Just about everyone in these here Playoffs has had a complaint or two about the refs. The Blazers’ coach, Nate McMillan, evidently did not want to be left out of the fun. Especially with his team facing the prospect of elimination.
With his team on the ropes, Nate is pulling out the victim card when it comes to the officiating.
From The Oregonian:
Despite the possibility of a fine from NBA executive Stu Jackson, who among other duties oversees officiating, McMillan without prompting criticized the officiating in the series. In particular, McMillan focused on the two games in Houston, both won by the Rockets. “I don’t want Stu to be calling me or anything like that, but if you look at the stat sheet and you look at the way the calls have gone the last couple games, it’s not consistent,” McMillan said.
“Our guys, Greg and Joel, are getting called for touch fouls against Yao, and Artest and Battier are riding Brandon Roy every time he runs or he penetrates to the basket,” McMillan said. “I’m just saying that it needs to be called both ways.” For the series, the Blazers have been called for 101 fouls, Houston 83. Portland has shot 79 free throws to Houston’s 106.
To his credit, McMillan acknowledged that he was pretty much aping what Rick Adelman had done following the Rockets’ Game 2 loss in Portland: complain about the officials through the media.
Call me crazy, but I see the Blazers getting a whole bunch of calls on their homecourt tonight.
