Steven A.: "Officials taking over the game"

[Eddie20]

the more who speak out about nba officiating the better.  Everyone is noticing finally.  thank god.

Absolutely.

Tim Donaghy was on WEEI earlier today and he said that Rondo will likely be a target of officials.  He explained about how refs hold grudges and dislike certain players and coaches. He elaborated on how he always tried to stick it to Doc because they used to "butt heads". He said that refs call each other all the time and say "Did you see what he did to me?", while the other would respond "Don't worry, I'll get him for you".

I believe this, not because I'm a Donaghy fan, but because of what I've been seeing for a few years now on the court.

I do as well. A lot of agendas. It makes it a conflict of interest if you really think about it. Refs are employed by the NBA, which makes it easy to think that they would sway games one way or another, extend series, etc. , since it only benefits their employer.

That's why I appreciate FIBA basketball so much. Those refs could care less who you are. And it's always funny to see NBA players reactions to getting whistled for calls they simply don't receive in the NBA.

[wiley]

the more who speak out about nba officiating the better.  Everyone is noticing finally.  thank god.

Absolutely.

Tim Donaghy was on WEEI earlier today and he said that Rondo will likely be a target of officials.  He explained about how refs hold grudges and dislike certain players and coaches. He elaborated on how he always tried to stick it to Doc because they used to "butt heads". He said that refs call each other all the time and say "Did you see what he did to me?", while the other would respond "Don't worry, I'll get him for you".

I believe this, not because I'm a Donaghy fan, but because of what I've been seeing for a few years now on the court.

I do as well. A lot of agendas. It makes it a conflict of interest if you really think about it. Refs are employed by the NBA, which makes it easy to think that they would sway games one way or another, extend series, etc. , since it only benefits their employer.

That's why I appreciate FIBA basketball so much. Those refs could care less who you are. And it's always funny to see NBA players reactions to getting whistled for calls they simply don't receive in the NBA.

You've provided a perfect example of how to see a snapshot of how a not-broken system would look.  Thanks and TP.

This will be very hard to root out of the NBA, especially if the problem lies with officials having created a little boys club for themselves.  In that case firing all of them and starting over with new standards would be the only solution.

[indeedproceed]

the more who speak out about nba officiating the better.  Everyone is noticing finally.  thank god.

Absolutely.

Tim Donaghy was on WEEI earlier today and he said that Rondo will likely be a target of officials.  He explained about how refs hold grudges and dislike certain players and coaches. He elaborated on how he always tried to stick it to Doc because they used to "butt heads". He said that refs call each other all the time and say "Did you see what he did to me?", while the other would respond "Don't worry, I'll get him for you".

I believe this, not because I'm a Donaghy fan, but because of what I've been seeing for a few years now on the court.

I also believe this, because its just human nature.

[wiley]

the more who speak out about nba officiating the better.  Everyone is noticing finally.  thank god.

Absolutely.

Tim Donaghy was on WEEI earlier today and he said that Rondo will likely be a target of officials.  He explained about how refs hold grudges and dislike certain players and coaches. He elaborated on how he always tried to stick it to Doc because they used to "butt heads". He said that refs call each other all the time and say "Did you see what he did to me?", while the other would respond "Don't worry, I'll get him for you".

I believe this, not because I'm a Donaghy fan, but because of what I've been seeing for a few years now on the court.

I also believe this, because its just human nature.

That's where the commissioner needs to have a better read on things and start setting new standards.  Stern doesn't have to put up with human nature, he just needs cahones, and possibly a clue.

[the TRUTH]

Gotta love how everyone races to point out the letter of the law when it'll negatively affect the Celtics. I seem to remember Game 2 of the Boston-Indiana series in 2004-05 when JO (then playing for the Pacers) came up from behind the ref, grabbed his arm and turned him around. No technical, no ejection, no suspension. Where was David Stern then? Where was the media then? What a corrupt, scumbag of a commissioner. And I hate to say this, but how come more Celtic fans are siding against Rondo now than they did against JO in 04-05? Honestly, if I didn't love the Celtics as much as I did, I really wouldn't watch another NBA game until Stern is gone.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

Good video of that OT game Marc Davis called at Boston April 11th. A game that was one of the worst officiated games I've seen in quite some time.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N806wOuatPY&feature=player_embedded#!

Felger and Mazz questioning as to why the league would assign Davis to officiate a C's game with the way this one was called. I would say it's probably similar to Joey Crawford being assigned to a Tim Duncan/Spurs game.

I hadn't seen those highlights, so thanks for sharing. The last two in particular were atrocious calls. The NBA is becoming like soccer with all the flopping, and that's only made the bad officiating worse.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

Skip Bayless: "But then, there is a scrum on the floor. Loose ball. All for one, one for all."

Is that what Skip Bayless thinks ebonics is or something?

That also confused me. I think he meant to say "Every man for himself."

[Finkelskyhook]

the more who speak out about nba officiating the better.  Everyone is noticing finally.  thank god.

Absolutely.

Tim Donaghy was on WEEI earlier today and he said that Rondo will likely be a target of officials.  He explained about how refs hold grudges and dislike certain players and coaches. He elaborated on how he always tried to stick it to Doc because they used to "butt heads". He said that refs call each other all the time and say "Did you see what he did to me?", while the other would respond "Don't worry, I'll get him for you".

I believe this, not because I'm a Donaghy fan, but because of what I've been seeing for a few years now on the court.

A lot of people discredit Donaghy.  But if a person reads his book and watches the NBA product...What he says is very believable.  That it took so long for Donaghy to get caught speaks not so much to how bad the officiating is...It speaks to how easy it is to slant when officiating become subjective based on players and situations instead of basing calls on the rulebook.

I don't see anybody from the NBA suing for slander...There's a reason Stern downplayed everything about Donaghy.  

There's also a human element to this.  They're going to make mistakes.  But it appears that they make a lot more "mistakes" toward some teams and players.

That's where the commissioner needs to have a better read on things and start setting new standards.

Wiley, the reality is that Stern set a new standard for officiating to elevate Jordan to what he became.  Since that worked so well he doubled down on it a bunch of times since.

[wiley]

Good video of that OT game Marc Davis called at Boston April 11th. A game that was one of the worst officiated games I've seen in quite some time.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N806wOuatPY&feature=player_embedded#!

Felger and Mazz questioning as to why the league would assign Davis to officiate a C's game with the way this one was called. I would say it's probably similar to Joey Crawford being assigned to a Tim Duncan/Spurs game.

I hadn't seen those highlights, so thanks for sharing. The last two in particular were atrocious calls. The NBA is becoming like soccer with all the flopping, and that's only made the bad officiating worse.

I would say vice versa, bad officiating has led to an outbreak of flopping.  That's because when refs are already calling a lot of phantom calls, why not take advantage?

[TAllen]

I think all those calls in the video were made by Marc Davis..He is brutal and obviously has a problem with the c's.  Every year during the playoffs stupid officiating goes on its just ridiculous. If they want the players to act professional then give them some professional officials!

[wiley]

the more who speak out about nba officiating the better.  Everyone is noticing finally.  thank god.

Absolutely.

Tim Donaghy was on WEEI earlier today and he said that Rondo will likely be a target of officials.  He explained about how refs hold grudges and dislike certain players and coaches. He elaborated on how he always tried to stick it to Doc because they used to "butt heads". He said that refs call each other all the time and say "Did you see what he did to me?", while the other would respond "Don't worry, I'll get him for you".

I believe this, not because I'm a Donaghy fan, but because of what I've been seeing for a few years now on the court.

A lot of people discredit Donaghy.  But if a person reads his book and watches the NBA product...What he says is very believable.  That it took so long for Donaghy to get caught speaks not so much to how bad the officiating is...It speaks to how easy it is to slant when officiating become subjective based on players and situations instead of basing calls on the rulebook.

I don't see anybody from the NBA suing for slander...There's a reason Stern downplayed everything about Donaghy.  

There's also a human element to this.  They're going to make mistakes.  But it appears that they make a lot more "mistakes" toward some teams and players.

That's where the commissioner needs to have a better read on things and start setting new standards.

Wiley, the reality is that Stern set a new standard for officiating to elevate Jordan to what he became.  Since that worked so well he doubled down on it a bunch of times since.

Good post.  I wonder if the constant whistle blowing is a way of better hiding the star treatment?  If not, there is more than one problem going on simultaneously.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

Good video of that OT game Marc Davis called at Boston April 11th. A game that was one of the worst officiated games I've seen in quite some time.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N806wOuatPY&feature=player_embedded#!

Felger and Mazz questioning as to why the league would assign Davis to officiate a C's game with the way this one was called. I would say it's probably similar to Joey Crawford being assigned to a Tim Duncan/Spurs game.

I hadn't seen those highlights, so thanks for sharing. The last two in particular were atrocious calls. The NBA is becoming like soccer with all the flopping, and that's only made the bad officiating worse.

I would say vice versa, bad officiating has led to an outbreak of flopping.  That's because when refs are already calling a lot of phantom calls, why not take advantage?

Good point.

[Marcus13]

Pretty sad when the NBA Analysts are all speaking out on the incompetence of the officials.

Something needs to be done.

[twinbree]

I think the officials took over the game a long time ago and never let go. The lack of accountability means the problem will only get worse.

I'm always happy to hear referees being publicly criticized for poor games and I wish it'd happen a lot more often. Not just when it happens in crucial games or sways outcomes or leads to rescinded techs and downgraded flagrant fouls. We should criticize them when they blow calls in meaningless games or when games have been long decided. Fans (and the league if they had their priorities straight) should demand referees consistently do a professional job and try as much as humanly possible to call a good game. They have to get into the habit of doing their jobs competently. It's not an easy job and we can't expect perfection but referees in other basketball leagues are doing better jobs so improvement is certainly possible.

[wiley]

Gotta love how everyone races to point out the letter of the law when it'll negatively affect the Celtics. I seem to remember Game 2 of the Boston-Indiana series in 2004-05 when JO (then playing for the Pacers) came up from behind the ref, grabbed his arm and turned him around. No technical, no ejection, no suspension. Where was David Stern then? Where was the media then? What a corrupt, scumbag of a commissioner. And I hate to say this, but how come more Celtic fans are siding against Rondo now than they did against JO in 04-05? Honestly, if I didn't love the Celtics as much as I did, I really wouldn't watch another NBA game until Stern is gone.

Some of that is normal since the Celtics are the team most of us watch with intensity.  It's pretty normal not to notice as many bad calls against other teams.  It's a much deeper problem though in my opinion.  Do you not have a problem with all the stoppages?  Including stoppages on broken plays that are now resolved by a whistle when not long ago a scrum was alowed to evolve longer and there were some really excited broken plays with multiple possessions/steals in a matter of seconds or within say a minute?