In his column today Bill Simmons points to Game 3 of the Spurs-Suns series, and what was in his words "the most atrociously officiated game of the playoffs so far".  A fan of Simmons (and the Suns, probably) broke down the game's most "atrocious" calls, and posted it to YouTube:

Now, it's pretty unusual of me to defend the bad guy, but I don't think there is anything more to this than an upset Suns fan who still hasn't gotten over his team's lose.  I don't have a preference for either the Suns or Spurs, so I think I can keep it objectionable.  Here are my chief complaints with the video (I'll get to my complaints about Simmons article in a bit):

• Okay, the first foul call is the most damning.  It was clearly made by Tim Donaghy, and it's the infamous "late whistle" call on the Suns that occurred about three seconds after Ginobili drove to the basket and missed.  No argument here, it was a late call, definitely; it was a bad call, definitely; and Tim Donaghy made it.  Both Simmons and the guy behind the video had to start their case on this one call, because this is the best definite "example"....
• The next one (starting at the 2:00 mark) is Amare getting blocked by Duncan.  He looks like he got fouled, but it's a borderline call.  On the one hand, Duncan went across Amare's body; but he did also get all ball.  Furthermore Amare didn't "sell" the foul, as he barely seemed to break stride when Duncan went across his body - he went off balance as the block occurred (at this point it's a clean block, since the possible foul already occurred but was missed).  This happened in front of referee Rush's point of view, so if he didn't call it, perhaps Donaghy didn't feel the need to call it either.  It seems borderline at best.
  
• Amare's offensive foul (2:30) - this one has nothing to do with Donaghy!  He didn't call it for one.  Two, Oberto fell to the ground, forcing a call.  Yes, you can call it a flop, that's reasonable.  But a ref has to make a call when someone goes down on the court - either he calls the offensive foul, or he ignores the large forward on the floor.  Most refs would make that call, and, like I said... it wasn't Donaghy who made the call.  In other words, this piece of "evidence" is inadmissable.  (Totally a flop, though)
• 3:10: The Nash blocking foul as he got in Tim Duncan's way.  Not sold on this one, either.  Nash gets over and "plants" his feet when Tim Duncan's on top of him.  By definition he's probably too late, and it's a blocking foul.  Again, because Nash hit the floor, something needs to be called.  He tried to pull the charge on Duncan, but get the charge requires his position to be established.  I can't say that, upon viewing the replay, I strongly believe his position was established - he looks like he is still moving.  Also, not sure which ref blew the whistle and made the call (it appears to be the one in the baseline, which might not be Donaghy - I'm not sure).  By the way, I remember thinking the announcing crew was nuts when I watched this game the first time (I figured they were strongly rooting for the Suns)... "you don't have to have your feet set...".  Um, actually - yes you do. 
• 3:55:  Diaw's foul on Duncan.  There was clearly contact, and Tim Duncan went down to the floor, with the ball in his hands.  The referees had to call something.  Again, we're not sure who made the call.  Secondly, the call has to be either a foul on Diaw for running into Duncan, or a foul on Duncan for sticking his hip out.  On a pick, you might see that call go against Duncan.  But since he had the ball in his hand and was making a move - very rarely will that call go against the offensive player, since he is not setting a pick, but actually making a move.  The offensive player making a move has the right to the space, and unless Diaw was planted there with his feet set, he's not drawing the offensive foul call.  Again, this seemed pretty common sense to us at the time, and still makes sense. 
  
• 4:20 - the Bruce Bowen offensive foul on Steve Nash.  Bowen basically knees Nash in the leg.  The refs called it.  What's the problem?  Is it that the Suns think it should have been an intentional foul?  That's ridiculous - the league calls intentional fouls almost exclusively on layups that have too much contact in the head or upper body area.  That's pretty much it.  Yes, Bowen is a d*ck, I hate him.  He's dirty.  He probably did it intentionally, and should be shanked with a rusty shiv.  But the foul was called, and that's that.  This foul is similar to Kobe's elbows on his follow-through - they get reviewed by the league after the game, and result in action at that point (I think Bowen got a fine for this one).  Determining intent during the game is sometimes too difficult.  Again, three referees, no one else upgrade it to an intentional foul, either.  Inadmissable!
• And after throwing out all this half-ass examples of evidence, you want something strong to finish with... so you get the no-call on Bowen stripping Nash.  Yes, it looked like Nash got fouled, I agree.  It was a bad no-call, but again...  all three refs let it go.  As evidence of Donaghy (acting alone) controlling the outcome of the game... very weak.  Did he bribe the other two refs into turning a blind eye to this call?  Maybe their family was being threatened, too?  As for the technical foul on D'Antoni - one, we're not sure which ref called the T.  Two... um, it's probably legit.  Mike D'Antoni was mad pissed, and he probably said the magic words to warrant a T.  Even the announcers commended him on taking one for his best player.  Can anyone dispute that he deserved that technical?  Maybe, but not on these grounds.  The bad no-call though is admissable.
• The last is another no call that went against Steve Nash, but... it happened (as the video and announcers both make evident) in Rush's face.  He didn't make the call.  What does this have to do with Tim Donaghy's gambling problem?

And people think my "Francisco Garcia is why Reggie Theus got hired" theory is ludicrious?!?  Okay, that's one problem with the Simmons article - it's just an excuse to pat himself on the back.  The other big problem I had with Simmons' article?  He kept calling NBA referees underpaid.  That gets a little annoying after a while.  Listen, NBA officials make up to $400,000 a year.  It's safe to say that Tim Donaghy wasn't making top coin, but he probably was making at least $250,000, I would say, for a seasonally job.  He's also been a referee for 13 seasons.  The dude isn't poor.  He might have more wealth than some NBA players.   

You know what, that reminds me - Joey Crawford is probably making top coin.  He's been around 30 years, too.  He's probably made more money in his time in the NBA than Sebastian Telfair has.  That's meaningless I know, but whereas Telfair is a "spoiled rich athlete", no one has ever said something similar to Crawford.  The media perception is that these guys are "everymen", just regular middle class guys, guys who are similar to those umpires at the softball games, or referees at the little league game or rec league b-ball leagues.  Yeah, NBA officials are to rec league b-ball leagues what NBA players are to the players in those leagues!  No comparison in skill or compensation levels.  So stop with the everyman comparisons.  

Tim Donaghy is a millionaire (he has to be worth at least $1,000,000) who had a gambling problem that cost him his job and possibly made him fix professional NBA games.  

Oh, and by the way - that Kurt Thomas trade?  That's because the Suns are cheap.  I don't knock getting rid of Kurt Thomas, he's not a big part of the team.  I think giving away another pair of 1st rounders is ridiculous, though.  One should have been sufficient; two is just being cheap.  Eventually this is going to come back to bite the Suns in the ass.  Those assets are going to be missed, including Kurt Thomas, a defense-oriented player the Suns need more of.  The Spurs are cheap, too, as evidenced by their Jackie Butler trade.  But there is a difference: The Spurs are champs.  Their cheapness might make repeating difficult, but at least they have something to show for their team's cheapness.

The Suns won't have anything to show for it.  They are going to have to change this team after this season... Marion will get traded.  The #1 from Atlanta will be used, either as trade bait or to acquire a top rookie.  We doubt Bo Diaw will stay around if he doesn't have a big season this year. The 08-09 Suns will have a different look.  But the 07-08 Suns, the last of the Nash-Amare-Marion years, will end short of the Finals like all the rest.  Historically they will have no value.  They will just be a fun team that we enjoyed watching these years, one that changed the thinking of the league, but that amounted to nothing more than empty fury.  The Suns will be like the Alex English high scoring Denver Nuggets teams of the 80's - a nice fun team to watch, great stats and great fantasy players, but nothing significant.  Maybe the new version of the Suns in 08-09 will actually become a significant contender and make it to the Finals.  Or maybe they'll stop being so cheap, and pay the needed money to put them over the top.

 Subscribe to my feed

4 Comments

Comments