It's not very professional to try and make your point by sh!tting on another group of officials.

Methinks you and Ron Ref might have a lot in common.

Everyone remembers the Polish ref from 1972, although possibly not by name.

JMO, but I think you may have narrowed the field as to who the board jumper is.

And I did an image search for JMO and came up with this....
http://www.newciv.org/pic/nl/artpic/241/156/jmo$.gif

DUH! Have you considered that's because nobody gives a $hit about this?

Hello!
Some of refs working in the World Championship in Japan are some of the best referees in the world.
I have no doubt about it. I have seen NBA, NCAA, Euroleague and FIBA games and I think FIBA referees are outstanding.
And I think also that some of the refs in the World Championship could easily work in the NBA.
Some of them are better than the majority of NBA referees.
We have to see that the rules are diferent and the level of contact permited in the game is diferent also. So the "strange" things that some of you refer are only the FIBA interpretations that are given to the refs. Ed F. Rush is a good example. One of the best NBA referees and works in the FIBA WC alongside some other outstanding referees. There is no visible diference.
But guys like Brazauskas, Fachini, Arteaga, Martin Bertran, Carlos Renato dos Santos, Sudek, Belosevic and Zavlanos are at the level of Steve Javie, Danny Crawford, Joe Crawford, Dick Bevetta, Ed F. Rush and Bennet Salvatore.
And some of the FIBA referees are not professional referees and in the NBA everyone is a full time professional.
Thanks for your time.

Sorry to have ruffled feathers here. I didn't know it was that big of a deal. Also, I'm not ****ting on another group of referees to make a point as another poster said. ALL I'M SAYING is: I am looking at this championship from a basketball FAN'S point of view, not as a referee. I am also an NBA FAN. When I watched the NBA playoffs, I saw controversy in every game. In the WC games, it seems like the players just play the game and let the referees do their job. It could work in the NBA too, but the mentality of players and fans causes every game to have a lot of controversy. I'm not saying the refs are good or bad in either league. I am saying that I like the LEVEL OF CONTACT ALLOWED IN FIBA, compared to the NBA. I don't like seeing Dirk Nowitski or Dwayne Wade on the foul line to win games in the final seconds on touchy foul calls. I would rather see the games called much more like international play. The games have a nice flow to them and I enjoy watching. I like the way the FIBA refs manage the game as well.....that's all.....excuse me for living !!!!!!!!!!!! DAMN !

Sorry partner, but if you think the FIBA guys are on the level with the top NBA officials, then you show a tremendous lack of credibilty. No offense intended, JMHO. You haven't seen the game played with the same passion as the NBA playoffs, nor have you seen the same passion from the fans. And if you truly think that there's controversy in every NBA playoff game, then you truly have a lot to learn about officiating.

Sorry, I guess I've been enjoying these games without realizing how poor the officiating really has been. I'll watch closer during the championship game this morning. Call me dumb ! I thought they were doing a good job.....guess not!

Lack pf credibility why, BKTBALLREF???
Have you ever seen a game in Greece? Like Panathinaikos-Olympiakos??? Do you know how Greek fans react during the game? A NBA game compared with that is a child´s play.
You can find real pressure in Europe. And refs in Europe react well to that, working always in a very good manner.
Your opinion is narrowminded, and shows a lack of knowledge about international basketball. There´s passion and pressure everywhere.
Some of the NBA refs are very, very good but some of the FIBA officials are at the same level.
But that´s my opinion, of course.
By the way, i am watching the final of the WC, and the american ref is the worse referee that i saw in the WC. Bad calls, call called to the wrong guy, a backcourt violation called by the C referee when he was the Trail ref and did not blow the whistle, etc. Ed F. Rush is much better ref than this guy.

I don't know who that Trail official was, but it sure looked like a backcourt violation. Maybe the T saw that the defender touched the ball after it was passed. But you sure couldn't see any touch on TV. I'd like to hear that discussion in the locker room. I can't believe that any referee (FIBA, NBA, NCAA) would miss a backcourt call that was that obvious.

I only saw the 3rd quarter. It was such a blowout in the 4th, that I turned it off. I saw only that backcourt call (and it's not clear who was wrong there) and a HORRIBLE no-call during rebounding action. The Spanish player literally landed on the back of the Greek player, who lost the ball. Then during the loose ball, a foul was called on Greece. Really bad sequence there; but that's the only thing I saw.

I thought they did a very good job for the 10:00 that I saw. Doesn't mean they're all good or all bad; it's just what I happened to see this morning.

Interesting thread.

No doubt there went some crappy sequences at the WC. Some recent NBA mixups:

T'ing a player (resulting in ejection) for USC when two opponents, friends, were just joking around.

I recall something about Michael Henderson suspended for 3 games for missing a shot clock violation.

I don't recall the rule 100%, and maybe this is an issue with the rule: playoff game last year, secondary defender plants roots about 3 inches outside LDB. Strong torso contact. L calls block. It's either a bad call or bad rule.

I'm sure there are others, but my NBA watching is minimal.

So..... the NBA playoffs is the best basketball in the world? Then why does an NBA all-star team not handily win the WC?

Are FIBA refs good? Yes, they are. I know a FIBA ref that was invited to 2 NBA camps. Ok, so he didn't make it, but he was invited and I don't think he would have chosen to go anyways; he is a strong family man. I also know about a few other FIBA refs who do ref NCAA ball, from D3 to D1. IMO, European FIBA refs could do NBA ball, once given the NBA philosophy.

Jugs, some of your points are good ones, but this one is not. The best NBA teams make the NBA playoffs. An All-Star team is not necessarily put together to make a good team. This is obvious from the US team's performance in the last Olympics. Lots of talent, no team effort.

In addition to that, not all the best players in the NBA want to play the int'l game. Their season is long enough and they'd rather not play over the summer.

I think different officials from different countries/associations/leagues(even areas etc.) might have different understandings/opinions/abilities of OFFICIATING, so it may not be that necessary to judge who is better or worse. Every official has his/her personality, capability, skills advantage/disadvantage in officiating. Somehow I deeply believe that every official is always trying his/her best. And the OFFICIATING is an unlimited course.

Maybe because there is only 2 or 3 NBA All-Stars on the team. This is not the Dream Team where every player was a Hall of Famer. LeBron, Carmelo and Wade are about the only year in, year out All-Stars on the team. And they only get together every 2 or 3 years and work for a 2 month stretch. It is obvious to me a team why a team like Greece wins when those guys have been playing together for years.

Are you going to tell me if guys like Shaq, Kevin Garnett and Kobe played on the team what the result would be the same? They got beat in one game for God's sake.

Peace

The 2004 team had Tim Duncan, Allan Iverson, Lebron James, Dwayne Wade and Carmelo Anthony, who are all projected to be future NBA Hall-of-famers. They also had at least 2 other all-stars in Amare Stoudamire and Stephon Marbury. That team went 5-3 at the Olympics, losing to Puerto Rico, Lithuania and Argentina, and barely beating Greece by 6. They had a Hall-of-Fame coach in Larry Brown too.

The bottom line is that the US is now <b>one</b> of the best teams in the world, and on any given day.......

Might as well accept it.