By Steve Wyche
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, June 11, 2003; Page D04
NEW YORK, June 10 -- With his team down 2-1 to the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals and his best front-court player, Kenyon Martin, having registered more fouls than any player in the series (16), New Jersey Nets Coach Byron Scott today claimed unfair treatment by officials.
"My personal opinion is it's something that I see with the officiating, to be honest with you," Scott said. "We've been a team all season long that's gone to the free throw line a ton of times. In this series, for some reason, it's like two to one. And to me, I think a lot of that has to do with the officiating.
"I'm not trying to take anything away from San Antonio. I think Tim Duncan gets away with a whole lot of things on the defensive end that Kenyon Martin does not get away with and Kenyon Martin is one of the best defensive players in this league. So, in my opinion, the officiating in this series has been a little one-sided."
There is evidence to substantiate Scott's argument.
The Nets have been called for 73 fouls, the Spurs 53. New Jersey has shot 30 fewer free throws than San Antonio (58 to 88). Martin and Nets center Jason Collins have fouled out once apiece, and in Game 1 the five Nets players who guarded Duncan and teammate David Robinson combined for 18 fouls. Duncan has been called for just seven in the series and in the Spurs' 84-79 Game 3 victory, San Antonio went to the foul line 35 times to 17 for the Nets.
Whether it was Scott's intent to point out the discrepancy or to try to influence officials for Wednesday's Game 4 at Continental Airlines Arena -- or both -- is open for debate.
Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich said he thinks Scott is reaching.
"I never include the officials," Popovich said. "I don't think they have anything to do with it. I think you create your own opportunities by being aggressive and I think whenever you start to think about officials being part of something, you're going down the wrong road. . . . If you make it an issue, I think your focus gets a little bit off course."
Despite the discrepancy, San Antonio has made only nine more free throws than New Jersey, and is shooting 64 percent from the line. So putting the Spurs at the foul line might not be such a bad thing. However, having Martin in foul trouble is not a good thing for the Nets.
"I can't speak on the officiating," Martin said. "I just try to play the game. Just go out there and play hard for however long I'm out there. If I get a call or if I don't, I can't worry about that. If I start worrying about the officiating, it's going to affect my play. . . . I kind of put it on myself a little bit, reaching, silly fouls, things like that. Some of the fouls I get I deserve. . . . It just so happened in the first two games they called them. Third game, I got away with it a little more. Different officials, different situations."
A possible reason for New Jersey shooting fewer free throws than the Spurs is San Antonio getting back quickly in its transition defense and not allowing the Nets to get easy drives to the rim. The Spurs have used a hybrid 3-2 zone defense in half-court sets, which has caused New Jersey to shoot far more perimeter shots than it would like.
The times the Nets are able to break through San Antonio's perimeter defense, Duncan and fellow seven-footer Robinson or Robinson's hyperactive backup, Malik Rose, are waiting. Much of the time, New Jersey's players are pulling up for mid-range jumpers instead of going hard to the basket.
Martin has taken 12 foul shots but no other interior player for New Jersey has more than four. Point guard Jason Kidd has taken 10 free throws, guard Lucious Harris 11. The Spurs, on the other hand, have pounded the ball inside to Duncan (22 of 36 free throws), Robinson (12 of 15 free throws) and had point guard Tony Parker penetrate the lane (10 of 15 free throws).
The Spurs' commitment to get shots inside has more to do with the free throw discrepancy more than anything, Kidd said.
"It's not the officiating," Kidd said. "We can't just settle for jump shots. We have to take the ball to the basket and be aggressive. So the officiating has been, I think, great throughout this series and throughout the playoffs."
