That to me is the biggest indictment of the corruption and incompetence in NBA officiating. Fans should not know half a dozen or more NBA refs by name and be aware of their reputations and biases. A bad call like the one made by Hue Hollins on Quitten in Game 5 of the 1994 Bulls/Knicks series is one thing. Of course Chicago fans still hate the dude to this day(even though he's been dead for a few years). But we're at the point now where even casual Rockets fans know about Scott Foster and Tony Brothers. Spurs fans knew about Joey Crawford. Dick Bavetta was nicknamed Knick Bavetta. There are stats kept for refs and how well home and road teams do in their games. Name me a single other sport where officiating seems almost as important a factor in the game's outcome as the performance of the players or the gameplan of the coaching staff. This is WWE territory we're in. When I used to watch pro wrestling, I knew who Earl Hebner and Charles Robinson were. But that's because those were referees on a scripted show. They were part of the storyline. The NBA shouldn't be like this. If you asked me right now, I couldn't name a single MLB umpire or NFL official. And for chrissakes, the latter even gets to stop the game and address the fans watching in the stadium and at home after he makes a call.
The worst part of watching the NBA and the NFL is that a foul or penalty can be called on any play. Therefore, the only winner is the team the refs let get by with no calls. If our team wins it's because we think they are great and if they lose its because the officials favored the other team. It's never going to change.
I hope TF calls up that Voldermort looking MF'er and tells him "I spent 2 facking billion dollars MF'er, and this is how you repay me?!? With incompetent and known conspirators to corrupt referees?!?!"
It doesnt have to be one or the other. Considering the game was close, it is absolutely a combination of both.
No, **** you Adam Silver. Enough is enough. I say there is something crooked going on, but for the sake of argument, let's say there's no actual manipulation taking place... There's enough deep data on refs and their tendencies, especially in playoff games. Why doesn't the league and its NBA Referee Operations department use that data to make sure that refs who show demonstrably provable bias toward certain teams aren't assigned to those teams in the most important game of the year?!? It's absolutely mind-boggling that they don't do that. Hell, for that matter, biases refs should be sent packing. It would only take a bit of detailed data-mining to determine which refs affect outcomes to degrees that's are definite outliers among officials. Fire those a$$holes. Scott Foster and Tony Brothers would be the first ones collecting unemployment.
In other sports you get officials with certain overall tendencies: An ump with a wide strike zone or a linesman who often ignores holding calls. What you DON'T get are officials biased against or in favor of particular teams. That's an NBA specialty.
I already knew the warriors were good, but da nba Ref foster didn't even give us a fighting chance at our home court. What's the point of home court advantage if he gonna blantly fk us over.
