Did officiating become more favorable for you when AI left?

[WadeKnicks2010]

Just wondering in light of Donaghy's comments.. He said something along the lines of officials working as a collective unit and having each others backs.. thus they all kind of made an agreement to screw over AI as much as possible. Did you guys notice any change in the way games are called before/after AI? I thought the Spurs got away with a lot in that 07 series. but w/e. At least they didn't suspend people like they did against the Suns.

[Nutty Nats Fan]

AI lost the Spur series. He tried to win it himself and couldn't score, while Melo and Nene were playing great but couldn't get the ball from him.

The refs for whatever reason don't exactly like Melo either.

Haven't really noticed a change though, but speaking of refs not liking AI, there was one game where he got his 3rd foul of the 1st half, so he turned and ran to the bench because he was coming out and the ref T'ed him up for that.

That was crazy.

[GuyJones]

Despite what the stats show, since Denver is near the top of the league in fta, melo gets beat up a lot more than other respective superstars and is less likely to hear a whistle.

It probably has to do with the whole persona of our team being the "Denver Thuggets."

It has been better w/o AI though, mostly because our team has become much more team oriented and aggressive at attacking the rim.

[The Rebel]

I actually remember when AI had pissed off the refs, it was horrific the way those games were called. Although prior and even after that time period the Nuggets have not really gotten a lot of calls. as others have said Melo gets beat up more then any star I have ever seen, and it is just as bad with Nene, Kmart, and JR. Although Chauncey does get decent treatment.

[el loco]

I don't know if the nuggets started getting more favorable calls when he left or not, but the ball movement on offense became more favorable, which probably has something to do with getting more calls.

[SnakefromHell]

I don't really remember AI being screwed by refs but if those were true I'm more glad than ever he's gone from this team.

[MHZ]

PHILADELPHIA — In a hoops happenstance, the Nuggets are in Philadelphia — Tim Donaghy's hometown — playing tonight against Allen Iverson — in his first game back with the 76ers — one night after Donaghy admitted he once bet on a Nuggets game, because the former NBA ref felt that fellow referees would unfairly officiate against Iverson, who at the time played for Denver.

The disgraced Donaghy, who spent time in prison for gambling on NBA games, said on Sunday's "60 Minutes" that he bet on the Jan. 7, 2007 Nuggets-Jazz game - and won. On Jan. 6 that season, Denver's Iverson was fined $25,000 for harsh comments about another league official, Steve Javie.

"I knew that the other two referees and I sought out to do a little justice of our own," said Donaghy, who explained that he and officials Bernie Fryer and Gary Zielinski were going to teach Iverson a lesson. " In the pregame meetings we came to the conclusion that we were not gonna give Allen Iverson any marginal plays for the basket."

http://www.denverpost.com/rockiesmailbag/ci_13944964

Pretty interesting. Javie is really the only guy that seemed to have it in for AI IMO.

[pickaxe]

What's amazing is Javie is still working for and endorsed by the league. How lame.