We’ll never know what could have happened, but misses and non-calls beget more of the same.

If Smitty gets a well-deserved whistle going to the cup and makes a couple free throws, the team has more confidence and it slows up the Lakers’ momentum. If they get the call going to the cup instead of getting thrown to the floor while the whistle stays in Bavetta’s pocket, they’re less likely to settle for jumpers. If guys aren’t in foul trouble, they’re more aggressive defensively. You can keep your best players in the game longer. If the Blazers get more calls, the Lakers’ best players get in foul trouble and have to sit.

That game was a heartbreaking choke of (&^ing epic )(&ing (*&!mned proportions, but that game could have turned out differently if the refs were honest.

degree and was satisfied. And the NBA hadn’t read any of the book, and thus was not protesting any particular claim. They were just ready to go to war and Random House was not.

Supposedly.

People talked about how Conseco was a terrible source for steroid allegations and he hasn’t been wrong yet. Donaghy could be telling the truth here…at least to some extent.

It’s also about keeping games close, keeping stars out of foul trouble, and extending playoff series. There were a lot of complaints about the replacement refs and more of it was coming from the star players (Roy included). I could be that the replacement refs were actually calling the games more accurately and without the bias that Stern wants.

“My favorite Tommy Nunez story is from the 2007 playoffs when the San Antonio Spurs were able to get past the Phoenix Suns in the second round. Of course, what many fans didn’t know was that Phoenix had someone working against them behind the scenes. Nunez was the group supervisor for that playoff series, and he definitely had a rooting interest.

Nunez loved the Hispanic community in San Antonio and had a lot of friends there. He had been a referee for 30 years and loved being on the road; in fact, he said that the whole reason he had become a group supervisor was to keep getting out of the house. So Nunez wanted to come back to San Antonio for the conference finals. Plus, he, like many other referees, disliked Suns owner Robert Sarver for the way he treated officials. Both of these things came into play when he prepared the referees for the games in the staff meetings. I remember laughing with him and saying, “You would love to keep coming back here.” He was pointing out everything that Phoenix was able to get away with and never once told us to look for anything in regard to San Antonio. Nunez should have a championship ring on his finger." – Donaghy

The fact is someone has got to be on your side. I agree, that once clout comes for your team, once they get alot of fans, you’ll get more calls. Thats not the argument. The whole thing is that none of that should matter— it’s what happens on the court that should be what wins things. I have thought the league has been WWE for a LONG time.

I am 28 and think that by the time I was 58 with 20+ years experience, reffing a game with millions watching, I would be aware if I started subconsciously making calls incorrectly….at least enough to know I was screwing another team. These guys are much better at what they do than you think.

Oden is our biggest media story by far so it would be valuable to the NBA to let him have a good season.

it doesn’t matter what more the Blazers or the Kings or the Seahawks could have done to overcome the disadvantage

My take on this scenario has always been this: If you know that you’ve gotta be “10 points better” then the “favored” team in order to beat them in a game 7, then you’ve got to approach the game that way. Keep your foot on the pedal, show them no mercy. Don’t give the refs the “opportunity” to get involved in a “miraculous” comeback

My other take is…if the Blazers ever do win another NBA championship, we should all celebrate like it’s our last day on earth, because we’ll know without a doubt that it was done “against all odds”!