Joey Goes Out Swinging at Bavetta?

[timvp]

Yeah, Callahan is a good one.

Of recent years, I thought Ronnie Nunn and Blane Reichelt were two of the better refs.

[T Park]

Im sorry FWD I cant agree with McCutchen.

McCutchen has been horrid for years.

[T Park]

OMG
Delaney is HOOOORRRRIBLE

He isn't flamboyant but my goodness, he cant get SQUAT right.

The Riley wannabe

[slayermin]

Theres another one.

Grey short hair.

Semi short guy.

Bernie Fryer?

[wildbill2u]

If he's gone for good, I can't wait for Pal Joey to write a 'tell all' book about the inside secrets of referees in the NBA.

You can bet it won't be complimentary to Stern and some refs who he doesn't like or any who don't support him here. The guy is a revenge machine.

[slayermin]

OMG
Delaney is HOOOORRRRIBLE

He isn't flamboyant but my goodness, he cant get SQUAT right.

The Riley wannabe

When did he screw the Spurs over?

[T Park]

Not necessarily screwing them over, hes just bad.

BTW, not fryer.

Fryer doesnt have grey hair

[T Park]

Jim Clark.

Clark IMO is a fair and good official.

[timvp]

Not necessarily screwing them over, hes just bad.

BTW, not fryer.

Fryer doesnt have grey hair

Jim Clark.











P.S.

When we are all talking about the worst refs, I assume that it goes without saying that Violet Palmer is the worst.

[FromWayDowntown]

I like Callahan but is he a crew chief? Guys like him are usually the best because they aren't flamboyant. You would only remember him if he made some bad calls. I also think Bob Delaney is a good ref. He has been around for a while now but the only thing I can remember about him is that he's the Donnie Brasco dude.

I suspect that during the regular season, Callahan basically functions as a crew chief. It's hard to say exactly who is and isn't a crew chief because crews shift so much during a season. But these days, Callahan doesn't work much with other big name officials.

I think of officials in groups and not so much as crew chiefs or anything like that. There is (or has been) a group of officials who've been the 12 who call games in the Finals. The league seems to think they're the best of the best (or at least the most experienced without being nearly unable to run the floor). For the last couple of years, that group has generally included:

Bavetta
Mike Callahan
Dan Crawford
Joe Crawford
Bob Delaney
Joe Derosa
Bernie Fryer
Ron Garretson
Steve Javie
Jack Nies
Ed Rush
Bennett Salvatore

There's another group that's a mix of older guys who haven't been good enough to reach the Finals level (or who've been there and are on their way down) and younger guys who are on their way to reaching the Finals level. Those guys call games through the Conference Finals in the playoffs, including:

Jim Clark
Joe Forte
Ken Mauer
Bill Spooner
Derrick Stafford
Tom Washington
Greg Willard

Then there's a group of younger officials who are on their way up and are already getting 2nd round playoff games and will likely be the core group of officials in about 10 years, including:

Tony Brothers
Sean Corbin
Tim Donaghy
Scott Foster
Monty McCutchen
Michael Smith
Mark Wunderlich

Along with those guys is a group of older officials who've never quite made it beyond calling 2nd round playoff games; guys like:

Luis Grillo
David Jones
Ron Olesiak

After that, there are the younger officials, some of whom have started to get playoff games and others who don't have enough experience to get games like that, including:

Bennie Adams
Marc Davis
Kevin Fehr
Bill Kennedy
Courtney Kirkland
Rodney Mott
Derek Richardson
Leroy Richardson
Scott Wall
Leon Wood

And then there's the youngest of the young.

[FromWayDowntown]

Jim Clark.

Clark IMO is a fair and good official.

I guess, TPark, we'll agree to disagree. I think McCutchen is pretty good in terms and usually gets things right. On the other hand, I think Clark is actually pretty bad. He's far too susceptible to making calls based upon momentum and I think he gets a lot of calls just flat damned wrong. And I agree with the others who think that Delaney is among the best in the game.

And timvp's right -- Violet was not on my list of those I'd kick off the island mostly because she hasn't yet reached a level where she can make a difference in a game that really, really matters. Of course, she's only called one playoff game to this point. Give her time.

[T Park]

Its suprising Clark isn't in the championship rotation.

This year though with Crawford being done, he might get moved up.

[T Park]

And timvp's right -- Violet was not on my list of those I'd kick off the island mostly because she hasn't yet reached a level where she can make a difference in a game that really, really matters. Of course, she's only called one playoff game to this point. Give her time.

Game vs Nuggets

Callahan
Kirkland
Palmer

[T Park]

One of the quiet ones thats trying to overtake Palmer for worst, is Zilenski (spelling)

Hes one of the most clueless and swayable refs I've ever seen.

[FromWayDowntown]

Its suprising Clark isn't in the championship rotation.

Not to me. I'd be quite surprised if he's the guy who's elevated into that group. Actually, I think the group will actually be pretty static this year from last year. I was surprised to find out that Ron Garretson didn't do any Finals games last year -- first time in 8 years that he didn't make the Finals group. I think Garretson will be the one elevated if everything else stays the same. I also suspect that Nies will be dropped from the Finals group as well, but I'd expect that a younger official like Stafford, Washington, or Willard will be the one elevated in that case.

[FromWayDowntown]

One of the quiet ones thats trying to overtake Palmer for worst, is Zilenski (spelling)

Hes one of the most clueless and swayable refs I've ever seen.

Yeah, Gary Zielinski is pretty bad. He has a remarkable knack for calling things that never happened.

[Kobulingam]

Yeah, Callahan is a good one.

Of recent years, I thought Ronnie Nunn and Blane Reichelt were too of the better refs.

That's why Nunn is the boss of the Refs now.

[timvp]

As long as we are talking bad refs, we should mention Ron Garretson. If Daddy wasn't one of the best ever, Ron would have been fired a long time ago.

Another Bavetta story -- after the Spurs lost game three of the 1999 Finals, I remember the rallying cry for the Spurs being that they got Knick Bavetta out of the way and that is was then time to get down to business

[T Park]

can't say that I've paid much attention to Willard or Washinton.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Jim Clark sucks

[T Park]

Another Bavetta story -- after the Spurs lost game three of the 1999 Finals, I remember the rallying cry for the Spurs being that they got Knick Bavetta out of the way and that is was then time to get down to business

I remember that as well.

Some of the calls Bavetta made were just horrible.

Heck I remember Bob Costas even saying "Some of these calls have been a tad off"

[FromWayDowntown]

can't say that I've paid much attention to Willard or Washinton.

I'm not saying that either is particularly good, though I think Willard is generally fairly consistent. I'm just noting that those guys have been working the Conference Finals round for several years now and are among the younger, up-and-coming officials who seem more likely to provide new blood to the Finals group.

[T Park]

He may suck. I always look for consistency.

And hes consistent in his calls alot of the time.

[whottt]

I still say Bavetta is the worst....because he somehow winds up in the pivotal games time and time again....

I feel sorry for teams that have Bavetta reffing big games.

[FromWayDowntown]

He may suck. I always look for consistency.

And hes consistent in his calls alot of the time.

I'd have to disagree with you about that as well.