Will Dick Bavetta Ever Be Welcome in SA.....

[ImpartialObserver]

......after officiating tonight's games? Wow, the NBA isn't even hiding what is about to happen. The Spurs think they will be closing out the Suns, but the NBA has their own "closer" on the job tonight, lol. He didn't earn the knickname "Knick" Bavetta for nothing. Spurs better blow out the Suns or suffer a whole night of "make up calls".

As a side note, the home team has won 46 of the 79 games he has officiated this year by an average score of 100.3 to 97.1. (http://www.covers.com/pageLoader/pageLoader.aspx?page=/data/nba/referees/2006-2007/referee403923.html&t=0) More stats on NBA referees here. (http://www.covers.com/pageLoader/pageLoader.aspx?page=/data/nba/referees/2006-2007/referee403923.html&t=0)

[Obstructed_View]

I'm not remotely worried. If they brought Joey Crawford back just for this one game he'd do his job like a professional. Conspiracy theories are called theories for a reason.

[ImpartialObserver]

I'm not remotely worried. If they brought Joey Crawford back just for this one game he'd do his job like a professional. Conspiracy theories are called theories for a reason.
That would actually be pretty funny if they brought back Crawford for this game. Btw, it ain't a conspiracy. If the game is close, you'll see why tonight, lol.

[easjer]

Meh, Bevetta doesn't favor one team over the other. He shifts his calls in favor who he thinks needs a boost for drama.

Now, I might buy into the theory if ol' Bennet stopped by. I hate that guy.

Regardless of who refs - Spurs will win if they play like champions and lose if they don't.

[Obstructed_View]

That would actually be pretty funny if they brought back Crawford for this game. Btw, it ain't a conspiracy. If the game is close, you'll see why tonight, lol.
The operative term is "if". At least you basically understand that there's no way to know what's going to happen, regardless of who's officiating the game, because even you have enough sense not to watch a sport that you honestly believe is fixed or predetermined. If the game isn't close, you won't ever come back here and mention this conversation, but the first time there's a game that confirms what you say, you'll be all over it. Again, therein lies the flaw in these sorts of theories. When the Spurs lose, there's a group of people who complain about how they got fucked, and when they win, there's a whole group from the other team that does exactly the same thing. There's just nothing to gain from it.

[Obstructed_View]

Meh, Bevetta doesn't favor one team over the other. He shifts his calls in favor who he thinks needs a boost for drama.

Now, I might buy into the theory if ol' Bennet stopped by. I hate that guy.

Regardless of who refs - Spurs will win if they play like champions and lose if they don't.
Until they bring in FIBA refs, I'm not worried.

[easjer]

Oh, OV, honey, I'm happy to bitch about officiating when Spurs win - only I don't, because it's tactless.

:lol


No, in all seriousness, I get on refs for bad calls, and biases, but I know that in the end it doesn't matter, because a good team plays through WHATEVER adversity they face.

[Obstructed_View]

Oh, OV, honey, I'm happy to bitch about officiating when Spurs win - only I don't, because it's tactless.

:lol


No, in all seriousness, I get on refs for bad calls, and biases, but I know that in the end it doesn't matter, because a good team plays through WHATEVER adversity they face.
Sometimes a guy just blows a call, and that's fun. Charting tendencies and claiming bias or that the NBA is sending a specific official in a specific situation is a little silly, that's all. If you watched a game with me you'd see that I complain about calls, but I don't use it as an excuse for the team losing.

[ObiwanGinobili]

When he calls Horry for a holding foul in the 3rd... well then we'll have our proof.

[ImpartialObserver]

The operative term is "if". At least you basically understand that there's no way to know what's going to happen, regardless of who's officiating the game, because even you have enough sense not to watch a sport that you honestly believe is fixed or predetermined. If the game isn't close, you won't ever come back here and mention this conversation, but the first time there's a game that confirms what you say, you'll be all over it. Again, therein lies the flaw in these sorts of theories. When the Spurs lose, there's a group of people who complain about how they got fucked, and when they win, there's a whole group from the other team that does exactly the same thing. There's just nothing to gain from it.
This has been a pretty compelling series, so I'll watch regardless. I'm extremely interested now that the NBA has assigned one the most corrupt refs to officiate a game Phoenix must have. Those of us in the know actually predicted over the last couple of days that Bavetta would get assigned to this game. Now, there are dozens of NBA refs, so isn't interesting that of all the choices to officiate this game, the one that those of us who are "conspiracy theorists" predicted would be there is in fact there? Doesn't that at least make you go hmmmm? I wish I had the link to it, but Bill Simmons actually went into depth as to all of the BS Bavetta has pulled over the years in exactly these kind of games, so this isn't some far fetched notion that he might try and swing the game in Phoenix's favor, rather one with lots of empirical evidence to back it up.

So yes, the Spurs may blow out the Suns or vice-versa making all of this moot, but I wouldn't be surprised to read on the board later tonight what a travesty the NBA is because of the officiating.

[ChumpDumper]

Did someone just try to cite a stat of home teams winning more games as suspect?

[FromWayDowntown]

Those of us in the know actually predicted over the last couple of days that Bavetta would get assigned to this game. Now, there are dozens of NBA refs, so isn't interesting that of all the choices to officiate this game, the one that those of us who are "conspiracy theorists" predicted would be there is in fact there? Doesn't that at least make you go hmmmm?

I suggested it as a distinct possibility on Tuesday evening, but I don't buy any of your conspiracy bullshit.

Next you're going to tell me that you've predicted that Bennett Salvatore would call Game 7, if it's necessary.

Way to go out on a limb.

[ChumpDumper]

He predicted small market championships at least three times.

[ImpartialObserver]

I suggested it as a distinct possibility on Tuesday evening, but I don't buy any of your conspiracy bullshit.

Next you're going to tell me that you've predicted that Bennett Salvatore would call Game 7, if it's necessary.

Way to go out on a limb.
So why did you suggest it as a distinct possibility if you don't buy any of my "conspiracy bullshit"?

P.S. Why do you think the NBA waits for the day of the game before making their officiating assignments public?

[ChumpDumper]

So why did you suggest it as a distinct possibility if you don't buy any of my "conspiracy bullshit"?

P.S. Why do you think the NBA waits for the day of the game before making their officiating assignments public?Because someone might call in sick.

Why do teams not announce starting lineups until the day of the game?

[violentkitten]

it all makes sense now. the league wanted one of the league's smallest markets to end up with two of the greatest bigmen in nba history at the same time and 3 titles.

[Obstructed_View]

If David Stern wanted to screw the Spurs, he had the perfect opportunity to do so over the last few days.

[ImpartialObserver]

Because someone might call in sick.

Why do teams not announce starting lineups until the day of the game?
The reason why has something to do with the NBA refs being involved in enterprising activities (http://www.referee.com/sampleArticles/2001/SampleArticle0101/interviews/crawford/Crawfordtext.html) like selling plane tickets and then evading taxes. More specifically, if big time gamblers (I'm in the gaming industry) knew who the refs were days in advance, well, you wouldn't believe what they would try to do if I was to tell you since that is conspiracy stuff....

Why is the NBA terrified of giving Vegas a team? It's not because the NBA is scared of players being influenced by gamblers because the overwhelming majority that actually play in games make so much that they would never risk it. No, no, the real reason there isn't a team in Vegas imo is because the NBA is terrified that the refs will become more corrupt then they already are as evidenced by their ticket selling scheme.

[FromWayDowntown]

So why did you suggest it as a distinct possibility if you don't buy any of my "conspiracy bullshit"?

P.S. Why do you think the NBA waits for the day of the game before making their officiating assignments public?

Because someone asked who might be officiating Game 5 and then Game 6.

I don't really care why the NBA waits for game day to make officiating assignments public. Officiating is the sideshow -- I'll bitch about calls during a game, too, but I'll never agree with anyone that a team wins or loses based upon who the officials are or how they call the game.

Champions overcome adversity.

There is no conspiracy -- the NBA has too much to lose if such a conspiracy were ever uncovered and too many people to shut up to keep such a conspiracy secret for long. Besides, if there is some conspiracy, it sure doesn't seem to work too well. Since 2000, we've had cities like Portland, San Antonio, Sacramento, Milwaukee, and Indianapolis have teams reach the elite rounds of the playoffs and we've had non-telegenic teams like San Antonio, New Jersey, and Detroit reach the Finals (after dispatching squads from LA, Dallas, Phoenix, Boston, and Miami along the way). You'll never convince me that the NBA conspired to put San Antonio and New Jersey into the Finals in 2003 or to put the Spurs and Pistons into the 2005 Finals. If that's the result of the conspiracy, someone needs to get fired because that's sheer incompetence.

[FromWayDowntown]

The reason why has something to do with the NBA refs being involved in enterprising activities (http://www.referee.com/sampleArticles/2001/SampleArticle0101/interviews/crawford/Crawfordtext.html) like selling plane tickets and then evading taxes. More specifically, if big time gamblers (I'm in the gaming industry) knew who the refs were days in advance, well, you wouldn't believe what they would try to do if I was to tell you since that is conspiracy stuff....

Why is the NBA terrified of giving Vegas a team? It's not because the NBA is scared of players being influenced by gamblers because the overwhelming majority that actually play in games make so much that they would never risk it. No, no, the real reason there isn't a team in Vegas imo is because the NBA is terrified that the refs will become more corrupt then they already are as evidenced by their ticket selling scheme.

Are you suggesting that there is a conspiracy that has nothing to do with the league?

GMAFB.

[ChumpDumper]

Not reporting ticket-exchange proceeds to the IRS = fixing games

Brilliant!

[FromWayDowntown]

Not reporting ticket-exchange proceeds to the IRS = fixing games

Brilliant!

They're all crooks, Chump. Can't you just acknowledge that?

[ploto]

As I posted in the other thread- we knew it was Bavetta's turn because he had not officiated in this entire series-- and 15 other refs had.

[J.T.]

Look for Dick to slip Duncan a few Benjamins during the game for his work on getting Crawford out of the NBA, and then throw D'Antoni out of the game for laughing.

[Obstructed_View]

As I posted in the other thread- we knew it was Bavetta's turn because he had not officiated in this entire series-- and 15 other refs had.
Thank you.