Phantom Fouls

["dan.p" <dan.p@MCI2000.com>]

>Williams did have a field day, and having Knight around would have 
>helped.  However, my opinion on Pervis' "absence" was that he truly 
>was "absent" for most of the second half when the Pistons opened up 
>their lead.  In other words, he was on the bench in foul trouble, and 
>what bothered me was how he got those fouls.  He was our only guy who 
>had the strength and quickness to defend against Williams, but early 
>in the 3rd quarter he drew his 4th foul when he lightly touched the side 
>of Williams' jersey as Williams went up for an uncontested dunk.  Pervis 
>came right out of the game, then shortly after coming back in the 4th 
>quarter, he made an outstanding clean block on a reverse layup, but they 
>called a foul, his 5th.  Out he came for most of the rest of the game.  
>Those 2 "non-foul" foul calls did the Celtics in for the game.  Williams 
>was free to do whatever he wanted with both Travis and Pervis out. 

I lost some respect for the officials this season as they've had no
conscious in regards to calling fouls on Declerq, Ellison, and to a lesser
degree, Knight.  I don't have a big problem with the superstar treatment of
Ewing, Jordan, etc. since Larry Bird used to enjoy it too, but I hate
seeing non-stars working hard and making *good* plays (as opposed to ones
that could go either way) and getting called for fouls.  The officals seem
to take Ellison and Declerq's presence as "break time" since whenever there
is contact they know they can just call the foul on them.  I really admire
that both players don't complain much - especally compared to the "stars"
who get most of the calls anyway.

In other news, Mark Estepp wrote:

>I still question his attitude...  On one play Saturday night, he grabbed a
>long rebound and headed down the court.  Mercer was a few steps in front
of
>him, and Walker should have given the ball up.  Instead he took it in
>himself, missed the shot and got fouled.  

>His potential is fantastic, but does he have the mind and heart of the
>leader you build a championship around?

I wouldn't think so, but then I never thought Jordan would win one title
let alone five.  His condescending references to his "supporting cast" and
his lust for statistics said to me that he was never going to get his ring.
 Whoops.  Given that Walker is still so young I imagine he can outgrow some
of his immature behavior and lead the team to new glory.

D Parker