Warriors fans shouldn’t worry about Scott Foster or any other ref
Scott Foster #ScottFoster
Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors talks to referee Scott Foster during a playoff game on April 30, 2023, in Sacramento, Calif., which the Warriors won, 120-100.
A belief among Golden State Warriors fans is that the team has an officiating problem that’s about to get much, much worse.
Saturday’s 127-97 Game 3 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers featured another noticeable discrepancy in free-throw attempts: The Lakers shot 37, while the Warriors attempted just 17. It almost felt like a repeat of Game 1, where the Warriors lost the free-throw battle, 29-6, and the game, 117-112. Contrast that with the Dubs’ Game 2 blowout win, where the free-throw attempts were a lot closer (16 for the Warriors and 17 for the Lakers).
Fans online weren’t the only ones griping after the Game 3 drubbing. Warriors forward Draymond Green also had some words for the officiating after a game where he picked up five personal fouls and a tech.
“The game stopped on the free-throw line every time,” Green told reporters.
“Frustrating,” the 11-year veteran added.
Then came the news Monday that notorious ref Scott Foster would be the lead official for Game 4. A referee like Foster, who has a long history of questionable whistles and handing out technical fouls like candy on Halloween, would in theory make Golden State’s issues getting to the line worse. He’s also got a history with the Dubs: He once ejected beloved Warriors player Shaun Livingston from a game, and he tossed Steph Curry from Game 6 of the infamous 2016 NBA Finals.
But even if Foster weren’t behind the whistle Monday — and it’s worth noting the one Warriors playoff game Foster officiated this postseason was their Game 7 win against the Kings — perhaps Golden State supporters should reconsider their ire toward officials. The Warriors, a team best known for its star 3-point shooters, finished dead last in the league this past regular season in free-throw attempts while committing the third-most fouls in the league. More rational minds might pick up on the fact that this could explain the overall free-throw discrepancy the Dubs have seen this series.
Maybe Green and others had a point about officials in Game 3. The Warriors were more aggressive in the paint and still fell widely short of the Lakers’ free-throw total. But basically everything else that could have gone wrong for the Dubs went that way and then some: The team shot 29.5% from 3, committed 19 turnovers, and was called for three technical fouls and one flagrant, which sapped a bunch of momentum right after the Warriors had built an 11-point lead.
Step even further back and the explanations become even clearer. Jordan Poole’s mediocre regular season has evolved into a postseason that has left some wondering why he’s still on the team. Gary Payton II, for whom the Dubs traded to have extra defense in the playoffs, has been rather absent this Lakers series. Donte DiVincenzo, one of the team’s key players throughout a turbulent regular season, has had a quiet nightmare of a playoff run, shooting 28.1% from 3; plus, he’s only 5-for-18 in his last three games. Klay Thompson has been very hit-or-miss. Oh, and it turns out the Warriors still can’t win on the road unless Steph Curry makes NBA history.
The Warriors have a choice here, one that seemingly comes up every postseason: Either recognize their faults and shortcomings, doing what they can to address those issues and put on the best possible performance on the court to even up this series, or let Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” infiltrate their heads as clips of Foster inserting himself into pivotal matchups loop endlessly in their minds en route to a 3-1 series deficit.
At least head coach Steve Kerr has chosen the former.
“We didn’t lose the game because of the officials, so there’s no point in whining about anything,” Kerr told reporters Sunday. “There were definitely calls that we didn’t like, but every game, both coaches can say that. This is not about anything other than our performance.”
This story has been updated.