08-26-2020, 09:41 AM
(This post was last modified: 08-26-2020, 09:59 AM by Time Machine Dirk.)
Hello, this is my first post here but I've been reading along for a couple of months now and also have been shortly active in the last forum under a different username.
In the aftermath of game 5 this post is about NBA officiating and my reasoned claim that NBA games and especially the playoffs are rigged big time.
But first of all let me say that I am not looking for excuses for the game 5 loss. The Mavs played bad in this game and weren't ready to compete - especially on a defensive level. Kawhi and PG came out extremely hot and there was almost nothing you could do about it with the players available for Dallas.
Nevertheless, by now it is clear to me the these games are heavily rigged by the refs. How do I know?
After the several totally obvious wrong calls, the missed foul call on KP at the rim, the foul call on his block attempt and the ridiculous two techs I got the feeling that something is systemically wrong with officiating in this series. So I decided to count the calls which were 100 % wrong and clearly against the Mavs or the Clippers. I only watched the first half of game 5 but until the end of the first quarter there were 5 calls in favour of the Clippers/against the Mavs which accounted for a point differential of at least +7 pts for the Clippers - probably more because a few calls - if done right - would just have been a change of possession in favour of the Mavs. Five clearly wrong calls in favour of one team in one quarter is really a lot and it not only makes a difference in point but also in momentum, fouls on players (for example a Kawhi offensive foul instead of a Mavs defensive and an And One) and causes a defense to adjust in a way that the players tend to avoid any body contact at all which gives the other team all the freedom to operate.
I actually also counted the calls in game 3, which we obviously won. Nevertheless, I counted 11 CLEARLY WRONG calls in favour of the Clippers and 2 wrong calls in favour of the Mavs, which accounted for minimum +13 pts for the Clippers meaning that this game would have been a blowout if being officiated correctly.
Probably the Mavs would have lost game 5 either way but you never know what happens if the Clippers don't get the momentum and point differential caused by these PURPOSELY wrong calls! 17-2 plus calls in favour of the Clippers in one and a half game cannot be by coincident. Almost no clearly wrong calls in favour of the Mavs is also quite suspect to me as bad as the officiating in the NBA is. Keep in mind that I didn't even count the 50:50 calls against the Mavs or calls which couldn't clearly be judged from watching the game on TV.
Summarizing I have to say that we win game 2 for sure with fair officiating, which would mean that the series would be 3-2 for Mavs right now and 3-1 before game 5 - which would have been again a huge momentum swing.
The big questions to me is: What can be done about systemically rigged games and officiating?
First of all, maybe one can install an independent statistic center which counts the 100 % wrong calls in favour of each team over a season or for the playoffs at least in order to make things as transparent as possible. The last 2 minutes report doesn't cut it at all imho! It is ridiculous. An NBA game lasts 48 minutes and there is a report for only the last 2 minutes in a billion dollar industry like the NBA? COME ON!!!
Secondly: Make the officials turn pro and earn a lot of money and create an officials board with a low hierarchy instead of maybe one or two people deciding who is allowed to officiate in the NBA and who gets to officiate which game. For example: In German football, a ref who makes as many, obvious and bad mistakes as Fitzgerald did in game 2, would have been granted a break of at least a few weeks. It is absolutely frustrating to see and absurd that he was allowed to officiate the Mavs again after game 2. Actually, I think no official should be allowed to officiate twice in the same playoff series.
I fell in love with the game of basketball 5 years ago and and it hurts my basketball heart deep inside to see obviously rigged games and whole series. It is just frustrating. If I'd have to bet I would say the NBA wants to see Clippers vs Lakers in the conference finals with a spectacular Lakers win in order to make sure Lebron and the Lakers brand get another title in the finals vs the Bucks and Giannis - rejuvinating the legends of old king Lebron and the Lakers in the sport of basketball with wins against the not so shiny but younger and now actually better Kawhi and Giannis.
I am looking forward to your views on the topic and your ideas regarding a possible solution.
In the aftermath of game 5 this post is about NBA officiating and my reasoned claim that NBA games and especially the playoffs are rigged big time.
But first of all let me say that I am not looking for excuses for the game 5 loss. The Mavs played bad in this game and weren't ready to compete - especially on a defensive level. Kawhi and PG came out extremely hot and there was almost nothing you could do about it with the players available for Dallas.
Nevertheless, by now it is clear to me the these games are heavily rigged by the refs. How do I know?
After the several totally obvious wrong calls, the missed foul call on KP at the rim, the foul call on his block attempt and the ridiculous two techs I got the feeling that something is systemically wrong with officiating in this series. So I decided to count the calls which were 100 % wrong and clearly against the Mavs or the Clippers. I only watched the first half of game 5 but until the end of the first quarter there were 5 calls in favour of the Clippers/against the Mavs which accounted for a point differential of at least +7 pts for the Clippers - probably more because a few calls - if done right - would just have been a change of possession in favour of the Mavs. Five clearly wrong calls in favour of one team in one quarter is really a lot and it not only makes a difference in point but also in momentum, fouls on players (for example a Kawhi offensive foul instead of a Mavs defensive and an And One) and causes a defense to adjust in a way that the players tend to avoid any body contact at all which gives the other team all the freedom to operate.
I actually also counted the calls in game 3, which we obviously won. Nevertheless, I counted 11 CLEARLY WRONG calls in favour of the Clippers and 2 wrong calls in favour of the Mavs, which accounted for minimum +13 pts for the Clippers meaning that this game would have been a blowout if being officiated correctly.
Probably the Mavs would have lost game 5 either way but you never know what happens if the Clippers don't get the momentum and point differential caused by these PURPOSELY wrong calls! 17-2 plus calls in favour of the Clippers in one and a half game cannot be by coincident. Almost no clearly wrong calls in favour of the Mavs is also quite suspect to me as bad as the officiating in the NBA is. Keep in mind that I didn't even count the 50:50 calls against the Mavs or calls which couldn't clearly be judged from watching the game on TV.
Summarizing I have to say that we win game 2 for sure with fair officiating, which would mean that the series would be 3-2 for Mavs right now and 3-1 before game 5 - which would have been again a huge momentum swing.
The big questions to me is: What can be done about systemically rigged games and officiating?
First of all, maybe one can install an independent statistic center which counts the 100 % wrong calls in favour of each team over a season or for the playoffs at least in order to make things as transparent as possible. The last 2 minutes report doesn't cut it at all imho! It is ridiculous. An NBA game lasts 48 minutes and there is a report for only the last 2 minutes in a billion dollar industry like the NBA? COME ON!!!
Secondly: Make the officials turn pro and earn a lot of money and create an officials board with a low hierarchy instead of maybe one or two people deciding who is allowed to officiate in the NBA and who gets to officiate which game. For example: In German football, a ref who makes as many, obvious and bad mistakes as Fitzgerald did in game 2, would have been granted a break of at least a few weeks. It is absolutely frustrating to see and absurd that he was allowed to officiate the Mavs again after game 2. Actually, I think no official should be allowed to officiate twice in the same playoff series.
I fell in love with the game of basketball 5 years ago and and it hurts my basketball heart deep inside to see obviously rigged games and whole series. It is just frustrating. If I'd have to bet I would say the NBA wants to see Clippers vs Lakers in the conference finals with a spectacular Lakers win in order to make sure Lebron and the Lakers brand get another title in the finals vs the Bucks and Giannis - rejuvinating the legends of old king Lebron and the Lakers in the sport of basketball with wins against the not so shiny but younger and now actually better Kawhi and Giannis.
I am looking forward to your views on the topic and your ideas regarding a possible solution.