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God I hope we meet the Suns in the playoffs next year.
Very interesting article and a good read.
Hope you don't get your feelings hurt.
Did Donaghy fix Game 3 of Suns-Spurs?
Kevin Hench
FOXSports.com, Updated 3 hours ago
There aren't many dark days in the Valley of the Sun in mid-summer, but Friday must have been pretty gloomy.
Just when Phoenix Suns fans were moving through the acceptance phase of their grief over last year's unjust playoff exit comes another knee to the groin.
As if the playoff suspensions of Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw (in exchange for instigator Robery Horry) hadn't been a big enough miscarriage of justice, now comes news that NBA referee Tim Donaghy is under FBI investigation for betting on basketball. There are even allegations of mob ties.
While those charges have yet to be proven, there is very little debate among the basketball cognoscenti as to what was the most dubiously officiated game in this spring's playoffs. It was Game 3 of the Suns-Spurs Western Conference semifinals on May 12.
It was a bewildering carnival of bad calls, bad non-calls and egregiously late calls.
Who did that game? Eddie F. Rush, Greg Willard and Tim Donaghy.
The Suns' gut-wrenching six-game loss to the Spurs had already plunged their fans into the grief cycle, only then it was due largely to David Stern's failure to insert a measure of mitigating sanity to his zero-tolerance bench-leaving policy.
The pain played out like this:
Denial — This can't be happening. Robert Horry didn't just hip-check Steve Nash into the scorer's table with the result being the suspensions of our only low-post scorer and best low-post passer. This cannot be happening.
Anger — We hate you, David Stern! We'd like to see Charles Barkley throw you through a plate glass window at Dan Majerle's bar!
Bargaining — Please, please, let us squeak out Game 5. Let the series go seven games. We'll forget all about the unjust suspensions.
Depression — We lost. We're doomed. It's over. Our window of opportunity is closing. Nash is 33. That was our shot.
Acceptance — We're down, but not out. We just signed Grant Hill. Stoudemire will be another year away from microfracture surgery. Leandro Barbosa is getting better by the minute.
And then whammo! It looks like the NBA has a dirty ref and he called a pivotal playoff game that the Suns lost. So, for beleaguered Suns fans, the stages of grieving begin anew.
Denial — There is simply no way an official in a major American sport would do this. This isn't Italian soccer, dammit.
Anger — Was Game 3 the game when Bruce Bowen essentially assaulted Nash from start to finish? Was Bowen really whistled for only two fouls? Did Nash really shoot only three free throws? Was that the game where the Suns were in the midst of a run-out when they were interrupted by a foul call so late it just had to be an inadvertent whistle?
Bargaining — Okay. Please, Federal Bureau of Investigation, just tell us Donaghy hadn't bet on that game. Please just tell us that a pile of mob money didn't come down on the Spurs in Game 3.
Depression — Ah, what's the difference? It's not like Stern is going to give us a do-over.
Acceptance — Probably never.
First, Game 3 will have to be put under a microscope. Hard to believe it will look any better under a jeweler's loupe than it did on TV.
Off the top of my head, the worst non-call — after Bowen forced a turnover by chopping down on Nash's off hand as the point guard was crossing over — came right in front of Rush, not Donaghy.
One other critical officiating error was a whistle on a clean block by Stoudemire, who played only 21 minutes due to foul trouble.
And then there was the whistle delivered from Shangri-La. The Suns had forced a miss, secured the ball and were pushing it up court when a foul was called, retroactive to the shot attempt. If it turns out that Donaghy made this particular call — after having a couple of seconds to think about it — it will look very bad.
The Spurs were favored by four in Game 3 and won by seven, 108-101. They shot nine more free throws than the Suns, a perfectly reasonable gap between an interior-scoring team and a jump-shooting team. While the risk of fixing a playoff game is increased by the closer scrutiny of the game, it is easier to place large bets without setting off red flags because there's much more money being wagered on a playoff game than a regular season game.
If Donaghy is convicted of fixing any games over the last two seasons — during which the FBI was monitoring his games — how will Stern, who must have precious little credibility in Phoenix, ever convince Suns fans that they weren't the victims of a fix? I mean, besides the one he himself sanctioned after Game 4. (And if it turns out Donaghy did conspire to fix Game 3, how happy will Suns fans be with the FBI for allowing their team to be an unwitting victim in a two-year-old sting operation?)
For years Stern has been dismissing the cries of conspiracy theorists and fining anyone who dared open his mouth about the officiating. He even went so far as to threaten to throw Jeff Van Gundy out of the league.
If during a criminal court proceeding it comes to light that Donaghy was influencing the outcome of games, is Stern prepared to return any fine money levied against a player, coach or owner who criticized what turned out to be crooked officiating?
Former Orlando Magic coach Brian Hill was fined $25,000 after complaining bitterly about the officiating in a game Donaghy did on March 6, 2006.
Stern could conceivably return that fine money if it turns out Donaghy was in the bag. But what if evidence emerges that Donaghy had money on the Spurs in Game 3?
If that's the case, Stern's refusal to adjudicate the Horry-Stoudemire-Diaw non-fight fairly will have compounded a criminal act. How could he ever make things right in Phoenix?
He might start by awarding Phoenix, one of the finalists, the 2009 All-Star Game. But would he dare show up?
Suns fans may still be grieving.
http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/7045572?MSNHPHMA
God I hope we meet the Suns in the playoffs next year.
Didn't you post this already under your other user name?
Whatever dude!!
Are you a conspiracy theorist as well?
No ..... but he is the reason the Suns were there in the first place .....
Donaghy was the ref in more games that they won than they lost.
You're such a hater. How does your butt feel when you see pictures like this?
Hmmm
I don't think the Suns were favored in that game. Not sure...
"The Spurs were favored by four in Game 3 and won by seven, 108-101."
Donaghy was the ref in more games that the Suns won than games that they lost. He helped them win all year long.
Did his other buddies help him out in game 4 of the series as well???
This was a non-interesting thread when it was posted 12 hours ago.
http://spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=74444
I didn't notice it was posted already...
But I see it was closed!!!
Bitter mods???
Bitter Suns fans rehashing a stupid discussion.
wait a second - let me get this straight; he helped the favorite cover the spread? Doesn't sound like a very good bet. If anything it would be the other way around. Let it go - you root for a team that will always be a runner up (if that.)
You're the Spurs hater on a Spurs forum 24/7 and you're calling mods haters?
when will people get over the fact that the spurs had to beat the suns 4 times to advance.
And ???
well lets just say hypothetically he did SO instead of the suns losing by maybe 2 points he is guilty of a few questionable calls so the Spurs could beat the spread and he could collect his money.
No matter what the suns of es would have lost.
Arinkill's Signature covers this topic perfectly...
END ING THREAD!
Nice observation... You are the ing .Witness that broom boy
GREAT ARTICLE
THANKS FOR POSTING IT
I love it.
I think Stern needs to return all FINE money he got.
You cant go back and change games that were played.
Just like you cant take away Bonds HR's now.
I love that this finally is getting exposed.
NBA Refs control games if they want to and this proves it.
I think Stern has known about this for 6 months now at least.
What a nightmare for league
Remember when Donaghy got the Suns to jump off the bench in Game 4 ? That was classic.
And there's more:
This is from ESPN:
The Unofficial Word on Donaghy:
"The feeling among many referees was that Garretson and Donaghy, the two senior referees, could have been much more assertive in calming things down before the incident hit its flash point when a fan threw a cup of ice at Artest as he lay prone on the scorer’s table." (Chris Sheridan’s ESPN blog)
"Donaghy also was involved in another controversy a few years back when he engaged in a shouting match with Rasheed Wallace on the loading dock of The Rose Garden in Portland, an incident that led to a seven-game suspension for Wallace, who was then with the Portland Trail Blazers. Donaghy and the two other referees who had worked that game passed by Wallace as they walked to their cars, and Wallace was said to have threatened Donaghy, who had assessed him a technical foul earlier that night during a Grizzlies-Blazers game." (Chris Sheridan’s ESPN blog)
I don’t know what to make about most of this information. One number stands out to me: the fifteen playoff games he officiated. This is where the stakes were highest and Donaghy could have done the most damage to the game.
For example, Donaghy officiated game three of the Phoenix-San Antonio playoff series. The Spurs won this game by a score of 108-101. But did they really win? What about those two questionable foul calls on Amare Stoudemire early in game three?
Yes, outside influences could have altered the outcome of the Western Conference semi-finals. There’s no evidence of wrongdoing. Bu the presence of Donaghy is enough to throw everything in doubt. I’m not trying to take anything away from Spur fans, but, for me, an unknown factor has overshadowed and clouded this result.
In fact, the San Antonio faithful should be furious because a ref, whose presence is supposed to protect the game, has done the exact opposite and compromised their win. It doesn’t matter that there’s no evidence. Donaghy’s presence suddenly makes everything murky.
This incident should send a cold shiver up the spine of NBA head office. As more evidence is uncovered, their shivers will only get worse. And the integrity of the sport may be called into question in a very ugly scandal.
Fastdunk=louis=louis2=mermaidtime
yeah again - where's the benefit of a favorite's spread - the odds are not as good if you were betting for them to not cover. This guy's an idiot and what's even more pathetic is that you're grasping for straws just like the suns defense in trying to guard Duncan. What about all the missed calls on Duncan. What about Amare picking up cheap fouls in the other games b/c of his immaturity? Was Donaghy reffing those games? Just post all of the phoenix sports writers comments after the Horry foul - just as legitmate as this moron.
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