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The NBA's worst nightmare

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Elliotte Friedman, May 17, 2008.

  1. Stoney

    Stoney Well-Known Member

    Beyond that one play, I recall that entire 99 Knick/Pacer series having perhaps the most suspiciously one-sided officiating I've seen (games 3 and 4 in the 06 finals come close, though). Anyone else remember all the bizarre off-the-ball fouls that seemed to come out nowhere on key Pacer possessions? I think that series was the first time that I actually wondered a bit instead of just scoffing at the conspiracy theories.
     
  2. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    The Sacramento-Lakers series a few years back is another one they should be looking into.
     
  3. Some Guy

    Some Guy Active Member

    If there is some grand conspiracy to fix games, the NBA is really, really fucking bad at it. The rating-killing Spurs win every other year, and then hard-on-the-eyes Pistons won one of the year's the Spurs didn't.
     
  4. BYH

    BYH Active Member

    Stern's sinister, not stupid.

    Allowing the Spurs to win every other year and throwing the Pistons a bone lends juuuuuuust enough credence to the operation...and, in turn, allows him to rig the 2006 Finals for the Heat, or the 2000 (?) Western Conference Finals for the Lakers, who came back from, what, 987 down to beat the Blazers in Game Seven, or allowing the 1994 and 1999 Knicks to reach the Finals thanks to the biggest horseshit calls in the history of sports.

    And the Jazz were just innocent bystanders in the late '90s. No way they were going to beat the Bulls, one way or the other.

    If it's not Celtics-Lakers this year, I'll eat my hats.
     
  5. DanOregon

    DanOregon Well-Known Member

    My biggest beef with the NBA officiating is the way they rotate crews in and out of series. Why not keep the same refs for the entire series to at least attempt some consistency in their calls?
    The last time I watched an entire series was when the Blazers were pretty good and even for a novice like me, the officiating seemed to veer this way and that depending on who was calling the game and where it was.
    And another thing, don't the networks and the league lose money on a sweep?
     
  6. 2muchcoffeeman

    2muchcoffeeman Well-Known Member

    They just ran up to Stern and ripped off his hair .... no, wait, that's not his hair! It's a mask! It's a DAMN MASK!

    Donald Stern is really ... Oh, my GOD! [/JoeyStyles]

    [​IMG]

    :D
     
  7. 93Devil

    93Devil Well-Known Member

    I don't think the games are fixed at all.

    I just think the refs hesitate to blow whistles on the home team.

    Shit, with the lights and music bringing the crowd into a rabid frenzy, is it really shocking the visitors never get their fair share of calls?
     
  8. ServeItUp

    ServeItUp Active Member

    BYH, good to know someone else smelled a rat in the 2000 Western finals. That said, we all know damned well the NBA wants a Lakers-Celtics final and it will use any means necessary to get it.
     
  9. Small Town Guy

    Small Town Guy Well-Known Member

    It was Joey Crawford who made Portland miss 13 straight shots in the fourth quarter. Damn him.

    There were a couple of questionable calls in the fourth quarter of that game - the tape's been worn out on my VCR so I'm going on memory here. One was a foul on a Kobe drive late, which ended with Rasheed literally rolling around on the ground. And you know if Rasheed is complaining about a call, it must have been wrong...

    But the Lakers were the victims of a couple of terrible calls too in the final three minutes. A goaltending against Shaq that tied the game was horrid, and when the Lakers were up 2 Shaq was called for a minor bump as Rasheed moved through the lane. Unfortunately for the Blazers, Wallace missed both shots (the refs spit on the ball before giving it to him, most likely, making it impossible for him to hit them). Kobe then hit a jumper, Pippen missed a 3, and then the famous Kobe to Shaq lob. The Blazers did get jobbed on a late drive by Smith when Shaq fouled him, but I think that was more a case of refs swallowing the whistle at the end of games.

    So if the Lakers and Celtics do make the finals, it's a conspiracy, even though they're the top two seeds?
     
  10. Chef

    Chef Active Member

    Det-San Tony would be brutal. A whole series full of 68-63 games. No.

    LAL-BOS would be fun to watch.
     
  11. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    I've always thought aspects of the NBA were fixed.

    I don't think every draft lottery is fixed, but I think a lot of them are... It's just a little too perfect for Ewing to go to NYC and James to stay home in Cleveland.
     
  12. Big Chee

    Big Chee Active Member

    Don't worry. The same network assigned to spread this as news are the same ones who telecast the games.

    This will receive the episodic treatment in the media Stern will like to see.
     
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