Larry Brown blames the refs

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs2005/columns/story?id=2060057

Larry Brown had something to say about the officiating. He didn't like the
call against Hamilton and he didn't like the no-call on Reggie. Brown might
be right. But complaints about unfair treatment fall on deaf ears here in
Indiana.

"I don't think there's anybody like [Miller] or anybody who'd take it or
anybody who'd make it like him," Brown said. "Look at that. You tell me. Go
back to how we talked about at the beginning of this year how they wanted to
improve. You put it on the wrong people instead of putting it on the
players.

"Just look at the film," he continued. "He made a great shot, but you look
at the film and you write it down and you send me your judgment on that. It
was an unbelievable shot. Bow how did he get so open? He got in position and
like I always say, great players make great plays. But when you make no
field goals in the last seven or eight minutes, tell me how they can still
win just shooting free throws. I'd rather lose on how we missed shots rather
than how they hit free throws." Before we go on, now's an appropriate time
go back to something Pistons reserve forward Darvin Ham said Tuesday
regarding Pacers coach Rick Carlisle.

s_knight8 wrote:
> http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs2005/columns/story?id=2060057
>
> Larry Brown had something to say about the officiating. He didn't
like the
> call against Hamilton and he didn't like the no-call on Reggie. Brown
might
> be right. But complaints about unfair treatment fall on deaf ears
here in
> Indiana.
>
> "I don't think there's anybody like [Miller] or anybody who'd take it
or
> anybody who'd make it like him," Brown said. "Look at that. You tell
me. Go
> back to how we talked about at the beginning of this year how they
wanted to
> improve. You put it on the wrong people instead of putting it on the
> players.
>
> "Just look at the film," he continued. "He made a great shot, but you
look
> at the film and you write it down and you send me your judgment on
that. It
> was an unbelievable shot. Bow how did he get so open? He got in
position and
> like I always say, great players make great plays. But when you make
no
> field goals in the last seven or eight minutes, tell me how they can
still
> win just shooting free throws. I'd rather lose on how we missed shots
rather
> than how they hit free throws." Before we go on, now's an appropriate
time
> go back to something Pistons reserve forward Darvin Ham said Tuesday
> regarding Pacers coach Rick Carlisle.

The Pistons should be blaming themselves, and I say that as a long time
(Kent Benson! Kelly Tripucka!) Pistons fan. If you only score 45
points in three quarters, and then have to hope that a ref will call an
offensive foul on Reggie Miller while he's taking a three--all while
you're still down three points with only a few seconds left ... well,
you need more options. Most charitably, Larry may be trying to deflect
blame from his players.--Joe