John Collins is not happy with the lack of foul calls he's experienced this season. The Atlanta Hawks big man complained about the officiating, invoking the names of teammate Trae Young and James Harden to do so:
“I don’t know what to say, but this year, it’s been insane with the amount of no-calls I’ve gotten,” said the Hawks big, according to Chris Kirschner of The Athletic. “It pains me. I don’t want to play the violin again, but it pains me. I have zero technical fouls in my career. I don’t have any qualms with any of the referees. I haven’t said anything. I’ve gotten mad and yelled and done everything I can to get a call, but it’s incredible to me that it’s like I’ve gotten no whistles.
“I don’t know what it’s a product of, but just officiate the game correctly. I don’t want to use my guy, but Trae has that patented stop jumper. I call it the stop jumper. It gets called. James Harden has the swipe up. Do I need to create a move to get a call? Seriously. I’m not doing a move to get the same foul every time. Just call the fouls. Call the regular fouls when they happen. If you can’t call the fouls when they happen, and I have to create a scene, I mean, I don’t know.”
Collins is posting career-highs in almost every statistical category now that he's enjoying a healthy workload. However, one place where he's regressed is his free-throw shooting, hitting a career-best 80.1% from the foul line, but getting there only 3.7 times per game.
Part of it could be his tendency to attempt more 3-point jumpers (41.1%), but there are plenty of baskets in the paint that go without a whistle.
Collins doesn't have the Harden-esque slithery moves in the paint or the step-back to bait defenders to jump into his landing zone, nor does he have Young's “stop-jumper.” It may take some more time for the Hakws big to get the respect of the officials, though a foul is a foul and it should be called as such.
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