duncan228
06-16-2008, 01:51 PM
http://www.sportingnews.com/blog/Rankor/155930
The Hand of Stern
I've had it. I've completely had it. David Stern has finally got his wish...and it's STILL not good enough for him.
The entirety of the NBA playoffs have been an absolute farce. Teams that should have advanced did not and teams that should have been eliminated long ago have been pushed into the spotlight purely for money and ratings, rather than for the purity of the game.
Here's how I see it:
Reason #1: The Washington Wizards vs. the Cleveland Cavaliers
In what can only be described as a flagrant mess, the Wizards were allowed to brutalize the Cavs, and in particular LeBron James, with a string of ugly flagrant fouls that should have resulted in major fines and suspensions. Instead no players were punished other than the occasional ejection and the Cavs managed to win the series, albeit bloodied, bruised, and exhausted. Why were no steps taken to stop the way this series was played? Why did the referees not clamp down on the players, especially when fights nearly broke out in two or three of the games?
Reason #2: The Boston Celtics
Hand Cinderella a shotgun and a license to kill and you get this year's Boston Celtics. This team SHOULD have been truly great. Three All-Stars, a host of solid benchers, and one of, in my opinion, the smartest coaches in the league. This team should have made a power drive to the Finals and met whichever Western team managed to claw its way out of the scrum that was the Western Conference.
However, what we got was an absolutely pathetic series against Atlanta. This was immediately followed by the series against a beat up Cavs team in which the Cavs were non-called out of the game. That's right, I said it. The refs made the decisions in this series.n The unbelievable one-sidedness of every single Boston home game in this year's playoffs in an atrocity that should be held up as an example of just how far Stern will sink to create his perfect Final.
This trend has continued into a one-sided final, in which a powerful Laker team has suddenly found itself unable to score, even on their home court. I don't care what people say, Kobe Bryant doesn't just go out there and miss shots night after night. Nobody's defence is good enough to stop him from getting his own, and yet, up until now, Kobe has been strangely quiet during this series, and his team, even at home, has played like garbage with more questionable non-calls than I can list on this blog.
Reason #3 The San Antonio Spurs vs. The Los Angeles Lakers
Now, as a Spurs fan, you might think that what I'm really upset about is the non-call that cost the Spurs game 4. Although, yes, I am angry about that, I believe truly that the Lakers would have won that series either way.
I'm a homer straight and true, but an exhausted Spurs team with a bench nearly exhausted of usable resources simply could not stand up to the Lakers the way they were playing. Games 1 and 5 said it all, the Lakers charged back in both of those games to beat the Spurs by narrow margins. My beef, however, lies not with LA winning, but how they won.
This series should have been epic. The revival of a decade old rivalry is enough controversy and back story to make this series as interesting as any in the playoffs. What I saw though, was enough to make me want to retch and leave my fanhood of the NBA behind me. The team that should have won to begin with, was given handout after handout to assist with their trouncing of my Spurs.
And this is the point that I really want to make. It's is difficult to explain. Everyone has played basketball before, either in a regulated game, or a simple pickup street-ball game. You know the differences between the styles of play. When you play with fouls called be a referee, you are more careful, more reserved, you try to play more focused and intelligent basketball. However, when you play street-ball, typically there are either no fouls or the call-your-own-foul style of play. You play differently in that system. You feel freer, you play looser, you are able to do different things with the game because the regulation confining you to set rules no longer exists.
This is what has been happening in these playoffs. It's not bad calls that are changing the nature of these playoffs, but the lack of calls favoring certain teams. When the Lakers went on those two runs to come back and steal wins from the Spurs, there were huge, pivotal stretches where the normal calls continued to happen for the Spurs, but the Lakers suddenly become near immaculate in their play...at least according to the referees.
I'm not saying there were no calls at all, that would be a lie. No matter how good people are playing, the fouls, the little bumps, that accidental shoves, the overly aggressive charge all continue to happen, it's just a part of the game. However, when you take away the element of regulation, when a player suddenly is allowed to get away with all those little accidents, he plays a different game. He plays a game where he doesn't feel that pressure constantly constricting the way he plays.
Take Kobe for example:
This man is the epitome of clutch play, he just seems to shrug off the fear, the pressure of it all, and just win. However, he is a man who is known to use whatever weapons he can to make shots. Elbows, knees, shoves, whatever he can, he uses to win. This does not make him a dirty player, it makes him a GREAT. He does whatever it takes to win, even swallow his pride and pass to somebody else (I've learned that about him this year).
The problem is though, when he is suddenly allowed to use those weapons without fear of being called for it, he plays differently. The pressure is gone and now he can do what he does: Win. Without that regulation, now he gets to make whatever move he wants, push whomever he feels, and shoot whatever shot he wants and he knows, whether consciously or not, that he is getting his way.
In the entirety of the playoffs and especially on their home court, Boston has enjoyed that luxury time and time again. That luxury allowed them to beat Cleveland and gave them an edge over the imploding Detroit team. They are now getting it against the Lakers.
This series, again, should be epic, and yet it's strangely not. Even on their home court the Lakers struggle, Boston is getting every important non-call they need to take games away from LA. Yes LA is playing badly, but a regulated team vs a non-regulated team doesn't play as well. The confidence they had in the previous rounds of the playoffs is melting away and Boston, the "storied" franchise is being given a pass to win their first championship in over 20 years. It make me sick and I've had enough. The Hand of Stern Striker Again!!!
The Hand of Stern
I've had it. I've completely had it. David Stern has finally got his wish...and it's STILL not good enough for him.
The entirety of the NBA playoffs have been an absolute farce. Teams that should have advanced did not and teams that should have been eliminated long ago have been pushed into the spotlight purely for money and ratings, rather than for the purity of the game.
Here's how I see it:
Reason #1: The Washington Wizards vs. the Cleveland Cavaliers
In what can only be described as a flagrant mess, the Wizards were allowed to brutalize the Cavs, and in particular LeBron James, with a string of ugly flagrant fouls that should have resulted in major fines and suspensions. Instead no players were punished other than the occasional ejection and the Cavs managed to win the series, albeit bloodied, bruised, and exhausted. Why were no steps taken to stop the way this series was played? Why did the referees not clamp down on the players, especially when fights nearly broke out in two or three of the games?
Reason #2: The Boston Celtics
Hand Cinderella a shotgun and a license to kill and you get this year's Boston Celtics. This team SHOULD have been truly great. Three All-Stars, a host of solid benchers, and one of, in my opinion, the smartest coaches in the league. This team should have made a power drive to the Finals and met whichever Western team managed to claw its way out of the scrum that was the Western Conference.
However, what we got was an absolutely pathetic series against Atlanta. This was immediately followed by the series against a beat up Cavs team in which the Cavs were non-called out of the game. That's right, I said it. The refs made the decisions in this series.n The unbelievable one-sidedness of every single Boston home game in this year's playoffs in an atrocity that should be held up as an example of just how far Stern will sink to create his perfect Final.
This trend has continued into a one-sided final, in which a powerful Laker team has suddenly found itself unable to score, even on their home court. I don't care what people say, Kobe Bryant doesn't just go out there and miss shots night after night. Nobody's defence is good enough to stop him from getting his own, and yet, up until now, Kobe has been strangely quiet during this series, and his team, even at home, has played like garbage with more questionable non-calls than I can list on this blog.
Reason #3 The San Antonio Spurs vs. The Los Angeles Lakers
Now, as a Spurs fan, you might think that what I'm really upset about is the non-call that cost the Spurs game 4. Although, yes, I am angry about that, I believe truly that the Lakers would have won that series either way.
I'm a homer straight and true, but an exhausted Spurs team with a bench nearly exhausted of usable resources simply could not stand up to the Lakers the way they were playing. Games 1 and 5 said it all, the Lakers charged back in both of those games to beat the Spurs by narrow margins. My beef, however, lies not with LA winning, but how they won.
This series should have been epic. The revival of a decade old rivalry is enough controversy and back story to make this series as interesting as any in the playoffs. What I saw though, was enough to make me want to retch and leave my fanhood of the NBA behind me. The team that should have won to begin with, was given handout after handout to assist with their trouncing of my Spurs.
And this is the point that I really want to make. It's is difficult to explain. Everyone has played basketball before, either in a regulated game, or a simple pickup street-ball game. You know the differences between the styles of play. When you play with fouls called be a referee, you are more careful, more reserved, you try to play more focused and intelligent basketball. However, when you play street-ball, typically there are either no fouls or the call-your-own-foul style of play. You play differently in that system. You feel freer, you play looser, you are able to do different things with the game because the regulation confining you to set rules no longer exists.
This is what has been happening in these playoffs. It's not bad calls that are changing the nature of these playoffs, but the lack of calls favoring certain teams. When the Lakers went on those two runs to come back and steal wins from the Spurs, there were huge, pivotal stretches where the normal calls continued to happen for the Spurs, but the Lakers suddenly become near immaculate in their play...at least according to the referees.
I'm not saying there were no calls at all, that would be a lie. No matter how good people are playing, the fouls, the little bumps, that accidental shoves, the overly aggressive charge all continue to happen, it's just a part of the game. However, when you take away the element of regulation, when a player suddenly is allowed to get away with all those little accidents, he plays a different game. He plays a game where he doesn't feel that pressure constantly constricting the way he plays.
Take Kobe for example:
This man is the epitome of clutch play, he just seems to shrug off the fear, the pressure of it all, and just win. However, he is a man who is known to use whatever weapons he can to make shots. Elbows, knees, shoves, whatever he can, he uses to win. This does not make him a dirty player, it makes him a GREAT. He does whatever it takes to win, even swallow his pride and pass to somebody else (I've learned that about him this year).
The problem is though, when he is suddenly allowed to use those weapons without fear of being called for it, he plays differently. The pressure is gone and now he can do what he does: Win. Without that regulation, now he gets to make whatever move he wants, push whomever he feels, and shoot whatever shot he wants and he knows, whether consciously or not, that he is getting his way.
In the entirety of the playoffs and especially on their home court, Boston has enjoyed that luxury time and time again. That luxury allowed them to beat Cleveland and gave them an edge over the imploding Detroit team. They are now getting it against the Lakers.
This series, again, should be epic, and yet it's strangely not. Even on their home court the Lakers struggle, Boston is getting every important non-call they need to take games away from LA. Yes LA is playing badly, but a regulated team vs a non-regulated team doesn't play as well. The confidence they had in the previous rounds of the playoffs is melting away and Boston, the "storied" franchise is being given a pass to win their first championship in over 20 years. It make me sick and I've had enough. The Hand of Stern Striker Again!!!