http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/b...6.34a6b12.html
Sad humor: What a fix Suns were in
Web Posted: 07/25/2007 10:59 PM CDT
San Antonio Express-News
One of the signs a referee is fixing games, according to David Letterman, is this:
"When talking about the Spurs, says we."
That's not as funny as Letterman's other telltale signs, such as "Knicks are winning." But the Spurs' angle sure plays well in Phoenix. There, the second angriest mob (after the Gambino family) sees yet another reason to question a world that allows Robert Horry to prosper.
It's justified, and it's also something David Stern can't correct with a thousand press conferences. All doubt has been validated, and a review of Game 3 of the Suns-Spurs series comes with revisionist bite. For example, the San Antonio crowd chanted "dirty, dirty," at Amare Stoudemire because of comments he'd made about the Spurs just days before.
If everyone had only known who really deserved those words.
That a crooked ref was involved May 12 is damning enough for the league. But did Tim Donaghy, working the last game of his life, also give the Spurs a le as a parting gift?
*
Issue No. 1: Stoudemire played only 21 minutes because of foul trouble, and Donaghy called the first two on him.
What the replays show: The first is not debatable. Then, Stoudemire mistimed his jump and landed on Michael Finley's back with such force that Finley needed a moment to get up.
The second is less obvious but not clearly a mistake. Horry cut, and Stoudemire, a notoriously lazy defender, didn't move his feet. Jon Barry, working TV that night, called it "a young foul."
Fouls three, four and five on Stoudemire? Donaghy called none of them.
*
Issue No. 2: Donaghy, from midcourt, blew a late whistle on a Manu Ginobili drive. The replay showed little if any contact. "I don't know what he saw," said Barry of Donaghy.
If Donaghy wanted to increase scoring and thus win an over-under bet, he'd invent fouls. And if Donaghy wanted the Spurs to win, he would have wanted to help them when they trailed by nine in the second quarter.
What the replays show: It was an awful call. But Boris Diaw responded with a score to return the Suns to their 9-point lead. And, after a Tony Parker miss, Donaghy was involved again — calling Tim Duncan for a foul that built the Phoenix lead to double digits.
*
Issue No. 3: Bruce Bowen stripped Steve Nash twice with plays that included some contact, and Bowen ended with only two fouls on the night. One of them was an offensive foul when he kneed Nash.
What the replays show: Ignoring Bowen's fouls goes against the over-under theory. But more telling, Donaghy wasn't involved in these plays. The no-call that drew a technical from Mike D'Antoni came from another ref, Greg Willard.
Willard was the Suns' target that night, not Donaghy. Appearing in the Express-News in the next day's editions was a sample from an unidentified Phoenix coach. "Greg Willard," he said, "just had the worst game in the history of officiating."
Willard also missed Shawn Marion clawing at Ginobili, accidentally catching his eye. Ginobili didn't like that no-call, either. He responded by scoring eight points in the final 1:30 of the third quarter.
Nash didn't react as well. An Arizona columnist wrote then, "It may have been the worst big game he's played since rejoining the Suns."
The third referee, Eddie F. Rush, didn't do much better. When an Arizona reporter made his own review of the game tape this week, he pointed to a call Rush made in the third quarter that resulted in Stoudemire's fourth personal.
"That was perhaps the most damaging, and questionable, of all the calls against Stoudemire," he wrote. "In fact, if somebody asked whether we thought the fix was in, we'd have fingered Rush for sure."
Maybe Donaghy didn't try to fix that game. Maybe he didn't have to. But when looking for signs — as Letterman was — a replay suggests something worthy of late-night humor.
Donaghy might have been the best official that night.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[email protected]
The facts pretty readily suggest that Donaghy probably didn't have anything going on in that game -- or if he did, that he didn't really attempt to alter the outcome. It's unlikely he would have, either, since he was the most junior official (in terms of playoff experience) on that crew.
The problem, though, is that those who are inclined to scream fix are not particularly inclined to see the facts.
Nice breakdown by Buck. I've rewatched the game and the ironic thing is that Donaghy was the best official on the floor. He had that one blown call on the Manu foul ... but then again, how many times has Manu begged his way into a call? It happens almost every game.
He had one maybe two calls he could have made that he didn't. That's it. Rush and Willard reffed horrible games. Rush always sucks so that's not a surprise. Willard was the worst and if it would have come out he was the fixer, then Game 3 would need an asterisk.
But it was Donaghy and he called a good game.
Suns fans ing = 911 conspiracy theorists
Bitter, crazy and without a shadow of evidence to prove their point
If Donaghy wanted to ref to get the over, and the only possible way he could influence that is with foul calls, wouldn't that help teams like the Mavs who shoot the out of the ball from the FT line? Wouldn't it not help or even hurt a mediocre to poor FT shooting team like the Spurs? Seems the Suns would have been the beneficiary since they are overall probably a better FT shooting team than the Spurs.
I think I see where the Mavs great regular season came from...
Good read.
Surprise, surprise. Suns fans have another excuse to point to. One of these days they'll get back to their team not being good enough. Maybe.
There was a late push in Manu's back by Diaw, I think, on that layup attempt. Nobody else had the angle and Donaghy waited until the layup missed to blow the whistle, at which point Manu in the middle of his hissy fit. Ticky tack, perhaps, but not the worst call ever. The "foul only if it misses" late whistle was very common this season. I could make a better case that Pop was trying to give the WC semis to AJ last year.
Thank God for the internet. This same basic article was on the web 2-3 days ago. I am sure Buck got his "inspiration" from the same piece. Thank God we do not have to solely with print journalism anymore for sources of information. The same holds true for the local TV guys.
it's probably more likely that the web piece came from a newspaper's website.
and his ankle got slapped.
where's da suns fan?
and now that i think about it, you what no one mentions about game 3? up until amare got his 4th foul in the 3rd, he and duncan were about even in fouls at the same time, if i remember right.
On my ignore list... Oh, you meant in general? In his mom's basement, err... command center CBing all the other downtrodden Suns fanatics with wars and rumors of wars, angrily demanding justice, hence waking up his mother, who promtly comes down and takes away all his "toys"...
LMAO Suns still crying and still the laughingstock of NBA
Breaking news: Spurs front office linked to AL-QUAEDA more on this on www.azcentral.com
This stuff should be giving the Spurs plenty of motivation to repeat. Hopefully the FO will get the personnel to make it happen. We don't need much to pull it off...
eagerly awaiting some Suns Fans explanation.... I need something to keep me entertained.
Definitely the Sacramento Kings revisited, it is almost identical.
I stll say if the fix was in it was for the Suns to win. They are a jump shooting team and shot 20% more fouls than the Spurs in the series and were so incompetent they still couldn't win.
Suns just want someone to blame that allows them to get away with not blameing their crappy team, its hilarious. Looks like the facts are in.
Im glad Letterman is helping gettting the truth out to the rest of the country.
Of course, how many people saw/read that joke and said "WHO?!"
Last edited by da_suns_fan__; 07-26-2007 at 03:02 PM.
Not as many as said "oh yeah, the team that beat those whiney-ass pussy es in the second round. You know, the team that never wins anything yet has that feeling of en lement like they have."
It's appropriate that you go to David Letterman for your facts, since you and your team are a joke.
YET ANOTHER Suns thread. Seek help.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
