Mark Cuban Criticizes Officiating Following Loss To Hawks

[RealGM Wiretap]

Mark Cuban went on Twitter to criticize the level of NBA officiating following the Dallas Mavericks' 111-107 loss to the Atlanta Hawks.

Cuban was upset by a play late in the game in which John Collins putback Dorian Finney-Smith's block shot. The initial goal-tending call on Finney-Smith was overturned after a review, though the refs counted Collins' shot due to an "inadvertent" whistle.

"So they call a goaltend. They literally blew the whistle that it was a goaltend. There was a putback after the whistle. After review they said no goaltend but count the basket? WTF is that? That's NBA officiating," tweeted Cuban.

Cuban then criticized the system for producing what he perceived as incompetent refs for 20 years.

"Refs have bad games. Crews have bad games. But this isn't a single game issue. This is the same s--- that has been going on for 20 years. Hire former refs who think they know how to hire, train and manage. Realize 2 years later they can't. Repeat." Cuban added.

Crew chief Rodney Mott explained the call after the game. 

"The ball was blocked and reviewed. The ball hit the rim, so it was deemed an inadvertent whistle because it was ruled a good block. By rule, it's an inadvertent whistle. It's Rule 2. Because he (Collins) was in his shooting motion when my whistle blew, it's deemed a continuation, so therefore, the basket counts," said Mott. 

Via ESPN

[jozef]

Maybe little mistake here and there but it is still far way better than FIBA rules and officiating.

[Johnny Firpo]

The ref clearly lied about it being an inadvertent whistle. Check the reply, he made a call, and his body language does not suggest it was an inadvertent whistle. And that stinks. They also said Collins already started the shooting motion when the whistle was blown. He didn't. So no matter how I look at this situation, they were not fair with us. Doesn't mean we would have won the game of course, but they took away our chance with that decision.

[Kampuchea]

The ref clearly lied about it being an inadvertent whistle. Check the reply, he made a call, and his body language does not suggest it was an inadvertent whistle. And that stinks. They also said Collins already started the shooting motion when the whistle was blown. He didn't. So no matter how I look at this situation, they were not fair with us. Doesn't mean we would have won the game of course, but they took away our chance with that decision.

He said that it is deemed an inadvertent whistle by rule

[deeps6x]

The coaches challenge was a step in the right direction. Refs blow calls all the time. People make mistakes. The challenge system helps correct those mistakes.

Unfortunately, the biggest problem with this system is that the coach only gets to use it once per game. At minimum, this should either be expanded to three challenges or if you win, you get to keep your challenge.

Also, where are the stats showing which refs blow the most calls?

Why do the Raptors have the best record for challenge wins this season? Are the refs screwing them so that they don't repeat?

[Furinkazan]

Maybe little mistake here and there but it is still far way better than FIBA rules and officiating.

are you trolling?
Fiba officiating is decent.

[Johnny Firpo]

The ref clearly lied about it being an inadvertent whistle. Check the reply, he made a call, and his body language does not suggest it was an inadvertent whistle. And that stinks. They also said Collins already started the shooting motion when the whistle was blown. He didn't. So no matter how I look at this situation, they were not fair with us. Doesn't mean we would have won the game of course, but they took away our chance with that decision.

He said that it is deemed an inadvertent whistle by rule

Doesn't matter, the whistle was clearly before Collins got the ball.

[Kampuchea]

The ref clearly lied about it being an inadvertent whistle. Check the reply, he made a call, and his body language does not suggest it was an inadvertent whistle. And that stinks. They also said Collins already started the shooting motion when the whistle was blown. He didn't. So no matter how I look at this situation, they were not fair with us. Doesn't mean we would have won the game of course, but they took away our chance with that decision.

He said that it is deemed an inadvertent whistle by rule

Doesn't matter, the whistle was clearly before Collins got the ball.

Your statement that said he was lying about it being an inadvertent whistle is therefore incorrect. In good faith you can no longer make that claim.

Cheers

[Johnny Firpo]

He said that it is deemed an inadvertent whistle by rule

Doesn't matter, the whistle was clearly before Collins got the ball.

Your statement that said he was lying about it being an inadvertent whistle is therefore incorrect. In good faith you can no longer make that claim.

Cheers

Why are you still talking about that? I said even if that's true, the whistle clearly came before Collins' shot.

[Hans1984]

The ref is making excuses.

[LightTheBeam]

Read on Twitter

Id like to remind everyone this 2 handed push off by Bam at the end of the game was listed by refs as "Adebayo (MIA) releases from the contact with Joseph (SAC) near the basket."

Refs are awful. I've seen this crap a dozen times this year. Glad to see it happen to guys like Cuban who aren't afraid to say something.

[jozef]

Maybe little mistake here and there but it is still far way better than FIBA rules and officiating.

are you trolling?
Fiba officiating is decent.

No trolling.
They call unsportsmanlike fouls alltime. Make wrong call and call another one on slight protest. Disrupting the game easily and often. Flopping on block/charge situation is bad joke quite often.
FIBA sucks.