The following is a piece I wrote just for myself. My background was broadcasting, but I haven't written for a long time. I've just been watching the NBA playoffs and the Finals, in particular, have made me begin losing interest, again, which is a shame in such an exciting time with such great talent. I just thought I'd share.
This year’s NBA Playoffs hasn’t been the best that I’ve seen, but it’s certainly gone down an interesting path and more importantly, it’s led to what could be (or perhaps now, could have been) one of the most exciting NBA Finals in recent history. I’m not a basketball historian in any sense of the word, so I’m sure my previous statement is very debatable. I’m talking in the sense of what I’ve seen and what I remember in my lifetime. I grew up in Illinois and got to experience two MJ-led Bulls’ 3-peats. I saw The Dream and the Rockets go back-to-back. I’ve seen the Lakers build a dynasty with Shaq and Kobe and then Kobe finally get those rings without him. I’ve seen the Spurs sticking around for a long time. I watched Detroit get back in there to win another title; Wade revive his Heat to claim a championship; Boston become rejuvenated to win its first title in more than 20 years; and of course Dirk finally getting his ring over the self-proclaimed Big 3 (and Jason Terry not having to get a tattoo lasered off).
As I listed all of the championships in my lifetime (from 90-91 and on, because I was 5 that season and don’t remember anything from before that), I have to admit, there are few that actually live on in my memory. I had to go to the NBA’s archives to pull up all the results to remind myself of probably half of them. Even last year’s Finals doesn’t completely stand out in my mind. With all of that said, though, this year you have arguably the two best players in the game, today, in James and Durant and two of the most explosive teams in basketball. Oklahoma City is the young team whose speed can probably only be *****ed by the Lob City Clippers; or at least the only team who seems to be as exciting on a nightly basis, even if they lose. The Heat aren’t an old team, though. Sure, James and Bosh are a bit older than Durant and Westbrook, but not by enough for it to matter. If anything, they’re just more dominant because of those few extra years. And then you’ve got Wade, Haslem, Battier and Miller between ages 30-33 (and old man Howard at 39), but you also have Chalmers and Cole who have had some impact. The bottom line here is that OKC is a young, exciting team and Miami’s core lineup plays young enough to do the same.
This year’s Finals could have played out two ways, for me, and been exciting: the matchup we got, or the alternate Boston and San Antonio – seeing two great teams, whose great players are nearing the end of HOF careers. All things considered, I think most people were hoping more for what we actually got. Game 1 was as exciting as I’d hoped for and with an OKC win, I was of course even happier (I’m not going to try and hide my bias that I’m pulling for them in this). Game 2 went down to the wire and was certainly exciting, too; although I had some gripes (I’ll get to that, soon). Game’s 3 and 4 had their moments of excitement, but to me, it felt like the outcome was pre-determined.
I’ve talked with some of my friends about the officiating. They all say the same thing: this is the only officiating we know. Okay, I’ll buy into that; but not without raising some questions. I know that officiating in the NBA has never been the most pure thing in the world, but I sure don’t remember it being as bad as this year’s playoffs and Finals. I know what you’re thinking; the no-foul call on Durant to end Game 2 is what I’m whining about and if it happened to James, I wouldn’t say a word. Well, I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t be a little happier with that outcome, but at the end of the day, no, I wouldn’t be happy with that. An NBA Finals game was decided, by the lack of a foul called on the second best player in the game when a team was down by two points with only seconds left. I won’t say I’m a purist or begin to walk around like that, but I would hope anyone would be pissed off at that outcome. And for you Heat fans that don’t see the problem in this: if you want to look at it from a different perspective, let’s not forget that OKC had a block called a goaltending violation that gifted Miami two points that they didn’t earn. Unfortunately for OKC, it didn’t happen in the last 2 minutes, so it couldn’t be reviewed.
So before I work myself up into a fit, let me try to break this thing down. Since I just mentioned it, let’s talk about that final two-minute review rule. In digging around, it looks like instant replay started back on the 02-03 season and was updated to include the last 2 minutes (and not just last second shots). I think this is a great idea in theory, but is pretty ridiculous in practice. In the NFL, coaches are allowed to challenge at any point in the game (granted, it’s only on certain plays/calls and you’re only allowed a certain number) and then anything within 2 minutes is reviewed at the officials’ discretion. Where the NFL really worked to ensure they’re on point with the correct call is last year’s adjustment to review all scoring plays. I’m not arguing for the NBA to make their rules the same as the NFL; it would make the NBA move slower than the MLB. But what I want to illustrate is the fact that in the NFL, there’s always an opportunity to make sure the calls are correct. If officials have missed calls in the first 46 minutes, what does it matter if they get one right in the last two? How does that one correct call somehow become more important than the others? Again, in theory, it makes sense. But in application, you see teams that are playing under a completely different set of circumstances. Game 2: OKC is down 2 points with seconds left and Durant shoots, misses, and no foul is called. It’s an entirely different situation than OKC and Miami tied, Durant shooting as time expires. I guess what I’d like to see is a higher standard of officiating throughout the game and no reason to review plays in the last two minutes. All 48 minutes should be treated equally.
I don’t expect officials to get 100% of the calls correct. In fact, for the most part, they’ve done pretty well – except for fouls. The level of inconsistency is beyond belief. I view officials calling fouls like I view a home plate umpire calling balls and strikes. I might not like his strike zone, but if he’s calling it consistently (from start to finish and for each team), then I’m good with it. Again, we can touch on the final two minutes and how that’s somehow different than the other 46, but what I want to focus on more is just the overall inconsistency in what constitutes a foul. In my opinion, I’d rather see guys only rarely have fouls called on them and get to use a lot of contact (more on this, later), but if you’re going to call a foul when someone falls over a player for a loose ball (seriously – over and not onto), then you better call one when a shooter is hit in the air, regardless of how hard or soft it is. I see a lot of the same “fouls” being committed at one point and then not called at another. I’m used to that on occasion, but not this bad. Maybe I’m just paying more attention than I used to, but even last year’s playoffs and Finals felt way less decided by the officiating and much more by the playing. This year’s officiating dictates the tempo more than either team has seemed to. For the Miami fans that think I’m being one-sided on this, my best example to you is probably the foul that was called on James against Boston (Game 5, I believe), where he backed into Pietrus and they called the foul on James because Pietrus fell over. If anything, it should’ve been a foul on Pietrus, but really, it should have just been a “play on” situation.
The commentators and most of the analysts continually bring up the point that players today are so much stronger, bigger, faster, etc. than the players of the past. Who wouldn’t agree with that? If that’s the case, then, why wouldn’t we adjust the rules, accordingly? I don’t see why it would be so difficult to hold off on calling so many fouls. That way, the fans might get a chance to see Durant actually play defense in the final 12 minutes of a game (seriously, in Games 2 and 3, it was just pathetic watching him have to stand off to the side or guard Battier outside the arc). What I propose is getting rid of charges; or at least, move the restricted area out further. There are few things that irritate me as much as someone sliding into the path of the guy with the ball. Let’s face it, every charge call is what I just explained, even if some of them have been there long enough that it isn’t a call that could go either way. I’m by no means saying get rid of offensive fouls; those need to be kept and called when guys throw elbows or just truck over people. But in the lane, why would we want to keep charging fouls (at least from the perspective of fans)? Sure, it’s exciting to see a guy maneuver around a defender at the rim and athletically lay the ball in. But the reaction is exponentially more explosive when someone gets posterized. As long as an offensive player doesn’t lead with his feet (I’m looking at you, Dwayne Wade) or use his non ball-hand (or elbow) to initiate contact with the defender, why shouldn’t he be able to go in there? I guess it’s a fine line between what we have today and guys just trucking down the lane trying to plow over defenders, but there has to be some better way than what we have. Seriously, if I see Battier shuffle in for one more of those sneaky charges on Durant, I may just break something.
And then we move onto flopping. Van Gundy has been talking about this for I don’t know how long and now, apparently, Stern is up on it. With the technology that exists, I’d have to imagine there is a way we could put sensors in the uniforms of the players and if a certain amount of force is exerted, it registers on a computer at the scorer’s table and a foul is called from the sideline. This would keep guys from flopping, remove the judgment calls from the officials on the floor and also help out guys like James and Dwight Howard who probably get mugged more than most, but it doesn’t show because they’re bigger, stronger and have some scruples to them.
There are plenty more issues that could be brought up, but these are the ones I wanted to focus on (read as: these are the ones that pissed me off the most). Has OKC done a lot to screw up their chances of winning and made enough mistakes to lose on their own? Sure they have. But have the officials done anything that has helped them out and hurt the Heat? Not that I’ve seen; at least not on the same scale that it’s helped out Miami. Perhaps this is just my cynicism, but watching these NBA playoffs and Finals has felt more like watching the WWE than basketball (and not because of the acting, although that’s there, too; but because of the storyline that seems to be built and what almost feels like predictability). I wouldn’t be surprised if Stern was at the helm of this or if Vegas was playing a role (I seriously would bet more on Stern). It would be different if NBA refs hadn’t been caught in gambling scandal, before.
My friends say we’ve never know anything different in officiating in the NBA. I know I stopped watching when Jordan retired and regained interest when a young player by the name of LeBron James was so exciting in his recruitment from high school that I found interest in the NBA, again. With players so exciting, it’s a shame that the officiating overshadows what could have been in some of the outcomes. I’m giving the rest of this series a chance to restore my faith, but I’m not holding my breath. I feel like I already see how this thing is going to play out.