Horrendous officiating proves NBC to be sports entertainment and not sports comp.

Ditto Vince.

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THE DEAN HAS WRITTEN

 

Another ditto from me. Couldn't agree more.

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ditt no! you cant blame the refs for making the blazers miss 13 straight shots , and thats what cost them the game.there were times in this series where scottie pippen was driving the lane and they'd instantly call a foul on someone near him, but thats just a part of the game , the refs called a game right down the middle.and if there was some sort of oliver stone conspiracy going on here then i think nbc would of rather had the knicks playing the lakers.i could be wrong.....

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johnny "red" kerr:i'm glad the bulls did'nt draft steve francis.

dan roan: why!!!!!

johnny red kerr:because he would forever be compared to michael jordan.

 

BRAHMA ROCKET, I agree, the Blazers did their fair share to lose that game. HOWEVER, that was honestly some of the worst officiating I have EVER seen in an NBA playoff series. EVER!

The foul they called on Grant when his arms were STRAIGHT up in the air???

Sabonis getting beat to hell as Shaq backs him down and he gets several fouls called on him????

Sheed's nice block on Kobe....foul???

Steve Smith was RAPED by Shaq on that drive in the 4th....no call????

I could not count the other fouls and traveling violations on Haq...Woops, forgot the "S" there.

Bill Walton (took the place of Collins, thank God!) said it best after the "foul" on Shaq by Grant ".....what are you supposed to do to defend him, run from the man?"

"F" the NBA!
"F" the Lakers!!
"F" NBC!!!



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HOOP-T

Hey Shaq, Acme called, and they want their bricks back!

 

I thought it was nice game, the officals were really good.

Did Steve Smith bleed on the last play? NO , then its no foul.

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President of the Moochie Norris FAN CLUB

 

Grant and Sabonis, 2 fouls each in the first quarter. Enough said.

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"Yes, I came from the 80s...but I didn't kill anybody. Give me a break."

-Mike Tramp, former lead singer of White Lion

 

Guys stop, stop, STOP.

Another pathetic attempt.

I guess the officials won this game for the Lakers?

If I was drafting a team, I wouldn't pick most of you in here because all you do is complain about the officiating. Do you guys want an audition to the X-Files? I know the casting director if you are interested.

The Blazers blew it. Simple and to the point. Rasheed Wallace had 8, count them, EIGHT, EIGHT, EIGHT, shots in the paint in the fourth quarter and made ONE. Is that how you win? Pippen didn't shoot but TWICE in the fourth quarter and Smith disappeared. Yes, Smith was fouled, but that wasn't goal tending either. You can't blame Wallace who is all of in his early 20's. You blame Pippen and you blame Smith who are the "leaders" on this team and until the last minute, didn't drive the ball to the basket. SHAQ HAD FOUR FOULS and they didn't capitalize.

I knew that as soon as I logged on, I was going to see this garbage. Rasheed Wallace made the same shots in the 3rd quarter that he missed in the 4th. They missed 14 shots in a row. How the hell is that NBC or the NBA? He makes half of those shots and they win the damn game.

And give credit to Kobe. He is well on his way to being the best player. He had 11 damn rebounds and I guess the officiating pushed him up to the sky to grab them, huh? And I guess Shaw had the officials push his ball in, right?

How many times did Kobe get a fouled called on him when it was clearly a foul on Steve Smith? Over and over again, Smith hooked Kobe's arm and Kobe got the foul, not Smith.

Oh, but you can say it was to even everything out and make it look legit? Oh, how can I miss that one. Shame on me.

And how about Shaq having 3 fouls before you can blink?

Oh, but you can say it was to even everything out and make it look legit? Oh, how can I miss that one. Shame on me.

How about Pippen being ILLEGAL everytime and getting no call? The guy was below the free-throw line and was guarding NOBODY but Shaq without the ball.

Oh, but you can say it was to even everything out and make it look legit? Oh, how can I miss that one. Shame on me.

Stop thinking that everything is fixed and give the teams credit. The game was well over by the time the uncalled foul was made. Where the hell was the Blazer ALL SERIES? They could of easily beaten the Lakers and blew leads everytime.

How can it be that officials brought the Lakers back????? Fifteen points, nonetheless???

I can stand here and argue all day. Its already a fact that most of the people that believe in the NBA/NBC conspiracy garbage will continue to believe it no matter what.

Sad. Thats the only thing I can think of to sum it all up. The Blazers choked and its really sad because now have to hear about Big Brother controlling the NBA outcomes.

I have a question. Did Big Brother lead Dream to make his moves around David Robinson in 1995? Did the NBA script the season so that Robinson(small market) wins the MVP and that Dream(medium market) comes back in a display of awesome skill to lead the Rockets to the finals and demolish another great team(small market)? Did it script it all so that Dream is regularly acknowledge as the greatest center of his generation? Did it script it all? Or does that only apply to LA, New York and Chicago? Don't you think that in 1997, the NBA would of scripted a Houston/Chicago final so that they can promote the hell out of 5 Hall of Fame players and call it the "Deciding Series" for team of the 90's?

Boy, I tell you...

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Live Rocketball. Breathe Rocketball. Die with Rocketball.




[This message has been edited by Almu (edited June 05, 2000).]

 

Yeah. And Maybe somebody was shaking the basket too.... Please.

And on the Steve Smith foul..I'd like to see that in slow motion. I don't think Shaq fouled him if you look at it again. Steve Smith is "slick" to quote one of the refs in that series. He does use his arms to gain ground. And if you watch it again...check out his arm. I'm pretty sure he initiated the contact and that's what threw him off balance. Check Shaq out, his arms don't appear to touch Steve Smith from what I saw, and it didn't appear that he caught him with the body either. The replay was too quick to get a good view, but that's what I saw. I've got no proof, but I'd like to see it again because I'm pretty sure there wasn't a foul when you look at it from under the basket and in slow motion. I liked the call.

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humble, but hungry.

 

If you're a Faker fan, of course you like the call. I have the game taped, and have seen that play all day long almost. Shaq not only fouled Smith, he hammered him. There isn't much questioning it. In fact, I thought it was close to flagrant. Undoubtedly, that call did end the game, and in typical Stern fashion, he gets what he wants in the biggest game of the year.

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[This message has been edited by The Cat (edited June 05, 2000).]

 

Steve Smith was fouled on the play. A bad call. (No way it was flagrant though. That is ridiculous. They already called one BS flagrant one on Shaq the previous game that they would not have called if simply a smaller player had done the same thing). Still, Kobe missed the 2 following free throws after that play and the Blazers were in exactly the same situation (down 4) with only like 5 more second gone. This time, Smith missed a wide open 16 footer and the game was over. No one to blame but himself.

Further, in the 4th quarter Steve Smith was dribbling next Kobe, falls down without being touched, and instead of a turnover they call a foul on Kobe. Terrible call as well. Further, with the game tied (I think) maybe 3:30 left Sheed pushes Horry in the back a little after Horry went by him on a pump fake, Pippen slides near the FT line, Horry crashes into Pippen. Refs call a charge even though it was after a push. Finally, maybe like 3:00 left, Shaq does a quick double from Sheeds blind side and blocks Sheed's shot when Sheed wasn't expecting help. Refs call, goaltending, though it could have gone either way.

You can string along countless close calls on both sides. But that doesn't explain Portland going for like 3-18 for a stretch when they had many clean looks. Lay the blame where it belongs--either the Portland players for missing the open shots, the coaches for not substituting fresher players, or the Lakers for playing great D if you wish--but NBC/ref conspiracy my a@@.

BTW-I am with you Almu and others about this.

[This message has been edited by sir scarvajal (edited June 05, 2000).]

 

So, Cat, answer Almu's question -- did Stern fix the Rockets' two championships?

Or does Stern only get blamed when the team you want doesn't win?

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Gosh Almu, don't you know that the Lakers basket was twice as wide the Blazers and at least a foot lower, so even the Laker's towel boys could dunk? And of course, we all know that there was an invisible lid on the Blazers' goal in the 4th



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I am sorry about me being so...savage.

But, it irks me when teams don't get credit they deserve. And we all complain about the Rockets not getting their due and we don't give other teams theirs.

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Live Rocketball. Breathe Rocketball. Die with Rocketball.

 

Um... I don't remember Dream knocking someone to the floor and getting away with it with the Rockets in a game 7, so no, Stern did not fix that.

As for everyone else, give the Fakers credit. I'm just saying there's no way in hell I will. This team was clearly about 1/2 the team Portland was. Portland just gave them the championship by bricking every shot for a quarter, and the officials helped out too. I don't remember that happening with the Rockets.

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What does bricking every shot in the fourth quarter have to do with the officials? Were they the ones guarding the Blazers or what? And two bad calls doesn't make a game. Geesh...can someone explain to me how missing 13 straight shots and Rasheed missing free-throws while Kobe makes his have anything to do with the officiating?

And how come if the Rockets beat the Suns in 1995 after being down 3-1, that doesn't make the Rockets the better team? I thought the purpose of playing a series is to determine the best team? Portland had the better players after Shaq and Kobe, but unlike those two, down the stretch, the Blazers were already thinking about Indiana.

It just perplexes me how if you win a series, you are still not the better team.If the logic is correct, I guess we do deserve an asterisk by our championships because not only were we not the best team, but we didn't have the best player either, right guys?

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Live Rocketball. Breathe Rocketball. Die with Rocketball.

 

We were clearly the best team. Like I said, were we ever down 15 entering the final quarter of a game 7 and then had the other team hand the game to us and the officials help too? I think not. Therefore, no asterisk.

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Cheaters never win. Unless you play for LA that is.

 

TheCat, we were in a very similar position in 95 versus Utah (see Go Indiana thread). Take your lumps and move on. You can hope Indiana derails the Lakers, they might just do it. If not, don't worry, the Lakers have shown their weaknesses (PF, PG, quite possibly SF too if Rice doesn't re-sign) for us or someone else to exploit in future years. You are right the Lakers suck after Shaq and Kobe. They have become, great, great players, but a better team of guys can beat them. Give those 2 their due, and focus on how we can beat the Lakers team. After all, any fan who is smart enough to know the Skins ultimately suck can swallow it if Shaq and Kobe get the title. It is not like Shaq has ever dissed Hakeem (actually said very nice things about him) or Kobe has blamed other Rockets for his failures.


[This message has been edited by sir scarvajal (edited June 05, 2000).]

 

I have said nothing about any conspiracy.
I have said nothing about the officials taking the game away from the Blazers.
I have said nothing about anything being "fixed" or "biased."
I HAVE said it was poor officiating. I stand by that.
I HAVE said that I don't like the Lakers. I stand by that.

The Blazers choked the game away, I agree. How can you not? Even if they could not hit a shot, they could have tightened the noose on their lead with some solid defense....they just fell apart.

Almu, relax. An opinion is an opinion. It is OK to debate, but let's do it without using words like "pathetic" etc. We are your Rocket brethren here....relax.

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HOOP-T

Hey Shaq, Acme called, and they want their bricks back!

 

I also agree the officials were horrible...Portland should have had an illegal D called on them every time down.

Face it superstars get calls that others don't. MJ got every call, Charles got calls, Dream got calls. Now Shaq is the "elite" player in the league and he gets calls.

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