Neither was an obvious foul. For those that think Griffin just tries to dunk it every play, well I can only assume you haven't watched a Clippers game. He is young and I assume he'll polish his game. A super athletic guy that gets a lot of dunks, and then works on other pieces to compliment his game. Yup, sounds like a pretty normal path for a young, talented, athletic, NBA player. He will only get better.
Like Hooker pointed out, Gasol didn't establish position. He should have blocked out. Poor fundamentals. Notice how none of the Lakers players were complaining?
How do you establish position on someone leaping from the free throw line any better than jumping straight up? lol The forearm shiver is usually a signature move for small guards who HAVE to create space to get a layup off, but it looks as though bigs can use it too. I'm not saying Blake is only capable of being a dunker, I'm just saying all he does is dunk. lol He will no doubt improve and is already a great in the league, but some speak of him as on pace to chase in LBJs shoes, and he just doesn't have a multidimensional game in order to do so.
You don't have to "establish position" to be fouled.... That jumping over Gasol's back, IS indeed a foul in the REAL game of basketball. While it is a wildly athletic move, if the ref's hadn't swallowed their whistles saying "WOW," they should have been able to blow them because that indeed was a big time FOUL.... Now that I can see the second video, again, a DEFINITE foul as you can't use your forearm like that in the game of basketball, or it's considered an OFFENSIVE foul. Now you guys can be fans all you want, but there are RULES to the game, and in that game when you use your arm in a pushing or stiking manner, it's considered a FOUL.... Try that garbage in a game that is well officiated, and you're likely to get a TECHNICAL or FLAGRANT FOUL called on you!!! And I've watched a few Clippers games, and while you see Blake hit the highlight real, you don't see the number of times he's out of place because we went in running to try to get the dunk, and the ball careened in a different direction making him look almost lost. Again, with a bit of coaching, he will continue to develop, but there are more than a few flaws in his game.
Agreed he should have boxed out better though I don't know that it would have mattered much. Not complaining by the Lakers may just be an indicator of their having grown accustomed to the lack of enforcement. Besides, surely mister push off, three step dribbler himself, Kobe, isn't going to complain about an offensive foul not being called. Griff is still an awesome athlete... nobody else dunks like that.
Despite the use of unnecessarily capitalized words, its still not a foul. Athleticism doesn't keep fouls from getting called, it causes unnecessary foul calls because people are surprised by what they see. They think that has to be a foul. The first play is definitely not a foul. The second one is questionable.
No, I absolutely DO, that's why I said they were FOULS.... Had he not used his forearm on the second play, it would have been a "BLOCK," but when you go to using your forearm, it doesn't matter if the defender has position or not, you're fouling... Basketball and football are two different sports. As for the over the back, that's what's called a player control foul, he didn't maintain control of himself to prevent slamming into another player in the process of making his big dunk. He came over Gasol's back, to get the rebound and slam it home, and in that case, it's not about establishing position as much as it is about not running into someone... Put it this way, if he wasn't 4 feet in the air and ran into Gasol, you'd obviously see it as a foul, thus the fact that he's 4 feet in the air doesn't mean as much as he didn't keep himself from running into the opposing player. In REAL basketball, that's called a foul, in the NBA (which I think stands for Not Basketball Anymore) it wasn't called, because the ref's swallowed their whistles, for the sake of the fans' entertainment. Sort of like the NBA's 8 step rule on traveling.... Impressive plays??? Sure, but the still are fouls, no two ways about it. Those of you who don't see them as fouls are more fans of players than fans of the game.... Actually, they were. See explanation above.
I understand people that watched or played crappy basketball growing up are shocked when they see athletic people playing the game. People are uncertain of things that aren't familiar. Its just human nature. What is most surprising in this thread is that there is no red or blue font, yet.
Try the first play in a high school or college game and the whistle will blow 90% of the time. The pros is about money and the highlight real sells. If he jumps straight up and doesn't slam into another player and just reaches over, then its not a foul and a heck of a play. Hell, in the pros there are more that can make that same foul than can't. Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk
Then it would be a bad call. "Over the back" is probably the most over-called/miscalled foul in High School basketball.
The NBA has the best basketball officials in the world. I will trust their judgement over a HS or college official.
Lets change the name to WWF/NBA and everyone can be happy. Griff can go for a dunk and Cena can power slam him from mid air. That'd be rad cool and no one would really care if it is a foul or not!
Like I said earlier. Over the back is not a foul. On the back is. NBA officials are payed to promote their sport. Look what they did for jordan and what they are doing for players like kobe. I truly think you are arguing for the sake of argument. No way anyone that knows the game can look at that play and not see a foul. Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk
