not sure if i should believe every bit of what he said. but it's hard not to believe in general. a crook seeking lessened sentencing and is likely under oath - what possible incentive could he have to tell a lie? he knows it will backfire if the feds figure out they are lies.
Sometimes I think that the referees are really dumb to do stupid calls, or the game its fixed? the NBA needs instant replay on some plays, maybe like in the NFL, that the coach have challenges, I dont know, Im pissed that the refs have a lot of weight on the games. With instant replay, if the refs stay with the same call, and its very clear, that you have to changed, then you maybe think that the game its fixed and need to investigate the refs, so this maybe would end with corruption, I dont know.
I don't doubt at least there are a FEW other refs. This isn't the one bad apple spoils the game for everyone deal, but to me , if there's one bad apple... you bet there's at least ONE more out there too. The thing that irks me about all of this is Stern's smug, assine attitude whenever any reporter interviews him about it. Even when this all first broke, he dismissed it with a "wave of a hand" and that was it. There couldn't POSSIBLY be ANY other referees involved. Bull****.
i voted 'not sure'....because on one hand, yeah, that game 6 was so poorly officiated that if you told me it was fixed itd be believable, because that was one of the worst officiated games ever. HOWEVER. this opens the possibility that donaghy is lying about this. in the last six years, which game has been the most controversially called? which game, if you pulled something out of your butt and said 'they fixed it' is most relevant? everybody remembers game 6 of that lakers-kings series. if i was trying to cover my own hide, id point out that game too. i kind of doubt, if donaghy wasnt actually working that game, that the league had sent out a memo to all referees saying 'hey everybody we're fixing game 6. just passing it along. and free donuts in the office kitchen.' i really think if they set out to fix a conference final playoff game they would probably keep it pretty well under wraps, no? that said, i dont know what to believe.
I really never thought it was true until this happened. This board would obviously be biased considering the game he's cited. But the Finley thing? Yao's fouls? The non-calls on Dirk? It just seems like I could never put a finger on why we lost that series and this answers all the questions perfectly. It makes so much sense!
I believe him to a certain extent, although I'm sure he's probably embellishing a lot of it as well. I haven't watched too many NBA games... especially now, being in Asia makes it hard to do so. But I do admit not watching it as much because it increases my blood pressure watching these refs. So I just wait for the recap for most of the games unless it's a really important game, or a playoff game.
im leaning toward NOT believing donagy.... the reason is, i think it is easy for him to come out and make these allegations and have people easily believe them because all these incidents are already thought by the public to be suspect. the lakers-kings series was where much of the conspiracy talk started, so of course name that, and JVG went public with what an official told him, so of course its easy to make these claims and deflect the blame of what he has done to disgrace the game onto the NBA. he knows people will buy it even if they don't have any evidence to support it. in fact i think even if there is a huge investigation and says these things are not true, people will still believe it, and blame the refs any time their team loses. as a rocket fan it would hurt if it were true, but at the same time i can't help believing we had our chances to win that series. we had an excellent chance to win games 3 and 4 and blew it with a couple stupid plays, and a couple unlucky bounces (great defense then a broken play turned into a jason terry 3 pointer).
I chose "not sure" The defense could have done their research finding the most recent, visible instances of possible corruption and fixes, then created stories behind them saying they were league ordered. To make it look like he was part of a large body of people influenced by the league, instead of being his own isolated case all to himself of intentional crookedness. Then there is the actual events of the HORRIBLY officiated Kings-Lakers game 6, the $100,000 fine on Van Gundy for his comments, and David Stern basically throwing out the rules and changing them on the spot when his refs got caught gambling in Vegas casinos. Its interesting nonetheless
There's got to be some bases to what he's saying. He's not stupid enough to lie to the FEDs once AGAIN.
