Referee's Lockers that is......... This clipping has been on my desk for a week or so. When I first read it I was frankly dumb-struck. Here I thought I was the only guy who felt the refereeing was far below high school standards. I know it is easy to rag there sorry arses, but this season they have been collectively the worst bunch of stripers in memory. And my memory goes back a long way! Here it is (sorry I lost the link): Rating the NBA referees-(Scripps) Late in his team's home loss to the New Jersey Nets on Wednesday night, Denver Nuggets coach Dan Issel glared at referee Gary Benson and said, "We were pitiful, but you guys weren't much better." He was right, too. At one point, a hand-check 25 feet from the basket was a foul. At another, a player riding his man like a mule all the way to the basket was no call. If Jim McIlvaine or Antonio McDyess blinked, a whistle blew. But Tariq Abdul-Wahad took it to the hole ricocheting off defenders like a pinball -- and was rewarded with the sounds of silence. He stood in the lane and laughed. Sometimes, it's all you can do. As we present our annual lists of the best and worst referees in the NBA, we offer this caveat: The league's new rules -- or its new emphasis on enforcement of old rules, if you're a true rules geek -- have made referees' jobs even more difficult than they were already, which was plenty. The veteran referee Hugh Evans has observed that referees could call a foul on every play. It's true. In theory, most contact in the NBA, aside from legal screens, is a foul on somebody because it's supposed to be a non-contact sport. But there's contact on every play. Which means every play tests the discretion of the referees on the floor. There used to be only two of them, and it was easier for them to settle on a tone for each game that players could understand. Getting three people on the same page is at least 50 percent harder than getting two, and since the third ref was added in 1988 that's been the main complaint of players -- that it's virtually impossible, even in the fourth quarter, to know what will be called and what won't. This season, it's even worse because the new emphasis on facilitating movement has made every ticky-tack call legitimate, widening the already highway-sized range of referee discretion. What the new rules have rewarded most is the flop. Guy goes down, bad ref blows whistle. You look at the replay and you figure it must have been a gust of wind. But the ref was behind the play or 40 feet away and he's trotting back the other way. It's not an easy job. The good ones are really good. But the bad ones are really bad. Benson, for instance. Tries hard, nice guy from all appearances, none of the ego problems that burden other bad refs. But the more certain this guy is that he's right, the more likely the replay will show you he's wrong. One trend we're spotting this year is some of the older guys are heading down the other side pretty fast. Jack Nies. Bruce Alexander. Tommy Nunez. Dick Bavetta. They just don't keep up anymore. Bavetta tries to cover his gaffes with personality, and he definitely has sold the league office, which consistently rates him at or near the top. But as a venerable former coach said, if Bavetta is one of the league's best, the league's in trouble. We notice Steve Javie has dropped his veneer of maturity this year and is back to his old self, ejecting fans, daring coaches to fight, grown-up stuff like that. On the other hand, we're guessing Derrick Stafford got therapy or something because he seems to have discovered a sense of humor. Ted Bernhardt makes our best list this year just for having the guts to toss Gary Payton. We're not particularly squeamish, but Payton crosses the line of civility and profanity routinely, and gets a franchise player exception from the refs. No fair. If it gets Dennis Rodman tossed, it should get Payton tossed. We've added a couple of other pups to the top 10, too. Keeping up with the game is an advantage. As always, there are very good ones and very bad ones. Issel shouldn't have been surprised. When you show up for a Nuggets-Nets game in March,you have a pretty good idea which you'll get. <center> </center> RATING THE REFS THE BEST 1. Joey Crawford -- Somewhere, Earl Strom is smiling. 2. Ronnie Nunn -- So cool he might be an alien. 3. Danny Crawford -- Just don't call him Joey. 4. Hugh Evans -- Slowing down, but an all-timer. 5. Mike Mathis -- Somebody give him a comb. 6. Jess Kersey -- He might loan Mathis one of his. 7. Bernie Fryer -- Former players tend to get it. 8. Leon Wood -- Former players tend to get it. 9. Derek Richardson -- Just prickly enough. 10. Ted Bernhardt -- Guts matter. THE WORST 1. Gary Benson -- You'd get as many right as he does. 2. Monty McCutchen -- Nice hair, though. 3. Bennie Adams -- Uncle Fester might be better. 4. Ron Olesiak -- Still hopeless after all these years. 5. Rodney Mott -- Has a future with Lenscrafters. 6. Tommy Nunez -- Nice guy, but he's done. 7. Nolan Fine -- The job is official, not officious. 8. Hank Armstrong -- What matters? What doesn't? Huh? 9. Scott Wall -- On personality transplant waitlist. 10. Bruce Alexander -- Vitalis waiting in the wings.
Popeye, great post. I'm not surprised to see Hank Armstrong on the list of worst refs. He's got a history that dates back to his days as a college ref. I first heard of him in John Feinstein's excellent "A Season Inside", which detailed the 1987-88 season. Armstrong was officiating the Colonial Athletic Association's tournament championship game, which matched Richmond and George Mason (then coached by Rick Barnes). In the first half of a tight game, a Richmond player made a steal in the backcourt. The play was clean but a definite bang-bang job, and GM assistant Mike Yohe jumped to his feet when he saw it. He didn't say anything. He didn't gesture. He jumped up in excitement, anticipating a foul. Armstrong, running by, stopped and issued a technical foul on Yohe-- for, in essence, standing up. It gets worse. As the Richmond shooter stepped to the line, Armstrong spied Dave Ravizzo (a GM student and assistant trainer) putting his hand on his neck. Armstrong, taking this to represent the "choke" sign, and believing it to be directed at him, blew his whistle to call another technical foul. He blew the whistle as the Richmond player was in the process of shooting, so, predictably, the shot missed. Of course Armstrong didn't allow the player to re-shoot the free throw. So, let's put this in perspective. Armstrong called two technical fouls on George Mason's bench in a league championship game for behavior that wouldn't get you thrown out of church, let alone a basketball arena. Richmond converted three of them. Final score: Richmond 73, George Mason 70. Yeah, that's the kind of guy you want officiating an NBA game. ------------------ Keep the Faith... Keep the Rockets.
It always appears that some of these guys on the"worst" list have some secondary agenda. Like they are the game. Henry is probably the best example of this phenomenae. He just has lost all feel for the game. All focus. It is not a book of rules or even an aneseptic contest devoid of emotion. It's a bloody game, with ebb and flow. Excitability and controlled hysteria at times. Anyway I know I am preaching to the choir here.
It's not really the refs' fault. All there crappy new rules have just screwed everything up. I say that they shouldn't call the wussy fouls, but when people are actually gettin hit and all, then call them. There's no excuse for not calling a real foul, but I think all the refs are just plain confused. I think we should clean out the lockers of those crappy people in the league offices who came up with all these crappy rules. Basketball is a contact sport. And if they try to "clean" it up so much, then people are gonna lose interest because of all the free throw shooting and all. Sometimes, I think that playing in the NBA is really not that tough; all you gotta do is drive in and run into somebody and you get 2 free throws all the time. I hope all those bums at the NBA league offices realize they're ruining this sport.
