NBA Officiating Rant

[Jason]

Well, we're 1 quarter into the Nuggets-Thunder game and I already quit watching. The NBA publicly admitted to making more than one terrible call that may have costed Denver the game, and how do they respond? By making game 2 one of the worst officiated games I've ever seen. And it's only 1 quarter in. I've withstood terrible officiating many times, but this one just makes me hang my head in shame; both as an NBA fan and on a professional standpoint.

The Nuggets are playing quite poorly, already. But playing well enough to the point where they should at least be in the game. The first few minutes of it was well officiated. But once JR Smith entered the game, EVERYTHING went wrong. The Nuggets were getting roughed up EVERY possession and nothing was being done about it, but they would call phantom falls on most possessions of the Thunder which resulted in point after point after point after point. They call Denver for fouling a guy on a 3 point shot when he wasn't even touched. Of course, he made all 3. JR Smith was nearly taken out of the game on a very hard foul going for a lay up. George Karl said "You have to call that" and received a technical for it. I'm estimating 7 straight Nuggets possession at the end of the 1st quarter were either missed calls or poorly made calls against them. The game should be far closer than it is. Hell, Denver could even be in the lead if the officiating was fair. Who knows? One bad call can change the course of the game, but there are at least ten that went against Denver ALREADY.

The NBA officiating takes away my love for the game in huge margins. I'm debating just giving up on the NBA. It's unbelievable. Even if the Nuggets win, tonight, or even the series, my enjoyment won't be at the level it could've been.

[Man in Black]

I've hated the NBA officiating for years. It's like a whole different game than the way basketball used to be played. That's one of the biggest reasons I love college basketball so much.

The college game is not a contact sport like they've made the NBA into. And everyone knows that if you are a fan favorite you can travel, double dribble and carry anytime you like. To me it takes way too much away from the game the way the calls vary from instance to instance. If it's a foul on one player it should be a foul on any player. And if it's a foul at the beginning of the game then it should be one in the last second of play. Leaving all that up to the ref's judgement is awful.

[Jason]

It's terrible, I sound like such a whiner. But man, it's true. Game 1, the officials admitted to costing Denver the game.

Game 3, with Denver down 3 pending the final shot, Smith posts up and shoots for a 3, is bumped HARD by Perkins and the officials don't call it. The ball doesn't even get halfway to the basket. Smith didn't flop in any way. Game ends. Nuggets down 0-3. Game 5 The ball was clearly off OKC player's leg with a minute to go, and the Nuggets leading, but they say Kenyon Martin touched it. Even after extensive review, and clear footage, they give the ball to the wrong team. Then OKC capitalizes on that possession with a 3. Then, with the score even, I believe, and time running out, a sloppy inbound pass and off balance reception from OKC went over the backcourt line, and the referees blow the whistle. I assumed, of course, that it was Nugget ball because of the OBVIOUS backcourt violation. But no, I didn't know you can give a team another chance to inbound the ball when they commit a backcourt violation. They got to take it out again, and ended up scoring big, of course. Denver loses by another one possession game.

I sound like such a whiner, but there is no disputing anything, there.

If all these games were called properly, AT WORST Denver would be up 3-2. They costed them two victories, games 1 and 5, game 3 should have went into overtime, pending the 3 free throws JR should have had. Oy... I hate complaining, but it's true, and VERY irritating.