Official Rockets vs Trailblazers game 5 thread

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is it on nbatv again?

shows what the nba thinks of these two teams of foreigners

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so the series starts may 4 whether or not they win in 5, 6, or 7?

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aaron brroks plays well in oregon. he'll be the difference. houston closes out these chumps tonight.

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Originally Posted by The Oregonian
The Trail Blazers broadcasters have harped on it. Fans continually bring it up. Finally on Monday, coach Nate McMillan addressed what has become a major talking point in Portland's first-round series against the Houston Rockets:

Officiating.

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.

McMillan is particularly unhappy with the fouls called against his centers, Joel Przybilla and Greg Oden, who have the already-challenging task of trying to contain Yao Ming, the Rockets' 7-foot-6 All-Star center.

In the Rockets' 86-83 win Friday night, Oden had five fouls in 21 minutes. Przybilla was called for four fouls and played 20 minutes.

Then, in Sunday's 89-88 Houston victory, Oden picked up five fouls in 10 minutes, several coming when Yao did not have the ball and Oden was fighting to keep him from getting deep post position. Przybilla had four fouls and played 27 minutes.

Yao, meanwhile, played 36 minutes and had three fouls Friday, and went almost 44 minutes while picking up one foul Sunday.

Brandon Roy, the Blazers' All-Star guard, rarely fouls out of games, but he did Friday. Meanwhile, Ron Artest and Shane Battier, the Rockets' stellar defenders who split the duty of guarding Roy, have stayed out of foul trouble, picking up a total of five fouls in the two games in Houston.

"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.

Officiating was a major topic for the Rockets after they lost Game 2 in Portland as Houston coach Rick Adelman complained Thursday that the Blazers had been allowed to manhandle Yao.

"In the first six minutes, they must have called seven or eight fouls on both teams," Adelman told reporters. "Hand-checking, everything else. Then it was like, 'Let's don't call anything else the rest of the game.' They literally put their hands on him from outside the free-throw line all the way down."

McMillan said he was well aware that Adelman had used the media to get this point across.

"No doubt, no doubt," McMillan said. "He's talked about that, (then) our guys have been whistled for those calls. What I'm saying is, if you're going to call it on one end, then call it on both ends."

On Sunday, the Houston Chronicle's Richard Justice wrote a column in which he reflected Adelman's contention that the Blazers were manhandling Yao, writing, "When did basketball become mixed martial arts?"

McMillan said the Blazers have sent tapes of the games and their complaints to the NBA. Among the complaints is that Portland was called for 18 more fouls -- 52 to 34 -- than the Rockets were in Houston, resulting in a free throw advantage for Houston.

NBA spokesman Tim Frank said the league doesn't comment on specific calls, but that teams frequently send disputed plays to the league for review throughout the season, a process made easier with a new online system that allows teams to upload the videos.

In Friday's game, only two Portland players had free throw attempts, and Sunday only three Blazers shot free throws.

"They're playing just as aggressive, just as physical (as we are), and you look at their stats, and those guys, they have one or two fouls, "McMillan said. "The free throw line, there's a huge difference there. So it's something we have to address."

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blazers - 114
rockets - 72

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