Is it just me, or are the refs getting worse?

It’s just you.

last night, he was apoplectic over what he saw as bad calls favoring the Blazers. All’s relative I guess.

It didn’t end up hurting the Blazers thanks to a great offensive board by B. Roy, but the loose ball call on Horford for climbing over Rudy for a tip-in, but giving the foul shots to Oden, who was standing 10 feet away, was my favorite bad call. They even had a 3-ref conference to make sure that was the right call, and they STILL got it wrong.

You either choose to ignore it and buy into the fantasy like I do or you can complain til the end of time.

There’s another option which includes boycotting the product until it’s fixed but NBA fans are far too fickle to ever attempt such an obvious solution.

I know I enjoyed it.

and we could go back to the replacements. I really don’t trust the current refs and some of the calls are real eyebrow raisers.

In the NBA, athletes move so fast, so powerful, that rookies often have to “learn the speed of the game.” And these guys are specimines. Just physical freaks. The refs, on the other hand, are old men. It’s just not possible that they get every call right. It’s easy to second guess them when you’re watching a super slow mo replay.

That’s all I have to say about that.

the way I see it is that the refs have been leaving smelly piles of stupid calls all over arena floors for years.

I have zero faith that it will ever get any better.

some of those you will get wrong. No big deal.

What drives me nuts are the huge variations in what constitutes fouls. Shaq can clear out with his forearm, and so can LBJ. Other guys, not so much. Oden gets his feet set, takes a charge from a player running full speed and ends up on his back – no call. Oden get his arms tangled up away from the ball – foul on Oden.

I have given up blaming the refs. There’s nothing you can do that the Blazers haven’t already tried yet. The judgment calls, the backcourt violation that never was, the Blake-out-of-bounds that wasn’t, you can only go so far as to call them idiots. What does that accomplish. I think the best thing to do would be not get caught up in the situation and not get pegged as whiners. You need to pick your arguments, an early-season road game against a good Hawks team that you should have handily won is not the time. You can find equally as many faults in the Blazers ineffective defense and stagnant 4th quarter offense as you can find faults with the referees. We’re all homers, we see it from our side, and you can bet the Hawks fans weren’t thinking “boy we sure got lucky those refs were on our side”. Much like we never are when they go for us. Early in the first half, the Hawks couldn’t buy a foul. I bet they were frustrated and we were cheering. What can you do…

If replays were instituted it would keep the “ref controversy” at bay. I’m tired of feeling like Stern is trying to make money or that there is ANY influence in refs calls what so ever. There was a 10-0 stint that the Hawks made where it was 3 3-pt-plays in a row that were all pretty questionable. Any replay takes that doubt out of fans and also instills that the correct call be made. Perhaps the idea of replay has been brought up but I’m sure if I were Stern and knew no replay = greater NBA numbers = more $$$$.

I’m completely fine waiting 10-20 sec for someone in a booth to clarify that a call was correct. Games shouldn’t come down to ref’s calls in the final minute, whether they should be making them or not.

They were always this biased. But if this gets you upset, wait for this year’s playoffs.

I’ve cursed at the TV (see western conf finals Lakers vs Blazers game 7) watching Shaq literally throw guys, travel, hack, foul, muscle and nothing. This year watch Howard or LBJ. I think its takes all the sport out of the game and I can see how NBA players get so worked up on fouls when the replay comes around and there wasn’t anything.

Take Baseball for example, umpires have their scrutiny and they miss a call here and there but completely blown calls have been taken into consideration for a replay. Why not Basketball? I understand that officials “discrepancy” is part of the game and sometimes the call doesn’t go your way, but when its a blatantly blown call, and then another.. and then another.. it really makes you wonder how the game outcome would be had they had replay and made the correct call instead of blown.

The Blazers may have lost anyways given the refs blew some calls their way as well, but atleast on the plane ride home after a loss they’d know it was them that lost the game not blown calls. Also, if you won a game, wouldn’t you want to have the satisfaction of knowing it was legit and that the officials didn’t have an input?

Umpires are graded for their calls (or lack thereof). Perhaps if refs knew that there were consequences in making the wrong call (ie not officiating playoffs, pay cut, etc) they’d pay more attention the first time around instead of replays.

With so many options that could be done, it really makes you wonder why something hasn’t been done already

He’s always had it in for us. I just watched some 00-01 highlights where he gives Sheed a T just for looking towards him after a foul call.

Monday in Atlanta was no different. Granted, The Blazers didn’t really deserve to win, giving up a big lead as they did, as well as not having an answer for Joe Johnson going coo-coo for cocoa puffs.

Still, Johnson’s bobbled corner 3? That’s either a jump ball or a travel. There’s no way that call could even be anything else. It is unbelievable that nothing was called. That’s something you learn is illegal when someone hands you the basketball for the first time in your life.