Typically, in this league made for TV, production equals respect. I'm not talking about respect from the national media, or respect from the fans, I'm talking about respect from the refs. When you're an unknown rookie, you don't get the borderline whistles. When you're mostly a jump shooter who rarely ventures into the lane, you don't get the borderline whistles. When you're a finesse player who shies away from contact, you don't get the borderline whistles. Jrue is none of those things anymore, and it's about time he started getting the benefit of the doubt.
Here's some perspective on the team as a whole, first. The Sixers have been outscored by 43 points so far this season. From the line, they've been outscored by 48. In the past two games, they've been outscored by 35 from the line. Two home games, they've attempted 25 fewer free throws than the star-less Pistons and Bulls. That's shameful.
Part of the problem is the horrendous Sixer bigs. They're pretty much all either too slow, too weak, too dumb or some combination of the three to protect the paint. Spencer Hawes is helpless as a weak-side defender unless the play is telegraphed and he has three or four seconds to get himself into position. Even then, it's 50/50 whether he'll get whistled for the foul he commits. Poor interior defense is part of the problem, but it's not the part that's most frustrating.
The NBA, at its worst, is barely better than professional wrestling. When a superstar is in a game, the deck is stacked absurdly in their favor. If you look at LeBron the wrong way, he's going to the line. If OKC ever goes into a scoring drought, all they need to do is give the ball to Kevin Durant anywhere in the vicinity of the basket and he's more likely to get a trip to the line than not. Paul Pierce's plaintive wails lead to a handful of whistles every game when no one comes close to making contact with him. It's sad to watch. It's something teams without superstars have to overcome. Whether it's a mandate from the league to protect the game's stars, human nature because those players are head and shoulders above everyone else or a downright act of cowardice and playing favorites by the refs, it's institutional and has been basically since Michael Jordan started scowling at the refs, if not longer.
When you're on the outside looking in (like the Sixers have been since Iverson's prime), it can be maddening, and it's understandable when the game loses fans because of it. If you're still here, if you've lived through it for this long, then the best you can hope for is to get on the inside. Get a guy on your team who gets those calls, then you can shake your head when Toronto fans complain that Bargnani never gets the whistles. What you can't stomach is when you watch a guy on your team emerge, and he still isn't getting the calls.
Over the past two games, Jrue has attempted 28 shots inside of the free throw line. Time and time again, he's used his size and strength to bully his way into the paint, and fought through contact to get shots up. 28 shots, 7 free throw attempts (two came on an intentional foul at the end of the game, another on a technical). That's just absurd. The game Jrue is playing this year is built around getting into the teeth of the defense and using his size and strength once he's there. The whistles are still silent.
It's cost the Sixers in the aggregate, but anecdotally, it's killed them against the Bulls. In their first meeting, with the Sixers down by 4 with 2:14 left in the game, Jrue bullied Kirk Hinrich into the lane late in the game, got the whistle and hit a banker from about 8 feet away. The basket didn't count. The Sixers got no free throws. That plays is a continuation 99 out of 100 times in the NBA, 101 out of 100 if you're a superstar. Last night, there was a similar play where Jrue used a spin move to blow by his man, drew contact from the big and finished with his left hand. The whistle? A phantom travel.
Jrue isn't perfect. Far from it. He's not a superstar, and I'm not saying he should be getting charity whistles at this point in his career. What I'm saying is he should be getting a fair shake from the officials. 28 shots in the lane in two games. Two whistles sending him to the line. That's a percentage Vince McMahon would be ashamed of.
Don't referees get evaluated on their ability to do their jobs well?
I'm aware that the sixers aren't built to take 30 trips to the line in a game, but the free throw discrepancies have been very disturbing.
You're assuming the league looks at a game like last night and sees a problem. Or looks at the PHI vs. OKC game (Thunder were +20) and sees anything other than, "good, another elite team won."
Yes, but like in all sports, are referees evaluated? I don't know how often, but I would like to assume that after decades of sports entertainment, they've at least worked out a compentent and efficient system.
Slightly off topic, but Jrue threw multiple bad passes, while driving in the line, into traffic in the 4th quarter yesterday. It was maddening to watch, especially considering that there were guys open on the other side of the floor.
I remember one at Thad's feet. Don't remember any others. He had 5 turns. One was the BS travel I mentioned above which should've been a three-point play. One was on the other end of the floor, he saved a ball from going out of bounds, threw it right to Noah in the lane. Another was a double dribble on the perimeter. Not sure what the other two were. Don't think the bad pass to Thad was one of them. Think he tried to thread the needle to Turner once.
Jrue tests negative for foot fracture, MRI coming next.
https://twitter.com/preston76/statuses/279273331600003072
holy sht!
brain, i kind of think jrue's travel last night was legit. wasnt it one of those crab steps that lebron used to take? pick up the dribble and try to take a two foot jump stop but the feet dont land at the same time so technically its two steps and a travel?
...didn't AI9 start getting calls after they named him to the allstar team last year?
Another note - a Bulls fan was shot after the game last night. Great news keeps on comin.
http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/sixers/Holiday_to_have_MRI_on_Foot.html
http://espn.go.com/chicago/nba/story/_/id/8742424/joakim-noah-chicago-bulls-says-was-disrespected-philadelphia-76ers-fans
In addition, point guard Royal Ivey won’t make the trip due to strep throat. Gerald Wilkins (calf strain) is will be a game-time decision.
I lol'ed at that last sentence
...so no Jrue, no Royal, Wilkins (ha) game-time...do we see 48 minutes of ET then?
And the writer put gerald instead of damien.
You've got to be kidding me. Come on, can't lose Jrue on top of the Bynum mess.
Lottery!
*starts to convince himself that this draft class is good when deep down inside i dont think it is*
I gazed over draftexpress website and 10 of the top 14 picks are C/PFs. Unfortunately, 3 of them were white and a few of them were less than 6'9.
its all gonna depend on if they think they can re-sign bynum
*if they consider re-signing Bynum
I think it has more to do with his style than him not being a "superstar". Jrue doesn't attack the rim with the same force as Lebron or with the same speed as Westbrook. He doesn't have the flailing ability of Paul Peirce nor is he a liability like Dwight Howard.
When he's in the paint, it more about tempo than anything else. He knows when to pull up for the jumper and how to get his shot off so it doesn't get blocked.
Jrue attempts 3.6 free throw attempts per game this season and Rondo has never average more than that in his career. The PG who gets to the line the most in the NBA per game is Ramon Sessions. If anyone needs to get to the FT line more it's Evan Turner.
Time for SwaggyPG as he has been mentioned add one of the teams two options at the point...
Wasn't Collins blown away by Wright's handle in the preseason?
How do you explain the Pistons and the Bulls getting to the line so much the last 2 games against the Sixers? TI agree that Superstars get the calls but guys like Holiday don't get to the line because they don't know how to draw fouls consistently. Knowing how to draw fouls is a skill. See Lou Williams for example. He is not a star but he gets to the line a ton on a per minute basis. Going into contact on drives(instead of away), hesistating a bit (instead of going in a straight line at one speed and pump faking Holiday does none of these things and neither does ET. These are skills and if they want to get to the line more they better learn how to do some of them.
Jrue's interior game is based on change of pace, size and strength. He should probably add pump fakes into his game in there, but this isn't about him shying away from contact or being jumper-happy anymore. Last night's a good example, but it happens pretty much every night. When you make a living penetrating, you should be going to the line and you should be getting the benefit of the doubt.
I know this is consistent with years past and on the whole is considered a big joke, but my goodness, the fan vote for the All-Star starters if pathetic.
My voting is...
Rondo/Holiday/James/Anthony/Noah
If the Cavs were winning I would have taken Varejao over Noah.
Paul/Bryant/Durant/Randolph/Howard
If you're not taking Varejao cause they're not winning, why take Kobe and D12?
They're in total disarray but there's too much talent for things not to get figured out. They're going to make the playoffs. The Cavs just stink.
So Hollinger is now the Vice President of Operations for the Grizzlies. Jason Levien jumped ship to them as well, not that he was doing much here, to become their CEO.
The Levien bit is from last month obviously.
Grantland took a bit of a different angle today on Holiday:
Someone needs to get credit for Philadelphia’s pleasant mediocrity, and why not Jrue Holiday? The 22-year-old point guard, who was elevated to primary ball handler after the trade of Andre Iguodala, has been dumping gargantuan numbers on foes all season. Right now, he’s averaging 18 points and nine assists a game. In the Sixers’ loss to Chicago last night, he shoveled in 26 on nearly 50 percent shooting, with nine assists, five rebounds and two steals. Considering this toddler was born in the year Amerikkka’s Most Wanted dropped and Demi Moore had phantasmagoric sex on an oozy pottery wheel, he’s gotta be a franchise building block, right?
Ehhhh, maybe? Against the Bulls, Holiday scored 26 points on 28 shots. Those are the untidy numbers we associated with the Old Carmelo! While Holiday is a dangerous perimeter shooter with slithery polish off the bounce and enough post game to bully petite guards, some flaws threaten to derail his ascension into the god-body cipher divine of point guards. Mostly, he’s terrible at getting to the free throw line and doesn’t take enough three-pointers. While his scoring and assists (and turnovers) have soared because of his increased responsibility, he still can’t get buckets if his mid-range jumper isn’t clicking. Holiday is seventh in the entire league in field goals attempted, but has proportionally shot fewer free throws than any of the NBA’s top 30 scorers. In efficiency-speak, he’s similar to Brandon Jennings and Russell Westbrook, a pair rarely regaled for their prudence.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news to Philly fans awaiting Andrew Bynum’s Bowling-4-Cartilage Benefit, but Holiday hasn’t made the leap just yet. On the upside, he’ll probably get named to the All Star team anyway.
— Ben Detrick
Well, I give him credit for not crowning Holiday as "The Franchise" solely based on his counting stats, but he is taking an individual approach without many other considerations. Defenses are free to lock down on Holiday without consequence, as exemplified by the immediate double teaming we have seen in recent games as soon as he crosses mid-court. He's definitely having a standout season and will make a bargain of his contract with multiple All-Star appearances and a gold medal, FIBA and Olympics, down the line.
nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
https://twitter.com/Jrue_Holiday11/status/279390080102199296/photo/1
Eh, been there. Give him a week off and nip it in the bud.