Wally

I’m getting tired of bad calls & no calls by the so-called expert officials. You can call me paranoid if you want, but I am becoming more convinced that our wonderful experts have meetings and discuss who gets the breaks on officiating. Look at the Lakers and now look at Houston. The Lakers and Shaq have gotten more breaks than any team I know of and now it seems as if Houston is getting more than their share. Maybe they want the world to watch (the playoffs), and the drawing card is China.
I think a replay system is overdue and I believe most fans would want a system that would take some of the crappy calls out of the decision making of game results. Maybe a system where the coach could ask for a limited number of replays…… Maybe one of our expert posters could do a ANOTHER poll on SHOULD WE HAVE REPLAYS.

If it every came out that a conspiracy existed such that it favored one team or another, the NBA would suffer beyond repair.

Just because I’m paranoid, that doesn’t mean they’re not after me. Remember, Paul Westfall once said “Paranoid people aren’t always wrong” – right before the Suns fired him.


http://www.nba.com/games/20030312/LACHOU/recap.html

HOUSTON, March 12 (Ticker) -- Steve Francis and the Houston Rockets took advantage of their second chance.

Francis scored six points and came up with a key steal in overtime as the Rockets edged the Los Angeles Clippers, 118-114, to move into a tie with Phoenix for the eighth and final Western Conference playoff spot.

It was the Rockets' third straight victory and ended a franchise-worst five-game losing streak to the Clippers. But it did not come without help from referee Jim Clark.

After Francis nailed a 3-pointer to tie the game, 104-104, with 13 seconds left in regulation, the Clippers called timeout. As Andre Miller dribbled near the top of the key, James Posey grabbed Miller's right arm as he executed a spin move with 1.1 seconds left.

Miller sank his first free throw, but Clark disallowed it, caliming Miller stepped over the line. Television replays indicated Miller did not step over the line until after the ball had swished through the basket. Miller missed the second free throw, and the game went into overtime.

It was the second time in the contest that Miller had a free throw disallowed for stepping over the line. He had one wiped out with 4:33 left in the third quarter.

elindholm

Whether there is a "conspiracy" depends on where you want to draw the line.

David Stern has said, pointblank, that "people don't pay money to watch Michael Jordan's backup." It is an open confession of what everyone has known since the league's TV revenues got important -- that superstars will get the benefit of the calls in order to make the product as profitable as possible.

In other words, there's no question that it happens. The only question is how far it spreads. My guess is that officials do not "get together" and decide, intentionally, how to influence the outcome of a game. I think it would be very difficult to keep that a secret for so long; some disgruntled former official would have blown the whistle (heh) by now.

However, it's obvious that stars get more than their share of breaks, and it's equally obvious that stars are annointed by the media. No thinking person can dispute this. So the game is influenced -- not dictated, mind you, but influenced -- by an awareness of which players are best for TV. That's straight from the horse's (Stern's) mouth. I don't consider that a "conspiracy," but then, I don't consider it fair either.

It's a shame, but it won't be changing any time soon. The league isn't on secure enough ground financially. The same thing happens in baseball (which also has money problems) -- for instance with the wider strike zones awarded to Braves pitchers. (Like MLB doesn't know how much money they make off of Turner.) But the NFL, which is in relatively good financial shape, can afford to be more objective.

SirStefan32

That's a very good analysis Lindholm.

I also agree with you Wally- I think it's ok for the officials to make a mistake, but some "mistakes" are too obvious. Take the Houston- LAC game tonight. Come on, Miller is shooting free throw, with hardly any time left on the clock. You have the official looking at Miller as he takes the free throw. It's clear that he did not make that violation. Besides, who cals lane violations anyway?

I am OK with letting Shaq and Kobe get away with more than Alton Ford and Randy Brown, but calling a foul on Doug Christie after Kobe wacks him in the head with his elbow, and calling that infamous foul on Arvydas in the western conference finas, is simply too much.

Stefan

P.S. Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they're not after you!

ThatsAmare

That Miller lane call was bogus, and it ultimately cost LA the game. It also hurt us by putting our playoff hopes in further jepordy.

If the Suns miss out the playoffs by 1 game and Houston make it because of that farce of a win, I'm sure Stern and co would have no problems with that whatsoever. China would just lap it up, having thier boy in the playoffs. And the NBA would lap up the Chinese revenue generated by it.

SirStefan32

I am really starting to hate the Rockets. They are right there after the Lakers and New Jersey.

Chaplin

Did you guys see the laughable exchange between Cherokee Parks and Eddie Griffin?

Dback Jon

I have thought this for awhile - that the NBA would stop at nothing to ensure that China, er Houston and LA make the playoffs, even at the expense of the credibility of the game.

The NBA is one step above WWF, IMHO, as far as fixed outcomes, and it is all clearly orchestrated by Stern.

It is very frustrating to be a Suns fan (or any team that is not "marquee" for that matter - the deck is stack against us.

Joe Mama

I think I'm with Eric on this one. I don't believe there is some grand conspiracy to get certain teams into the playoffs, but I do believe certain teams and especially star players get better treatment from the referees.

It's really too badly are battling with Houston for a playoff spot because Yao Ming is one of only a handful of players the NBA would probably rather see in the playoffs than Amare Stoudemire. When Amare was tearing things up late November and December the referees were treating him very well.

Joe Mama

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Chaplin

I also don't think there's some grand conspiracy. I do, however, believe that there is a tendancy for gross incompetance in the officiating of NBA games. Inconsistency and blown calls, whether made or not made, have considerably degraded the game.

Joe Mama

Like I said before, I don't believe in some grand conspiracy.. But if Houston edges out Phoenix for the final playoff spot by 1 game I'm going to feel pretty cheated. I just saw the replay from that Houston/L.A. Clippers game. That might be the worst officiating blunder I've ever seen. You only make that call during the first 40 minutes of the game if it's obvious. There should have been no doubt he stepped over the line if an official is going to make that call late in a close game. But Miller didn't even stepped over the line! It was a phantom call that really does deserve some sort of investigation.

Joe Mama

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Wally

Right on Joe, It's calls like this that bring up the need for some type of replay system. All games are important, but we tend to make them more important when it gets down to the wire. Bad calls can turn a game around - sometimes either way.
If we miss out by one game, feeling cheated is a nice way to say something that otherwise may be unprintable.

hoopfan189

I think there is a conspiracy theory. I think the league wants Yao Ming and the Rockets to get into the playoffs. Yo Ming is clearly a fan favorite, so that means more ratings, which equalls more money.

SirStefan32

There is no question that there are, indeed, conspiracy theories but the real question is if there are real conspiracies.

I do, however, agree that the league would love to have Yao in playoffs.

JJ Slim

I don't think there is any doubt that there are real conspiracies. The question is if there is a real conspiracy involving the NBA and it's refs. That is truly up for debate and opinions on both sides are only that - opinions. There is no real proof for either side and both side is equally possible.

The only thing I will add is that the NBA is a billion dollar business. People have been killed for much, much less. To think that a conspiracy is impossible or that "they wouldn't do that" or that "someone would know and tell" is simply naive. It's all possible, but is it true?

thegrahamcrackr

I personally do not believe there is a conspiracy. Couple of reasons.

It would have to invole way to many people. Officiating crews only can ref a certain team like 5 - 10 times a year I believe. That means you would need at least 10 - 15 officiating crews involved. Say only 2 of the 3 officials know about it, that is 30 people. Plus the people that thought up the idea. I am guessing it would take about 40 people to pull it off. That is just ridiculous. The chances of NOTHING leaking out from a conspiracy that involves that many people are so minute they are laughable.

You also have to look at what is at stake. As JJ posted, the NBA is a billion dollar investment. Only an extremely risky business man, or a complete moron would risk the entire credibility (which in this case, they are risking the entire product) on the possibility that getting a certain team into the playoffs would increase revenue. Now there is NO way for any of us to know if they would even make more money off of Houston being in the playoffs for 1 round. (They likely would not advance) You also have to look and see how much the 5 extra games (I am also guessing they wouldnt do that well) would bring in. I highly doubt the even possibilty of that small of a profit margin would be worth the risk. The league wasn't created by bad business men, and I highly doubt they will start running it that way now.

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