Steve Kerr defends the referees, as his Warriors plot for Game 2
Steve Kerr understands what most people that have routinely watched NBA games from 30 feet away from the rim know as fact – it is nigh on impossible to turn in an A+ grade when it comes to calling NBA games.
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That doesn’t take away from the sting of Kerr’s Golden State Warriors losing Game 1 of the Western Conference finals to Oklahoma City, nothing will, and it certainly doesn’t excuse three different referees missing a traveling violation from Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook.
Still, it was Kerr’s Warriors that were down three points when Russell traveled late in Game 1 – that’s not the fault of the referees – and Kerr knows that the whistle could have just as easily been swallowed had Stephen Curry made the same foot-swipe in a similar situation.
To top it, the Warriors coach isn’t exactly a fan of the NBA calling out its referees in the hopes of engaging with its fans and establishing transparency. From Tuesday:
Steve Kerr played for four seasons under former Chicago Bulls coach Phil Jackson, who famously used passive/aggressive techniques to both influence calls through the media, or on the court via smirks or outright carps. Still, if you think this is Kerr’s way of buttering up the referees (Mike Callahan, Kane Fitzgerald and Ed Malloy are scheduled for Game 2) or if you think Kerr actually thinks he’ll be able to curry favor with the refs by having their side on the “transparency” issue, then you don’t know Steve.
Or Mike, Kane and Ed, for that matter.
The NBA is doing the right thing in publishing its late-game findings. The league has tracked and submitted referee reports for years, so it isn’t as if the refs aren’t aware of their misses, and the league isn’t doing anything wrong in letting 1/24th of its game-long reports be known to the public. It helps the NBA fandom understand how (in many cases, unnecessarily stridently) the league views how the game should be called, and what to expect the next time a similar situation is presented. Whether or not the fans want to listen and learn, before heading to their computers to rant, is up to them.
It’s not just about “exposing bad calls,” as Kerr mentioned. It’s also the NBA’s way of telling angry viewers that, hey, they got this one right, in our eyes, and you need to lay off.
The issue, for the few that only watch NASCAR for the wrecks and the NHL (or, more recently, Major League Baseball) for the fights, is that nobody is clicking to read up on the contested call that was actually called correctly. So it goes. Referees never have a home game. Boo. Hiss.
This is a major talking point but a minor distraction for the Warriors, who are now charged with standing in the way of an Oklahoma City juggernaut that has won four consecutive games against teams that combined for 140 regular season wins this season.
The Warriors did not look like a 73-win team on Monday evening, and at the risk of dismissing Oklahoma City’s role in things, Golden State will have to find a way to re-ignite that spark of both insouciance and terror that marked the team’s regular season run.
We’re unsure if the former leads to the latter or vice versa, that a casual jumper from 25 feet leads to three points that the defense doesn’t plan on, or that the threat of that casual bomb with 19 seconds left in the shot clock leads to the open lane that allows a Warrior to dribble into a defense that is scared witless about giving up another Vine-worthy bomb.
What we do know is that Golden State’s offense was sub-standard in Game 1, in ways that went well beyond Stephen Curry’s seven turnovers in the game and 1-6 shooting in the fourth quarter. Draymond Green, perhaps frightened by the points of emphasis regarding his reputation for moving screens, did not give so much as a big butt or a smile in freeing his dribbling teammates. Curry shot 3-8 from inside the arc and only attempted two free throws, while Andre Iguodala seemed to be saving himself as if this were a mid-March game against Orlando. Klay Thompson missed all four of his shots in the fourth.
Again, we’re dismissing Oklahoma City’s influence on all of this, but in the interim this is just fine. A 73-win team that hasn’t played to its usual standards while featuring an MVP working on one leg, down 0-1 in the Conference finals – that’s your story.
This isn’t to say that we’re not leering at the Thunder, as they storm toward what they hope is a championship run.
Championship teams aren’t sated by taking one. Championship teams aren’t usually stuck in the position to have to go on the road for two contests to start a Conference final to begin with, and the Thunder cannot fall back on old habits just yet. Apologies to the Dallas Mavericks, but the Thunder’s first round turn was a (ridiculously potent) exercise in developing its already formidable offensive chops, and the second round conquest of the 67-win San Antonio Spurs was a five-game introduction of character.
Of encouraging the idea that communication on the defensive end is nearly as important as effort and awareness. Of understanding roles and placement and engaging with one’s own self in recognizing the moment. Some of these Thunder weren’t around for the disappointments of injury-plagued 2013 and 2014, so the 2015 injury-plagued disappointment of its own probably didn’t hit them as hard at the time. By now, though, both the newbies and the all-timers (even if Russell Westbrook still pairs Jekyll and Hyde) get it. Even Dion Waiters.
Of course, the Thunder will take Westbrook’s Mr. and Dr.-moments if it means what he came through with in Game 1. Some of your favorite teams could only hope for a point guard that contributed 19 points, three assists, two boards and three steals in a game, and that’s what Westbrook came through with in the third quarter alone. He struggled to find his way in the opening half, but that’s what opening halves are all about. There is something to be learned from standing at the back of the room during the opening acts and getting a read on the place.
With that assured, the onus is still on Golden State to do what’s right. Or, to paraphrase Curry, be better at being themselves. Oklahoma City wasn’t desperate in Game 1, it was just really, really good. Golden State? The derring-do wasn’t ‘der, the movement was lacking and the screens non-existent.
Something has to return. Game 2 can’t come down to hoping the bums with the whistles get it right, while down three points.
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Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KDonhoops
