The Official REF's Thread

[UKUGA]

I remember in either game 3 or game 4 of the WCF in 2000, Kobe yapping at Dan Crawford about the way Steve Smith was hand-checking him.

After Kobe walked away Crawford got his attention and said, "Kobe, he's slick".

I always respected Crawford after that, as he was basically saying to Kobe that Steve Smith knew all the tricks, and admitting that he, the official, was capable of missing some calls on occasion.
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"The Lakers need more fans like you!"
- Gary Vitti, to me, in a Cleveland restaurant

[MDI]

Man they better start Ginobilli with those illegal dribbles and pushoffs he constantly gets away with.
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MDI's Mamacitas

1) Marisa Miller
2) Jessica Burciaga
3) Leeann Tweeden
4) Galilea Montijo
5) Bianca Gascoigne
6) Shandi Finessey
7) Torrie Wilson
8) Sophia Bush
9) Nicole Peterson
10) Alena Seradova

[Senor Mortgage]

Solid crew. I still don't like Delaney but only because I think he can one of the more inconsistent refs in the league. Should be a fun game.

[JuanoLAL]

Delaney is inconsistent sometimes, so to that extent I agree, but this is definitely a veteran crew as short said... so we'll be fine.
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[GinoDB]

I was satisfied with the calls this time, there were unfair calls on both sides but they didn't control the tempo like in the Jazz series and not much free-throws.

[Enforcer]

Is it any wonder that fans of both teams always complain about the officiating?

All a matter of persepctive.

[GinoDB]

[Shortodom]

it's kinda sad that we even care who the refs are, are you guys old enough to remember when who reffed the game didn't matter? after every playoff game this year the losing team blames the refs, even after tonights game, spurs fans saying the refs helped us? really? i thought tonights game was the best playoff game the refs had. they didn't get to involved and the players won or lost the game. a couple of bad calls here and there for both teams but overall a very well refing job
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Bynum Pau Kobe = DAMN

[JuanoLAL]

To me, it definitely matters who is reffing each game. Don't even get me started on that. Shouldn't be that difficult to see that three people have the power to dictate every single aspect of the game. And from game to game, it's always 3 different people (no same ref twice in a row).
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[lakerfan2]

I think Jim Clark is by far, on top of my list of MOST HATED REFS. He's probably the most blind of them all. Most are bias for home team, but this guy just sucks.
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BYNUM BRIGAAADDEEEEE!!!
"He(Bynum) was cradling a basketball as if he were holding an infant in his arm, 'I can't wait for this season.' "

[GinoDB]

[JuanoLAL]

Jim Clark is a good ref, but he's not a great ref. Case in point: the last 2 rounds he's only been assigned to Game 1s. He usually is a homer, but he's bipolar in the fact that he could just switch and just stop making good calls. I like it when he refs the Lakers, but I've seen him really struggle in other arenas with being consistent.

Sidenote: For those of you who will watch the Boston-Detroit game tonight, pay careful attention to the referees. Steve Javie, Tom Washington and Sean Corbin are the crew for tonight's game, and let me tell you, Washington and Corbin are totally homers. Especially Corbin, dude's a joke. I'd be SHOCKED if Boston lost, and yes, that has to do with the officiating. Is it a coincidence that the NBA assigns two top 5 homer refs to the game tonight? You tell me. Javie is the Pistons only hope.
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[daco_inc]

REFS FOR GAME 2:

B. Salvatore T. Brothers K. Mauer

Do your thing Juano.

Just a couple tidbits:
Brother and Mauer are near the bottom of the homer list (meaning HCA doesn't really matter to them).
Salvatore leans more towards the home team.
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[JuanoLAL]

Officials for Gm2 vs SA: Bennett Salvatore, Tony Brothers, Ken Mauer



Breakdown: This one's going to be tough, unfortubately. Daco was right... Salvatore is the only ref of this crew whose calls tend to favor the home team. Mauer and Brothers on the other hand? Completely the opposite. Especially Tony. He's notorious for making BOGUS calls... for the road team. Maybe the NBA lets him do these big games to make sure they get no complaints? He's almost as bad as Javie. Mauer is tricky. He's one of my favorite refs in the league, doesn't let the crowd or anything sway his opinion, but sometimes he just makes wrong calls. Salvatore, we all know him for what he did in Miami - but the dude loves to make the crowd cheer. He's the ref who will make sure the home team stays in the game til the very end. We should be fine, but we're going to have to work... not going to be a piece of cake. If you thought Game 1 was bad, you're in for worse.

Just for stats sake, Brothers is second to dead last in homer statistics (out of 62 refs). Kenny is #57 and Salvatore is #17. Ouch.

Prediction: I could see it going either way, so obviously I'll choose the Lakers. The refs will certainly not let the game get out of hand they'll make sure the calls are balanced and that San Antonio doesn't get less calls than they deserve. This game is going to be called VERY evenly and very fair. Now the onus is on the players. Let's just say that if this crew was our crew in Game #1, that 20 point lead for SA would not have dwindled into a Laker win. Buckle your seatbelts.
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[Senor Mortgage]

Tough assignment. Surprises me that BOS gets the total homer refs yet LA has gotten two relatively unbiased crews at home. You'd think after game 1, it would be LA getting the homers. Regardless, we just need to flat out play better in game 2. The interesting thing here is that (unless Im mistaken) we have a couple of circle refs here. It could be a even game with some home calls should it be close in the 4th.

[DJ Qube]

Uh oh... this crew has missed quite a few calls in the first half. Kobe and Gasol taking it strong with lots of contact, yet both of them have zero free throws! A couple phantom loose ball fouls giving extra posessions to the Spurs, too.

I don't want a free throw shooting contest, but if we're gonna take it strong to the hoop like we have been, we should at least get free throws when we deserve them.
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[Chicano]

Personally, I haven't had a major complaint about the referees since game 4 in Utah mainly, and I know some of you will probably say that's because twas our last loss, but no, really. I rarely ever complain about the refs regardless, but that game was one of a kind & I might not forget it for some time. Here's to hoping the refs aren't as bad in San Antonio or as crowd influenced as they are in Utah.

[lakerfan2]

I wanna see Joey Crawford in San Antonio.


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BYNUM BRIGAAADDEEEEE!!!
"He(Bynum) was cradling a basketball as if he were holding an infant in his arm, 'I can't wait for this season.' "

[JuanoLAL]

Wow, my prediction was way off last night, sorry guys. Brothers was the exact opposite as I expected him to me, he really helped the Lakers out and gave them the benefit of the doubt. Salvatore, who is supposed to be a homer, did everything but that. I also thought this would be a closer game, no way can I come on here before the game and predict the Lakers would blow them out by 30. But it was a great game, I'm glad we won and I hope we get a fair shot in San Antonio.

By the way guys, my flight leaves for San Antonio in 2 hours
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[JuanoLAL]

Officials for Gm3 vs SA: Eddie F. Rush, Mike Callahan, Joe DeRosa



Breakdown: I think we'll be okay, but it's hard to tell. We have yet to see Mike Callahan as one of our refs in the postseason, but he's notorious for being anti-homer and more FOR the road team. He's the kind of ref that aims to make sure the game is called correctly, fair, and unbiased. So in that sense, I hope it works out for us. Ed Rush and DeRosa were officials in the infamous Game 4 vs. Utah, which was IMO one of the worst officiated games this postseason. Funny thing is, Ed Rush was also a ref during last years Game 5 in San Antonio (Donaghy incident) - a game one ESPN writer claimed as being the worst officiated game he's ever seen. Kind of scary because most of his calls that game were for San Antonio (yes, I was observing). It's hard for me to go all the way and say that he's a crooked ref though, he has the Game 7 NBA FINALS reputation in this league as he was a ref in the final games of the 2006 and 2007 nba finals. That leaves us with DeRosa. Throughout the regular season and even in the playoffs, we have rarely seen Joe. Big thing about DeRosa: he was the one who called the timeout for Dallas in that crucial Game 5 in Miami in overtime, a call that IMO should not have been made (and that inevitably gave Dallas no chance to win the game). Dude's a homer no matter what angle you look at it. He did us horrible in Utah and he is probably bound to do it again.

Bad news? Over the regular season, Joe DeRosa was the NUMBER ONE homer out of 62 refs. This guy is an NBA Finals ref for sure, but his calls definitely favor the home team. Ed Rush is #14 and thankfully, Callahan is DEAD LAST in homer statistics. So we have the biggest homer and the biggest "roader" as refs in tomorrow's game!

Prediction: Spurs win, simply because we blew them out in game 2 and they know that going down 0-3 would all but hand us a berth to the NBA finals. The crowd is going to be vibrant, these refs certainly won't help the Lakers out, and I expect the Spurs to outmatch our intensity and win a close game. I hate to predict against the Lakers, but come on, wouldn't we all be shocked if we won this game? I'm not saying I want them to lose, and I'm not saying they have no chance, if they can keep this game close and play with a lot of effort, we must hope that the refs call a fair game and that the Lakers adapt to their style of calls. If the game remains close throughout, I like the Lakers chances in pulling out a clutch victory on the road. Why? One word: Kobe.
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[GinoDB]

sounds like a Lakers win to me

[JuanoLAL]

[MDI]

I believe in superstitions...keep saying Spurs win...the exact opposite might happen
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MDI's Mamacitas

1) Marisa Miller
2) Jessica Burciaga
3) Leeann Tweeden
4) Galilea Montijo
5) Bianca Gascoigne
6) Shandi Finessey
7) Torrie Wilson
8) Sophia Bush
9) Nicole Peterson
10) Alena Seradova

[blakeruns]

TERRIFIC analysis Juan! And very well worded.

Always appreciated

[4Rings]

The refs have stayed out of the way for the first 2 games, give or take a few questionable calls on both sides. Let's hope that continues tonight.
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[JuanoLAL]

I'm surprised that more people didn't comment on the officiating tonight.

Well, now that I think about it, the officiating was pretty even, though I must say I have completely lost ALL respect for Eddie F. Rush - and that's saying a lot. The guy is not a homer, I'm starting to think he just doesn't like the Lakers. He had several missed calls throughout the 2nd and 3rd quarter. If it weren't for Callahan, the Spurs would've won by 40. The Spurs got EVERY call they deserved. The Lakers, I say they got about 75% of the calls they deserved.
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[CaCHooKa Man]

there was a play midway through the 4th where oberto was clearly holding onto LOs jersey to get a rebound right in front of one of the refs and it wasnt called. luckily the ball was given to the lakers after it went out of bounds.
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"The game getting foul so here's a free throw."
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[DarthRekal]

[lakerfan2]

todays refs were...


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BYNUM BRIGAAADDEEEEE!!!
"He(Bynum) was cradling a basketball as if he were holding an infant in his arm, 'I can't wait for this season.' "

[Creed Bratton]

Refs gave the typical home crowd calls. Officiating didnt really come close to costing us the game. Definitely in favor of the home team though.
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