DIRK, PHOENIX, AND SAN ANTONIO

Game 4 between the Phoenix Suns and the San Antonio Spurs was a classic. Great plays, comebacks, and a tussle… All of the things that make sports fun to watch. It’s really great to take in the action without being attached to either team. I don’t care who wins the series I just want great action and I haven’t been disappointed yet.. Well, that’s not exactly true.

I know this is a tired take, but the NBA officiating is not fantastic. Basketball is one of the hardest sports to ref, especially since the rules are pretty easy to comprehend by anyone watching, leading to people arguing over what is a foul and what isn’t. With that said, I found myself saying the league must have made “the call” to the refs at the start of the 4th quarter. San Antonio, the home team, couldn’t get a call. I’m not big into conspiracy theories but if the Spurs had went up 3-1, the Suns could have gone ahead and cancelled Christmas. With the league’s best story (the Warriors) already on the ropes, the NBA needs it’s favorite team the Phoenix Suns around for as long as possible. I thought I was alone in seeing the referee bias but True Hoop and the story Henry linked to felt the same way.

Another thing I’m disappointed with is all the whining that the Phoenix Suns’ fans are doing. I hate to say this but SHUT THE HELL UP. Jeezus. First, you want the NBA to change the rules so Steve Nash can have 4 hours to fix his bleeding nose. Thank God he didn’t break his leg because Suns fan would be asking the NBA to suspend the playoffs until Steve healed. Second, Amare and the Suns’ fans calling the Spurs dirty while Raja Bell still suits up for Phoenix is beyond funny. Yes, you can slow down some tape and show Bruce Bowen intentionally/unintentionally stepping on Amare’s heel. Yes, you can argue that Bowen kneed Nash in the nads on purpose, but you don’t need to slow down anything to see Bell’s clothesline of Kobe Bryant last year, a play dirtier than ANY violation in this year’s playoffs. Including Baron Davis’ Horry-like take-down of Derek Fisher.

Speaking of the Horry take-down.. I was pretty sure that the league would suspend Big Shot Rob for two games to balance out the fact that two Suns were getting suspended for game 5. I’m not glad that I was right, but I am somewhat familiar with how the league thinks. I would have been cool if Horry got a game and Amare got a game but Diaw was allowed to play. Boris did leave the bench but not with the same intensity as S.T.A.T. If Stoudemire had made his way to the melee, something bad might have happened. Boris probably would have done the baseball square dance. The NBA “leaving the bench” rule needs to be, and probably will be, examined at the end of the playoffs. As the rule stands, the NBA made the right decision. And before you say what about The Big Fundamental, I’ve seen the footage of Duncan stepping away from the bench but that’s not nearly the same thing. As a matter of fact, that happens all of the time. When you see a big play down the stretch in a tight game, watch the bench. Guys are jumping up and down and celebrating..Some of them spill onto the floor. Check out the bench when a team knows it’s about to call a timeout.. You’ll see a player or two wander out onto the floor. It’s not malicious. It doesn’t carry the same intent.

And finally I’m disappointed in everybody sweating Dirk Nowitzki for winning the NBA MVP award. Like I’ve said before, it’s a regular season award. Dirk was the man in the regular season. It’s strange that when Shaq (or Shaque Cousteau) said the NBA MVP award has been tainted lately, everybody jumped down his throat.. Claiming he said Steve Nash’s MVP’s are tainted when he clearly said the last 4 or 5 years. Some people even went as far as to call Shaq a racist. Now that Nash didn’t win, people are saying the award is meaningless, the voting is a joke, the voting should take place after the playoffs, blah blah blah… Enough already. Do people realize that if the MVP voting came after the playoffs, Steve Nash would have ZERO MVPs? Dwayne Wade would have won the MVP last year and Tim Duncan would have won the year before. Dirk was the best player on the best team in the regular season. The exact reason that Nash won the MVP his first year. I don’t care if Nash had a better statistical season this year than last year. The players aren’t competing against themselves for the award. Follow this example.. A man wins salesman of the year two consecutive years at his company. In the third year, he sells more than he did the first two years, but another employee sells more than him. Who’s gonna win salesman of the year? The other employee. It’s the exact same thing. Steve Nash not winning the MVP doesn’t take away from his status. There were years when Michael Jordan could/should have won the MVP and didn’t. It happens. Nash is a great player.. better than Nowitzki.. And I guarantee you, if Phoenix wins the championship Steve Nash won’t give a damn about his two MVPs or “the one that got away”.

NBA suspends Stoudemire, Diaw for leaving bench. Thank you ESPN

Phoenix Got the Calls. Thank you True Hoop (ESPN)

Oh, Why Not. Thank you Section F Sports

Shaq says recent MVP awards ‘tainted’. Thank you MSNBC

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WHITE REFS DON’T CARE ABOUT BLACK PLAYERS

A study conducted by Justin Wolfers, an assistant professor of business and public policy at the Wharton School, and Joseph Price, a Cornell graduate student in economics reports that during the 13 seasons from 1991 through 2004, white referees called fouls at a greater rate against black players than against white players. The study also found that black refs called more fouls against white players.

The duo of Wolfers and Price did a lot of research for their study and even submitted the results to the NBA. David Stern had his own team of nerds do some research and they came up with some different results:

“We think our cut at the data is more powerful, more robust, and demonstrates that there is no bias.”

Of course you do Mr. Stern. Unfortunately for Stern the New York Times had 3 independent experts compare the Wolfers-Price paper to the NBA report, and all 3 concluded that the Wolfers and Price study was “far more sound”.

I decided to do my own study and here’s what I discovered:

• Violet Palmer calls fouls against males 100% of the time.
• 12 of the top 20 most foul prone players (min. of 40 games) are black, 5 are foreign born, 3 are white Americans, 2 are O’Neals, 2 are Warriors, 2 are Cavaliers, and 17 are big men (6’9″+).
• Joey Crawford hates Tim Duncan regardless of color.
• Dirk Nowitzki (12) and Chris Kaman (8) led non-blacks in technical fouls.
• Euros don’t foul flagrantly.
• Rasheed Wallace (21 techs) was ejected 1 time while Chucky Atkins (4 techs) was ejected twice.
• I have too much time on my hands.

While I’m poking fun at the study, it does have some interesting information. I can’t wait for the next report: BASEBALL UMPIRES CALL MORE STRIKES AGAINST LATINOS

Study of NBA Sees Racial Bias in Calling Fouls. Thank you The New York Times

NBA players foul statistics. Thank you NBA.com

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