I have been a big basketball fan for a long time, and I been following clutch city alomst since it got off the ground and have read every post since it had about 7000 posts. And normally I am a pretty calm guy. I just come here and read everyone elses post, and if i have an opinion that i feel needs to be expressed, sooner or later someone will post a new thread about it. One time it took someone two months to start a tread addrssing the issue an issue I felt strongly about and this issue needs to be addressed now. I remember watching the game, and saying to myself, what an awesome game. Even if the rockets lose, this is an awesome game, they are playing real well, but the kings were playing out of this world, and if the rockets lost, they could say this was just one of those nights were you just aren't going to win no matter what, but we played them well enough that on any other night we would have beet them. That said, the game reminded me of the games played right out of the eighties with all the running. The game was different, it was just a fun game to watch. The game had emotion, passion, energy; games like that are fun to watch even if your team loses, (as long as they are in the game) and that happens when the refs let players play the game without calling a bunch of fouls. In the second half that all changed. With the two stupid techs on steve. Give me a break. The refs had been letting the guys just play the game. There was this one play where Kenny thomas just walked all over the place for a bucket, and i said to myself, that is just awesome. The refs are letting the players play the game. It used to that way all the time in the eighties. I dont know how many old timers and newbies there are in hear when it comes to the basketball world. But the basketball played in the eighties was just a different funner sport to watch. It used to always be played with alot of emotion and passion. That is the way it should be played. But it isn't because the refs have changed. The older refs used to let the players scream and holler, pounds there fists and chests, jump up and down, and express there manhood in just about every way desired. Players used to be able to express there frrustrations to the refs by yelling and screaming, and even directing profanities at the refs. But int he old days, they never called techs or fouls. The older refs had thick skin. With the forced resignations and retirements of older refs, these newer refs, 1 do not have a thick skin, and 2, think they need to maintian order onthe floor. The job of maintaining order is the responsibility of the coaches and players themselves. Not the refs, there job is to call fouls on a consistant bases in the game. What should have happened in the game was that right after steve had the slam, the kings coaches should have called a timeout to slow the momentum of the rockets, and take some of the emotion out of the game. The refs have no right to take players out of the game for getting emotional. But when they did, you could just see the emotion and passion being zapped out of the rockets. I am human, i have feelings, i am not a robot, and i dont expect the players to act like robots. That is why I root for the rockets, because i get emotional. Say what you want about Jake ODonnel, and although I dont like what he did to Clyde, but he was a good veteran referee, and he would have never called that tech like Bill Kenedy did. The new refs just flat out suck. period. No if or buts about it. If the NBA wants to increase ratings, bring back the old fans it lost, and continue to bring in new fans, they will change the way refs call games, and not change the rules. Barkley has even said before, that the younger refs have changed the game. They would make the younger refs develope a thick skin and take some sensitivity classes. I dont want the NBA to change the rules and institute/allow zone defences. It would be horible. It will be college basketball or european basketball with better players. It is just not as fun to watch. The sad part is, the NBA and its fans missed out on what would have been a good fun game. Games people like to watch. We will never know if the rockets could have won, I think they could have, they were only down 7 or 8 points inthe third, and they have come back from farther down in the forth. ------------------ [This message has been edited by Huricane (edited March 21, 2001).] [This message has been edited by Huricane (edited March 21, 2001).]
I really agree , these refs are in total control of the game , they dont care about the players or being fair . When they make a bad call against one team , they make up for it by making a bad call against the other team! Something really needs to be done about this . ------------------ "Eat your kids, play with your dinner and join the chat" - Dr of Dunk gives a public sevice announcement at the request of Mike Tyson .
After that excellent first post, my vote is Huricane deserves another chance at spelling his moniker correctly, since he was obviously way excited to join cc.net finally. And I can vouch for bad spelling while typing fast. How 'bout it Clutch...give him the right spelling.
you have hit the proverbial nail on the screws seriously, the old refs had a bend but don't break attitude. they let things (hakeems's traveling, mj's carrying, etc.) go that weren't giving obvious advantages. they allowed the players to dictate the end result of the game - as long as the did not take obvious advantage of their opponent. these refs? they are a joke. they break for the people they deem to be superstars - even though they are gaining obvious advantages (shaq traveling and offensive fouling, for example) then penalize the fringe superstars (francis ) for being emotional. the bench players? their role in the Grand NBA Game is to absorb the obvious fouls that the team superstar has committed. to a point, that's OK, but when it's obvious, c'mon, make the right call. consistency? i don't know if these refs can spell consistency. seriously, for those that watch the NBA games regularly, how many times have you seen NBA players slap the backboard? i'd say AT LEAST once a game. especially by baron davis. especially by shawn marion. especially by kevin garnett and rasheed wallace. do they get techs for slapping the backboard? hell no. but don't let a rocket touch the damn glass.s look, if shandon anderson can beat up the backboard without a tech, why can't everyone? oh wait, that was his jump shot. :O seriously, the nba will continue to lose fans with officiated games like the one we saw. soon we will all change our moniker to COACH SAMPSON. ironically, i have not seen him yet. no need. we all are carrying his flag right now. NBA Action? It's Refdiculous.
This is precisely what I wrote my NBA.com letter about . . . the refs allow Vince Carter and Kobe to get away with anything, but any other player who shows the slightest bit of emotion is teched or thrown out. It's insane. VC and KB are given every priviledge they want, however. If Steve hung on the rim half as long as Carter does, he'd be thrown out . . . I suggest a severe reduction of the taunting rules. What I find odd is that Dikembe Mutombo can still get away with the finger wagging. Early on, he was t-ed up for it, but now they don't seem to mind. That kind of stuff is kinda cool. The NBA wants excitement, it wants competition -- allow the players to jaw and taunt and trash-talk. It's a part of ball from the streets up through college. No more white collar gentlemanly basketball, let's add some youth and intensity -- eliminate or reduce the taunting violations. ------------------ What can change the nature of a man?
Did anybody see Bonzi Wells do a freakin' chinup after his dunk against the Mavs yesterday, in a game that also had huge playoff implications? He did not get a tech, but I'll bet you anything ,if it was Francis in that same situation, it would have been an automatic T. By the way, Great post Hurricane. It's just sad when a player get's teched up for showing the kind of college exuberance, that is greatly needed in the NBA today. That's why the NCAA tournament is so great. Those guys play with such emotion. ------------------ [This message has been edited by tacoma park legend (edited March 21, 2001).]
Huricane, well said. Does anybody else see the contradiction in asking humans to compete with one another but with checked emotion or modified passion? it's absurd! One question: who is ultimately responsible for these insensible rules? the coaches? GM's? who? It's really not the refs fault. I believe they're just following the newly issued rules. They don't want to lose their jobs, they know their being evaluated, and thats why every rule is stressed to the fullest without involving their own better judgement, and that is sad. But, unfortunately thats how the world is nowdays. The NBA refs are kind of like the beer vendor at Enron who refused to sale my 52 yr old balding father beer at the Rice/UH game becuase he didn't have his ID on him. Now, ordinarily commonsense would tell this man how absurd it is to even ask my father for indentification, but times are diffrent, and people are just doing their job and following orders even if commonsense tells them otherwise. See, these refs, too, are "just doing their job", "following the rules" even though they know they are not calling it like they see it. Can you blame them for being cautious? They have jobs and are insecure too. Do you really think they give a damn if a player slaps a backboard?, Of course they don't, but their employer does. ------------------ [This message has been edited by ROCKETBOOSTER (edited March 22, 2001).]
...Say what you want about Jake ODonnel, and although I dont like what he did to Clyde, but he was a good veteran referee, and he would have never called that tech like Bill Kenedy did. ... I never thought that I would hear a Rockets fan say that! What O'Donnel did was worse than Kennedy because Kennedy was just being stupid. O'Donnel's action, I believe, was intentional.
