In An Upset Of The Century, Scott Foster Is Not Working The Suns/Mavs Game 7
What an upset! Be honest, you didn't think there was ANY chance that once Scott Foster was pulled from MIL/BOS on Friday night for being "sick", that he would somehow not get the call to work the Suns/Mavs Game 7. Foster vs Chris Paul Rd 15 seemed like it was inevitable. But seeing as how Paul is 0-14 all time against Foster, I imagine Suns fans woke up pretty fucking elated when they saw the ref assignments today.
I just didn't know Adam Silver had this in him to resist the temptation. Maybe that would have been too obvious even for him, and maybe he wanted to avoid the WWE comparisons and all that shit, but it was still very shocking to see. The bad news is, it's not all that peachy for the Suns. Getting both Zach Zarba AND Tony Brothers is a tough draw for sure, but I imagine if they had their choice between those two in the same game or Foster, they roll the dice with what we currently have today. You just can't tempt a man that openly hates Chris Paul and wants him to do nothing but fail in big postseason moments.
It would be nice if we could live in a world where nobody had to give a shit who the officials were in a huge NBA playoff game, but that's not exactly how the NBA works. This is the same league that puts out shit like this
For better and mostly for worse, NBA refs matter and make an impact on the product we all know and love. Yes, the real reason teams win or lose is how they execute. Obviously, unless it's a CP3/Foster game but for the most part, it comes down to what the players are able to do within those 48 minutes. Too often though do we see officials have their fingerprints on shit and the 2021-22 season may have been one of the worst officiated seasons in recent memory. This shit is clearly broken and until Adam Silver starts giving a shit about it, this will always continue to be a narrative surrounding his league.
On a day when there are two AWESOME Game 7s, both fanbases immediately wanted to know who was working their game the second we all woke up today. That's…..a problem. It shouldn't matter, but it does.
For the Suns, now that they don't have to worry about Scott Foster, they can turn their attention to one other gigantic factor in today's game. Stopping Luka. We all remember what Luka did in the last Game 7 he played in, correct?
They lost sure, but this is a better Mavs team this time around. Luka is one of those rare players that seems to be built for these moments and this type of pressure. The Mavs are rolling into the desert with momentum and confidence which are two things you absolutely need if your goal is to knock off a team that has dominated this league for 2 years now. It is unfortunate that both of these teams have to deal with Tony Brothers, but that's life. Whoever does the better job at keeping their mental composure when Zarba and Brothers inevitably do some shady and questionable shit will come out victorious and will have their date with the red hot Warriors. What a series that's going to be no matter who wins this game.
I just know that even with all the Suns fans that undoubtedly exhaled when they saw the Foster news, nobody on this planet is more relieved than Chris Paul. Maybe now he can get back to being the Point Gawd and not a guy who is throwing up shit like this
If not, it won't matter who the officials are.