NBA Hits and Flops of the Week (7-13 March)

It’s around this time of the year that the annual NCAA Basketball tournament or “March Madness”, as it is popularly called, steals away some of the viewers from the NBA. It’s a tournament with the top college prospects get a chance to showcase their talents on national television against the very best colleges in the country.However, this by no means reduces the importance of the current month in the NBA. The East has a lot of Playoff positions at stake. The bottom four playoff spots in the West can be easily interchanged among teams depending upon their form heading into the post-season.Anyway without completely sticking to the on-court action, here’s a recap of the biggest hits and flops of the week from March 7th to March 13th:

#1 Hit: Joey Crawford farewell season ends early due to knee injury

Joey Crawford has failed to recover from a meniscus tear in his right knee

It was around New Year’s when Joey Crawford, one of the most recognizable non-player people on the court in the NBA, told Jack McCaffery of Delaware County Daily Times, that he had decided to retire at the end of the season.

As he was giving this interview, the NBA refereeing legend was recovering from a meniscus tear in his right knee that he suffered in November. He had hoped to return by March 1st and eventually work some games and eventually the Playoffs. However, things didn’t work out as planned as Crawford’s knee has not responded well enough to rehabilitation for him to return to the court.

The news broke out on Thursday and in a telephonic interview with NBA.com, this is what the veteran had to say.

"You turn the page, y'know, and you think, 'It's somebody else's turn. But you still miss it. You miss the people. I'm just lucky that a lot of the refs, they'll call me up.

“I don't know if they do it because they feel sorry for me, but they'll say, 'Can you break down a quarter for me here or a quarter there? I was lucky. For 35 years or so it was only like, a calf [strain] here or there. But the last two years, my 38th and 39th, it just broke down on me. What're ya gonna do? You just move on."

Now on most occasions such a huge figure retiring should be a flop but we see it as a celebration of a great career coming to an end.

Crawford (64) has worked 39 years in the NBA as a referee calling 2,561 regular season games, second only to Hall of Famer Dick Bavetta (2,635). He has called 374 Playoff games (most in the NBA history) while the 50 NBA Finals games he has called come second to Mendy Rudolph, another Hall of Famer.

#2 Flop: Referee apologizes for baiting Deron Williams into technical foul

Deron Williams was baited into a technical foul by the referee

In a game against the Detroit Pistons, Dallas Mavericks guard Deron Williams made some ordinary complaints towards the officials for not receiving a foul call on his drives to the baskets. The type of complaints many players do in the league and not many referees take it seriously, no so in this case.

Officiating that game referee David Jones had a few words with Williams and then went to his bench during a time-out, almost as though calling out. Then when the guard responded the official T’ed him up. Mavericks’ Head Coach post game comments and remarks on the next day paint a clear picture of the incident and what followed.

This was just after the game:

"For the first time in a 33-year NBA career, I saw a referee make a point of going out of his way and walking into our huddle and baiting one of our guys into getting a technical," he said. "I've never seen anything like that in my years. I don't see how that can ever be excusable. So there are a lot of things happening right now and we've got to rise above them."

In a statement on the following day after practice this is what Carlisle said to reporters:

"With the league's permission, David Jones contacted me today to apologize for the situation that developed with Deron Williams last night. I accepted his apology and told him that I now consider this matter in the past."

Technicals in the NBA have been a subject of huge debate among fans, players, league officials, etc. However, this incident is one of it’s kind in respect to the nature of the circumstances under which the technical was given. Although the referee did apologize, it is incident we hope to not see again in the league.

This is how the action went down during the game:

#3 Hit: Charlotte Hornets rise in the Playoff standings with 4-0 week

Charlotte Hornets have won 10 of their last 12 games

The Charlotte Hornets have won 10 of their 12 games since the All-Star break and are currently on a seven-game winning streak, the franchise’s best since 2002. More importanty they were the only team apart from the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs to finish the week without a loss (4-0). They beat the Houston Rockets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Detroit Pistons and the New Orleans Pelicans.

Through these four games, Kemba Walker has been a flat out stud averaging 27.8 points, 6.8 assists on 53.8% shooting from the field. He is finally turning into a franchise corner stone, something the team and management had envisioned him to become. Other major contributors on these four wins were forwards Nicolas Batum with his all round play and Marvin Williams’ scoring.

The team has been playing effectively on both ends of the floor. Their average win margin over these four games has been 11 points, this without their primary wing defender Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, who they lost to a dislocated shoulder in mid-February.

More importantly, these four wins and their run since the All-Star Game has seen them jump three spots to fifth in the tight Eastern Conference Playoff standings.

#4 Flop: Oklahoma City Thunder\'s fourth quarter woes continue

Russell Westbrook was a disaster in the Spurs game

Since the All-Star break, the most disappointing team in the league by a huge margin has been the Oklahoma City Thunder. It’s not just the fact they have lost eight of their last twelve games but they have lost all those games without learning anything from the previous defeat.

Every one of those eight defeats has come despite the team having a lead heading into the fourth quarter and it’s happened against good teams like the Spurs and Warriors, and also against teams they should have rolled over like the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Indiana Pacers.

If they consider themselves title contenders, they can’t afford such type of fourth quarter collapses. Over the past week, they lost a game to the Timberwolves courtesy of a dagger game winner by Ricky Rubio and followed it up with a loss against the Spurs, in which they were completely outplayed in the fourth quarter.

Westbrook was a disaster in the Spurs game. He had nine turnovers on a bad shooting night (5 of 16). Even in the T-Wolves game, it was his unnecessary help in defense that gave Rubio the breathing room he needed to knock down the game winner.

The team’s schedule ahead is quite a tough one with eleven of the sixteen against Playoff opponents. So they could either come together as a team and gain some momentum with the remaining games or continue their ways, hurting their chances of a championship.

#5 Hit: Chris Bosh\'s safe health and chances of a return

Chris Bosh is hopeful of returning this season

The only news that was saddening coming out of the All-Star Break was the multiple reports of Miami Heat superstar Chris Bosh dealing with a blood clot, his second in as many years. Nobody had heard from Bosh since then but on Thursday, he released a statement that was a huge relief to his fans, the Heat nation and the general public as well.

The statement basically said that the issue this time around was not life threatening and the all this while Bosh was only taking precautionary measures to treat what he is suffering from, which he did not clearly mention.

"[I have been] taking every necessary step to make sure I am healthy for myself, my family and my team. I have been working out, training with the team, watching film of the games, walking through plays, and have attended home games despite not being visible to the public.

“I will continue to support my team-mates in every way possible. I remain positive that I will be able to return this season. I truly appreciate everyone's concern and support."

Although from his statement it is clear that he still wishes to play, team doctors have to certify him clear for any playing time on the court and the team has not issued any statement regarding his status or a timetable for his return. Irrespective of whether he returns or not, it’s great news that the matter he is tackling this year is not life threatening.