Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

NBA Voodoo: David Stern Fixes the Playoffs
A Different Drummer ^ | 5 June 2002 | Nicholas Stix

Posted on 06/04/2002 7:37:53 AM PDT by mrustow

Article argues that NBA Commissioner David Stern wanted so much for the Los Angeles Lakers to extend their two-consecutive NBA championships to a "threepeat," that he fixed the Western Conference Finals against the Sacramento Kings.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Extended News; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; US: California; US: New Jersey
KEYWORDS: ccrm; davidstern; kobebryant; losangeleslakers; mikebibby; nba; newjerseynets; officiating; sacramentokings; sportsfixing; voodoo
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 221-240241-260261-280 ... 441-442 next last
To: diamond6
What I want to know is which finals will be more lopsided Lakers/Nets or Wings/Canes.
241 posted on 06/04/2002 12:24:10 PM PDT by xp38
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 232 | View Replies]

To: rdb3
I agree. This year the NBA game is much more interesting because they took away the ridiculous "illegal defense" rule.

But the inconsistency of officiating, all things being equal, should be seen in the NCAA and other basketball leagues. It isn't. It is markedly different in the NBA. I don't think that is part of a conspiracy, but I do think fan interest at all levels would go up if the inconsistency issue was not so obvious and predictable.

The NBA has the most inconsistent officiating of any major sport.

242 posted on 06/04/2002 12:32:05 PM PDT by twntaipan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 194 | View Replies]

To: Sir Gawain
You might be interested to know that the Local line is that Kobe was seen partying it up HARD the night before and was looped when he left.

But the food poisoning sounds so much better than the fact that he was just hung over.

243 posted on 06/04/2002 12:35:58 PM PDT by knews_hound
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 225 | View Replies]

Comment #244 Removed by Moderator

To: SlickWillard
I don't agree with your perceptions at all. I have been watching Shaq and haven't seen what you think you have. Your use of foul language betrays that you don't even take yourself seriously.

I'm amazed how he often is made to got to the basket with three guys climbing him and they refuse quite often to not call the foul.

In the last series the refs did about averything to de-thrown the Lakers with calls. Some say game 6 was a reversal of the of other 6 games for the Lakers. At that point I refused to watch because of all the gifting the refs had done for Sacramento throughout game 5. In game 7, I watched again and the whole game was called 7-1 by refs against the Lakers.
The overtime was the only clean part of the game in that nothing was called.

245 posted on 06/04/2002 12:45:39 PM PDT by A CA Guy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 224 | View Replies]

To: diamond6
Maybe 5 games.
246 posted on 06/04/2002 12:46:48 PM PDT by A CA Guy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 216 | View Replies]

To: mrustow
Today's players may be better athletes than their forebears, but they are not forced to learn and maintain the fundamentals.

A hearty "Amen" to that, kind sir!

And it's going to get worse. Now we have high schoolers entering the league with no refinement in their game whatsoever. College kids will continue to depart school after one, maybe two years.

This reminds me of a $1,000 bet I had with my cousin. I told him that he could pick any five neighborhood street-ballers and I would put five of my high school's B-team (JV) against them and that they would be white players (I went to a Catholic school in the Diocese of Cleveland). He said that my team would get crushed.

I said, "Bet."

A reffed game, of course. Final score? My team 89, his team 66.

Fundamentals, ball-rotation, blocking out, rebounding, pick-and-rolls. That's all they did. No slam dunks, either. His team was easily frustrated by these so-called "slow" white boys who couldn't jump! ;-) But they could set and come open off a screen and singe the nets.

A disciplined, fundamental approach trumps showmanship every single time.
And, no, I didn't share my winnings, either.

247 posted on 06/04/2002 12:53:41 PM PDT by rdb3
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 223 | View Replies]

To: Bikers4Bush, ex-con
I guess it's my fault that you got off track here.

You said that any mob squad composed of 'street punks' would have the advantage over any NBA team as long as the ref's calls went their way, and the discussion migrated to the skills of a particularly good street hoopster vs. the average NBA player.

Believe it or don't, but any street ball team you could make would get smoked by even a below-average NBA team.

*TEAM* is the operative word here, Biker.

ex-con, and NO, we're not talking about penal league ball. ;)

248 posted on 06/04/2002 1:09:52 PM PDT by The KG9 Kid
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 230 | View Replies]

To: The KG9 Kid
Actually I was too general by saying any court in America. But I'll still disagree with you.

There's no doubt in my mind that if you looked for one you could find five guys that play together all the time that could take the starting five of an NBA team if they had the refs calling it their way.

Believe me, if you haven't seen the Cavs play then I can't possibly make you understand.

249 posted on 06/04/2002 1:18:59 PM PDT by Bikers4Bush
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 248 | View Replies]

To: Bikers4Bush
I once thought the way you did, Biker, that there was enough street talent to compose a squad that could defeat an NBA team. I believe differently now.

Even the best college ball team is sloppy as hell compared to even a bunk NBA team, and most talented street hoopsters would find that playing on a college squad is a whole different program that's worth putting 20+ points on their team's game. The difference between a typical NBA team vs. the ghetto-ball players wouldn't get narrower than fifty points -- and I'm being damn generous.

RDB3 made a good point here, and one that's entirely believable.

250 posted on 06/04/2002 1:31:01 PM PDT by The KG9 Kid
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 249 | View Replies]

To: Sir Gawain
And nobody flops when they come in contact with an offensive player in basketball.

Are you talking about Floppy Divac?

251 posted on 06/04/2002 1:35:48 PM PDT by diamond6
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 239 | View Replies]

To: Bikers4Bush
Believe me, if you haven't seen the Cavs play then I can't possibly make you understand.

Bwuahahahaha! That is the single most funniest thing I have read or heard in the last week.

252 posted on 06/04/2002 1:37:16 PM PDT by RabidBartender
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 249 | View Replies]

To: A CA Guy;slickwillard
Emotional, whiny people have a tendency not to have much logic.
253 posted on 06/04/2002 1:42:57 PM PDT by diamond6
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 245 | View Replies]

To: The KG9 Kid
Even the best college ball team is sloppy as hell compared to even a bunk NBA team,

I think you are making a wrong comparison. College ball is not equal to "street talent" for one reason - and that is age. It would be very difficult for an entire team of 18-21 year olds to beat a seasoned NBA team. However, your street talent would consist of guys from 18-40 years old, some probably former semi-pro or college talent.

In addition, considering the recent deluge or high school players into the NBA, many NBA games look just like a pick-up game, with hot-shot behind the back passes that end up in the fourth row. You have probably dozens of NBA players who each have less than four or five years experience of organized ball on a competitive level. There is no doubt in my mind that an organized team of guys in their late 20's and early 30's could beat an NBA team, especially if the refs are going to call it their way.

254 posted on 06/04/2002 1:42:59 PM PDT by FreeTally
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 250 | View Replies]

To: mountaineer
Maybe Kobe swallowed when he should have B>snorted

So that explains it! Cocaine has caused your brain to go haywire!

255 posted on 06/04/2002 1:46:36 PM PDT by diamond6
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 229 | View Replies]

To: mountaineer
Maybe Kobe swallowed when he should have snorted.

So that explains it! Cocaine has caused your brain to go haywire!

256 posted on 06/04/2002 1:47:50 PM PDT by diamond6
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 229 | View Replies]

Comment #257 Removed by Moderator

To: mrustow
A telltale sign of NBC (Announcer)CASH-COW objectivity:

KINGS make a basket = "YEESS"

LAKERS make a basket = "YYYYYEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS, WHOOOPPEE, FAAANNNNNTTTAAASSSSTTTIIICCCCKKKK !!! "

258 posted on 06/04/2002 1:57:31 PM PDT by XGMan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: FreeTally
I know I'll never find a record of it on the web, but I do recall that after the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, there was some Los Angeles civic youth organization that got some kind of charity exhibition tournament going facing off the Gold-Medalist US Olympic basketball team vs. a bunch of LA street hustlers about three days after the Olympics closing ceremony.

The US Olympic team was made up of all college ball players from different teams who had played with one another as a team only enough to be called the 'US Olympic Team', and the street-hustlers were all well-known to each other from blacktop hustling.

I can't remember the final score, but it was a huge blowout in favor of the US Olympic team; The gap was something up around 75 points.

The players for the US team included Patrick Ewing, Chris Mullen, Sam Perkins, Wayman Tisdale, and an young unknown player named Michael Jordan.

The most crooked ref in the world couldn't have saved the ghetto-ballers from that kind of humiliation.

259 posted on 06/04/2002 2:02:37 PM PDT by The KG9 Kid
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 254 | View Replies]

To: Bikers4Bush
Believe me, if you haven't seen the Cavs play...

Hey! Hands off the hometown team! ;-)

They used to be good. But that was a long, long time ago. Where's Mark Price, Larry Nance, Brad Dougherty, and World B Free when you need them?


I still love 'em!

260 posted on 06/04/2002 2:06:19 PM PDT by rdb3
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 249 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 221-240241-260261-280 ... 441-442 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson