The NBA may not be rigged, but its not on the level either..

[Clarkmeister]

Last nights Lakers-Timberwolves game was exhibit #294 that NBA playoff games have a distinct and predictable bias in the officiating. I used to pooh-pooh the idea until it started happening year after year. Incompetance is one thing, but when you can consistently predict which team will benefit from the incompetance, something is wrong.

[Mike Gallo]

[Vehn]

Phil Jackson seems a bit schizo. Can't have it both ways there..

I've never taken complaints about refereeing in pro sports seriously even though as a minnesotan we sure as hell have taken some hits. I think its essentially just "variance" for lack of a better term.

[Clarkmeister]

I'm not talking about pro sports in general. I think that MLB is exceedingly well officiated. The NHL is pretty well done also, and its by far the toughest sport to referee.

This is specifically NBA playoffs. The high profile teams from the big cities have gotten preferential treatment for a long time. The Bulls got it, the Knicks got it, the Lakers have gotten it.

Its not variance when its predictable. I was on the phone with a friend about 8 minutes into the 4th quarter. He said it looked over and I said "the refs will find a way to keep the Lakers in this one". Danny Ainge called it a "travesty". If it didn't happen every year to the same (types of) teams, I wouldn't worry about it.

Is it fixing? No. But in games where a point is huge, it only takes a few calls down the stretch to change the probability of a win from 20% to 80%.

[M2d]

clarke,
I think the refs were equally bad last night (LA/Min). The no call on kg when Kobe drove and got mugged was one of the last bad calls against the Lakers (as a laker fan, I'll admit that they got the calls at the end), but it was the most devistating. after not fouling out, KG went on to dominate the rest of the fourth, and keep his team in there against the lakers and the refs. the little pro laker calls added up, but the KG noncall was a crushing blow.

[David Steele]

That LA-Minn game was gross. I almost turned the game
off for the overtime but instead vowed never to watch
another NBA game unless Minn somehow won anyway, so I get
to keep watching!


D.

[Vehn]

The more I think about it the I would say you've hit on my dissastisfaction with the NBA recently. Jordan got away with carrying the ball for years. I think what the mugging Shaq does on offense can hardly be considered basketball at all. Next time you're watching a game actually watch the center of the team on offense take a nap in the paint for 5+ seconds constantly. Hell, remember "illegal defense"?

On the other hand I would say the NBA is probably the hardest sport to ref well, even more than the NHL. I think NBA ref teams are undermanned and inadequete. These are guys having to watch both the feet and hands (and elbows) of 10 players 1+ feet taller than them in a small area. They should add a ref or two in a tennis-like basket above the court and maybe he can put some semblence of order in the game. The last 5 years or so look more like a hockey game with less fights. Well OK, just a hockey game.

I'll also add that any game where its required strategy to foul the opposing team in order to have a chance of winning at the end when behind is ridiculous. I have no doubt Phil Jackson says every game "Unless Shaq is dangling from the backboard, do not pass him the ball in the last minute of a close game that we're winning." What a joke of a sport.


Since I'm on the subject I'll have to relate my stupid story. About 5 years ago a friend and I are going to the 4th floor (bars) of the Mall of America around 11 on a weekend. As we're walking in a group of extremely large black guys are entering the parking lot, headed by a enormous guy in a fur coat. We continue past them and my friend says "Wasn't that..?" and right as we turn the corner a half dozen girls in Hooters "uniforms" come running up and say "Have you guys seen Shaquille O'Neal?". We just mutely point towards the parking lot and they take off down the hall at full sprint. [img]/forums/images/icons/smirk.gif[/img]

[adios]

So we're saying it was just a poorly officiated game? I didn't see the game but the Refs take care of the stars in the NBA IMO.

[IrishHand]

I've got to agree with Clark re. the difficulty of officiating. The NHL is easily the worst - the NBA, to be honest, among the easiest of the pro sports. With 3 refs in proper position, they can and should catch basically everything - it's simply a question of what they want to call. I worked for an NBA team for 3 years, and had the privilege of both talking to and overhearing refs explain their calls during and after games. 99% of the time, they saw the exact same thing that I saw, and the exact same thing that the coach saw. Is there bias in the NBA? Certainly - it's a very personal game. In no other pro sport are the players in such consistently close proximity to each of the three officials. This breeds familiarity - which explains in large part why veterans get more calls - they simply know the refs better and on a more personal level.

Are the games rigged? I don't think so - and I've seen more NBA games in the past 10 years than most sane humans. I just don't think the level of bias rises to the point that they're consciouly influencing the outcome of games.