Sorry to create a new Donaghy thread when there is already a good one: http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=149615. But, I wanted a poll to see who believes Donaghy's assertion that games were fixed (like the 2002 Lakers-Kings Game 6). So, vote here, discuss there, and give this thread an occassional bump.
The truth will come out. He won't get a lesser sentence if he can't give some kind of proof for his claims.
i believe some of it is true. the jvg one has to be true. a referee told jvg, and if the league was so justice... they would have said, "what mr. van gundy said, was not true." instead of fining him 100,000. you know something is up.
If I was caught , I'd snitch with the quickness. If I am going down I am taking everybody else with me.
i only really believe it because of the millions of dollars that were at play for the league if series were extended etc. and dont forget phoenix was waiting in the second round in 2005 for the winner of ours series with the mavericks. Nash's first year in phoenix after leaving dallas. The dirk/cuban vs nash story was much better to market than a rockets/suns matchup.
I dont think there is any question that the league has had its fingerprint on the outcome of games. The question is, will this deter you from watching the NBA? I think I, along with many of the poster on this board will continue to be pawns in this huge money making business. However, i bet most casual fans will tell the NBA to **** off!!
I do Watching those refs sometimes is just pathetic. Their decisions are sometimes ridiculous. It os sad but the refs become to have much more impact on the game.
Everyone knew something was up during that lakers and kings series they basically gave the game to the lakers especially the one play when kobe elbowed bibby and bibby got called for the foul. It seems like the league is getting more and more controlled by the refs and even these finals I predict will go to 7 games because its what the league wants and the refs have to follow what they say.
Not enough information. I do believe the one concerning JVG since that was already confirmed back in 2005.
Well, not now. The league and the refs will need to make these Finals look as fair as possible to not lend any credence to the accusations.
I believe the allegations. I also believe the NBA has needed to fire Stern and all the refs for a while now. This hopefully is the last straw.
We all knew it, he just backed up our claim, WHOEVER was watching the dallas series knew Yao was being discriminated against
There are two images that are just burned into my mind from that series. The first was a fan in game 7 holding up a sign that said "How can a nose foul an elbow?" The other was Scot Pollard's face in game 6, after he was whistled for his final "foul" on Shaq. He was standing a good foot or two away from Shaq, arms straight up, not moving. When the whistle blew, he basically froze and looked at his position, at Shaq, and at the refs... just in total, utter disbelief. I'll never forget that look. 2005 was pretty bad, but game 6 of Kings-Lakers was ten times worse. No two ways about it.
i don't know about the refs. most of them been in the league for a long time, they are just following orders from their boss. Stern and all his stupid rules needs to be gone. Rules that were stupid to begin with... 1. dress code 2. no leg sleeves or arm sleeves unless some kind of medical deal 3. hand checking
I'm sure there are plenty of decent refs working games. But I'd like to see them clean house. You mentioned that most have been in the league for a long time. That's part of the problem right there. Some of them have horrible reps, yet they seem to stick around year after year.
I already posted this in the other thread, but I think it warrants mentioning again: Remember when it looked like Crawford was probably gonna be gone for good not so long ago, eh? Well, he took a TOTALLY UNSOLICITED SHOT SPECIFICALLY AT BAVETTA WHICH I REFERENCED IN THIS POST: Crawford also blasted fellow referee Dick Bavetta in the e-mail obtained by ESPN.com, hinting at divisions among referees between those who do and don't support Bavetta and writing that maybe Bavetta will wind up as the crew chief in Game 7 of the NBA (Finals) "which is a travesty in itself you even being in the finals." Source: ESPN Daily Dime The fact that this comment about Bavetta was completely unsolicited is very telling, IMO. This alone strongly indicates to me that there are refs who care about the integrity of the game, and there are refs who pretty much do what the higher-ups tell them to do. Seems to me the words "do and don't support Bavetta" is a subtle way of saying "do and don't support influencing games."
