Interesting. But are these guys qualified to judge whether or not there are missed calls? And though referee bias might not be as prevalent as some people think, you can't tell me that DWade didn't get a call everytime someone sneezed on him in the finals against Dallas. That was the most ridiculous officiating that I have ever seen (though it couldn't have happened to a better team)
There is absolutely no way bias doesn't go into refereeing. It's not just the NBA, but nearly anything that involves judges. The home crowd, star power, expectations of who should win, sympathy with the underdog, likability, race, etc....are probably a few of the things that impact refs. And the thing is, it's not conscious, and there's little that can be done about it. It's just part of sports. It just makes being the underdog all that more impressive.
I think how the league officials respond to the study is more telling than the result of the study itself.
I doubt their study involved second-guessing calls. They probably are just working with a statistical model No kidding. When that other study found a racial bias in refereeing, the league freaked out and went into heavy denial, even though the study was more telling about human nature than it was about the league.
I, for one dont believe in the big market conspiracies. If it were true, San Antonio would have no championships. I do believe in the homecourt biasis though.
Efforts to globalize the game would definitely include pushing a team with up and coming star players from Argentina, France, and to a lesser extent, The Virgin Islands. Not saying I believe that was the case, but it would absolutely make sense, despite San Antonio's small market.
Yeah, globalization would really benefit by picking up that Virgin Islands market. If the US Virgin Islands were a city in the United States, it would be #231 in population, right between Roseville, CA and Miramar, FL.
They also havent had a marketable player. if Kobe or Lebron were there. I guarantee that they would have some help from the officials. That said. I think they officiate players rather than teams based on their respective cities. Joey Crawford runs into Damon Jones and calls a foul on Chauncy Billups?? <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/wugrOmbsV3U&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/wugrOmbsV3U&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> wtf. not that its a basis for a conspiracy but i think they tend to call towards star players or star players' teams.
Consistency is i think the biggest problem they. Starting with the BS rules they have and the pressure to make the superstars big is anther. Do they do that by design..well we will leave that to real investigators.!
I think there's a bias towards individual players than teams. I also think people complain most about crappy calls across the board than team-favored calls.
What about the superstar treatment Kobe and Lebron get every time they drive to the basket and bump their shoulder into the defender? How about Phil Jackson calling out the refs or Mark Cuban b****ing on and on to get the refs to call the game his way? The real problem with the officiating these days is INCONSISTENCY. Sure you want to call a foul a certain way then fine do so every time and on both sides of the court. But we a have league that has different rules for different games.
This is a study I'd like to see done. Compare games immediately following a fine-penalized rant about bad officiating to other games and see if there is any statistically-significant benefit for the complaining team.
