Bad Officiating Wasn't Why the Suns Lost to the Hornets, but It Certainly Didn't Help

There isn't one member of the Phoenix Suns who would tell you that the officiating was the reason that they dropped their home opener to the New Orleans Hornets. And it wasn't. Phoenix started off in a mentally sluggish state, turning the ball over and missing shots, while New Orleans hit on their first six shot attempts, and jumped out to an immediate 14-2 lead. The Hornets took control from the opening tip and hit some big shots down the stretch to make sure the Suns didn't come all the way back. But the officiating, especially in the second quarter, was so brutal that it merits its own discussion.

The officials didn't start off unfairly making calls against the Suns; early on, Phoenix was simply committing a lot of fouls. The Suns were called for five team fouls in the first two minutes of the period, but a couple of those were iffy at best, and the team (along with the fans) were starting to get restless. Melvin Ely of the Hornets was subsequently called for traveling when all he did was pivot. This was a blatant (albeit brief) attempt by the officials to try to even things out with a make-up call, but the attempt at fairness would be very short-lived.

Goran Dragic was called for a palming/carrying violation, when he did so without putting the ball on the floor. As the referee later confirmed to a press member during a timeout, a player can do anything he wants with the ball while it's in his hands, as long as he doesn't lift his pivot foot or initiate the dribbe. Terry Porter and Steve Nash both attempted to argue this very point, but the call had been made and the refs had moved on.

Boris Diaw finally drew a foul call in favor of the Suns a short time later, and received a predictable but well deserved sarcastic cheer and partial standing ovation from the crowd. But there were still some bad calls yet to come, and they'd result in both Porter and Nash each picking up technical fouls.

I'm not going to lie: the Hornets set a lot of moving screens. Sure, every team in the NBA moves on their screens to a certain extent, because the officials tend to allow it. But the Hornets seem to do it a bit more than most, and when you have someone with the speed and decision making skills of Chris Paul on your side while that's going on, it makes your squad virtually unstoppable.

The Suns knew this was happening, and Nash tried to fight through one of David West's screens of this nature a little too aggressively, and picked up a personal foul. Then, a couple of possessions later, Nash was decked by Hilton Armstrong on a screen up top (which was honestly more a result of no one calling out the screen to Nash), but let loose on the officials anyway and picked up a technical foul. Terry Porter spent the next few minutes going on and on about the Hornets' moving screens, to the point where the ref in the vicinity T'd him up as well.

After the game, neither the coach nor his player blamed the officiating for the team's performance, but they did discuss it. Porter did say that he thought the team allowed themselves to be bothered too much by the calls in the second quarter, and when I asked Nash if there's anything they can do to try to not get upset by the officiating, here's what he had to say.

"Well, it's a fine balance," Nash said. "You don't say a word and then people complain that you don't get on the refs enough so they never give you calls. And then, you know, you get on the refs and they say 'oh, you gotta concentrate on the game, don't get on the refs.' So I don't know what to tell ya, I mean you just gotta keep fighting and sometimes, you know, getting on the refs doesn't affect your play. I don't know. You play in this league long enough and it's okay to have your [say] with the referee and then get back into the game."

The Suns to a man say that their lack of energy and mental focus from the start was the reason for their downfall. But the officiating obviously was a factor too, especially in that second quarter. It'll be interesting to see if coach Porter can prevent his team -- and himself -- from getting too caught up in the calls during any more games as the season wears on. I heard three different players repeat that the team "is a work in progress" after their loss to the Hornets, almost like it was a "talking point" that was given to them to discuss as part of a political campaign or something. That line works and makes sense in October; hopefully for Phoenix fans, progress will indeed be made and they won't have to hear that slogan in the months that follow.