officiating agenda

[tenn_smoothie]

i used to roll my eyes at posters on this forum who would suggest a league conspiracy surrounding the officiating in the playoffs.

i don't roll my eyes anymore.

now, i don't believe that Stern literally calls the officials in their dressing room before the game to tell them who he wants the winner to be, WWE style. however, i do see playoff games being adversely affected by officiating and it often seems to go in the direction of helping teams that you know the league would profit from winning - either in extending a series or advancing that team to an attractive TV-ratings matchup in the next round.

tuesday nite's Celts-Magic game certainly qualifies for the former and may, according to David Stern's whims, fall into the latter category.

check out this item from some espn notes on last nite's game - i knew that 4th quarter seemed extra tough to win .......


" The Magic were down eight at home, and staring doom in the face, when Mickael Pietrus was called for the first foul of the fourth quarter, just 12 seconds in. They went down 11 on the next play, a Rasheed Wallace 3.  The referees played no small part in what happened next, which is that Orlando fought back into the game.

After the Pietrus foul, the next time the referees whistled anything against the Magic was the Redick charge against Glen Davis, with a little more than two minutes left. For nine-and-a-half minutes of playoff, fourth quarter basketball, not one whistle went Boston's way. In that same stretch, Tony Allen, Wallace, Perkins (twice), Pierce (twice), Ray Allen, and Garnett were all assigned fouls, while Rajon Rondo was called for traveling.

And as I mentioned, by the time it was all done, it was a one-point game."

[MaxwellSmart86]

One of my best friends was over watching the game--he's a huge LAKERS fans...he says: Kid, your team is getting screwed by the refs right now----they want to get Orlando back in this.

Funny, I think the refs have been pretty even--ever since Game #3 of the Cavs series...almost like, they know the C's are too good right now...nothing they can do about it---so, let's just let it play out---for a Bos/LA Finals.

[misha]

Orlando fans think that the refs are against them because Stern want Lakers - Celtics final. Check here: http://www.orlandopinstripedpost.com/2010/5/18/1477813/tonights-orlando-magic-playoff

One huge call gone our way late in the 4th was an offensive foul by Redick on Big Baby.

[Andy Jick]

Call me crazy, but I felt that WE were getting a lot of calls in our favor.  That phantom call on Howard's block on Rondo (when Rondo went flying) was not a foul and there were a few other questionable ones that went Boston's way...

Officiating stinks both ways...no team can say they got shafted.  I think this series has been called pretty fair, NBA referees notwithstanding...

[through the door]

I have not witnessed a single post about what I felt was the most egregious call which could have gone a long way in evening up this series...perhaps my eyes were deceiving me but did anyone else see what D. Howard did to Paul a mere second before The Captain was whistled for his sixth?  For the officials to miss that and then in the very next breath blow the foul on Pierce was very disconcerting..I thought the Basketball Gods made amends though when Vince blew both free throws.  Think about it, had he made those free throws, Orlando may have won outright or pushed the game to overtime with our boys Captain-less.  I can see the point about the Celts being the beneficiaries of a few favorable calls (heck, even Tommy confessed that in the post-game), but there are bad calls and then there are potentially monumental bad calls.  Please, would someone verify my belief by saying they saw that grab and toss by Superman?

[indeedproceed]

Call me crazy, but I felt that WE were getting a lot of calls in our favor.  That phantom call on Howard's block on Rondo (when Rondo went flying) was not a foul and there were a few other questionable ones that went Boston's way...

Officiating stinks both ways...no team can say they got shafted.  I think this series has been called pretty fair, NBA referees notwithstanding...

I agree with this. I think we're getting a LOT of calls. It's easy to forget about those when we get screwed, but if there is a 'balance'...if it ain't even it's close.

[Toine43]

We've gotten our fair share of calls in the series for sure. Stats like that don't mean anything. I'm sorry but it's naive to expect there never to be stretches of time when one team gets a bunch of calls and the other gets none, and then whine about a conspiracy when that happens. For much of the game Orlando and their fans were whining about as much as they could about the refs, as well, and they may have even been justified in doing so. Officiating in the NBA is horribly inconsistent. Let's just leave it at that.

[indeedproceed]

We've gotten our fair share of calls in the series for sure. Stats like that don't mean anything. I'm sorry but it's naive to expect there never to be stretches of time when one team gets a bunch of calls and the other gets none, and then whine about a conspiracy when that happens. For much of the game Orlando and their fans were whining about as much as they could about the refs, as well, and they may have even been justified in doing so. Officiating in the NBA is horribly inconsistent. Let's just leave it at that.

The thing that does irk me though is that unless Team A's FT's match up with Team B's FT's...people act like its a travesty. Sometimes one team is too aggressive on defense or just plain too bad to play without fouling, and sometimes one team isn't aggressive enough getting to the hoop or getting into contact and they don't get enough calls.

Just because the refs negate their calls by evening the score doesn't mean they're doing a good job, and just because one team gets more FT's than another, even by a significant margin, doesn't mean there is an agenda. Cussin Tim Donaghy.

[BballTim]

  I'd just like to see them call offensive fouls for moving screens the same way for Perk and Howard. I don't care if they call all of them or none of them, just make the same calls both ways.

[indeedproceed]

  I'd just like to see them call offensive fouls for moving screens the same way for Perk and Howard. I don't care if they call all of them or none of them, just make the same calls both ways.

Perkins and Baby seem to attract moving screens like **** attracts crazy.

EDIT: haha...forgot about that. The ****** rhymes with "Mitney Lears"

[lovely_20]

  I'd just like to see them call offensive fouls for moving screens the same way for Perk and Howard. I don't care if they call all of them or none of them, just make the same calls both ways.

I agree 100%.

[FallGuy]

You can tell the fix is in by the way Lebron and Cavs are going to win the title again this year.

[Rondo_is_better]

You can tell the fix is in by the way Lebron and Cavs are going to win the title again this year.

Debbie D, droppin' some sardonic knowledge real quick.

[twinbree]

My biggest pet peeve is the make-up call. I don't care if it's for or against us. It makes me question whether the priority of the refs is really to call the game right or they have some other misguided goals in mind. If they make a bad call and recognize that shouldn't their instinct be to make sure they get the next call as accurate as possible rather than to consciously make another bad call? It makes no sense to me and it drives me crazy.

[jdpapa3]

You can tell the fix is in by the way Lebron and Cavs are going to win the title again this year.

Lakers/Celtics would do similar or greater numbers than Lebron.