I did not want to believe this, but always have. I lived in Chicago during the great Jordan years, so I looked the other way. I hate the NBA - in fact, the only reason I watch it is because MEMPHIS has a team.
Below are excerpts from Tim Donaghy, the outed official accused and charged with gambling. While he's in prison, he's been working on a tell all kind of book. Right before it was to be published, the NBA suits squashed it. Donaghy's group is still trying to find a publisher who will. I doubt it will ever hit the shelves. Shame on the NBA and shame on David Stern. The NBA is by far the easiest league for the refs to "help" the outcome of a game. I understand Donaghy might look like a disgruntled person, but what he says makes too much sense to ignore. Allen Iverson is brought up in this. And that miscarriage of justice years ago between Sacramento and the Lakers.
http://deadspin.com/5392067/excerpts-fro...ou-to-read
The 2002 Western Conference Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Sacramento Kings presents a stunning example of game and series manipulation at its ugliest. As the teams prepared for Game 6 at the Staples Center, Sacramento had a 3–2 lead in the series. The referees assigned to work Game 6 were Dick Bavetta, Bob Delaney, and Ted Bernhardt. As soon as the referees for the game were chosen, the rest of us knew immediately that there would be a Game 7. A prolonged series was good for the league, good for the networks, and good for the game. Oh, and one more thing: it was great for the big-market, star-studded Los Angeles Lakers.
In the pregame meeting prior to Game 6, the league office sent down word that certain calls — calls that would have benefitted the Lakers — were being missed by the referees. This was the type of not-so-subtle information that I and other referees were left to interpret. After receiving the dispatch, Bavetta openly talked about the fact that the league wanted a Game 7.
"If we give the benefit of the calls to the team that's down in the series, nobody's going to complain. The series will be even at three apiece, and then the better team can win Game 7," Bavetta stated.
As history shows, Sacramento lost Game 6 in a wild come-from-behind thriller that saw the Lakers repeatedly sent to the foul line by the referees. For other NBA referees watching the game on television, it was a shameful performance by Bavetta's crew, one of the most poorly officiated games of all time.
(10-30-2009 08:12 PM)k2tigers Wrote: [ -> ]I did not want to believe this, but always have. I lived in Chicago during the great Jordan years, so I looked the other way. I hate the NBA - in fact, the only reason I watch it is because MEMPHIS has a team.
Below are excerpts from Tim Donaghy, the outed official accused and charged with gambling. While he's in prison, he's been working on a tell all kind of book. Right before it was to be published, the NBA suits squashed it. Donaghy's group is still trying to find a publisher who will. I doubt it will ever hit the shelves. Shame on the NBA and shame on David Stern. The NBA is by far the easiest league for the refs to "help" the outcome of a game. I understand Donaghy might look like a disgruntled person, but what he says makes too much sense to ignore. Allen Iverson is brought up in this. And that miscarriage of justice years ago between Sacramento and the Lakers.
http://deadspin.com/5392067/excerpts-fro...ou-to-read
Heck, just watching tonight's Grizz-Raptors game it's obvious who the NBA prefers win. Some of the calls are just blatantly horrid, much worse than college. But it's not about winning games, it's about selling shoes and jerseys.
No kidding,this is downright terrible officiating. Grizzlies get on a roll, phantom traveling call. Grizzlies stay on a roll, got in a nice rhythm and are playing at a fast tempo wearing Toronto out and then they call a foul and spend 5 minutes reviewing it when it was an obvious call.
Anybody watching the Lakers game? I am reminded of the whole Dick Bavetta section. 2 fouls going Kobe's way in the first 15 seconds of the 4th quarter...interesting.
Oh, and....the Lakers (home team) are down 16 points when the fouls happened.
(10-30-2009 08:58 PM)TigerBill Wrote: [ -> ] (10-30-2009 08:12 PM)k2tigers Wrote: [ -> ]I did not want to believe this, but always have. I lived in Chicago during the great Jordan years, so I looked the other way. I hate the NBA - in fact, the only reason I watch it is because MEMPHIS has a team.
Below are excerpts from Tim Donaghy, the outed official accused and charged with gambling. While he's in prison, he's been working on a tell all kind of book. Right before it was to be published, the NBA suits squashed it. Donaghy's group is still trying to find a publisher who will. I doubt it will ever hit the shelves. Shame on the NBA and shame on David Stern. The NBA is by far the easiest league for the refs to "help" the outcome of a game. I understand Donaghy might look like a disgruntled person, but what he says makes too much sense to ignore. Allen Iverson is brought up in this. And that miscarriage of justice years ago between Sacramento and the Lakers.
http://deadspin.com/5392067/excerpts-fro...ou-to-read
Heck, just watching tonight's Grizz-Raptors game it's obvious who the NBA prefers win. Some of the calls are just blatantly horrid, much worse than college. But it's not about winning games, it's about selling shoes and jerseys.
I do not doubt it happens, but it is not really a big new story to me. Can I believe that the publishers for Donaghy upcoming book treated it like toxic waste once the NBA said it would sue the company that published this tome. I can totally understand in this economy why the orginal publisher got scared after the National Basketball Association started talking lawsuit.
(10-30-2009 11:42 PM)nhillis Wrote: [ -> ]Oh, and....the Lakers (home team) are down 16 points when the fouls happened.
No surprise at all. Officials cannot 'fix' games in that they cannot actually determine who wins. Somebody can get hot and bomb 3's they normally would not hit and skew things. But officials can direct the outcome by hampering one team. I have always thought this is true in about half the NBA games. It's why a crew can call a game one night that is worthy of the Hall of Fame, and the next night look like a middle school crew.
Wow. This does make you question what's going on behind the scenes. The Grizzlies game last night had some calls that weren't called that clearly should have been.
Unfortunately refs blow calls (see SEC) and the NBA refs blow more than their share. Consider the source though, Tim Donaghy is broke, shamed, without remorse and has a serious ax to grind. Why even give this guy two seconds of credibility? I'd put this book, which got deep sixed because of lack of credibility, right up there with Willie Herenton's soon to be released 'tell all book'
(10-31-2009 12:24 PM)memp600 Wrote: [ -> ]Wow. This does make you question what's going on behind the scenes. The Grizzlies game last night had some calls that weren't called that clearly should have been.
I came to my conclusion decades ago. When you see a crew who is brilliant one night and clueless the next, it makes you wonder what is going on. I mean, Violet Palmer...are you kidding me? I wouldn't let her ref a middle school game, yet she's at the highest level. I quit watching more than 20 years ago for the same reason I don't watch the WWE, I like sports, not scripted entertainment. When the Grizz came to town I swallowed my skepticism and supported them, especially when Hubie was coach. Then Jason Williams reminded me that it's the players who matter in the league, not the coaches, and I said the heck with it. I don't hate the Grizz, I want them to succeed, but I won't give them any more of my money to do it.
Wow, a referee arrested for fixing games that he was betting on writes a book about how the whole NBA is crooked. Imagine that.
Basically he's saying "it's not just me, it's everyone."
Dude has a serious axe to grind.
(10-31-2009 12:40 PM)the other Greg Childers Wrote: [ -> ]Wow, a referee arrested for fixing games that he was betting on writes a book about how the whole NBA is crooked. Imagine that.
Basically he's saying "it's not just me, it's everyone."
Dude has a serious axe to grind.
Does the NBA want an honest game? I think for the most part they do try to keep the game as honest as they can. Wow, referees have favorites? (insert sarcam here). This is not an earth shattering fact, so do not act like it is a big deal.
I've watched a lot of NBA games over the years and (except for the fact they never call travelling) usually they're pretty good.
I wish I could say the same thing about college refs. Between the two, college refs are a lot worse.
What this former ref is saying is probably true.
The refs influence too many games in college and pro. I won't ever forget game 6 kings vs lakers a while back. One of the worst games ever, the lakers were given that game. Matter of fact, that laker team got quite a few calls. Imo, they only won one title legitimately. The other two were given to them. At that time, they couldn't afford for the lakers to lose. Kobe had the big contracts with mcdonalds and sprite and others. They had shaq who had his endorsers. Plus, la is a big market team and the nba needed a new "glamour team" to step up in the void left by the retirement of michael jordan. The lakers got calls during series with great teams like utah, phoenix, and even indiana.
The refs helped mj and the bulls during their second 3 peat. No way michael jordan was going to go home early again after the magic sent him home early when he first came back. Don't get me wrong, that team was great, but there was no way they would lose even if someone could beat them. In their series vs the magic, there were quite a few bad calls. Rodman got away with murder.
This last year, i felt the calls were even in the playoffs except for the boston-chicago series. There boston got everything at home and still got calls on the road. The nba didn't want their defending champs to go out first round, even with an injury to kevin garnett. For all the other series last year between any other playoff team, the home team got more calls, but at least it was consistent.
During the regular season, you see certain teams getting calls if the nba wants them in the postseason for whatever reason. You see it late in the season especially.
If you don't see how college refs influence games the same way, i don't know what to say.
Finally, i just want to say, the nba fixes the draft too.
it happened in Denver last night, and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see it happen tonight in Sacramento. If you're the Grizzlies, you've got to knock them out, not win on a TKO. What a shame.
(11-02-2009 10:10 PM)k2tigers Wrote: [ -> ]it happened in Denver last night, and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see it happen tonight in Sacramento. If you're the Grizzlies, you've got to knock them out, not win on a TKO. What a shame.
Last night wasn't that bad considering the grizz were playing a big time playoff team at home with superstars who played in the nba western finals last year. Yes, denver got calls, but i've seen much worse. The nba favors playoff teams at home especially when they have superstars. The grizz have to be able to overcome that to take the next step. That's just part of the nba.
The calls shouldn't be nearly as bad tonight against the kings. The nba doesn't care.