Thunder-Pistons Reaction: SGA push-off foul sets SCARY precedent for OKC in playoffs | NBA Reaction

30 comments

1. It shouldn't take late game heroics from a team as deep as OKC. The fact that he has had to do that a lot I would think is a troubling sign. They should be blowing out teams a lot more with all the talent they have but they aren't.

2. When will national media stop hating on the pistons and give them due respect?

3. But that's the problem, Jason. You need to consistently call those arm fully extended push offs and chicken wing/ arm bar push offs that Shai does which you and other media members acknowledge he is doing nonstop throughout the game. It's the only way to force refs to call the fouls so he and other players will have no choice but to stop doing it or risk fouling out of a game at a crucial time in the game and hurt their team in the process.

   Same thing with that Alex Caruso hack across the arms which he uses to dislodge a ball and get a steal. It's not a good defensive play; it's a foul when it happens that needs to be called as such.

   A foul is a foul. It shouldn't matter when it happens in the game and be called consistently every time it happens both ways regardless of which team is doing it.

4. 25 free throw attempts is ridiculous. NBA needs to do something about this nonsense

5. I completely agree with everything you say. Let Shai use his shoulder and arm to create separation, but don't call every touch on him foul. And to me its pretty simple when you should call a foul. If a player with ball in his hand initiate the contact, there is no foul. So every drive when Shai(or any other player) leans into defender, there will be no foul called. You get exact same whistle LeBron was getting in his prime.

6. The way that game was called last night was an embarrassment to the league. 25 FT's is an abomination. Absolute unwatchable product.

7. It's a scary precedent to follow the rulebook and call fouls on all players equally?

8. If it was me and I was in foul trouble when he did that kind of shit I'd grab his arm that he's pushing me with and yank as hard as possible then tell the media afterwards that since his arm was inside my jersey I considered it mine and wanted to see if it would come off.

9. Shai is officiated rhe same way as Harden when he was in Houston. Harden wasnt even using a push of with arm like Shai, he would get his chest in the body of defender and get a call. And he was amasing in this which provided him huge amount of free throws per game. Until l believe it was his last playoff in Houston. They gave him calls in that regular season but stopped in the playoffs and his numbers dropped significantly. And he was never getting those calls after that. Same will happen to Shai. If oposinf coaches and players emphasise this foul baiting just wait and see, out of nowhere they will start calling offensive fouls to Shai for this move.

10. Shay Egregious-Alexander 🫸

11. Shai glazathon

12. Shay-(Stiff-arm) Alexander!😂😂😂
    And had the nerve to clutch his pearls with his hands over his mouth like he was watching the twin Towers fall… maaaan if u don't Getcho….

13. SGA ‘push-off-boy’ isn’t “clearly the best player in the world”. Just like everyone else said, it’s unwatchable! Sure it’s legal, but without that stupid push-off I don’t think he is better than Ant.

14. He was not 3 from 3 in clutch. He missed 4 shots but all got called for soft fouls. Hard to miss with that kind of whistle

15. So many salty losers from LA on here. SGA is king

16. You know, this is such a great perspective. I always appreciate how JT breaks down the X's and the O's. I agree 100%. The push off is less of a concern. It's more about pairing it with egregious HACKING defense on the other end AND the loose whistle every time someone BREATHES on SGA. They need to let SGA take that contact. Stop calling all those weak fouls. OKC plays physical defense, so let other teams do the same to them. Push offs in general? I've lost count of how many players push off. Every elite offensive perimeter player pushes off. Let it go and allow the defenders to be physical back. I also agree that Lebron used to get NO whistle, the only player that got it worse was Shaq. It's like some sort of "I'm bigger and stronger than everyone" penalty. Chauncy Billups used to get similar treatment when he posted up smaller guards. They would just let guards like Tony Parker hang all over him.

17. SGA pushes off AND shamelessly foul baits constantly. It was nice that the ref had the guts to not let him win the game on yet another offensive foul. As it was he shot 25 free throws himself to the Pistons total of 23. SGA is an amazing player. I'd just like to see the refs call a fair game. When you literally fall down – on your own – no contact – and get gifted yet more free throws it gets hard to watch. Just say'n.

18. He shot 25 free throws last night.

19. No okc fans want every whistle in their favor!

20. Man this guys sga glazing is insane

21. SGA driving these head coaches into having nervous breakdowns. Haha love it.

22. I left a comment on one of your SGA videos years ago about this issue.

    This is 100% a foul and Shai cant consistently get separation without this foul.

    This move is the equivalent of the step back for James Harden except the step is a legal move. Imagine taking the step back away from harden. It would reduce his effectiveness substantially.

    The same is true here. Literally no other player has ever gotten away with this consistently. If this were a legal move you would see it being adopted en masse by all of the good offensive players just like what happened with the step back. This move isnt getting adopted by other players because they get called for fouls whenever they try it. Its not like throwing your elbow into someone before you step back is hard to do. Literally every player in the NBA can easily do this they just won't get away with it.

    If Lebron did this it would be called a foul literally every single time. People were questioning if lebron was committing a foul just by powering through defenders with his shoulder. Can you imagine if he was literally extending his elbow to dislodge defenders then stepping back to use the space created by this foul?

    Jason has been ignoring this problem because he's a complete coward when it comes to criticizing Superstar players. Jason has good basketball Analysis but poor character which contaminates his analysis on certain players. This kind of cowardice is a tendency of people that have lived with extreme privilege for their entire life.

    When you've always been above everyone else its very convenient to imagine that yourself and all the other "winners" got their because they earned it. When people complain that some of the winners or exploiting unfair advantages its very difficult for these kind of men to pull the silver spoon out of their ass and actually analayze the complaint without bias.

    Its the same as the mentality of your just a loser if you complain about officiating. This ignores the fact that their is a massive amount of incompetence and corruption inherent in all positions of judicial power such as a sports referee. Sure sometimes people are complaining just because they are not coping with their loss. Other times people complain because they arent being given a fair playing field. If you let Anthony Edwars, Jaylen Brown, Jokic, Luka, Victor W., or any other elite player get away with this move Shai would instantly drop to like the tenth best player in the NBA which completely changes the outcome of NBA history.

23. “Sets scary precedent” bruh he been doing this shit all season and gets free throws out of it everytime😂 this is great news for literally every single person besides OKC fans

24. @HoopsTonight
    Jason, you can’t have your cake 🎂 and eat it too with SGA. OKC as a team flops every play on offense and then on defense play super physical and “hack” stop rewarding “foul grifting” it ruins the flow of the sport of basketball just to generate gambling revenue and cover spreads. The NBA is a horrible product because of the officiating and the lack of physicality allowed.

25. From a fan whose favorite player also does his fair share of push offs (Jaylen brown), I can say this one felt pretty obvious and was a good call.

26. Shai was getting his ass beat all night. Probably should have had more free throws honestly.

27. What is Embiid doing away from the hoop, who can stop him inside?

28. So should the defenders be allowed to put their hands all over him as long as they don’t fully extend their arms?

29. i think physicality is a good thing. physical defences are defences that are TRYING and PLAYING HARD which makes for a better product always. keep the push off and the aggressiveness of defence but cut back on the bs ticky tack fouls players like brunson, sga and luka get. that's what makes this whole thing a talking point, is how uneven it is for the superstar whistle.

30. “…extends that off arm a little bit…” 😂 Hilarious! And so disingenuous…Jason clearly has an agenda and is not giving honest, legitimate takes.