Everyone, excepting maybe my wife, was aware of the three guys wearing the Miami Heat uniforms last night, riding in on a historical wave of hype. When LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh decided to play together for the Heat during the off-season, sports fans everywhere were eager to get a glimpse of the ‘Big Three’ in action.
Most sports fans will recall a similar arrival of two new guys to the roster in Boston a few years ago to create a strong triumvirate of stars who delivered a team from perennial lottery to a championship. Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen joined Paul Pierce to form what was, until ‘The Decision’ easily identified as ‘The Big Three’ as far as the NBA was concerned.
While the three guys I watched closely in last night’s game don’t have nearly the name recognition, the fans were no less moved by their work.
Dan Crawford, Tony Brothers and Brian Forte were the officials for last night’s season opener which drew record-high ratings, with an estimated 7 million-plus people catching all three trios displaying their craft on TNT.
Go anywhere else to read about the basketball itself. I don’t have anything to add that hasn’t been written a thousand times.
My interest is in the officiating.
So, with no further ado…
#45 Brian Forte
If I wish to be seen as objective, being critical of officials who do not have strong performances simply will have to happen. Hence, let me begin with the obvious from last nights game.
Brian Forte did not have a good game.
The obvious bad call was the block(Q3-4:32) given to Pierce when James barreled right through him on the run and out of control. Forte was hustling to keep up with the play which went the other direction in a hurry, but seemed to have a good look at it, which makes it all the more puzzling as to how he decided that was a defensive call. Certainly, as was raised by some of the television guys, it was the sort of call that makes the public believe that certain players get better treatment from the officials and, while Pierce is certainly a star, the NBA doesn’t have a bigger star than James right now.
Forte also showed some inconsistencies in how he handled travelling. Early in the second quarter, Forte called Wade for an extra step on a drive to the basket. Looking at it in slow motion, I’d be hard-pressed to either fully endorse or disagree with that call. However, early in the fourth quarter, Rajon Rondo makes a similar drive from a similar angle and position with Forte in the same spot on the sideline, but does not get called on it. Even at live speed, it was much clearer a candidate for a call, but Forte let it slide. The call on Wade caused a turnover and ended up getting a technical called on the Miami bench, whereas the Rondo play ended in a basket for Boston. When you piece it together like that and consider how close in appearance the two plays were, an official needs to be consistent on how they call it. Turns out a big swing of points in this situation.
On another play early in the game, Rondo finds himself running side by side with Bosh, at which point Rondo takes a quick cut left into Bosh, clearly initiating the contact, and stumbles, drawing the call. No doubt the home fans watching casually would demand a call there and be sure it should be on the defense, but the only call to be made here should have been offensive. Otherwise, you need to let it go. Bosh probably should have been smarter than to just idly run next to the guy, and Rondo certainly deserves credit for a heads-up play because it worked exactly the way he wanted it to, but only because Forte kicked the call. A better decision would have punished Rondo.
Generally speaking, the concept of nailing who was guilty of initiating contact was not a strong suit for Forte last night. Late in the third, he called Ilgauskas for a block when Glenn Davis was clearly at fault for the bump. In fact, I’m not sure what Ilgaskas could have done differently; he looked like he was surrounded by crocodiles and was trying to not get bit. Maybe that’s why Forte figured he was guilty.
I don’t want to continue harping on Forte, though. He blew his whistle a LOT last night and got a lot of calls right. In fact, his percentage was better than anyone shooting the ball regularly for either team, but officials don’t get to go, say, 6-for-24 and expect an award. In fact, they’d be unlikely to keep their job.
And, Forte had his moments. There was a play along the sideline where Brothers was too close to see Ilgauskas stick his knee in the path of Marquise Daniels to try to free James for a break to the basket; Forte saw it and helped make the right call for the situation and the game. While it was not his primary area of responsibility at that time, he was able to help get the right call made.
#25 Tony Brothers.
For my money, Brothers’ best work last night came when he did not blow his whistle. There were a few plays on which he was the covering official where a player or coach showed by their reaction they thought there should be a call, but Brothers maintained silence, which, upon review, appeared to be the best possible response.
There was a play in the third quarter where there was some incidental contact between Pierce and James that seemed to throw James off his course a little bit, but wasn’t necessarily a foul. The ball ended up in the hands of Ilgauskas under the basket, who was then hacked by Davis, which WAS called by Brothers. I thought it was a great example of letting a play develop through some incidental ticky-tack stuff to get a much better foul for an NBA-level game.
Brothers later passed on some contact on Wade who seemed to want Rondo for some phantom hold or something after he missed a lay-up. Anything Rondo did against the rules was done well enough it wasn’t picked up by the camera, but it looked like a completely innocent job by Rondo and, really, not very good defense; Wade just missed. He showed his frustration, seeming to want a call there. If anything, I’d have liked to have seen Brothers get him for protesting under the new rule allowing the referees to give technical fouls for overly emotive displays in regard to officiating. Would have been appropriate, plus a nice way to see the rule broken in. Maybe Brothers felt bad for him considering Wade was having a horrible game.
#43 Dan Crawford
Simply, I thought Crawford had an outstanding game last night.
He was consistent in his calls, to be sure, but also was pretty good in what he decided to call and what he decided to pass on.
Loved it.
Late in the first quarter, Crawford hit James with an offensive foul when he plowed into Davis. A big guy like that has to work hard to get position on a guy as fast as LeBron. When he succeeds, you’re happy when he doesn’t still get nailed for a block. Great hustle deserves a reward, especially for a guy as big as ‘Big Baby!’
I also liked that Crawford wasn’t afraid to hit the same guy twice in quick succession. Midway through the second, he correctly saw and called Daniels for sticking his knee and hip in the path of Wade, who was driving to the basket. Less than a minute later, he caught Daniels (looking through several bodies, I might add) pulling on Wade’s jersey as he tried to break away to get open. Some officials seem to shy away from giving a guy two fouls so quickly, which is really the wrong way to look at it. If a guy is breaking the rules, I always hope he gets caught. This was a great example of officiating the game as it’s being played and not worrying about what the coaches or fans might think when they look at the stats later.
There was also a nice bit of teamwork by Crawford and Brothers later in the game on a ball that went out-of-bounds on either Rondo or Eddie House near a sideline. Even slowed down in high definition, it was difficult to say who was the last to touch the ball. The two referees conferred and immediately realized neither had the right view of it and decided to go with a jump ball. Sometimes the right, if difficult, thing to do is admit you missed something. The game moves very fast even at the high school level; it can be incredibly difficult to see things as they happen. When you’re dealing with some of the best athletes in the world, I’m pretty sure it is even more-so the case. Great way to work together and do the right thing.
Though, I think it went out on Rondo, when it comes down to it.
Ultimately, the officials, percentage-wise, had the best game of the three teams on the floor. It wasn’t the best basketball you’re likely to see out of either the Celtics or Heat this year, to be honest, but nor have you necessarily seen the best from Forte, Brothers or Crawford either.
