NBA's most infuriating player sets off another coach after brutal loss
He’s mad as heck, and he’s not going to take it anymore!
Alvin Gentry and the New Orleans Pelicans are battling for a playoff spot, and it’s obvious the coach is feeling the heat.
The Pelican’s game against Houston on Saturday featured what was billed as a classic matchup between perhaps the two favorites for the Most Valuable Player award.
James Harden (32 points) and Anthony Davis (26) lived up to the billing, but there’s another number that made Gentry boil over after his team lost 107-101.
Four.
That’s the number of free throws for Davis, who his coach says gets penalized for his quiet nature.
Preach, Alvin Gentry. https://t.co/MEhfxrCmKB
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) March 18, 2018
“AD never gets a call. He never gets a call,” Gentry told reporters after the game. “We talk about them holding him, we talk about them grabbing him on rolls, we talk about them coming under him on post-ups, he never gets a call. Not one. Why? Because he never b—-es about it. He just keeps playing the game.
“So then it comes down to just a few plays in the game, you can’t guess on plays when you got teams playing for playoff spots. You can’t guess on a foul. That’s not right. That’s not the way you do it. We are fighting our asses off for a playoff spot.”
Everyone in the NBA is aware that Harden knows how to get the calls, which produces 10 free throws per night (although he “only” had eight on Saturday).
With less than five minutes left in the game, “The Beard” got this call on a 3-point attempt.
This is the full stretch where Harden gets the 3pt foul and Gentry gets the tech. Best part is that CAPELA WAS OUT OF BOUNDS BEFORE HE PASSED TO HARDEN. pic.twitter.com/bY546ODIRb
— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) March 18, 2018
That one earned Gentry a technical.
“When you get technical fouls called when you walk away from a guy, that’s not right,” he said afterward. “I walked away from him so I wouldn’t get a technical foul.”
The call also earned a special section of the coach’s postgame comments.
"That's not the way you call the game."
Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry with a strong critique of the officiating in his team's close loss to the Rockets. (🎥: @FOXSportsNOLA) pic.twitter.com/ucrYyNvmPy
— Ball Don’t Lie (@Balldontlie) March 18, 2018
“All we want is an equal opportunity to win the game,” he said. “Not have a situation where we are guessing on the biggest play of the game, where they call a 3-point foul from the corner. All of you take a look at the play, and if you think that’s a foul, if anybody out here thinks it’s a foul, then you tell me, and I’ll shut up, and I won’t say one more thing. You take a look at the play and tell me what you think when a guy comes up and winks and says, I got him.”
Following the loss, New Orleans sits in the eighth and final playoff position, just 1.5 games ahead of the Clippers but only two games out of the fourth spot.
There’s no doubt that Gentry’s tirade will cost him some NBA fine money.
The bigger question is whether it will help his team get some calls down the stretch.
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