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I just hope that neither team's fans have reason to complain about the officiating/calls tonight. If there is no reason, I promise I won't complain. If there is reason...I will.
Dan Crawford , Greg Willard, and Mark Wunderlich officiated Game 1, and David Jones, Eddie F Rush, and Steve Javie did game 2, so it will probably be a combo of these refs, because of the rotation.
Joey Crawford did Detroit- Cleveland game 1 and he was in game 7(Thank God), so the rotation looks like we probably will get Dan Crawford, since he is a senior offical, as is Joey. That would be good for SA.
I just hope that neither team's fans complain about the calls tonight and the refs let the players decide the game.
I just hope that neither team's fans have reason to complain about the officiating/calls tonight. If there is no reason, I promise I won't complain. If there is reason...I will.
Me too.
Was it me or was Avery Johnson complaining about the refs after game 6?
He has complained, in Avery's subtle way, about the officiating in some form after every game so far, but expecially after game 1 and game 6...do you see a pattern here? I can say, with confidence, that with all the similarities between Avery's and Pop's coaching style, that Avery did not learn that from Pop...that's Avery channeling Nellie, who was a professional whiner when he was coaching, just one of his many gifts.
Translation. If my team wins - I will not complain. If they do not - I will.
Please do not put words in my mouth (and there is no way in you can know what is in my mind or my heart)...I meant exactly what I said...no translation required or wanted.
Me!MEMEMEMEMEME!! I WANT TO REF TONIGHT...
I think there are 12 officials who might work the 3 game 7's. I think they are:
Bavetta
Callahan
D. Crawford
J. Crawford
Derosa
Delaney
Fryer
Garretson
Javie
Nies
Rush
Salvatore
(another possibility would be Greg Willard, who may have made the jump to Finals official this year.)
I think you can eliminate the 3 who worked yesterday - Joey Crawford, Joe Derosa, and Mike Callahan. I think you can eliminate Salvatore, since he worked Game 6.
And I think you can also eliminate the Game 5 officials, so Fryer and Garretson are likely out of the mix.
That leaves 6 or 7 potential officials:
Bavetta
D. Crawford
Delaney
Javie
Nies
Rush
(perhaps Greg Willard)
If you look at the officials who've worked thus far in in the Phoenix/LAC series, it seems pretty clear to me that Eddie Rush (who hasn't worked a game in that series) is likely to be the crew chief for the Suns/Clippers game tonight. Danny Crawford worked Game 4 of that series in LA; Javie worked Game 5 of Suns/Clippers in Phoenix; and Bavetta and Willard worked Game 6. I'm hard-pressed to believe that the NBA would keep both of those guys out of one of the games tonight. All things considered, I'd expect Bavetta to be here tonight -- that would ensure that the 2005 Finals Game 7 officials (J. Crawford, Rush, Bavetta) are the crew chiefs of the three game 7's in this round. In fact, I'd be almost certain that Bavetta will be in SA tonight.
If the league goes with the officials who haven't worked in this series, Nies and Delaney are obvious choices. But, in the Detroit/Cleveland series, the league assigned Joey Crawford to Game 1 and Game 7, while Nies didn't work any games in that series. So it's not just about assigning officials who haven't worked a game yet. Of the 2 who haven't worked, Delaney seems the most likely.
So, I'll guess and go with Bavetta and Delaney.
That leaves the third official, who comes from the pack of D. Crawford, Javie, and Nies. With an absolutely wild hunch, I'll go with Danny Crawford.
Bavetta, Delaney, D. Crawford.
The Ticket in Dallas this morning had some source that confirmed Bavetta was officiating tonight, but I don't recall the source.
Yes, Bavetta was the one on the plane to SA according to the source.
Yes, Bavetta was the one on the plane to SA according to the source.
We have not had Jack Nies during the playoffs at all! Perhaps FromWayDowntown is on the right track and Greg Willard or perhaps Ken Mauer has replaced him in the finals rotation.
I hope Nies was demoted.
so who is it goin to be?? Crawford, Bavetta, Nies?
does it matter? will tonight's game be decided by the referees??
It's a possibility. I suspect Nies will still be doing big games -- perhaps even tonight's game. For the most part, the Finals officials will have been the busiest in this round. Most of them have worked all 4 series by now (Bavetta, Callahan, D. Crawford, J. Crawford, Fryer, and Salvatore) or would have worked all 4 if Miami/NJ had gone longer (I suspect that had there been a Game 6 in that series, some combination of Javie, Derosa, and Rush would have worked that game, which would have put those guys in all 4 series).
FWIW, Ken Mauer appears to be the only other official to have worked all 4 series to this point.
I think Delaney is doing one of the games tonight -- I just realized that he also hasn't officiated a game in the Phoenix/Clippers series. I might have to think about my prediction a bit after that realization.
I'll stick with Bavetta, guess on D. Crawford, and make the third one of Javie, Nies, or Delaney.
My bet is whatever crew Bavetta was on Friday night will be the crew for tonight.
That's usually how this rotation works. Could be Joey Crawford, Baveta and Dan Crawford. Or Ed Rush could be in the mix.
Whatever crew it is, most likely it's going to be one of the upper tier three man crews with Stern in attendance.
That's not right, G Moore.
The league rarely keeps "crews" together. Sometimes they do for efficiency's sake, but I've studied this for years and I can assure you that there is no such thing as a playoff crew for more than 2 games.
Bavetta's crews in these playoffs have been quite mixed. He worked Game 2 of the Detroit series with Derrick Stafford and Jess Kersey. He worked Game 3 of the Miami/NJ series with Mike Callahan and Scott Foster. He worked Game 4 of the SA/DAL series with Stafford and Jim Clark. And he worked Game 6 of the PNX/LA series with Tom Washington and Greg Willard.
I'll continue to insist that the league has put the 3 Game 7 officials from last year's Finals (J. Crawford, Rush, Bavetta) as the three crew chiefs in these 3 game 7's. I don't think Joey Crawford will work back-to-back nights and Rush and Bavetta aren't likely in the same place. If Bavetta is here, Rush is likely in Phoenix. I think Rush will have Ron Garretson alongside (Garretson hasn't worked a game in the PNX/LAC series) and one of Delaney, Fryer, Salvatore, or Danny Crawford.
It's all about the refs cuz if the Spurs happen to lose it can't possibly be their own fault or the Mavs playing better-LOL
I agree that officiating shouldn't have anything to do with the outcome tonight. It's about two great teams playing basketball and one prevailing at the end of a hard-fought game.
Whichever team win this series will have earned that trip to the WCF.
I'm gonna subscribe to the efficiency theory and the importance of the game. Remember Bavetta gave the Spurs that tech that swung the game earlier in this series. However, with that said, with S. Stern in attendance and the magnitude of this contest, I would think Ronnie Nunn has scheduled the top six refs to be in San Antonio and Phoenix.
So my guess then would have to be the top three refs with the most playoff experience and that includes bavetta and possibly three other 'top' referees.
We'll see though.
Well said!
I don't dispute that. I think we're largely on the same page here.
I think the league assigned its top 9 to the three Game 7's.
We've seen 3 of those 9 (J. Crawford, Derosa, Callahan) in Detroit yesterday.
There are 6 more to come. Those 6 will be (I think) evenly divided between SA and PNX.
I'm pretty certain that Bavetta is here.
I'm pretty certain that means that Rush is in Phoenix.
And I'm convinced that Garretson is in Phoenix.
That leaves 3 others, and I think they'll come from a group of D. Crawford, Javie, Fryer, Salvatore, Delaney, and Nies.
Danny Crawford is working somewhere tonight. Steve Javie probably is, too.
I think they should give violet palmer a look tonight. see if she is primetime ready.
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