Comments on: Peace, Love and Thunderstanding: Replacement Ref Pro/Cons

By: Dai

Dai — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:47:05 +0000

Jax Raging Bile Duct :I know that right now, in preseason, I don’t care that much. But in the regular season, when a game comes down to the end, and hinges on a bad call, then I’ll care big time.

Yes Sir! If a "real" game is blown due to a bad a call that is when the rotten vegetables start being propelled.

By: Jax Raging Bile Duct

Jax Raging Bile Duct — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:52:32 +0000

I know that right now, in preseason, I don’t care that much. But in the regular season, when a game comes down to the end, and hinges on a bad call, then I’ll care big time.

I can’t imagine how upset fans will be if the scabs are still around come playoff time.

By: Know Your Rivalry at The Lost Ogle

Know Your Rivalry at The Lost Ogle — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:31:32 +0000

[...] (edit. Missing Peace, Love and Thunderstanding? Or maybe you’re just bored enough to read it anyway? Head over to Royce’s regular home, DailyThunder.com, and check out Clark Matthews’ latest on how the referee lockout could effect the team.) [...]

By: Royce

Royce — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:24:56 +0000

@okiefunk Agreed on all accounts.

By: okiefunk

okiefunk — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:54:54 +0000

My biggest problem with the “professional” refs is the inconsistency. I don’t personally WANT to see them giving Kobe, or KD the velvet glove treatment! Decide what the rules of contact are, and everybody plays by them. It doesn’t matter to me if you call the game close or let them play fast and loose, I can still enjoy it, but NOTHING is more frustrating to a fan (and probably a player), than the refs changing their style from play to play and really deciding the outcome of a close game. I didn’t think the scabs did that badly in the game inside the Ford Center the other night, and I think the STRIKERS ought to be the ones concerned. The NBA (at least in OKC) goes on just fine without them!

By: Keith

Keith — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:27:33 +0000

@Clark Matthews Knicks had the benefit of being from New York, which immediately makes them more interesting apparently, but the Suns were just odd. Admittedly there were blown calls, but I never felt (besides the Amare suspension - after which the Suns still won) the Suns were getting the raw end. They were just beaten by (usually) the best team there was at their hottest time of the year. When I say most boring, I look at the Pistons this decade. The league actually changed defensive rules after the Pistons won just to limit the effect of defense-first teams like them. And from that point forward the Pistons had to play twice as well as their opponent to win in the postseason. The fact that they still made it to game 7 of the finals and 3 more ECF appearances speaks volumes about how good they could/should have been.

By: J.G.

J.G. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:10:42 +0000

As well as so many whistled calls last night that made me wonder if basketball was a contact sport or not.

I felt bad for both teams, but especially the Heat in the 4th quarter.

By: Royce

Royce — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:47:17 +0000

Boy they were bad last night. So many missed calls.

By: Clark Matthews

Clark Matthews — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:38:59 +0000

I don’t know that it’s the “boring” teams that get screwed. The Suns were, by far, the most exciting team in the NBA and they could never get past the Spurs, quite possibly, the least interesting team in any sport. The Knicks of the ’90s were the ugliest team I’ve ever watched play, and they made it to the Finals twice.

By: Keith

Keith — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:34:41 +0000

You forgot the worst part about the replacement refs: they will make the average fan forget just how terrible the regular refs are.

I mentioned this after the second preseason game, but this has “New Coke” written all over it. Nothing can be worst than the blatantly terrible calls in every regular NBA game? I can just see Stern sitting in his hilltop mansion on a stormy night, rolling his hands together Montgomery Burns style, and whispering, “We shall see, won’t we.” Then Adam Silver slinks out of the shadows, probably with a hump on his back, and Stern/Burns gives him the order, “Make these fans see the folly of their ways. Make it so horrible that no fan may ever say the NBA is not putting out the best referees in sport.”

As much as I hate the way these games are being officiated, at least I know that these guys are trying to make the right calls, and that they could learn as the season goes. Once the regulars come back, it’s the same game I’ve turned off dozens of times in disgust for no other reason than the officiating. These are the SAME people who robbed everyone in 06 with Wade (calls which even move to the defensive side these days), who made sure the Lakers beat the Kings in 02, and who have consistently screwed over “boring” teams for years.