The best/worst postseason in NBA history
Stop me before I suspend again.
Before I get into NBA Commissioner David Stern for the umpteenth time this postseason… which he came perilously close to tainting with his over-the-top legalism… I should note I have always had great respect for the way he has run his league.
He has brought labor peace after the wars of the ‘90s, and actually enhanced the profitablilty of the industry in the post-MJ era, while beset by all manner of calamities.
It’s hard to imagine the NBA without this little giant running it…
Although I have to admit I was trying to a few weeks back, when his minions looked this close to suspending Rajon Rondo for Game 7 of the Boston-Chicago classic.
That was the tip of the iceberg, in a crackdown on fighting and flagrant fouls… although there haven’t been any fights or bad flagrant fouls…. so it had become, play the game, await the league review with its upgrades and downgrades, and see who was available for the next game.
The most competitive postseason the NBA had seen in years… or ever… has had to struggle for attention with the perception the league is also in the midst of a crime wave, or merely refereed by boobs.
There were boobs, all right, but they’re the NBA officials, who are now always over the refs’ shoulders, telling them to call all those ticky-tack T’s and flagrants, until the consequences became so alarming, even an NBA lawyer could figure out they had to lighten up.
Midway through the Conference finals, Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard are both sitting on five T’s, two short of what they need to be suspended.
Howard had six, which given his inclination to celebrate, which is now thought-crime, meant he was a dead man walking, until the league quickly rescinded his last one from Game 4 of the East finals.
How close they came to suspending Rondo in the first round, we’ll never know, but it came down to a league review.
Rondo, en route to averaging 19-12-9 in the series, had gotten tangled with Kirk Hinrich in Game 6, and had slung him by the arm into the press table.
As far as actual violence, it was no biggie, but it was clearly discernible and prompted Hinrich to come back and shove Rondo.
Coming off an incredible 128-127 Bulls win in three overtimes, the run-up to Game 7 was dominated by the review, as the Bulls lobbied behind the scenes for Rondo’s suspension, and Chicago papers took up the cry.
Wrote the Sun-Times’ Ron Allen:
After watching the replay, it seems obvious–this is clearly more of an egregious display of unsportsmanlike conduct than Dwight Howard’s errant elbow… Rondo’s gotten away with another flagrant foul in this series when he fish-hooked Brad Miller. After reviewing the play, league officials somehow determined that because Rondo didn’t wind up, he was going for the ball. Perhaps these same league officials are due for a makeup call?
Actually, it wasn’t close to being as bad as Howard’s elbow to Samuel Dalembert’s head, for which Howard was suspended, even if that would have only been a T or a flagrant in the old days… like five years ago.
Ending the suspense, the league announced it would take no action on Rondo.
Boston won, and everyone moved on to bigger and better things, like the dramatic Houston-Laker series when Derek Fisher was suspended for throwing a body block into Luis Scola, which was definitely intentional but hardly menacing.
There can be no doubt the league is ordering the refs to call this ticky-tack stuff. The Antoine Wright-Carmelo Anthony play in Game 3 of the Denver-Dallas series showed that.
With a foul to give, Wright gave Anthony a little bump, which Mark Wunderlich didn’t call, before Melo’s game-winning three.
I thought it was a no-call. As an intentional foul, it was a disgrace. At the very least, it was arguable.
Nevertheless, within hours NBA counsel Joel Litwin announced it was an error.
Not only did the NBA sell out its own ref, it told everyone on the staff they had better call every touch or twitch, or they could be overruled in public.
Not that this was an unintended consequence. It was the message Stern wanted his refs to get.
Stern is on an ongoing mission to mollify his owners, who constantly complain about the officials, and demonstrate to all the system is on the up-and-up, as opposed to the oft-alleged conspiracy to get the right teams to the Finals.
Unfortunately, the complaining never stops, it just moves around according to which owner is losing.
And the harder Stern tries, the worse things get, as if he’s thrashing around in quicksand.
With TV replays a plus at games — where their use is limited to easy-to-see, objective judgments, like whether a shot was in time, or a toe was on a line — Stern now wants the use of video expanded.
Aside from its use at games, it’s already a disaster.
Every time the league reviews an incident, be it minor or major, it makes it bigger, by a factor of, say, 100.
When it happens several times a week… or a star is suspended for a minor infraction at a climactic moment, like Amare Stoudemire for Game 5 of the 2-2 Suns-Spurs series in 2007… the NBA looks like a league of fools.
Thank heavens for a postseason so goood, it rises above the league holding it.
Let’s just hope we get to see it resolved by the players, not the lawyers.
Posts about Howard Stern as of May 31, 2009 » The Daily Parr Said,
May 31, 2009 @ 6:37 pm
[...] about, when Howard Stern was in his prime and was turning heads like a cleaner version of Marilyn The best/worst postseason in NBA history - blogs.hoopshype.com 05/31/2009 Stop me before I suspend again. Before I get into NBA Commissioner [...]
Jams Said,
May 31, 2009 @ 8:51 pm
Defense calls fouls. Problem solved.
Brad Scott Said,
May 31, 2009 @ 10:04 pm
I’m not even close to being a Phoenix fan and the one player I trully can’t stand on that team is Stoudemire, however, the author has a very good point about how the league treated the Amare situation last year compared to the way the games were called this year. Almost any series that was played this year (especially Dallas/Denver, Chicago/Boston) was clearly called with less concern for the player’s safety then last year. I mean think about it-Stoudemire got screwed because he came three feet off the bench-when K-Mart was allowed to nearly take Nowtizki’s head off this year.
DAG Said,
May 31, 2009 @ 10:36 pm
Finally, someone who saw the Wright foul in the same way that I saw it. If you want the refs to blow the whistle, why not stick your arms out and wrap him up.
BlackNWhite Said,
May 31, 2009 @ 11:01 pm
The NBA should fire all the refs. Get some new blood in there….oh and fbi background checks just in case.
michael Said,
June 1, 2009 @ 1:05 am
a very effective solution, haha but there has to be some order at least, very rarely does a player not argue a call and admit they did it
Siz33 Said,
June 1, 2009 @ 5:09 am
As a longtime NBA fan it just seems like every year the officiating gets worse. Many times I don’t even care to watch anymore…and basketball is the only sport I like. Bill Simmons wrote a great article about it on espn.com.
Joey M Said,
June 1, 2009 @ 8:15 am
The rondo “Fish hook” of miller should have been a one game suspension. The game was on the line coming down to the final seconds and miller was hot down the stretch. Rondo is a guy who averaged 12 assists a game in this series…he is lightening quick and had pin point accuracy the entire series and the story goes that his fish hook was unintentional? Im sure Rondo knows dam well what he was doing, an that he was going to come no where near getting a hand on millers shot,…however Rondo must have figured the next best thing is fouling the hell outta Miller anyway he can and force Miller to make the free throws and force overtime. Doc Rivers admitted as much later when he said “just a hard foul”. The point is that its the only foul Rondo could have done based on his position on the floor. Rondo knew he wouldnt get the ball and he was just trying to club Miller over the head so Miller would at the very least miss the shot and the very worst get to game tying shots at the line. Thats the story and its a sin the Sterns lackies let this abuse of the rules go unpunished. As a side note… I would definitly love to have Rondo on my team with that unwavering desire to win at all costs.
JBEAN Said,
June 1, 2009 @ 8:19 am
Jeff Van Gundy (greatest announcer of all time) put it best, “their turning a game that dosent need to be turned”. It does seem the league wants the refs to have equal say to the players in the way the game is being played, and in my opinion its atrocious. The players will adapt but sometimes to the detriment of the game; who here likes watching all the soccer style flopping that has emerged over the last decade? The game is being called too tight on both sides and its ruining the integrity of the game. How many times do we see lebron or Pierce put his head down and ram through the lane just waiting for the wistle, to me its disgusting, same with the defensive player running to a spot to get on his heals and allow any kind of contact send himself flying. The players are playing the refs as much as they are allowing their skill and determination dictate the outcome. The real game of basketball is being played on the pick-up courts which is sad becuase it lacks the intensity of competing at the highest level. The game is easy to fix, allow the defensive player to have his space, feet extended from the floor to the ceiling at any point in time, and pocket the whistles on most incidental contact. And for gods sake, if a player is running away from the play and the offensive player still makes contact there usually is no way that can translate to a foul on the defensive player. Finally stop calling all these offensive fouls. They talk about teching players for flopping. Just stop calling fouls unless you really see heavy impact, the defensive player will flop to the ground putting their team at a disadvantage. I gurantee if the team is playing at a disadvantage consistantly we will see players stay on their feet more often then not. In 20 years of playing competitive ball at high levels ive refused to flop and have fallen to the ground after a bump from an offensive player comming at me maybe twice. The nba has 270 pound dudes flying backwards 3 time per game, its rediculous.
Mark Said,
June 1, 2009 @ 11:32 am
LOL what a bias writer.. Rondo should have been suspended in these playoffs, it doesn’t matter what you think - consistency is the key and Rondo almost chopping off Miller’s head is definitely a flagrant. The NBA is just babying the Celtics and Cavs as usual, and just as babies, they cry!
frank B Said,
June 1, 2009 @ 11:48 am
NBA officiating is suspect at best. I always make the joke that Basketball = roller derby, in that the refs make sure that the home team has the best chance to win at all times.
If you peel back the onion on the Wright no call in the Dallas/Thuggets series, it suddenly becomes clear why the league issued their error statement. When the home team wins, the fans are happy, more beer and tee shirts get sold, local advertising rolls in, and the owner is happy.
So in order to beat someone in their house, the away team has to dominate the game. I was amazed that Orlando could beat Boston at home in game 7; in order to do this Orlando had to clearly be the better team.
I think the owners understand this dynamic. The referreing is more favorable to the home team and since all the owners are in this game to make money, more money is made by this approach.
So how then could the refs not call the foul on Wright? It was a mistake, plain and simple. The league office said so. This was basically an apology for not giving the Mavericks the best opportunity to win the game.
pj Said,
June 1, 2009 @ 12:11 pm
you can’t possibly say rondo shouldn’t have been suspened. the fish hook on miller, the intentional trip of hinrich where he had to get stiches, when he grabbed hinrich and threw him into the scorers table. you are straight up insane if you think howard’s elbow is as bad as those 3 things combined, let alone just the throwing of hinrich into the table. the nba babied the celtics b/c of who they are and who chicago is. rondo should NOT be respected for this ‘will to win’ as there’s a difference between a playoff foul and what he was doing.
Yarock Said,
June 1, 2009 @ 2:38 pm
Let’s play a little game called “what if”.
What if Rondo had been suspended for fish-hooking Miller?
What if Melo missed that three?
I think you can never make everyone happy 100% of the time, but the NBA tries to make 51% (or at least SOME majority of its viewers) happy 100% of the time. Nobody was happy with the Spurs-Suns confrontation and the resulting fouls, and I think the NBA decided to not call as many fouls in the playoffs. All of Boston would be livid if Rondo got thrown out. All of Denver would complain about the non-call if Melo had missed that shot.
We need to take what we are given by the refs and be happy they aren’t being as Liberal with the whistle this off-season
norm Said,
June 1, 2009 @ 6:02 pm
dwight howard clearly taunted varejao right after he dunked on him and i might be crazy but i thought that you werent allowed to taunt players anymore but you could taunt the crowd which he did not do but its okay i guess its just sterns way of making sure lebron doesnt win in cleveland
BlackNWhite Said,
June 3, 2009 @ 11:49 am
JBEAN…. i stopped reading once i read that jeff van gundy is the greatest announcer of all time. Check out the late Chick Hearn… that man gave sight to the blind.
knock knock Said,
June 4, 2009 @ 1:24 pm
To those saying that rondo did “whatever was neccessary” you guys must be celtics fans. As a basketball player, theres a hundred things you coulda done to prevent the basket without karate chopping him to the face. What rondo shoulda did, was give him a HARD FOUL, not slap him on national tv. Of course what he did was a blatant cheap foul and should of been suspended. Dwights elbow was nothin compared to that, HE DIDN”T EVEN CONNECT.
* a small point guard with the quickness KNEW what he was doing.
angelo lopez Said,
June 5, 2009 @ 6:05 pm
Where are the retired players,they should be the one who do the referries job,since these referries are bozo.they have been in the league but still do not know how to call a foul,travelling or fragrant.Commisioner Stern you should give the job to the retired players as the referries,if you want a good NBA game.
PJ Said,
June 6, 2009 @ 11:22 am
It’s all these touch fouls that really mess the consistency up for everyone
Get rid of touch fouls - when someone wants to foul a superstar driving to the hole, make it look like a real foul
No arm tapping or giving slight nudges
Also, Rondo and Dwight should’ve been suspended - Dwight especially with those huge arms of his going through his defender’s faces
Now everyone’s saying it’s not Dwight’s fault because he’s just a huge guy but hell I don’t recall David Robinson or Shaq or Yao knocking out or trying to knock out their defenders and they’re as big as Dwight