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Those Israeli's dont give a damn. Those are some people i wouldn't mess with.
NBA needs to blow whistle on replacement refs
By Adrian Wojnarowski
There wasn’t an NBA lifer who didn’t allow himself the fantasy of trading places with the coach of Maccabi Tel Aviv. A replacement ref had ejected him from a charity exhibition with the New York Knicks, and still Pini Gershon wouldn’t leave the floor. Minutes passed, and nothing. He wouldn’t leave. There’s nothing you can do to me, a witness heard the coach bark.
“I don’t work for the NBA,” he reminded them.
Behind the bench, the Maccabi president was livid. He was sitting with the former Israeli Prime Minister and angered that his club had paid more than $500,000 to make this Madison Square Garden game its own on Sunday. Maccabi controlled the tickets and sold thousands to raise money for an Israeli orphanage.
“This is how you treat us?” the team official yelled to frazzled NBA executives in the stands.
Mostly, he screamed to get NBA commissioner David Stern on the phone, a witness said.
Yes, this behavior would’ve bought an NBA coach and GM the wrath of Emperor Stern, but Maccabi had international immunity.
So, these replacements refs were no longer damaging the credibility of the NBA, but threatening an international basketball incident. To throw out a coach in a charity game at the Garden was a needless move, especially when an NBA-employed witness insists that Gershon’s gripping didn’t merit a second technical foul and ejection.
This was one of those games where officials needed to understand time and place and cir stances. In that way, these crews are lost causes. As much as anything, that’s the criticism of these lockout refs from the Developmental League and WNBA: They have no sense for the speed and skill and athleticism of the NBA.
Thus, the whistles never stop blowing. They hesitate on the obvious and tweet on the bizarre. The games are a traffic pileup of starts and stops, sluggish and unwatchable. There’s no flow, no rhythm.
“They don’t have a feel for the NBA game,” one NBA GM said. “They’re really quick to blow their whistles before letting the play develop.”
All along, everyone believed the NBA and the referee’s union would reach an agreement before opening night. The two sides are close on every important issue in negotiations and the pressure’s on Stern to finish a deal. The refs miss the paychecks, but the veteran officials own the leverage now.
Opening night with replacement refs will be a disaster for the NBA, an unrelenting storyline. To think that the commissioner would run the risk of allowing one of these crews to officiate Boston-Cleveland next Tuesday night, well, it’s downright disturbing. Yes, it’s on the officials that they have twice backed away from apparent deals in these negotiations, but this can’t go on.
Since the Tim Donaghy scandal, officiating has been the issue that Stern can’t escape. It keeps coming and coming for him. The rest of the officials had privately been worried over a “tell-all” book Donaghy had been shopping to publishing houses, but apparently the project is dead. One referee believed the book would include embarrassing personal revelations on the rank-and-file referees, but clearly Donaghy’s inventory of credible information had run dry.
Ever since Donaghy, the league has had a crisis of credibility on officiating. Truth be told, it didn’t start with his gambling scandal. All that did was exacerbate it. Around the NBA, this preseason of officiating has raised issues on the league’s feeder system. Of course there are some good young refs on the rise, but enough?
“I know it’s a real tough job, but the year that I moved up from the D-League to the Sixers I was shocked – I mean, shocked – to see some of the refs from the previous year that were doing the same,” said Jeff Ruland, who had been the coach of the Albuquerque T-Birds in 2007-08 before a promotion to the Philadelphia 76ers a year later.
“The guys who got promoted were not the cream of the crop, by any stretch of the imagination. One guy who came up did a better job [chatting up] cheerleaders before the game than he did on the court.”
The NBA started the preseason with ominous reminders to its teams to stay quiet about the officiating. There have been several significant fines handed down to coaches – including $60,000 for Charlotte’s Larry Brown – for running down the replacement refs this month. Mostly, the players have been smarter and refuse to let themselves get fined for games that don’t count.
Nevertheless, the examination of games changes immensely next week and the NBA is running out of time to spare itself significant embarrassment. They’re risking the physical and mental state of their most valuable commodity – the league’s players – by prolonging these negotiations.
Perhaps it took the stubborn Maccabi coach with nothing to lose to remind everyone these refs are ultimately unacceptable, that an NBA season that starts with replacement refs is no start to the season at all.
Those Israeli's dont give a damn. Those are some people i wouldn't mess with.
Stop whining and get over it already... i prefer n00bs than old dog biased s like the older refs... they'll get the feel of the game eventually and the er that wrote this article will have already cashed his piece of the pie for this story...
Those 3 regular rings & that strike 1 notwithstanding, eh?
tee, hee.
Joey Crawford and all the Kobe sucking refs... just a question for you... when was the last time the Lakers were ed by the refs?
Yeah... I thought so...
I don't tote up those type of events. I take the losses straight up, no excuses. I leave the lamenting of officiating, injuries, whatnot to your fandom and Suns fandom.
^^ that equals that the Lakers HAVE NEVER been prejudiced by the refs... don't post on this thread anymore if yo dont want to embarrass yourself...
Yer stove up cuz you no longer have the [[[Kobe can't win without Daddy Card]]] to play, and because the Mavs humiliated ya's 4-1.^^ that equals that the Lakers HAVE NEVER been prejudiced by the refs... don't post on this thread anymore if yo dont want to embarrass yourself...
Tough . Take it & like it.
LMAO... last time I checked this thread was about the old refs vs the new ones... it seems you have no arguments so stay in topics... again... stop embarrassing yourself...
You get left by the Mavs 4-1, and I'm embarrassing myself?LMAO... last time I checked this thread was about the old refs vs the new ones... it seems you have no arguments so stay in topics... again... stop embarrassing yourself...
tee, hee.
The Lakers are the champs... YOU are a Loser... yet again... what does your comment has related to this thread le and topic? Didn't you just read that I don't care about last year's loss and i am over the Lakers being champs again? well... Im sorry if I had higher expectations with you... but i'll give you another chance...
When was the last time the refs screwed the Lakers?
Like I said, I am unlike you and your fandom: I don't sit around lamenting officiating & injuries. I take my losses straight up, no excuses.
I have 15 NBA World Championships on my ledger.
I thought the thread was NOT about how the posters take the losses but how the refferees will perform this upcoming season...
...just shows ta go ya.
It's incredible how insecure Lakers fans are. Thoroughly enjoyable.
Admittedly the campaign of Kobe can't win one without Daddy had this Laker fan pretty frenetic. But, it all got straightened out. Kobe rang/sans Daddy, the Lakers by default got their 15th NBA World Championship and along the way the Mavs left you guys where they found you 4-1.
It do not get better than this.
Sans/Daddy has a better ring to it than Kobe can't win one without Daddy.
I beg to differ....
When your team can literally make the other teams star freaking CRY.... it doesnt get much better than that.
tee, hee.
Amen to that, Muse. I was so low I could play handball off the curb in front of DUNCAN's Maryvale adobe.
But, along came Gasol and Kobe finally saw the light. He wasn't that happy since he gingerly took that choker collar off that Mackey and turned her a loose in that CO. courtroom. Whew!
Truth. David Stern is gonna have problems trying to pull Jew tricks over their heads
Either way, great article. I heard that in one preseason game over 70 fouls were called.
And to Spurfan who thinks these refs will be completely unbiased and not show any favor, child please. These refs will get bullied and intimidated by Lebron, Kobe, Phil Jackson and the Celtics group of whiners way worse than the other ones.
David Stern IS a Jew...he'll smooth it out with Tel Aviv.
He should be able to handle this by sending his boy Iverson their way next year.
[[[Originally Posted by __JaG__
Those Israeli's dont give a damn. Those are some people i wouldn't mess with.]]]
Not to cast undo aspersions but aren't they the same people who let themselves get near wiped out to to the tune 6 million + as they jumped preemptively into the limed pit before they were shot?
Yeah, congratulations to the Lakers for being the champs of the most injury plagued season of all time.
The new refs are screwed no matter what. They wont be able to adjust that quick because the NBA is entirely a different animal than the Dev league. Players are faster, stronger and bigger so the action is non stop.
Plus, the new refs better get their ego straightened up because they will get a lot of jawing from the coaches and the players during the heat of the game.
That's probably the most ignorant, disgusting thing I've ever read. It must haunt your mom every day that she never pulled the trigger with the clothes hanger during her 9 months of pregnancy.
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