Van Gundy isn't problem ... refs are Story Tools: Print Email XML Kevin Hench / FOXSports.com Posted: 10 minutes ago OK, David Stern, you made your point. You don't want NBA coaches talking publicly about the terrible officiating in the NBA. You don't want NBA coaches protecting their sources on inside information about the terrible officiating in the NBA. You don't want hardworking, passionate, decent men coaching in the NBA if they are going to be so impolitic as to point out the terrible officiating in the NBA. Now, do you have any plans to actually do anything about the terrible officiating in the NBA? If Jeff Van Gundy can be fined $100,000 for suggesting that he was tipped off by an NBA ref that the league was going to be "looking harder at Yao" in the playoffs — which may very well be true — then what does Mr. Stern propose to do about the unconscionable sixth foul called on Tim Duncan in last night's overtime against Denver? With two minutes gone in OT, Carmelo Anthony slipped and fell — in the same spot that Andre Miller slipped earlier, by the way — and so the whistle blew. Why? Because the whistle always blows. (Unless it absolutely should, in which case it is often swallowed.) And when the whistle blows, everything stops. And everyone looks at the official who only then realizes the gravity of the situation. He has to call SOMETHING. In this case, the official, having assumed a foul must have been committed, then had to look for a perpetrator and found only Duncan in the vicinity. Sorry. You're gone. Replays showed what viewers and broadcasters suspected: Anthony slipped. So this ref not only blew a call at a critical moment of a critical game, but he tagged a superstar with his sixth foul. So what will his fine be? How about five hundred bucks? Perhaps a one-game suspension? Don't hold your breath. Lucky for Stern and his beleaguered officials, the Spurs won going away in overtime in what TNT's Charles Barkley called "one of the worst-officiated games I've seen in my 20 years associated with the NBA." But Van Gundy's Rockets weren't lucky enough to survive the worst call of the night. Or rather, the worst non-call, which — horror of horrors — happened with Commissioner Stern in attendance. With Houston making a run to close within three in the final minute, Rockets guard Jon Barry secured a defensive rebound under the basket. Since Barry himself was practically on the baseline, it's safe to assume that any defender that swooped in under his left elbow would be out of bounds. So when Michael Finley reached in from the baseline side of Barry and poked the ball free, Bennett Salvatore, Joe DeRosa or Tony Brothers would have to blow his whistle, right? Right? Nope. Like the rest of us, Salvatore and company just looked on doing nothing as the ball bounced to Jerry Stackhouse, who was tripped by Barry and awarded two crucial free throws. According to Van Gundy, Salvatore claimed Finley had indeed been inbounds when he reached in and touched the ball. Wow. Won't Mr. Salvatore be surprised when he sees the replay. Was Finley's right foot inbounds and his left foot on the line? No. Was Finley's left foot out of bounds and his right foot on the line? No. Were both of Finley's feet completely freakin' out of bounds? YESSSSSSS!!! So what will the sanctions be against Salvatore's crew for contributing mightily to the Rockets' 103-100 loss? The usual. Nothing. If Jeff Van Gundy can be fined $100K for criticizing the refs, can the refs be fined for blowing key calls during the playoffs? (LM Otero / FOXSports.com) Antoine Walker can get suspended for making contact with an official — in what had been the worst-officiated game of the playoffs prior to Spurs-Nuggets last night — and Van Gundy can be fined 100 large for divulging certain details of a private conversation and then not giving up his friend, but when will NBA officials be publicly held to account for doing a poor job? Stern's answer seems to be to come down hard on the complainers and hope it will distract the fans from the larger problem. But he's missing the solution. Replay. Replay, replay, replay, a thousand times replay! If it's good enough to see if a shot was released in time or if a toe was on the line, why not to see if a player was inbounds when he made contact with the ball? Both of Monday night's horrible calls could have been overturned by replay. Give coaches two challenges per game or per half, or one per game, but give them something. Anything to avoid officials deciding games. If throwing the red flag has already been taken, maybe they could roll a red-white-and-blue ball onto the court to signify a challenge. Do you think Bennett Salvatore wants to feel like a jackass when he watches that replay and realizes not only did his crew blow the call but that he erroneously defended the non-call to the losing coach? Of course not. On a play like Finley reaching in from out of bounds, a ref would happily overturn his own ruling and award the ball to the aggrieved team. Same with those pesky block/charge calls when the refs are always guessing as to whether the defender's heels have cleared the circle under the basket. How many hundreds of times during the regular season does the replay reveal an official's error on this call? Sometimes the defender gets called for a block when his heels are hovering just above the circle, and sometimes the penetrator gets called for a charge when the defender's heels are on the line. It's an impossible call to make with any certainty when massive bodies are flying at high speeds. So in the pressure cooker of the playoffs, let's just acknowledge that refs make mistakes that television cameras can rectify and use the technology to take some of the heat off the officials. There's a reason so many calls are missed in the NBA — it's an almost impossible game to officiate. If you've ever been courtside when the combustible mixture of freakish giants and blazing sprinters (and freakish giant, blazing sprinters) all collide in pursuit of a rebound, you know it's simply impossible to have a perfect night as an NBA ref. So why not help the refs, the coaches and the fans? NBA games don't run that long. There's time for a handful of challenges. Just to get the calls right. Or you can threaten to run Jeff Van Gundy, one of the genuine good guys in the league, out of the game. It's your choice, David Stern. http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/3588876
Good article. Why not give them 2 red flags for replays? Hell, we've been screwed enough. The refs suck. I liked the passion in the article by the author.
I agree why not give them 1 challenge per game. If they change the call awesome and the challenge is used up. If they dont change the call then the team loses a timeout. or as someone mentioned earlier that a 4th ref watching from the screen would be a huge benefit. Also if refs wore headsets or earpieces so they could communicate quickly and efficiently might help. Keep their conversations private and makes decisions much more quickly. J
Nice article. One of the best I've seen in the midst of all this chaos. It just might be time for a limited number of "coach challenge" replays. It might be even harder to define what's allowed to be challenged and what isn't than it is in football, but maybe it is time to make the effort. Ignoring the HUGE credibility problem the NBA is facing and threating to kill the messenger with $100K fines and lifetime bans won't fix the problem. I have mixed feelings about bringing replay in, but it is certainly time to start looking at SOMETHING to improve refereeing. And he's right about one thing. It's hard enough to call charge/block without that silly circle. It's downright impossible with it. (Unless of course you just take the easy approach and say "When in doubt, call it on Yao, or whoever is closest to Nowitzki."
Good article, but -- it does not address the inconsistency of calls. I am sick of hearing about Yao's 'mass' making him a target of calls. The man's mass v Shaq? C'mon, Shaq gets calls. Shaq gets all the calls. Why can Yao not be seen through clear glasses? Fairly. Consistently. Or at least, fairly consistently.
Great article. This is the kind of attention we need on the farce of a game played last night. This guy just slapped Stern right in the face, and theres nothing he can do about it. You can't fine the media, b****.
I think performance pay for refs and also firing a few refs for chronic bad calls would go a long way towards improving the quality of play. I don't know about how much refs are paid but if they are paid well then there should be a ready pool of people looking to become NBA refs so forcing them to perform better or lose their jobs shouldn't be a problem.
Actually, I'd rather go back to two refs and have a third ref as a replay official. And give him the chance to decide to review a play in the last two minutes of a half, in addition to a couple of coach challenges. NBA games aren't as long as baseball or football games. A few extra minutes won't matter. And it might even be made up by going back to two refs. One of the problems that came from having three refs is a whole lot more fouls being called because all it takes now is one of three people to think they might have seen a foul in order for a whistle to blow.
No, because it is not after "Every call", the NBA should require the refs to look at the replay ONLY when: 1) Challenged by the head coach (2 challenges per game should be given to coaches) and 2) when the refs disagree among themselves on a call. The calls last night DEFINITELY cost us the game, despite all the missed FTs. But this is the NBA, and the fact that EVERYONE now is catching on to how terrible the officiating has been ALL post-season. The paper columnists are realzing that, TV analysts are all over the problem, EVERYONE but the NBA officials. I think the NBA is in the "denial" phase, hopefully later on they will get "angry" at the problem, and then finally enter the "acceptance" phase and do something about it. What the hell is the point of technology if it isn't being used?
If stern doesn't get off his arse and do something about the officiating the NBA will go the way of professional wrestling since the outcome will be no less predetermined ... and a farce. The frustration level has been rising so much year to year that it will soon exceed the enjoyment of the sport. At times it already does.
