http://www.ocregister.com/articles/g...-officials-nba
NBA hangs refs out to dry
NBA might have set dangerous precedent by speaking out against referees.
MARK WHICKER
Sensing nothing but a hot-air blast from San Antonio and a blathering wind from those who talk on TV, the NBA could have bent over backward to support, or at least tacitly defend, Joey Crawford, Mark Wunderlich and Joe Forte.
Instead the league sprawled on its back.
It agreed with the armchair refs who thought someone should have called a foul on Derek Fisher when the Lakers guard bumped into San Antonio's Brent Barry at the end of Game 4 of the Western Conference finals.
A whistle would have sent Barry, one of the league's best all-time free throwers, to the line for two shots at the very least. The Spurs almost certainly would have forced overtime.
Instead the Lakers won, 93-91, then won the West championship Thursday night at home.
Somehow Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol managed to get up and down the court without stomping on any of the worms that escaped the can after the league tore the lid off it.
The NBA did not announce that it was contradicting the three little sacrificial lambs. Officials merely responded to questions. The league was promoting "transparency" when it hung its refs out to dry, because it wanted to make sure everyone knows the NBA does not arrange its playoffs to satisfy the popular plotline — i.e., Lakers vs. Boston. The antics of Tim Donaghy have something to do with that decision.
But when the league second-guessed Crawford, Wunderlich and Forte, it invited the world to trash its officials indiscriminately.
How retroactive are these apologies? Phil Jackson indicated he still had not received a Whitman's sampler as compensation for the 1993 second round, when Hue Hollins made a notable blunder that helped the Knicks beat Jackson's Bulls.
Utah's Jerry Sloan knows better to wait for the compensatory tie clasp that will show forgiveness for letting Michael Jordan push off Bryon Russell before The Shot in Game 6 of the '98 Finals.
Houston's Rudy Tomjanovich might pe ion for a dramatic re-creation of the final play of Game 6 of the West Finals in '97, when Karl Malone put up a screen so illegal that it cleared out four Rockets and Gilley's mechanical bull.
And Whitey Herzog is answering no phones, even if Don Denkinger's name shows up on caller-ID, from the '85 World Series.
What happens now? Do the Olympic Tower offices weigh in on every last-second controversy? And how about all the other seconds? Every call or non-call counts. If the Spurs had won Game 4 by two, someone might have reviewed Tim Duncan's first-half drive, in which he roamed from Waxahachie to San Antonio without bothering to dribble.
Without some loyalty from above, the officials might as well apply for real estate licenses. The game is ruled by their judgment. That is the higher power. When that judgment is undermined, so are they.
Fisher did run into Barry, and Barry initially pleaded for a whistle, until he took the high road afterward. But it's not the worst non-call ever made, not even this year. Ask Texas A&M about the NCAA second-round game with UCLA in Anaheim, and the picture that ran in most papers afterward, with a Bruin hand encircling the wrist of would-be shooter Donald Sloan.
Had Barry shot the free throws and had San Antonio won in overtime, the screaming would been redirected to the previous Lakers possession. Fisher's shot touched the rim, which meant the shot clock should have reset. The Lakers would have in-bounded the ball with about five seconds to go and the lead.
Instead the Lakers threw up something wishful, with the shot clock at :02, and risked a crucial loss. It's the very situation that cries out for replay.
Texans were outraged because Crawford was even there in the first place. He had ejected Duncan in Dallas last year, basically for laughing on the bench. Then he challenged Duncan to fight. Crawford was banned from last year's playoffs but is back this year, primarily because he remains one of the best refs.
The NBA's assessment of the Barry/Fisher encounter devalues Crawford the next time he works anywhere. The only comment should have been no comment.
Jackson never lets the officials slide. After Game 4 he called it "impossible" for Bryant to hoist 29 shots without ever visiting the free-throw line, and he also jabbed the officials in an in-game TNT interview.
But on Thursday he noted how tricky and demanding their job is. "I wouldn't want to do it," he said.
If the current zebras can't escape their rogue colleagues and their pass-the-buck bosses, Jackson might have to.
Meanwhile, the NBA indicated it would try to find ways to ban flopping, the practice of collapsing onto the floor to trick the refs into calling charging fouls. The NHL has a similar rule, against diving. The penalty is two minutes. One wonders what the penalty should be for diving underneath a desk.
Just like Iverson last year, when you shoot all jumpers, its a little tough to get to the free throw line.Jackson never lets the officials slide. After Game 4 he called it "impossible" for Bryant to hoist 29 shots without ever visiting the free-throw line, and he also jabbed the officials in an in-game TNT interview.
We should appreciate that refs are publicly being held accountable. I'm tired of NBA being so closed mouthed about problems along these lines. Players get called out for problems, coaches get fined, and refs should also be held accountable for their actions. It does appear to heighten the "illusion" of a conspiracy when obivious problems are "hidden" from the public. Acknowledging problems, and applying corrections would help alleviate this "illusion".
So what was the correction? Nothing happened other than a quick quote in a newspaper article. Joey will still be around ing us without lube next year, I'm sure. There is no accountability if it's just a quote in the newspaper, especially if Daddy War Bucks gets to work the Finals.
Thanks for reminding me. Dang, this has been a rough year.
Joey has to know that if he screws with the Spurs in what appears to be revenge, that the media eye, fans attention, etc will be focused on him and that should help.
The improvement is acknowledging that the ref even made the wrong or no call. But it does need to go farther.
The public does need to hear from the NBA what improvements (ref training, rules revisions, disciplinary action, etc) they will make in making refs more accountable. But the problem is more than just Joey. There are many refs out there are far worst than him. The inconsistancy in refs calls are a joke.
Spurs organization did the right action by not adding more fuel to the fire which could backfire on them next year.
until the nba has its version of a coaches red flag, and hold officials accountable during the game, not after........the nba will always be called cheaters...they already cheated and got caught, do refs cheat? duh......the nba officials cheat, there is noway of proving them wrong unless you hold them accountable during the games.....go spurs go
NBA has always had a REF problem
they need international refs with replay challenges at say 3 per game
Every call in every game is reviewed, so why not reveal the results of the reviews? I welcome more transparency in the review process. The more the league explains the calls, the more we should be able to answer the oft-asked question "What is a foul?"
They just did this to put the blame on some one...
They need independent refs, not controlled, rated, or reviewed by the league. The refereeing essentially needs to be outsourced. No other major sports league exerts the level of control over their officials that the NBA does.
this article is so right....
it's a thing to bash the refs as a fan. but to make them look like fools after saying publicly they were wrong isn't a good thing for the league.
Oh poor refs got hung out to dry because they messed up.
Yet they are still on the job through the playoffs.
League hangs Spurs out to dry by saying it was a bad call but leaving Spurs in 3-1 hole.
What would be so wrong about having a review of plays amd official's calls in the last two minutes of a game? It would certainly prevent these horrible refs from continuing to make mistakes that affect games.
Phil Jackson gets away with it all the time - why shouldn't the league?
I would be fine with reviews in the last two minutes of games.
Then Parker's layup that was blocked and called goaltending would have been overruled and Fisher's shot with 5 seconds left would have reset the shot clock.
Bring on the review, that will only help.
Do they review every 'no call' too? If not, this is certainly a change that would help. Also any review of how the refs at each end of the court are calling or not calling is needed to get some consistency at least in the same game for each team. I agree with your "welcome more transparency in the review process".
The league was promoting "transparency" when it hung its refs out to dry, because it wanted to make sure everyone knows the NBA does not arrange its playoffs to satisfy the popular plotline — i.e., Lakers vs. Boston.
that's why...disgusting....fixed
I'm curious. If you think it's fixed, why do you continue to follow the NBA?
Because I love the spurs and love to watch them play. got it?
It hit the glass first.Then Parker's layup that was blocked and called goaltending would have been overruled
They should have acknowledged the travel before the foul and none of this would matter.
DD
None of it matters anyway unless they actually do something about it.
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