(With apologies to all surviving Jody Foster’s Army fans)
Last night’s 92-91 loss to the Pistons was one of the more soul-crushing of late for the struggling Nets, and the Newark Star-Ledger’s Dave D’Allessandro was on hand to transcribe the testimony of the aggrieved party.
To a man, they thought — they knew — that Jim Clark’s crew cost them the game by failing to whistle Rasheed Wallace for hard contact on Carter, just one second before he released the final shot.
“Blatantly obvious,” said Lawrence Frank, who had shouted “That’s (bleeping) horrible” at ref Tom Washington as he left the floor, before being redirected toward the locker room by assistant Tom Barrise. “I saw it on tape. That’s how the game works. They ain’t going to change it. It’s obviously a foul. I’m sure if it was looked over again, they would say it’s a foul. But the call wasn’t made. It’s a shame. It’s a real shame.”
Jason Kidd, nominated to vent for the team, let the crew have it with several separate remarks.
“Officials take pride in their job, but tonight was a disgrace in officiating coming down the stretch,” the Nets captain said. “It’s disheartening. … If we’re gonna get screwed like that, we might as well not show up.”
(video footage of the fouls-that-weren’t, via ESPN.com)