spurs game 3 win = one of the biggest flukes ever
did anyone just see game 3 of the nba finals, now with san antonio up 3-0 because of no-call on an obvious foul with just a few seconds left in the game and cleveland down 3?
- 5.5 seconds left, cavs down 72-75.
- lebron gets the inbounds to the right of the top of the key outside the three.
- lebron dribbles left.
- bruce bowen grabs and swats at lebron's right arm, and also hits him in the back.
- lebron subsequently rises up for a three-pointer at least three feet beyond the arc, even though there were still 3 seconds left and he had already gotten past bowen.
- NO FOUL WAS CALLED.
- ball goes up in the air.
- almost goes in.
- loose ball in air.
- buzzer sounds.
if you are like most people in this country and world and do not follow the NBA, you might be wondering why this matters. the problem is not just limited to the events of this game.
poor officiating has always been a part of all sports, but NBA basketball has possibly THE worst system of referring.
1) there have been consistently one-sided (i.e. clearly favorable towards one team) calls in numerous games throughout the playoffs. and many of them have involved the san antonio spurs, almost always on the good side of the refs.
from robert horry's incident (he checked steve nash with suns up 3 and under a minute left, amare stoudemire and boris diaw left the bench area and were both suspended for the following game 5, while horry sat out two games) to derek fisher's technical (manu ginobili essentially pushed himself into fisher and flopped to the ground, drawing a technical on fisher) to this most recent bullshit with bowen clearly fouling lebron (why the hell else would he have pulled up for a three from 25+ feet and with a few seconds still on the clock?!), the 2007 nba playoffs have been sourly tainted throughout some of the most important moments in games.
the suns pretty much got fucked over (note that duncan did not receive any penalty earlier for an earlier altercation that was interpreted as a non-fight, while horry's confrontational attitude was enough to classify the checking-nash incident as a fight) by something that was essentially determined by an opponent, robert horry. if a suns player had simply acted out earlier, then it would have needed to be a similar punishment for dunca, or the most appropriate call, no suspensions for duncan, stoudemire, and diaw. i thought at that point that the officiating could not possibly get any worse.
i was wrong. game 4 between the spurs and jazz was just a little bit more ridiculous, and irritating. ginobili essentially pushed himself off of fisher, which made it look like fisher had shouldered him. and now this no-call on a clear three-pointer.
2) the worst part of all is how everyone - fans, players, coaches, commentators alike - all just bend over and take it up the ass as the underhanded officiating in collaboration with the NBA corporation continues to perpetuate a officiating situation in which there is absolutely no questioning or challenging. say something bad about the referrees after the game? simple, get hit with a $10,000-$50,000 fine from the NBA. they recently started reviewing plays at the end of quarters to see if players actually get off shots before the buzzer, but that's not enough. that barely scratches the tainted surface.
if they're going to double-check time of release vs. the buzzer at the end of quarters, WHY THE FUCK IS NOT THERE ANY SORT OF REVIEW AT THE END OF GAMES - NBA FINAL GAMES AT THAT - REGARDING SHODDY OFFICIATING AND POSSIBLE NO-CALL SLIPS ON GAME-CHANGING FOULS?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
as a waning fan of the NBA, this extreme level of censorship and totalitarianism is has been pissing me off for a long time and is just sad and hopeless at this point. lebron was clearly fouled - easily visible from game-time action and replays - but the depressing truth is that nothing, NOTHING, can be done about it. like all too many other things in this country and world, the cavs and everyone else disappointed with the ERRONEOUS NO-CALL can only continue to do just that: be disappointed.
3) a relevant but potentially tangential topic is also the accountability and reviewing of referring in the NBA. bob delaney, in his TWENTIETH year of officiating was the one who missed bowen's foul on lebron - who is over TWO-AND-A-HALF times younger than delaney. while watching some playoff action last month, my friend mentioned that NBA referrees essentially get tenure and then are nearly impossible to replace, which is almost exactly what ths case is. In this case, WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK??? does this man:
http://www.probasketballrefs.com/Default.aspx?tabid=85
look like someone who is among the most qualified to closely follow 48-minutes of high-paced NBA final action and be able to be on the fucking dot with calling that last several seconds of physical, decisive basketball? the answer should be a resounding, "FUCKING NO," if you've any level of common sense or visibility.
as a friend once stated in regards to the spurs' game 4 versus the jazz, "maybe Eva Longoria is fucking each referee before the game, or maybe Popovich has a dirty relationship with Stern, or maybe Duncan/Bowen has telepathic powers." either that/those, or the NBA is looking out for its longer-term interests and wants to extend the suspense of lebron' winning a championship for as long as possible. this might just be the motivation needed for the cavs to win the next four games a la the style in which the powned the detroit pistons. exactly.
- 5.5 seconds left, cavs down 72-75.
- lebron gets the inbounds to the right of the top of the key outside the three.
- lebron dribbles left.
- bruce bowen grabs and swats at lebron's right arm, and also hits him in the back.
- lebron subsequently rises up for a three-pointer at least three feet beyond the arc, even though there were still 3 seconds left and he had already gotten past bowen.
- NO FOUL WAS CALLED.
- ball goes up in the air.
- almost goes in.
- loose ball in air.
- buzzer sounds.
if you are like most people in this country and world and do not follow the NBA, you might be wondering why this matters. the problem is not just limited to the events of this game.
poor officiating has always been a part of all sports, but NBA basketball has possibly THE worst system of referring.
1) there have been consistently one-sided (i.e. clearly favorable towards one team) calls in numerous games throughout the playoffs. and many of them have involved the san antonio spurs, almost always on the good side of the refs.
from robert horry's incident (he checked steve nash with suns up 3 and under a minute left, amare stoudemire and boris diaw left the bench area and were both suspended for the following game 5, while horry sat out two games) to derek fisher's technical (manu ginobili essentially pushed himself into fisher and flopped to the ground, drawing a technical on fisher) to this most recent bullshit with bowen clearly fouling lebron (why the hell else would he have pulled up for a three from 25+ feet and with a few seconds still on the clock?!), the 2007 nba playoffs have been sourly tainted throughout some of the most important moments in games.
the suns pretty much got fucked over (note that duncan did not receive any penalty earlier for an earlier altercation that was interpreted as a non-fight, while horry's confrontational attitude was enough to classify the checking-nash incident as a fight) by something that was essentially determined by an opponent, robert horry. if a suns player had simply acted out earlier, then it would have needed to be a similar punishment for dunca, or the most appropriate call, no suspensions for duncan, stoudemire, and diaw. i thought at that point that the officiating could not possibly get any worse.
i was wrong. game 4 between the spurs and jazz was just a little bit more ridiculous, and irritating. ginobili essentially pushed himself off of fisher, which made it look like fisher had shouldered him. and now this no-call on a clear three-pointer.
2) the worst part of all is how everyone - fans, players, coaches, commentators alike - all just bend over and take it up the ass as the underhanded officiating in collaboration with the NBA corporation continues to perpetuate a officiating situation in which there is absolutely no questioning or challenging. say something bad about the referrees after the game? simple, get hit with a $10,000-$50,000 fine from the NBA. they recently started reviewing plays at the end of quarters to see if players actually get off shots before the buzzer, but that's not enough. that barely scratches the tainted surface.
if they're going to double-check time of release vs. the buzzer at the end of quarters, WHY THE FUCK IS NOT THERE ANY SORT OF REVIEW AT THE END OF GAMES - NBA FINAL GAMES AT THAT - REGARDING SHODDY OFFICIATING AND POSSIBLE NO-CALL SLIPS ON GAME-CHANGING FOULS?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
as a waning fan of the NBA, this extreme level of censorship and totalitarianism is has been pissing me off for a long time and is just sad and hopeless at this point. lebron was clearly fouled - easily visible from game-time action and replays - but the depressing truth is that nothing, NOTHING, can be done about it. like all too many other things in this country and world, the cavs and everyone else disappointed with the ERRONEOUS NO-CALL can only continue to do just that: be disappointed.
3) a relevant but potentially tangential topic is also the accountability and reviewing of referring in the NBA. bob delaney, in his TWENTIETH year of officiating was the one who missed bowen's foul on lebron - who is over TWO-AND-A-HALF times younger than delaney. while watching some playoff action last month, my friend mentioned that NBA referrees essentially get tenure and then are nearly impossible to replace, which is almost exactly what ths case is. In this case, WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK??? does this man:
http://www.probasketballrefs.com/Default.aspx?tabid=85
look like someone who is among the most qualified to closely follow 48-minutes of high-paced NBA final action and be able to be on the fucking dot with calling that last several seconds of physical, decisive basketball? the answer should be a resounding, "FUCKING NO," if you've any level of common sense or visibility.
as a friend once stated in regards to the spurs' game 4 versus the jazz, "maybe Eva Longoria is fucking each referee before the game, or maybe Popovich has a dirty relationship with Stern, or maybe Duncan/Bowen has telepathic powers." either that/those, or the NBA is looking out for its longer-term interests and wants to extend the suspense of lebron' winning a championship for as long as possible. this might just be the motivation needed for the cavs to win the next four games a la the style in which the powned the detroit pistons. exactly.
posted by zoomair at 12:04 PM
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