Thomas82
06-03-2008, 01:19 PM
NBA Playoffs More About Money Than Skill
by Will Gilbert
Published: Monday, June 2, 2008 4:27 PM CDT
Sun-Times Sports Editor
Watching NBA basketball is a lot like watching professional wrestling. Being a fan is becoming almost as embarrassing. The general public and larger television markets help the NBA and commissioner David Stern decide who will get the calls.
The San Antonio Spurs have spent the past 10 years trying to beat Stern and his renegade referees and have had quite a bit of success, winning four World Championships since 1999.
Everybody outside San Antonio and Detroit is rooting for a Boston-LA Lakers finals and don’t be surprised if that’s what you get. Not because those are the two best teams, but because they are the two most marketable teams for this country.
Never mind that the Spurs have three of the best players in the league. Tim Duncan (Virgin Islands), Tony Parker (France) and Manu Ginobili (Argentina) are three of the best players at their position, yet the NBA would rather pump up selfish cry babies like Kobe Bryant.
Bryant threw his whole team under the bus during the off-season but now that all the breaks are falling his way, he’s happy with his teammates once again.
In Game 1 of the Western Conference finals versus the Spurs, Bryant had a wonderful second half but the game-winning shot was a blatant push-off that allowed space for the release. All defender Bruce Bowen could do was roll his eyes as he fell backwards without a whistle. Or what about the call when Tim Duncan grabbed a defensive rebound with 53 seconds left and the ball was slapped out by two Lakers, yet the refs give the ball to LA?
The bad calls against the Spurs continued in Game 4 Wednesday night even in San Antonio as the ‘boring’ Spurs made a last minute comeback before the referees had to step in and help.
Brent Barry, who had already scored 23 points off the bench, caught the ball up top with a chance to win the game. Being a savvy Spur, Barry pump faked and Derek Fisher took the bait and landed on his shoulder, making it impossible to get off a decent shot.
In regular basketball this is called a foul. In the NBA, this is called a double standard. If the foul was against Bryant, the call would have certainly been a foul and possibly even a continuation no matter where the game was being played.
But to no surprise to this fan, Joey Crawford and crew managed to swallow their whistles, escape to the locker room and probably snuck out of the Alamo City with a big bonus check from Stern. Stern placed Crawford on this game for one reason; they both hate San Antonio. Crawford was banned from calling Spurs’ games last season and did all he could for New Orleans against San Antonio in the Western Conference semifinals.
The Spurs are likely done for this season but all the haters watch out, they will make another deep run into the playoffs next year despite playing 8 on 5.
A foul is a foul no matter when, where or on who it takes place. Following the game, ESPN analyst Tim Legler and TNT analyst Charles Barkley said it was a foul but the referees didn’t want to decide the game. Even Lakers’ coach Phil Jackson admitted “there was contact” in a post-game press conference. Well, the referees did decide the game by not calling an obvious foul that likely would have sent the game into overtime.
It’s nothing new, but don’t expect me to watch this nonsense anymore. I already quit watching the regular season and once the game is more about who is marketable and not who is best, I can find something else to watch, like my surprising St. Louis Cardinals.
(Will Gilbert is sports editor for The Sun-Times. Send comments to [email protected])
http://www.thesuntimes.com/articles/...ts/sports3.txt
__________________
by Will Gilbert
Published: Monday, June 2, 2008 4:27 PM CDT
Sun-Times Sports Editor
Watching NBA basketball is a lot like watching professional wrestling. Being a fan is becoming almost as embarrassing. The general public and larger television markets help the NBA and commissioner David Stern decide who will get the calls.
The San Antonio Spurs have spent the past 10 years trying to beat Stern and his renegade referees and have had quite a bit of success, winning four World Championships since 1999.
Everybody outside San Antonio and Detroit is rooting for a Boston-LA Lakers finals and don’t be surprised if that’s what you get. Not because those are the two best teams, but because they are the two most marketable teams for this country.
Never mind that the Spurs have three of the best players in the league. Tim Duncan (Virgin Islands), Tony Parker (France) and Manu Ginobili (Argentina) are three of the best players at their position, yet the NBA would rather pump up selfish cry babies like Kobe Bryant.
Bryant threw his whole team under the bus during the off-season but now that all the breaks are falling his way, he’s happy with his teammates once again.
In Game 1 of the Western Conference finals versus the Spurs, Bryant had a wonderful second half but the game-winning shot was a blatant push-off that allowed space for the release. All defender Bruce Bowen could do was roll his eyes as he fell backwards without a whistle. Or what about the call when Tim Duncan grabbed a defensive rebound with 53 seconds left and the ball was slapped out by two Lakers, yet the refs give the ball to LA?
The bad calls against the Spurs continued in Game 4 Wednesday night even in San Antonio as the ‘boring’ Spurs made a last minute comeback before the referees had to step in and help.
Brent Barry, who had already scored 23 points off the bench, caught the ball up top with a chance to win the game. Being a savvy Spur, Barry pump faked and Derek Fisher took the bait and landed on his shoulder, making it impossible to get off a decent shot.
In regular basketball this is called a foul. In the NBA, this is called a double standard. If the foul was against Bryant, the call would have certainly been a foul and possibly even a continuation no matter where the game was being played.
But to no surprise to this fan, Joey Crawford and crew managed to swallow their whistles, escape to the locker room and probably snuck out of the Alamo City with a big bonus check from Stern. Stern placed Crawford on this game for one reason; they both hate San Antonio. Crawford was banned from calling Spurs’ games last season and did all he could for New Orleans against San Antonio in the Western Conference semifinals.
The Spurs are likely done for this season but all the haters watch out, they will make another deep run into the playoffs next year despite playing 8 on 5.
A foul is a foul no matter when, where or on who it takes place. Following the game, ESPN analyst Tim Legler and TNT analyst Charles Barkley said it was a foul but the referees didn’t want to decide the game. Even Lakers’ coach Phil Jackson admitted “there was contact” in a post-game press conference. Well, the referees did decide the game by not calling an obvious foul that likely would have sent the game into overtime.
It’s nothing new, but don’t expect me to watch this nonsense anymore. I already quit watching the regular season and once the game is more about who is marketable and not who is best, I can find something else to watch, like my surprising St. Louis Cardinals.
(Will Gilbert is sports editor for The Sun-Times. Send comments to [email protected])
http://www.thesuntimes.com/articles/...ts/sports3.txt
__________________