Heat not getting fair shake from refs

There is a rather troublesome trend for the Heat lately. No, it isnt the recent 4 game losing streak or even the teams they were losing to. It was how they were losing.

The Heat cannot be blamed for all of their poor play. They had to find a way to win without Shaq and with a couple of bumpy games from their young superstar, Dwyane Wade. They also had to do it with a struggling Doleac getting a lot of minutes while the injured Laettner sat on the bench with his foot injury.

Perhaps, the Heat had a hard time getting up for the games? 'End of season-itis', much like the dreaded 'senioritis', it sets in and takes your focus away from the task at hand. But there is another trend to take notice of - questionable refereeing.

Against Philadelphia, Damon Jones was held by Allen Iverson on an inbound pass that the referee, Rob Robinson, didnt seem to see. He was the only one, apparently, that didnt see the foul because even A.I. was laughing about it after the game and DJ is still miffed about it. DJ drew a technical at the time for arguing with the 'objective' authorities of the game. All after Kyle Korver splashed a three that killed the Heat's hopes of hanging on for the win.

Flash back a game earlier against the Pistons. Shaq is out with a stomach virus and Zo comes in and plays a tremendous game agaisnt one of the tougher front courts in the NBA. But it was not to be. Mysteriously, Wade was only able to play 21 minutes - and fouled out. Even Doleac had 5 fouls that game in 20 minutes.

At the end of the Celtics game, Wade drives to the basket and is clearly fouled, but gets no call.

In the Pacers game, the Heat endured the physical play of the Pacers - lots of clutching and grabbing in order to slow the game down - and won. Despite shooting 9 less free throw attempts than the Pacers. (Figure that one out.) Physical play was par for the course and contact was initiated on two seperate incidents - the Anthony Johnson cheap shot on Zo and Jermaine O'neals take down move on Haslem.

Van Gundy commented on it after the game, "Those two teams have been good long enough now that [the referees] give them their game...So, stuff that's a foul any other game of the season is not a foul when you play Indiana or Detroit... We talked about that coming in -- every screen is going to be illegal, and you've got to get through it. We can't make excuses...You've got to play through it."

And play through it they did. If this is going to be the kind of opposition the Heat have to face in the playoffs, then there is little chance for success. How can a team play 5 on 8? The deeper question is, if this conspiracy of the refs holds up, why?