Post-NBA Finals Thoughts

June 22, 2006

OK. So now that I’ve had at least 24 hours to calm down and think about what really happened over the course of the last week, I think I’m finally ready to put my 2 cents in writing. But before I get on my little soap box, I need to first disclose the fact that I’m a Mavericks fan for a loooong time (think “Triple-J” era). But I should also note that I’m writing this first as someone who’s had a little bit of experience reffing basketball games (albeit at the recreational level), and only second as a Mavs fan. Enough of the disclosure stuff, time to move onto the good stuff.

First, I’ll begin by saying that Pat Riley and Dwayne Wade deserves all the credit for the things they’ve done this series. Even though I thought that this series was surrounded by controversial calls and questionable league actions, I will honestly say that the Mavs had a chance to win game 3 and 6. Both of which we lost because we missed shots at the end and did not execute the way we did during the San Antonio and Phoenix series. Miami depended heavily on Wade to come through in the clutch, and he did. While Dallas spread the burden up and played more of a team game (unfortuntaly, some of the Mavericks’ players were not ready to be clutch).

I’m a big Dwayne Wade fan. He’s probably one of my top five favorite players in the NBA. Wade is, without question, the most clutch player during this year’s playoffs (even with the 2 missed free throws at the end of game 6). And if the Miami Heat had won this series without the timely help of biased officials, I think I would be at peace about the loss. Let’s admit it Mavs fan, we did NOT play the way we did during the Spurs & Suns series.

But I think the reason why the series shifted in Miami is the way the game was called shifted from the free-flowing, offensively focused game the has been called for the most part of the playoffs back to physical, defensively focused game back in the late 90s. Refs would call ANY contact made on Wade on and off the ball (and sometimes even when there was no contact) but yet would not make any call when Dirk is getting mugged by Haslem and Posey trying to fight for position to get the ball. If Diop/Dampier/Mbenga played Shaq the way Haslem/Posey played Dirk, they’d all foul out before halftime.

As a former official, I’ve had the opportunity to call several games that went down to the wire. And I know for a fact that there’s always a desire in the back of official’s mind to keep the game close. But I can’t remember the last time refs decided the outcome of the game by sending a player to the free throw line for the tie and the win. As a ref, you know that the biggest disservice you can do to the players on the court is deciding the game based upon your biased and unbiased judgement. Now I’m not saying that refs should never call a foul in the last 20 seconds of a close game. I’m just saying that if you’re calling a foul, you better be darn sure that a foul actually occurred. But I really don’t think that was the case at the end of game 5. And if a foul is called at the end of game 5 sending Wade to the free throw line, why was there no foul called on Payton for grabbing onto Terry as he’s trying to tie the game with a last second 3 pointer??

That’s because officials are rotating in and out of games. While I agree that officials should not ref every single game because of physical and mental constriants, I think that rotating 3 crews around the biggest series puts a little too much inconstency in between the games. And these little discrepancies are what creates the controversies that (in my mind) will forever make the Heat’s first title be recorded with an asterik. As I look back through all the games in this series, I can understand the confusion that caused the timeout granted at the end of game 5, I can understand (and agree) with the flagrant foul call on Stack. But for the life of me, I cannot understand how two teams playing similar styles (as far as it coming the the amount of time we tried to drive the ball to the basket to taking jump shots) can have such a dramatic difference in the amount of free throws attempted. As a refree, I check with the scorekeeper at halftime to see if one team is getting called a lot more than others. And this is most common when you have a bunch of big, athletic guys playing guys that settle for jump shots. Of course the team that settle for jump shots will get less calls, assuming the other team knows how to play defense. At one point in game 5, Miami had a 40-12 free throw advantage over Dallas). Unless Shaq took 20 of those free throws, I think the inconsistency should be addressed by David Stern this offseason.

I’m not only saying that the inconsistencies should be address because I think my favorite team in the NBA could have had a better chance at being champions. I’m saying that because I really think this type of “babying” of a superstar is hurting the game of basketball. If you think about what the Miami Heat does in crunch time, they spread the floor out and watch Wade play MJ. And the refs are even helping them!!! Now fast forward to a year from now when the US will again be competing in international play. First of all, the international refs/rules does not give a flying flip which NBA superstar has the ball in a game and what type of calls they get. Second, all of these NBA players are used to either being the guy that has the ball in crunch time while everyone else stares at, or they are going to be the one standing at one of the wings watching whoever has the ball. This is why playing styles like Pheonix and Dallas is so fun to watch. Almost all of the players on the courts are skilled and they are not heavily relying on one player while everyone is watching.

To me, the free-flowing, exciting styles is what makes the game of basketball so fun and unpredictable. But even if the NBA are not rigging the games, one must admit that NBA game endings are usually very predictable (as far as who’s going to be taking the shot is concerned). So really, as long as officials are going to call the games to keep it close (just look at the traveling call on the Heat at the end of game 6 to give Dallas one last shot), the first 45 minutes of a NBA game will always be irrelevant.

I hope that David Stern and (especially) Stu Jackson get their act together and consider where they’re taking this game of basketball. Because at the current rate, the championship will come down to which team and afford to biggest stars so they can get good calls from the refs. And if that’s the product they’re going to put out on the floor for the fans, the idea of watching a soccer game where flops are an accepted part of the game might not be so bad to Americans after all. Same BS on the field, just handle the ball with a different part of your body.

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