OT: Shocking: Sam Smith makes a good point (refs and LeBron)

[Hoopstarr]

Just heard about this on PTI. Sam Smith wrote an article about LeBron getting some serious special treatment from the refs on foul calls. He, of course, wrote "Jordan Rules" so he knows a thing or two about this stuff.

James is averaging 1.72 fouls per game in an average of 37.9 minutes per game. James hasn't even been in foul trouble one game this season. He never has had more than four fouls called on him in a game, and since March 1 is being called for fewer than 1.3 fouls per game.

In 12 of the 20 games since then, James has been called for one or zero fouls in a game. James had a stretch of five straight games to conclude March averaging 36.8 minutes per game without being called for one foul. Not one in five games! In the last nine games, James has been called for three personal fouls. It's really amazing given the involvement James has in the action of the game.

http://www.nba.com/bulls/news/smith2_090406.html

[snomeister]

You'd think the refs would at least TRY to make it look like they're calling a fair game. I wish the NBA would really do something about it.

[RocLaFamilia]

WOW, that can't be right..... 5 games with no fouls? With the amount of minutes he plays. I love LBJ, but damn that's just overboard.

[theSkinny]

Someday I wish they would make the refs available to the media post game to explain themselves.

The refs have no accountabilty and ref with their ego's not with their eyes.

[LLJ]

LBJ definitely fouls more than that. In fact, those "steals" he gets often involve him reaching into someone's arms, knocking the ARMS away, and then grabbing the ball from them. Seriously, it's ridiculous. It's one thing to snatch a ball from a player's hands while he's distracted, but it's quite another to just basically put your shoulder into the guy, push his arms away and yank the ball away while he's reeling from the hit.

Sometimes it looks like NBA Jam rules out there when Lebron goes for the "strip".

[LittleOzzy]

The NBA is the worst officiated major league sport in the world in my opinion.

In the next three or four seasons the NBA will be unwatchable if they don't correct the problems. I'm a huge basketball fan but lately I have found the product very hard to watch with such horrible refs.

It takes away so much from the game.

[StopitLeo]

What about some of his blocks?

That one on J-Rich when he was trying to do a 360 on the break was ridiculous. Lebron just smacked him right in the arm.

[LLJ]

The NBA is the worst officiated major league sport in the world in my opinion.

In the next three or four seasons the NBA will be unwatchable if they don't correct the problems. I'm a huge basketball fan but lately I have found the product very hard to watch with such horrible refs.

It takes away so much from the game.

The problem is Stern protects the refs a lot. I would like to see basically a wholesale replacement process. Some of the guys who've been here too long start developing contacts with players and various shady people on the side.

[s e n s i]

Any money that some coach or player is going to rip into officials about this during the playoffs. Calls do not go both ways when Lebron is on the floor. What I don't understand is, why do officials swallow their whistles when Lebron makes contact? Are they scared Lebron is gonna snuff them in front of everyone. I mean, why the reluctancy?

[YogiStewart]

i have no idea how Stern isn't making reffing a priority re: cleaning up the NBA product. or perhaps he thinks fans enjoy WWA-esque reffing?

its awful to watch the refs give star players star calls. in fact, i challenge you to find another professional sport where star players get preferential treatment. football? no. hockey? not really. baseball? nope.

the NBA should threaten to fire the bottom 10% of refs just like MBL did a few years back.

and Stern, if you know how to use the internet, i really hope you are reading these posts.

[Hoopstarr]

The NBA is the worst officiated major league sport in the world in my opinion.

In the next three or four seasons the NBA will be unwatchable if they don't correct the problems. I'm a huge basketball fan but lately I have found the product very hard to watch with such horrible refs.

It takes away so much from the game.

That's a little harsh. You have to recognize how hard basketball is to officiate. Stern is always saying how NBA refs have the toughest job of any sport and I agree with him.

BUT, and that's a J-Lo sized but, if there's a directive from the top that the stars should be protected, that is a huge problem.

[RiceItUp]

HES NOT HUMAN... AND HES THE BEST DEFENSIVE GURU WE HAVE EVER SEEN IN THE HISTORY OF NBA. AND OF COURSE WHEN HE FLIES UP IN THE AIR EVERYONE IS ASTOUNDED BY HIS GREATNESS... SO MUCH SO THAT OFFENSIVE CHARGING BECOMES A DEFENSIVE FOUL IN THE PRESENCE OF THE ALMIGHTY

[ZeriousLy]

lol the NBA trying to make Lebron James win both MVP and DPOY.

[LittleOzzy]

The NBA is the worst officiated major league sport in the world in my opinion.

In the next three or four seasons the NBA will be unwatchable if they don't correct the problems. I'm a huge basketball fan but lately I have found the product very hard to watch with such horrible refs.

It takes away so much from the game.

That's a little harsh. You have to recognize how hard basketball is to officiate. Stern is always saying how NBA refs have the toughest job of any sport and I agree with him.

BUT, and that's a J-Lo sized but, if there's a directive from the top that the stars should be protected, that is a huge problem.

It's not harsh, I have watched the NBA for many years and in the last 3 years or so the officiating has become so bad it's a joke. The NBA needs to change it's system somehow on how Ref's are judged because some of these guys should not have jobs.

[alpha]

Dead on. Lebron ass kissing is the worst but it happens to every so called star Wade, Kobe, Shaq, Dwight, and the Bargnanis of the world keep getting phantom calls. It is enough to make you wanna kill a ref or at least shove the whistle down his gambling addicted throat

[YogiStewart]

The NBA is the worst officiated major league sport in the world in my opinion.

In the next three or four seasons the NBA will be unwatchable if they don't correct the problems. I'm a huge basketball fan but lately I have found the product very hard to watch with such horrible refs.

It takes away so much from the game.

That's a little harsh. You have to recognize how hard basketball is to officiate. Stern is always saying how NBA refs have the toughest job of any sport and I agree with him.

BUT, and that's a J-Lo sized but, if there's a directive from the top that the stars should be protected, that is a huge problem.

one can argue that other sports are equally as difficult.
baseball - the strike zone, bang-bang plays at first.
football - so many players on the field, so much motion, so much speed, spotting the ball after a tackle
hockey - also a very fast game - and hockey arguably cleaned its games up over the past few years.

perhaps basketball needs a 4th ref (like hockey)? or officials need to be under more scrutiny. this year had the most laughable gaffes - the crab dribble and Portland's 6 men, to name a few. this is minor league stuff that is happened when players (and fans) are involved with major-league dollars.

[A_wildstabatanything]

It's not harsh, I have watched the NBA for many years and in the last 3 years or so the officiating has become so bad it's a joke. The NBA needs to change it's system somehow on how Ref's are judged because some of these guys should not have jobs.

If things didn't change after the Donaghy scandal... they never will.

[j3yuen]

Just heard about this on PTI. Sam Smith wrote an article about LeBron getting some serious special treatment from the refs on foul calls. He, of course, wrote "Jordan Rules" so he knows a thing or two about this stuff.

James is averaging 1.72 fouls per game in an average of 37.9 minutes per game. James hasn't even been in foul trouble one game this season. He never has had more than four fouls called on him in a game, and since March 1 is being called for fewer than 1.3 fouls per game.

In 12 of the 20 games since then, James has been called for one or zero fouls in a game. James had a stretch of five straight games to conclude March averaging 36.8 minutes per game without being called for one foul. Not one in five games! In the last nine games, James has been called for three personal fouls. It's really amazing given the involvement James has in the action of the game.

http://www.nba.com/bulls/news/smith2_090406.html

i thought the jordan rules, a strategy utilized by the bad boy pistons, was to beat the crap out of jordan everytime he drove to the lane or touched the ball?

[Hoopstarr]

The NBA is the worst officiated major league sport in the world in my opinion.

In the next three or four seasons the NBA will be unwatchable if they don't correct the problems. I'm a huge basketball fan but lately I have found the product very hard to watch with such horrible refs.

It takes away so much from the game.

That's a little harsh. You have to recognize how hard basketball is to officiate. Stern is always saying how NBA refs have the toughest job of any sport and I agree with him.

BUT, and that's a J-Lo sized but, if there's a directive from the top that the stars should be protected, that is a huge problem.

It's not harsh, I have watched the NBA for many years and in the last 3 years or so the officiating has become so bad it's a joke. The NBA needs to change it's system somehow on how Ref's are judged because some of these guys should not have jobs.

You're putting too much weight on the bad officiating in your memory. The vast majority of games are well-officiated. The problem is special treatment, not overall officiating.

[Hoopstarr]

i thought the jordan rules, a strategy utilized by the bad boy pistons, was to beat the crap out of jordan everytime he drove to the lane or touched the ball?

Yea the Pistons used it because they simply could, even with MJ, because hand-checking and physical was allowed allowed at that time. And it even worked for a while until the Bulls finally broke through in 91. I don't think it can work now with LeBron because of quicker whistles. A team like Atlanta might be able to contain him, or not.