NBA refs targeted Yao in 05 playoffs

Seriously the Kings won about 5 or 6 games in the 2002 series. As far as most outrageously called series in NBA history nothing comes close to that one.
 
So did they stop fixing the games during the years that San Antonio won all of those championships and Ginobli, was diving all over the floor on EVERY play - and getting to the line?

And now that the best two teams during the regular season are in the finals, they have started fixing the games again?

I understand the frustration of this board, and agree with most of it, but the timing of the outrage seems a tad hypocritical.
 
Generally speaking, the way playoff games were called when Shaq was playing for the Lakers were questionable. I've been watching NBA basketball since the early 70s, and no big man ever got the benefit of the doubt the way Shaq did. Jabbar, Walton, Olajuwon, Duncan - all those guys possessed signature offensive skills upon which they relied to get points. Jabbar with the sky hook, Olajuwon with the turn around jumper, Walton and Duncan with the bank shot. But Shaq... Shaq used his giant backside to simply and predictably dribble backwards into the body of whoever was trying to cover him until he finally got close enough to the basket to either dunk it or take a two foot shot. It was impossible to maintain your balance with all that weight pressing against you. It's one thing to have your feet set, then move your feet because the other player puts a move on you by spinning or juking or whatever.

But Shaq just backed straight over people. And when the player covering Shaq fell down or lost their balance, it was their fault and they picked up the foul. Just amazing. The most amazing, discouraging thing I've ever witnessed in professional sports. There have been OL in football known for holding. But they did it on the sly, it was hard to catch them. But Shaq openly and blatantly flaunted the rules of basketball, again and again and again, and got away with it ("Contact which is incidental to an effort by a player to play an opponent, reach a loose ball, or perform normal defensive or offensive movements, should not be considered illegal. If, however, a player attempts to play an opponent from a position where he has no reasonable chance to perform without making contact with his opponent, the responsibility is on the player in this position as stated in nba basketball rules"; "If the dribbler's path is blocked, he is expected to pass or shoot; that is, he should not try to dribble by an opponent unless there is a reasonable chance of getting by without contact.").
The Link

The Lakers are good for ratings. Maybe it's true that all professional sports leagues are about ratings and money. But when Shaq was playing for the Lakers, the corrupt nature of the refereeing was over the top.
 
After watching Dwayne Wade get away with murder in the Dallas/Miami finals, I gave up on hoops. I figured why watch it if the players aren't called for **** or worse, a player can foul someone and the victim gets called for the foul.

Jordon pushed off. It should have been a foul.
 
I thinkt hat to say he has no basketball skills is way over-stated, but I do agree that he merely ran over people and even in his younger days when faced up with a center with good athleticism, he was abused (Olajuwan).

I fail to understand why if I push my butt into a player who has established position and knock him over that that is any less a fall than if I chest bump him or hit his arms while shooting.

Shaq is waaaaayyyyy over-rated.
 
Shaq had pretty good footwork. But he did/does rely on being bigger than everyone else.

I remember when he and Hakeem played in the '95 Finals... poor Charles Jones had to come off the bench to be abused by Shaq.
 
Shaq does get away with a ton of charges, but it's definitely not true to say he has no skill. His quickness for his size is pretty incredible. I've seen him get dunks by making spin moves in the post around guys who should be a lot quicker than him.
 
I'm not much for conspiracy theories, but the quality of NBA officiating has been atrocious for over a decade. If nothing else, I'm glad the controversy is bringing attention to it.
 
the nba sucks because the "rules" are arbitrary and the officials enforce them arbitrarily.

i'm no shaq fan, but to put all of that together - the size, strength, agility - is not something that should count against him.
 
The NBA game is more physical so people see Shaq being physical nowadays more than anything else. However, in college you saw more of his athleticism, his ability to run the floor and go up for blocks and rebounds. He had a game at LSU versus Arizona that was obscene. He reminded me of Dwight Howard how he was flying to the rim that day. To recall that at the time Stanley Roberts was seen as the more promising NBA project at LSU is amusing in retrospect.

All that said, I agree that Shaq has gotten away with an assload of offensive fouls over the course of his NBA career.
 
You're nothing more than a weekend warrior if you can't appreciate the athletic ability Shaq brings to the table. Being big and strong alone won't make you an all-star in the NBA, let alone one of the best big men of all-time. He was a tough guy to officiate, because there's not a player in the league who could withstand the punishment he took.

There was always the argument of a defender's right to space when you dealt with Shaq. But nobody asked what about his right to the same space. Using every bit of force in your body to anchor Shaq certainly isn't "fair" or basketball, but he had no problem handling it. You can't have it both ways and you can't penalize him because of his size. There is a lot of shady **** that has gone on with officiating in the league, but the NBA did a halfway decent job in dealing with him. His skills warranted that respect.

I will give you game 6 of the 2002 C.Finals, but game 7 in 01 against Portland- no dice. Portland couldn't hit a shot to save their life in the 4th quarter. When the officials take the game from you like they did the Kings, that's hard to swallow. When you blow it like Portland, you deserve what you got. A no call 25 seconds to go when the other team is up by 4 is hardly a screw job. Simmons and anyone else is reaching there.

Bill Simmons has gotten unbareable to read. Great writer when he first came out, but now that Boston is cleaning up in the big 3 this guy has become nothing more than a cheerleader. ESPN should drop him that way he can write for the Boston Globe. Anything Knicks or Lakers and this guy has a problem. If he wasn't busy choking on Larry Bird's dick he might take the time to reflect on the tuck rule that may or may not have put the Patriots on the run they've experienced. And he might remember that as long as you have human beings making the calls in these games, you're going to have controversy. Human beings make mistakes, are corrupt, and sometimes just don't get it. That's why you can't take pro sports, especially the NBA, that seriously. There's always some ******** going on that you don't want to know about
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Weekly Prediction Contest

* Predict HORNS-AGGIES *
Sat, Nov 30 • 6:30 PM on ABC

Recent Threads

Prediction Results Threads

2024 Schedules

Back
Top