I don't know if anyone besides Tom watched the game last night and I'm sure he'll disagree with me but I really think the Cavs got worked over by the refs. There's no doubt in my mind that LeBron got fouled on the last shot of the game. And what's worse is the game before he got lambasted for not taking the last shot when he passed to a WIDE OPEN 3 point shooter for the win (which by the way every analyst says if you're on the road you should play to win, don't play for overtime.) The added that if he takes the last shot he would have at least been shooting two free throws. So what does LeBron do last night? He takes the last shot and doesn't get fouled. The guy can't win. He'll probably get asked why he didn't dish.
I'm tired of refs just not calling fouls on the last play of the game because they don't want to decide a game. What the hell?! They decide every other play in the game. If there's a foul, call it! That's what you're there for. Does a guy have to get flagrant fouled for a call at the end of a game?
Anyways, two things:
1. The terrible, horrible, atrocious officiating makes it really hard to watch the NBA. There's no doubt in my mind that the NBA has the worst officiating system of any sport. You can tell because there is no other sport that people talk about the refs THIS MUCH. I'm not sure what the solution should be, but I guarantee that if you watched replays of every sport, the NBA games would have by far the most missed calls. I suggested having 5 refs. One to watch each matchup. Perhaps that would improve things. I just don't want to see games that are decided by the refs. To me that is not entertaining.
2. If I was Detroit I would be a little worried. The Cavs could be up (and maybe should be up) 2-0. Those games were a little too close for home games. I keep saying how this series went 7 games last year and no one seems to care. The Cavs COULD win this series still. I don't know why everyone is dismissing them like it's obvious that Detroit is moving on. I'm not saying that I think Cleveland will win the series but I wouldn't be that surprised if it happened. Hell, GSW beat the team with the best record in the NBA and the MVP in the first round. :)
Stupid Dirk. He'll probably become a ref after he retires.
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yea the whole thing is pretty screwy. i feel like there have been several bad calls lately and that PHX SA thing really pissed me off too. threw a wrench in the spokes of what was possibly the best series of the season.
i hope this DET/CLE SA series turns out good (no outrageous calls or unwarranted ejections) but if i'm sheed right now, watching these officials, i'm seriously considering wearing a muzzle for the finals.
i hope it is DET that makes it. i feel like they match up way better with the spurs. strange that the DET CLE series is that close- does anyone else feel like SA would sweep CLE, but go 7 with DET? i'm probably just crazy.
Funny that you say that... I've never been a fan of the regular season for predicting the post season but seeing as how GS/DAL was accurate I'm willing to at least take it into account a little more. SA beat DET 2-0 this season and lost to CLE 0-2 this season. Mike Brown also is Coach Pop-taught so there's always the whole 'I know your system well enought to beat it' theory coming into play (see GS/DAL again).
I'm rooting for LeBron to win just to see if the NBA rigs the finals like last year. If LeBron gets 90 free throws in the first 6 games (like DWade), I'm going to f'ing flip out.
As for officiating... I'm ok as long as there's consistency. I don't think the arguement about the number/% of bad calls holds water because there's no other sport to compare it to. The speed at which things happen coupled with the rules about fouls are guaranteed to supply a much more difficult game to call. Football is fast but contact is ok (only similarity is probably the pass interference calls which are the most contested in all of football). Hockey is similar. Baseball moves so methodically that the umps have adequate time to focus on the movement at hand. I do think improvements can be made on the written side of the rules (EXACTLY what constitues a foul, etc.) and on the ref side (baseball actually has camps for hundreds of umps each year and grades them based on a plethora of relevant criteria). To me, the whole leaving the bench rule comes into play here. I don't believe there's room for too much subjectivity in sports or else people will get angry more often. It seems like the league has been great (and very consistent) at that with punishments off the court but has been terrible at enforcing objective play calling on the court. You'll get a game called entirely differently (physical vs. touch fouls) depending on who the refs are... that, to me, sucks. I was OK w/ the fines, not because I'm an SA homer, but because EVERYONE IN THE NBA HAS BEEN SUBJECTED TO THAT RULE FOR 20 YEARS. If anything, it's the coaching of the Suns that are at most fault for not properly educating the importance of certain rules to their youth. Wow... tangent sorry.
Just to clarify - if you couldn't tell by context, I meant to say that "I don't believe there's room for too much subjectivity in sports from the business perspective of running a league "
yea i didnt realize the CLE beat SA both times this year or that DET lost to SA both times this year. i really think DET has a more consistent team and would be a tougher match in a 7game series than CLE.
i guess that shows what i know (considering the reg season results are EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE of what i'm saying) but the more i think of it, the more i think i'm right.
i think DET has a real chance in 7, but i don't see CLE winning more than a game at best.
i think SA will sweep CLE if they play. BronkeyKong is only 1 man. and i'm just not impressed with the rest of the team.
and now L Hughes' foot is suspect. i dunno...
I am one of the few ref backers in this world. I think their job is as difficult as it is thankless. I've seen tons of blown calls this year, but i think i seen them pretty much even for all teams. Sure, Lebron gets the occasional travel. But other than that it is not too bad.
As far as the game Jimi posted about, there were at least 2 horrible calls against the pistons is the 4th. They were definately less ambiguous than wether Bron was fouled or not. It doens't matter to me though. I don't think those calls have anything to do with why the pistons almost lost. They almost blew it cause they played like crap.
There are missed calls every game. That is the nature of the beast. Football is much easier to call than basketball. Hockey has as many missed calls and basketball, if not more. It is impossible to see everything. The fallibility of refs is to be expected, they are human.
A losing team may have a couple of bad calls that really hurt them. But a team does not lose a best of 7 series unless they deserve to. Most likely, the team is failing to execute there game plan a lot more than the refs are faling to make their calls/noncalls.
I am one of the few ref backers in this world. I think their job is as difficult as it is thankless. I've seen tons of blown calls this year, but i think i seen them pretty much even for all teams. Sure, Lebron gets the occasional travel. But other than that it is not too bad.
As far as the game Jimi posted about, there were at least 2 horrible calls against the pistons is the 4th. They were definately less ambiguous than wether Bron was fouled or not. It doens't matter to me though. I don't think those calls have anything to do with why the pistons almost lost. They almost blew it cause they played like crap.
There are missed calls every game. That is the nature of the beast. Football is much easier to call than basketball. Hockey has as many missed calls as basketball, if not more. It is impossible to see everything. The fallibility of refs is to be expected, they are human.
A losing team may have a couple of bad calls that really hurt them. But a team does not lose a best of 7 series unless they deserve to. Most likely, the team is failing to execute there game plan a lot more than the refs are faling to make their calls/noncalls.
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