The announcers are to blame not the refs?

[mshnake]

This might be at the end of some 40 page thread but I think it's funny that Stern starts to blame everyone but the obvious..

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=A ... &type=lgns

[jerrod]

i read that earlier

i do think it's an interesting point

[TheGhostDog]

Over 200 years ago Samuel Johnson wrote the famous line "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel", but if he were around today I think he'd add something about "blaming the media" too.

If the NBA is using refs to prolong playoff series, is there a statistical smoking gun? This interesting article thinks there may be. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid= ... refer=home

Quote: "Since the 2002 regular season, home teams won a little more than 60 percent of the time. In the playoffs, when a series might be extended by referees favoring the home team, the winning percentage skyrockets.

"If the true odds of the home team winning were six in 10, as in the regular season, then the odds of observing 34 home victories in 42 games [81%] simply by chance are close to zero."

[ACGB]

Not to mention that when you get to the playoffs, you are playing strictly the best teams from your conference. To me it's common sense that the winning percentage would go down, not up.

[paulpressey25]

I'm glad someone posted that Bloomberg link. It isn't a huge slam dunk of statistics he cites but it furthers the cause.

The one point the author made that I did find compelling was that he pointed out that of the major sports, arguably basketball should be the least susceptible to variations in performance simply because the "court" is uniform everywhere.

The difference being in the NFL, different stadiums have different playing surfaces, different wind conditions, temperatures, etc. In MLB the parks all have unique dimensions. In the NBA, the home court advantage shouldn't be as great as it is since the courts are all the same.

[THE DINJ]

It doesn't take Ted Davis to tell me that if you touch Desmond Mason on a layup it probably won't be called a foul, but if you touch LeBron it will. Most of the games I see are without the commentary of Davis, Paschke, and McGlocklin, and I still know when the Bucks are getting ripped off.

[Jez2983]

I do agree somewhat with what Stern was saying. I think in professional sports, announcers/commentators often take the officials to task when generally they do a decent job. I pose this question, who would want to be an referee/official when no matter how good a job you do, thousands of people will be pi***d off at you and abuse you?

There's many stories of refs being attacked/insulted at sports venues or even on nights out with their families. How does announcers/commentators abusing refs encourage kids to take up umpiring/officiating? In Australia, I think we'll have a lot of problems in the future getting umpires for many sports as they get abused so much. I believe announcers have a duty of care to promote the game on all levels, even officiating, and this should be represented with at least some complimentary commentary on the conduct of officials.

That said, specifically in the NBA, there does appear to be an issue which Stern should not be trying to sweep under the carpet, or pretend its an isolated incident.

[old skool]

Most fans think that their team is treated unfairly by officials. That is, of course, impossible.

Those who complain about the refs have a losers mentality. They give way too much credit to those calling the game. Winners go out and get the job done regardless of the inevitable referee errors that occur in every game.

If it's not the fault of the refs, it must be the fault of the.... owner.

If it's not the fault of the owner it must be the fault of the .... coach.

Players are the last to get blamed. But they are the only one who can control their own destiny on the field of play.

The media just reflects the general public's attitude toward owners, refs and players.

oLd sKool