That’s why we’ve got to foul him. Viciously. John Chaney-style.

Yeah, remember that Cavs/Wizards series from last year? It wasn’t even close— but it was fun to watch because the Wizards were beating Lebron the fuck UP.

Sounds like a good job for Kwame. Although it might come off as geniune if we just send in Amir to jump straight into Lebron.

Amir doesnt foul hard enough.

Seeing Lebron get the shit kicked out of him may be gratifying, but I don’t think it’ll win us games. Really the only thing we can do about it is just account for the fact that he’s going to get the calls. I was watching that Cavs-Wiz game last week where the Wizards actually won and they had a great strategy down the stretch – make shots. You aren’t going to the line, so don’t even bother trying to draw fouls against them. Move the ball and knock down open shots.

In other news, BasketballGoddamn the Knicks for blowing the game against the Bulls and BasketballGoddamn the Magic for pissing away a chance to take the two seed.

I question the validity of any sports writer who says,

" I… believe NBA officiating is the best in sports."

Seriously?

I honestly cannot name another sportswriter who thinks NBA officiating is the best in sports. Not one.

Have we all forgotten about Tim Donaghy already?

Amir would bounce off Lebron like a pinball off a bumper.

In all seriousness, those statistics are disturbing. It seems impossible that any player — regardless of talent — could play 41 minutes in an NBA game and be as involved as LBJ is and not get called for a foul. And that that’s happened for five consecutive games.

To be fair, it’s gotta be tough to ref a game in which LBJ plays, kinda like reffing Shaq. He’s an absolute beast. Or maybe I’m just trying too hard to be objective.

@Shinons

The Magic aren’t pissing away their chance for the two seed. They absolutely want no part of it. They’re deathly afraid of a first round match up with us and I’m pretty sure they’ll use the excuse of “getting guys healthy” to limit impact players’ minutes enough over these last few games to ensure they stay in the three spot. We really needed to take both those games from the Sixers (and not go on any mini-losing streaks) to get that six seed, because it was the only way we were feasibly going to get the match up we wanted. This would’ve put pressure on Orlando to get the two seed, but now that we have no chancing of catching the six, they can coast from here on out.

chance*

I doubt that Orlando is losing intentionally.

“Intentionally” no, but you’d be retarded to think they’re going to work their asses off for the second seed when we’re probably going to be there waiting for them.

Why would it be?

On paper, they’re the better team. Plus, having the second seed gives them a more favorable second-round matchup should they win the first round.

I agree with you in that I think we can beat them. I just don’t see anything compelling to suggest that Orlando is afraid of playing us in the Playoffs anymore than they would be afraid of anyone else.

Interesting post, because usually I think of “superstar” calls as being those when the superstar is “fouled” — see, e.g., Wayne, D. But those stats on the superstar “not fouling” are revealing.

To be honest, though, I’m more worried about the “superstar is touched and it’s a foul” problem. Suppose Lebron got called for another whole foul per game — 3, instead of 2 — which would put him above other “superstars,” past and present. How much difference will that make?

Maybe it’s another 2 FTs in the game, but maybe it’s not, if the foul is before the penalty and not in the act of shooting. Maybe in one quarter it might get the Cavs into the penalty a couple of minutes earlier? Maybe it would discourage LeBron from playing more aggressive defense, so maybe I should pay more attention to how he plays defense. But it’s not like LeBron is ever going to foul out; Brown would protect him.

I am, however, still worried about LeBron (and Wade) being able to drive at the end of games and opposing teams either getting called for fouls that wouldn’t be fouls if the offensive player was, say, Rodney Stuckey, and/or not being able to guard LeBron because of fear of being called for such fouls.

it = they

@ Toledo Joe:

I think both sides of the coin (star player not getting called for defensive fouls, and star player drawing lots of fouls while playing offense) are equally dangerous, as we saw the last time we played the Heat. What really lost us that game was not Wade’s fourth-quarter scoring, but the two consecutive Pistons offensive possessions where he mauled our players without getting whistled.

Well, if we are going to be call for tick-tacky fouls throughout a series with Cleveland, then why not really and seriously foul Lebron? I mean with the season we had we really have nothing to lose, we are number 8 and they are number 1, we need to play with wreckless abandon every game even if it does end in 4. If there isn’t any hard fouls on Lebron during this series, I’ll be highly disappointed in our guys.

@Joel and brgulker – Just that they pissed away a chance. They could have jumped even with Boston last night – with as beaten up as Boston is right now, Orlando won’t be out of the running for the two seed till the end.

PS:

Yeah, that’s a good example.

“Stat don’t lie!”

Not according to Keith Langlois. He says that stats are meaningless unless it is points scored and rebounding numbers.

That’s why we’ve got to foul him. Viciously. John Chaney-style.>>

Since you brought it up.

Maybe the Pistons and the rest of the league have to bow to him like this.

http://hotair.com/archives/2009/04/02/video-obama-bows-to-saudi-king/

After all he is called “King James”, so it seems that bowing is in order as proper protocol as established by our President.

TRADE OBAMA NOW!!!!!

Sorry Mike, someone was gonna do it :)

@Shinons:
+100

You have to look at both sides of the coin. Since LeBron is so strong, he often goes to the basket, gets hacked, and gets no calls. Perhaps this is a way of evening things out?

LeBron’s increased involvement on the defensive end this year should have seen his fouls/game INCREASE, not decrease. These fouls are not the hard ones to call on LeBron.

The “hard” fouls to call on LeBron are the fouls he should be getting with the ball in his hand; the offensive fouls like the one that set Rasheed off in the last game against the LeBron’s.

Being an Orlando resident, I can offer a bit of perspective to the whole what-the-Magic-want-for-the-playoffs discussion.

I can say, unequivocally, that the Orlando Magic front office and players are NOT trying to dodge the Pistons in the first round. Quite the contrary. They are still pretty pissed about the regular beat-downs the Pistons provide them and they see this year as an opportunity to bury their demons on the way to a championship.

I can hear it now; Orlando? Win the NBA championship? No way.

Yeah, well, I tend to agree with those that think Orlando is still lacking some key components to a championship squad, but I can tell you that the fans and media in this town are totally sold. They think this is the year. And they WANT the Pistons. Just like the Pistons WANTED the Lakers in 1989 and 2004.

There are a few fans who are a bit nervous about a seven game series with Detroit, but most of them see it as a chance for vengeance.

Vengeance.

As in, the Pistons bending over one of Stern’s golden boys and giving him the mean ham sandwich in retaliation for changing the fucking rules every time we win anything.

I’m kind of surprised to see so many comments advocating INJURING LeBron. I mean, really? You want to go out and purposefully smash one of the best players in the league? It’s not LeBron’s fault Stern is handing him the throne. It’s pretty disturbing to see the numbers, though, especially considering his extremely physical style of play. Whether he’s chasing guys down on a fast break for a block, or putting his head down to drive the line, there’s almost ALWAYS contact and it would be nice if the refs called a few more on him in the playoffs.

Big Z, I would rather play Boston. They are banged up and the Pistons might be able to steal a few early games. Orlando will come to play each and every game against the Pistons.

The best chance for a first round upset, in my opinion, is Boston.

The LeBron numbers don’t prove anything. More than any other star, he goes out of his way to avoid fouling on defense, because he knows he has to stay on the court for the Cavs to win. He NEVER fouls to prevent a dunk or layup. And a lot of his blocks come without even incidental contact, because he gets up so high.

This post could easily be titled,‘Wing players picked up more fouls back when the game was faster.’ The reason Lebron has low foul totals is simply that we’re in the slowest paced era of all time. This year, he’s not even unique among star wing players (see Brandon Roy and Kevin Durant). There isn’t much evidence to this grand conspiracy theory. The real question is, how did Magic Johnson only garner 2.26 fouls on the Showtime Lakers? Please, don’t validate Sheed’s insufferable whining.

Sheed will be Sheed, but it doesn’t mean his complaints aren’t correct 90% of the time. On the opposite end of the spectrum from LBJ is our own Amir Johnson. Look, I know the guy is young and commits a lot of real fouls, but he gets called for about twice as many as he actually commits.

Whether by accident, conspiracy, or something in between, NBA officiating is awful. I can understand how the way the game is called could change from game to game. What is unacceptable is when it is not consistent from player to player (or team to team) within the same game. That seems to be almost all the time these days.

Count me among those who hope Lebron takes a lot of good, hard fouls should we meet the Cavs in the playoffs. After all, the only one who can speak truth to the king is the jester, and we all know NBA officiating is a joke anyway.

@Garrett:
I’m kind of surprised to see so many comments advocating INJURING LeBron. I mean, really?

Who said anything about cutting you up? I just wanted to carve a little “Z” on your forehead.

Garrett, you’re right. Someone should put a hard foul on Stern.

Not trying to be an opposing team troll, but this article completely aside, Sam Smith has to have the least credibility of any beat writer in America. It seems like every time I read him he’s cooking up laughably obvious fake trade rumors, and I thought he had a pretty bad reputation in the blogosphere at least.

As for his argument, I’ve never really thought much about this issue, since the discussion is usually about LeBron drawing bogus fouls. But it makes sense to me that he doesn’t foul much. First, he’s a good defender, and fouling (especially on the perimeter) is often bad defense. He doesn’t play a toe-the-line physical style like Bruce Bowen, but instead uses his quickness and length to stay in front of guys and contest shots (similar to say, Tayshaun Prince, who fouls even less in similar minutes). And since LeBron essentially is the team’s offense, it makes sense that he would be especially careful to avoid getting into foul trouble. And lastly, you’ll probably never see LeBron commit a “frustration foul” because he’s always very cool-headed. But to me the Tayshaun Prince comparison says it all. Being on the court and active defensively doesn’t necessarily equate to committing a lot of fouls, as Smith seems to assume it should.

Pace probably doesn’t mean quite as much for fouls as other statistics (since in some cases it’s possible to foul more than once per possession), but LeBron is playing a lot fewer possessions per game than MJ or Big O, so those historical comparisons don’t make a lot of sense. If you did adjust for pace I bet the numbers for those three would be pretty similar.

@Robin,
Not trying to be an opposing team troll

Actually, that’s one of the better comments we’ve had from a visitor in a while. Kudos man.

Maybe it’s not the refs that are protecting Lebron, maybe it’s… The Basketball Gods!

the last few comments have been great.

Garrett is dead on. What kind of chump wants to win or seek satisfaction through cheap play? Seriously, grow a pair.

And Sam Smith’s article is full of falacy. The numbers he throws out there are meaningless without interpretation (ie. pace of game).

One more thought while we are talking about proper officiating: if the refs called a foul every time a player gets contact on the way to the hoop, Lebron would spend all night long at the line. Seriously, this guy takes a beating every night.

You would think Sam Smith is trying to protect Jordan’s legacy. Don;t worry Sammy, people will still buy the book.

Thanks for that perspective, Big Z. That’s kind of what I had suspected.

QD: Someone should set a moving screen on Stern the next time he’s walking down the hallway at his office. Kind of like Terry Tate, but with a KG-style shoulder-check.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAfp6ZCsvGc

BOOM!

I think that bringing tay into the conversation only reinforces the notion that reputation = calls. I don’t think that it’s possible for tay to put in 35+ min. against some of the best players in the world with out getting more then 2 fouls. The amir inverse is also true. Guy gets 2 fouls when he checks into a game. The league absolutely protects it’s stars. Not only from excessive fouls by defenders, (which i still advocate) but also in the interest of the action at the end of the game. How often in college has a star player been negated by 2 quick ones in the first, only for the casual fan to lose interest when that player checks out of the game. No such problem in the nba. This league sells itself on late game heroics. Call fouls on Lbj, and you’ve got Sasha pavlovic shoting for the win.

Is this guy f’ing serious? Lebron James doesn’t get fouls called on him because he’s one of the best, maybe the best, players that has ever lived. And, what a surprise, he doesn’t get as many technical fouls as ‘sheed! A skilled player that isn’t starting fights or getting into arguments with refs and other players isn’t party to a conspiracy, he’s a well deserved addition to the NBA.

BEHOLD, SHAFT-HANDLERS!

IT IS TRUE, THE KING DOES GET TREATED AS SUCH, BUT IT IS NOT OUR DOING. THAT WOULD BE THE WORK OF THE EVIL ONE. HIS LACKEYS FEED ON THE BROKEN DREAMS AND SALTY TEARS OF FANS OF SMALL MARKET TEAMS.

AS IT TURNS OUT, WE DON’T REALLY LIKE THE KING BECAUSE HIS COMMERCIALS ARE BAD AND HIS “ACTING” IS STILTED AND FORCED. AND HE MAKES FALSE TALCUM SACRIFICES BEFORE BATTLE. THIS NOT ADVISED, YOUNG WARRIORS.

AND “Not even a cavs or lebron fan” SOUNDS LIKE SOMETHING A TWELVE YEAR-OLD WOULD NAME THEMSELVES.

Lebron James doesn’t get fouls called on him because he’s one of the best, maybe the best, players that has ever lived

My guess is that you’re 20 years old or younger.

And, what a surprise, he doesn’t get as many technical fouls as ’sheed! A skilled player that isn’t starting fights or getting into arguments with refs and other players

Apparently, we watch a different Lebron. He complains as much, if not more, than Sheed, and he’s often just as vocal about it. Maybe not as expressive, but just as vocal, even in the media.

he’s a well deserved addition to the NBA.

I read this to mean:

“I can’t refute the argument presented, so instead, I will attempt to refute an argument that was not presented, viz a viz, that Lebron is somehow not worth having in the league.”

King James = Queen Elizabeth II

You’re not allowed to touch either one* but they can hit you with a sword on the shoulder or whatever and you are supposed to be grateful.

• - Unless maybe if you are Michelle Obama. We could replace Tay with Michelle and Curry with Barack and THEN see who gets all the calls. LeBron would be getting fouls like Amir gets DNPs…and fouls.

Here is a list of the lowest foul rates by mid-sized players (or larger) who played starter minutes. LeBron has a very low rate but it’s not so low it’s unprecedented.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/fc/psl_finder.cgi?request=1&sum=0&type=totals&per_minute_base=48&year_min=1947&year_max=2009&season_start=1&season_end=-1&age_min=0&age_max=99&height_min=78&height_max=99&lg_id=&franch_id=&is_active=&is_hof=&pos=&qual=&c1stat=mp_per_g&c1comp=gt&c1val=30&c2stat=pf_per_g&c2comp=lt&c2val=2.5&c3stat=&c3comp=gt&c3val=&c4stat=&c4comp=gt&c4val=&order_by=pf_per_mp&order_by_asc=Y

Thanks Joe. I’m not surprised to see Prince up that high, but what was really interesting was how Wilt was ranked. He hardly ever got called for a foul, which is even more impressive considering he played almost every minute of every game and at a high pace.

Then you have some wings that never played defense, like Michael Redd and current version Tracy McGrady.

I think what’s questionable is how LeBron rarely gets offensive fouls. He’s getting the kind of respect from refs that at age 24 that Jordan got in his last year with the Bulls and LeBron has to be a foot wider going to the hoop and 6 rings lighter. Wilt is clearly a unique player but among wing players with 500+ FT attempts LeBron has the lowest foul rate in NBA history in 2004-5 and tied for the second lowest this year.

And as Matt W. points out, the trend is going even lower.

The fact that Lebron had a stretch of 3 hours and 4 minutes of playing basketball without a foul called against him makes me sick.

At least Jordan went around guys, and through tiny gaps, and sometimes over guys. LeBron goes THROUGH guys (which is an ability in its own right, I guess, but still).

to the author of this article..you should continue talking about why the stats are that way. If you ever watch a cavs game lebron just runs into people drawing contact and their not always freethrows which mislead the stats to how bad it realy is. Why do you think cavs are 37-1 at home? i can watch all the cavs games living here in ohio yet its obvious the star treatment he gets compared to ANYONE else in the league bar none. funny cause lebron has no skills.

Racist alert.

knock knock

who’s there?

interrupting cow

interrupting c—MOOOOO!

I don’t recognize you when you’re not shouting.

At the risk of repeating myself… oh to hell with it.

It’s not the defensive end that LeBron “gets the calls” on, it’s the offensive end when he has the ball in his hands.

Plowing over people to get to the basket is usually called an offensive foul.

Usually. Unless you’re LeBron.

BEY AHR GULK-AR,

SOMETIMES INSIDE VOICES ARE APPROPRIATE. WE FELT THAT A KNOCK KNOCK JOKE WAS ONE OF THOSE TIMES. WOULD YOU LIKE TO BATTLE CONCERNING IT?

And the ridiculous alter ego is revealed. God damn you Firefox.

I caught that, Joel. It was a good run while it lasted.

Now if we can only figure out coachDP’s secret identity…

“Amir, Son of John” is a classic.

Joel you sneaky bastard!

Good stuff Joel. Next time, use Firefox’s Stealther extension…

i repeat two thoughts from earlier posts.
   1. if amir were to play whole game the refs would stop calling a foul every time there was contact. what are they going to do? foul him out before half?
   2. the league and pundits deride sheed regularly despite his having won a title and having been a force in the league for a long time. they refer to him as immature and distracted. yet it is wade who is leaving his young family. so who is really immature and distracted? they should cut sheed some slack. they are such tools.

Lol at wing players getting less fouls now because the game is slower. Back then you could hand check.

Now you breath on a wing player and you get called for a foul. Lebron gets ridiculous treatment. Anyone even remotely neutral can see it.

This article could have been summed up by posting video of the 4th quarters of the Cavs/Stones series a couple years back. Stones got the short end of the stick starting the year after they won it all. Even having the DPOY didn’t get any kind of respect. Ginobli could lower his shoulder into Big Ben every play and Ben still got whistled. It’s a shame that a hard working blue collar teamwork style isn’t wanted by the league. Oh and foreign players getting favor over what should have been America’s Team.

There needs to be more coverage on this. Lebron’s foul numbers are ridiculous. I also agree that he gets too many calls. He does clear out a lot and should be called for the offensive foul a bit more say a couple times every 4 or 5 games.
But all this is really moot. KG will be back on the court, Pierce can lock(well contain) LBJ, plus the Celtics basically did it w/o Allen shooting well in the playoffs last year. I believe Boston has one more year left. Celts will beat the Lakers in the finals.

I miss D-town playing the physical ball. Hopefully they will get back to it. Not wanting to see anyone intentionally hurt. But, players should have some hesitation when driving into the lane.