think about what they'll have to do to make another long playoff run next season.
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Are u guys kidding me, It was really clear that the officials gave this series and final game to the Thunders calling every single silly foul to benefit the Thunders.C'mon ,Crawford even called a technical on Jackson for looking the Thunders bench, this is the same guy who kicked Timmy out of a game for laughing at him and was suspended from officiating, well guess what?,pay back for Crawford making the Spurs loose game six and making the Thunders the West champs, this is completely fixed, what u guys think?
DO NOT EXAGGERATE SPURS FANS
THE CALLS WERE HORRIBLE BUT WE SHOULD NOT OF LET A 15 PT LEAD SLIP AWAY
THE SPURS DO NEED A STARTING 7 FOOTER TO HELP DUNCAN
BUT THOSE KIND OF PLAYERS ARE A RARITY, IM NOT TALKING ABOUT TIAGO BECAUSE HE IS A SOLID BENCH PLAYER WE NEED AN ATHLETIC 7 FOOTER AND THOSE KIND OF PLAYERS I REPEAT ARE RARE
@OscarMayenSolid bench player? yea, solid sitting on the bench. He is a lemon, and disappear during crunch time. He should go!
so many ppl exagerating all we need is a starting 7 footer
but those are as rare as duncan.......
@OscarMayenRare? My foot. The Spurs are simply stingy spenders.. Look at the free agency . It is full of big men like Kaman, Okafor, Illyasova and Humphries, etc. They just want it cheap!
Yeah, this is the probably the first time I've seen Duncan complain about the refs. It's not like him to call them out, but I'm kinda glad he did. It's hard not to notice that the refs gave the Thunder some advantages in this series.
But anyways, I'm over it because there are more important things to worry about and you have give credit where it's due (Congrats Thunder!). Time to look forward to next season and I can't wait to see what Pop, RC Buford, and the rest of the FO have up their sleeves.
I love the game but is basketball at the end forced for what the corporate interest are because the refs called every stupid play a foul when it's the finals and they were calling every damm touch a foul I guess refs have bills and also need that little under the table vacation money!!!
There are too many "NPAs in the lineup None Performing Assets - Bonner, Blair, Anderson, Green, Mills and Splitter. They were very good during the regular season, but complete bust when it matters. Its time to revamp. Its necessary if not inevitable. Coach Pop and Gen. Mgr. R.C.Buford MUST bring in longer, younger, bigger and aggressive guys if tghey want the Spurs to contend; players like Hibbert, Kaman, Okafor, Humphries, Illyasova, Bertans, deColo. Everytime TD and TP rest, there were NO viable sub. The complexity of the offense changes. Manu is all alone manning the sg post. STOP using the alibi that San Antonio is small market. That is ALL BULLSHIT. STOP being too stingy with the budget.Work to trade the NPAs with teams with multiple ist round drafts. Draft at least 2 or 3 big men, heightat least 6'11", sg at 6'7" and pg at least 6'5". Retain ONLY TD, TP, Manu, Leoanard, Diaw, Jackson and Neal in the lineup.
The Spurs were outplayed by the Thunder, plain and simple. Don't blame the refs or so but ourselves! TP is proved cannot handle the situation in crunch time, in fact, it has been a reason he is not really considered a superstar excluding people in SA area. Trade TP WHILE HE'S STILL IN HIS PRIME for a bigman!
@shawnthefreak f you get the chance, buy the book that ref who went to prison for gambling wrote. It will open your eyes more than they already are. The book confirmed what I knew all along. He mentions that there are some players some of the refs just HATE for no particiluar reason, so they pick on them for any little thing. Stephen Jackson was mentioned as one of them. So, when that okc coach pouted and cried to the ref because Jack looked at them, the T was called. YET..... Harden in game 3 waved his fingers at every player and coach on the Spurs bench after scoring a three pointer....yep...NO "T". Westbrook shook his jersey at Tim and Tony and laughed.....NO "T". WHEN OKC loses to the Heat...and they will...Stern has dropped too many clues his new interest this year is LB (sorry Kobe..used to be you)..YOU'll be hating STERN, too. Do yourself a favor an go buy that book "Personal Foul" and then get back with me. Your eyes WILL be open too. It confirms what I believe and proves the thruth Im NOT just bitter fan.
The question is, who takes his place? Joseph, deColo, Mills? I think he did his level best but, the other guys, the role players miserably failed to deliver. Guys like bonner, blair, anderson, GREEN, mills and SPLITTER. They are lemons, they disappeared at crunch time.
@rtesoro440 There're veteran like Billups and Baron Davis out there, and once we have the other elite big, we don't really need a scoring point guard. Like you see in the past 2 seasons, scoring is not our problem, we played like Phoenix these years and that's why we had good records but failed in the Playoffs JUST LIKE THE SUNS did. The role players, well, that's why they are role players, that's why they take much less money than the big 3. When the game is close you cannot ask role players to win for you. The role players were in shooting mode during regular season and in the Playoffs they struggled. Guys like Bonner, well I really don't have an idea why he is still with the team, his existence is just making space for TD, however, the main point we need to do that is we don't have another elite big in the paint. Danny Green is not scorer, he is a defender, if he is scoring it's a plus, but don't expect him to be the next Manu, it ain't happen. For role players, I don't think anyone should stay except Green and Splitter, if they still desire to win.
It seemed during games 3-6 the spurs let the officiating get to them... Its all good for us as fans to cry about it, but as a professional they can't let it bother them. especially in-game, and it really seemed like it had a massive impact on their psyche.
Tiago has to figure it out, if he can't he has to go. Bonner and Blair have to go. Green, Mills, Diaw, and Neal should stay for a fair price. Leonard played great with minimal practice. With a full offseason, hopefully, Leonard will be even better. I hope Parker vanishing in the playoffs isn't a trend. Spurs need more mentally tough and confident players. They need a beast in the paint.
