Big Surprise: Bavetta In Game 5

[csaenz]

Just wondering if anybody else is watching this travesty...There's still 1:14 to go, but give me a break. It's not the ref's job to keep a player (from the Lakers) from getting a TF. If he's yelling and jumping and throwing a fit, you don't calm him down. That's his teammates' job. You give him a TF for attempting to start a fight. Infuriating...

[TheProfessor]

Lots of ref's use added discretion in the waning moments of games. You're looking for something that isn't there.

[csaenz]

Just found this, too.

Bavetta, who worked alleged fixed playoff game, refs Game 5

LOS ANGELES -- Dick Bavetta, the referee who worked one of the games Tim Donaghy alleged was rigged, officiated Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Sunday night.

Bavetta worked Game 6 of the 2002 Western Conference finals, when the Los Angeles Lakers used a huge free-throw advantage in the fourth quarter to beat the Sacramento Kings and even a series they eventually won.

Donaghy, who has pleaded guilty to betting on games he officiated and taking cash payments from gamblers, alleged in a court filing this week that the NBA had two "company men" work that game and make calls that would help the Lakers win and set up a Game 7.

NBA commissioner David Stern later confirmed that the federal investigation into Donaghy included questions about Bavetta.

NBA spokesman Tim Frank said the league did not consider pulling Bavetta, in his 33rd season as an NBA referee, off the game in light of this week's events. Bavetta has worked more than 20 NBA Finals games.

Scott Foster and Ken Mauer worked with Bavetta on Sunday, when the Boston Celtics hoped to clinch the series. Bavetta and Foster also were part of the Game 1 crew in Boston.

Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press

[exstatic]

Bavetta is probably Stern's favorite bag man.

[Mr. Body]

The game looked fine to me. Nothing more or less than usual.

[ducks]

kobe fouled paul peirce
but no call

[spurscenter]

that was not a steal, it was a fucking foul on Kobe

bullshit non call

[Mr. Body]

That call wouldn't be made in the regular season, wouldn't now.

[T Park]

seemed like it was reffed no more worse than usual.

[ducks]

That call wouldn't be made in the regular season, wouldn't now.

it was a foul
should not matter when
a foul is a foul

[Spur-Addict]

Yeah, KG just blew it at the line. Making those two free throws changes the whole game.

[Spur-Addict]

it was a foul
should not matter when
a foul is a foul

True. If it was a foul that is.

[ducks]

he hit his body
it was a foul

[Mr. Body]

Whether it was a foul or not, it wouldn't have been called. Not in the regular season, not now.

You people need to stop whining about this game. It was pretty decently called. Celts will wrap it up in Game 6 at home.

[SPURSGOAT]

The game was called fairly... the game was not decided by the refs and that steal was not a foul.

[dbestpro]

seemed like it was reffed no more worse than usual.

That's the problem. The game was reffed as usual with the whistles being swallowed during crunch time. The company men were working overtime today.

[dbestpro]

The game was called fairly... the game was not decided by the refs and that steal was not a foul.

So when do you start your NBA ref career?

[SPURSGOAT]

Whether it was a foul or not, it wouldn't have been called. Not in the regular season, not now.

You people need to stop whining about this game. It was pretty decently called. Celts will wrap it up in Game 6 at home.

:tu

Boston will wrap it up in front of their fans. Better way of closing out the series in front of your fans at home.

[Spurtacus]

Missed call. Should have been obvious to a ref who was a few feet away. Hopefully Boston will wrap this up at home.

[dbestpro]

Whether it was a foul or not, it wouldn't have been called. Not in the regular season, not now.

You people need to stop whining about this game. It was pretty decently called. Celts will wrap it up in Game 6 at home.

Maybe you should stop whining about the game. Who cares who wins the next game. It's the crap end of these games that keeps giving the NBA a black eye.

[phyzik]

Lots of ref's use added discretion in the waning moments of games. You're looking for something that isn't there.

And you have precisely hit the nail on the head. Thats EXACTLY the reason people think the NBA is fixed. a foul needs to be called a foul regardless of "added discretion".

Other then that (my point) the game was called quite fairly.

[T Park]

The game was no worse reffed than usual...