NBA Roundup Can We Trust The NBA Anymore?
Did game two of the finals seem familiar to anyone? Following a 38-10 discrepancy in free throws in Boston's favor in Game 2, disgraced former NBA ref Larry Donaghy's legal team seized the moment to publicly outline new allegations of altered games, including a pair of specific examples: a 2005 playoff series between the Houston Rockets and the Dallas Mavericks, and the infamous Game 6 of the Western Conference finals in 2002. The Lakers trailed 3-2 in the 2002 series, and were granted 27 free throws in the fourth quarter and won the game, causing a wave of raised eyebrows. Sometimes when it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, it just might be a duck. The league needs someone to stand up and convince the public that all of Donaghy's words are just the words of a bitter felon and have no truth to them. Unfortunately just saying so doesn't ring true in the court of public opinion sports talk radio is ablaze with conspiracy theorists in the wake of Boston's free-throw advantage in Game 2 and Stern has vehemently denied any league shenanigans, but the public isn't buying it so far. We can all be fairly sure Larry Donaghy isn't about to do so. He has taken a shot at the league's very foundation, and he appears to be hinting at having even more shrapnel to hurl. Following are Donaghy's exact quote from the letter alleging manipulation in the 2002 series. "Referees A, F and G were officiating a playoff series between Teams 5 and 6 in May of 2002. It was the sixth game of a seven-game series, and a Team 5 victory that night would have ended the series. However, Tim learned from Referee A that Referees A and F wanted to extend the series to seven games. Tim knew referees A and F to be 'company men,' always acting in the interest of the NBA, and that night, it was in the NBA's interest to add another game to the series. Referees A and F heavily favored Team 6. Personal fouls [resulting in obviously injured players] were ignored even when they occurred in full view of the referees. Conversely, the referees called made-up fouls on Team 5 in order to give additional free throw opportunities for Team 6. Their foul-calling also led to the ejection of two Team 5 players. The referees' favoring of Team 6 led to that team's victory that night, and Team 6 came back from behind to win that series." Now that doesn't specifically call that game into question, but how hard is it to figure out. The Lakers-Kings series was the only one that postseason that went seven games, and the officiating in Game 6 was so questionable that consumer advocate and former presidential candidate Ralph Nader called for a formal investigation, so Donaghy is not exactly the first to bring this up. Suddenly Suns fans upset over last years series with the Spurs seem to have a much more legitimate case, and they are not the only ones, so how does a league react to these allegations? One thing for sure, they had better all get on the same page quickly, as even such luminaries as Lakers coach Phil Jackson seem to be questioning the honestly of the league in their responses to questions regarding this. Tuesday, coach Jackson was asked about the allegations regarding Game 6 of the 2002 series against Sacramento and had the following to say. "There's a lot of things going on in these games and they're suspicious, but I don't want to throw it back to there." Jackson also was asked if he agreed with the notion that there were officials that were "NBA company men" who were doing this for the sake of ratings. "Only us basketball coaches think that," Jackson said. "Nobody else can go to that extreme. They referee what they see in front of them. You know, a lot of things have happened in the course of the Tim Donaghy disposition. I think we have to weigh it as it comes out, and we all think that probably referees should be under a separate entity than the NBA entirely. I mean, that's what we'd like to see probably in the NBA. It would just be separate and apart from it. But I don't think that's going to happen." Jackson was also the first to fan the kill-the-refs flames after Game 2 on Sunday, pointing out that Leon Powe had shot more free throws in 15 minutes than his entire team in the entire game. When your superstar coaches are openly questioning your credibility, much less fans, you are in real trouble. Until the NBA can convince its fans that a bad call is just a bad call and not part of a larger scheme to create as many revenue-generating Game 7s as possible, the perception that something's amiss will never go away. At this pace the NBA is quickly headed into NHL style oblivion. Quick Hits:
Detroit Pistons
Sacramento Kings
Washington Wizards Selected Archives
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