Serious question from Spurs fan

[nashtymavsfan13]

I think the officiating in this series has definetly been terrible. That being said though, I don't think it has effected the outcome of the series by a whole lot. The Mavs have played better basketball, and even Spurs fans should admit that. They deserve to win the series, and they are in position to do so.

[Murphy3]

By calling the game close, you are rewarding the aggressive team. If you let them play too much, you're rewarding teams that settles for more jumpers because the team that is actually drawing the contact isn't getting to the line and reducing the chances that their FGA's go in.

It's a fine line. SA would like to shoot more three pointers than the Mavs. Obviously, they'd like to work the ball to Duncan and force some double teams to free up great shooters beyond the arc. The Mavs would like for Dirk to draw the double BUT they'd like the result to be an open lane for someone to take it to the rim (obviously, I'm generalizing a bit...but, obviously if Dirk's doubled, there's not alot of jumpshooters on the court to hit open looks. If Duncan is doubled, the odds are much greater that a good three point shooter gets an open look than what it is for the Mavs)

So, you can see how calling it tight should benefit the Mavs. In all honesty, I'm shocked that the foul totals do not have a wider gap between the two teams. I wouldn't have been shocked if it there was a 16-20 foul difference favoring the Mavs through 4 games simply because of the way the Mavs attack. Yes, the Spurs have been attacking the rim but not as much as the Mavs in my opinion.

I also hear alot of people whining about Dirk going into the lane and just trying to draw contact instead of making a shot especially on the baseline drive in game 4 that drew a foul on Duncan. What is Dirk supposed to do? He beats his man and has an open lane to the rim. At the last second, the help side defender slides in late to try and draw a charge. Obviously, it was too late for Dirk to try and stop. Yet, he wasn't in a position to put up a good look. What is he supposed to do? You have to put something up to the rim. But, he was in no way attacking the rim simply hoping to draw contact. He had an open lane that was closed off late by the defender. There is nothing the offensive player can do in that situation other than to throw up something. However, that is in no way what their intent was when they started the drive. It was in no way his intent a couple of steps prior to making contact. The offensive player cannot simply magically stop or can't all of a sudden decide to pass. If he passes the ball, the chances are that a charge is called are greatly increased even though the defender was still sliding into position. Once the offensive player decides to attack the rim after beating his man with seeing that there's no one between him and the rim, there's really nothing that they can do when the defender slides in front of him late other than try and throw the ball up to the rim hoping that it goes in especially when you're as far away from the bucket as Dirk was coming from the baseline.