Tim Donaghy critiques the officiating in the NBA finals

[Jurassic Referee]

Take a look at the top of the page. If you click on "Tim Donaghy", you'll get his critique of how the first four games of the NBA Finals were officiated.

Deadspin, Sports News without Access, Favor, or Discretion

All I can say is un-freaking-believable.

[JRutledge]

I cannot stand to listen to this man. I guess he thinks his comments are hurting the league. Well they are, but that is the only reason he is doing this is to get back and those that did not support him.

Peace

[Adam]

I'm getting infuriated about how much credibility various radio personalities are giving him.

[26 Year Gap]

Originally Posted by Snaqwells

I'm getting infuriated about how much credibility various radio personalities are giving him.

The media just does not like people who know the rules. *cough* *cough* *Bilas* *cough* Cough*

[bainsey]

Deadspin got our attention. That's all that matters.

[canuckrefguy]

I hate to say this, but some of his observations were bang on.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by canuckrefguy

I hate to say this, but some of his observations were bang on.

A stopped clock is right twice a day.

I have no problem if his takes seemed fair. But they have a vindictive nature to them. He makes it sound like the officials do nothing right. Then he makes it seem as if calls were made because people complained or *****ed about previous calls. Or he claims they are just incompetent. Now I do not know a lot of his background from what he has done as an official, but I do not recall that he was a NBA Finals mainstay. It sounds mostly like sour grapes because he is no longer in the league and he was caught.

Peace

[grunewar]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

A stopped clock is right twice a day.

I have no problem if his takes seemed fair. But they have a vindictive nature to them.

It sounds mostly like sour grapes because he is no longer in the league and he was caught

Absolutely agree!

Originally Posted by JRutledge

He makes it sound like the officials do nothing right.

This is what I think everytime I get evaluated!

[Mark Padgett]

Here's Donaghy holding Kobe back from making a layup so the Lakers don't beat the spread.

[jeffpea]

tim donaghy's comments of this game are pretty accurate. I have no problem with him breaking down the film and evaluating whether calls are correct or not.

the problem I do have is his "slanted" opinion that the reason these calls are incorrect is to extend the series and, therefore, make more money for the NBA.

tim, guys miss calls all the time - they're human (ask MLB Umpire Jim Joyce)! they're not doing it for nefarious reasons. they simply got it wrong. the reason the Celtics shot 30+ FT's in games vs the Magic was they got the ball into the lane three times as much as the Magic did. the team that gets the ball into the paint more often during a game usually wins (they get easier shots and they get to the FT line).

donaghy's right - these calls were missed/bad. donaghy's wrong as to the reason why......

[Jurassic Referee]

The problem is that none of us really knows what a "missed call" in the NBA system actually is. Every call the officials make is graded. But if the grading system is completely subjective on the part of the grader, how do we know what the NBA considers as a "missed call"?

A call might be completely wrong in our eyes, but it may still be perfectly OK in the eyes of the NBA evaluators.

And as jeffpea said, officials are human and will miss calls.

You can't forget that Donaghy also graded out as being one of their staff's more accurate play callers, even in the period that he was supplying info to gamblers. The info that he was supplied was on on officials' calling tendencies, likes/dislikes and injuries he might have heard about. I don't think that he was ever accused of trying to blow calls to affect the outcome of a game. That's the scary part.

As I've said numerous times before, imo the NBA micro-manages their officals as to how the league wants their games called. And if the officials are getting good grades from the league in a game while following the league's direction, you can't blame the officials for supposedly crappy officiating in the same game. The guys are just providing what their bosses want. And they really don't have a choice. Their jobs depend on their evaluations.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by jeffpea

donaghy's right - these calls were missed/bad. donaghy's wrong as to the reason why......

I agree that he might have been right some of the time, but his opinion is very subjective. He might know more about NBA rules, but even his justifications were based on his opinion. And in some case he did not even talk about the call, gave some reason that was nefarious to why a call was even made.

I would like his take if he gave reasons for the calls being missed rather than say the officials were setting it up to screw or cheat a team.

Peace

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by Jurassic Referee

As I've said numerous times before, imo the NBA micro-manages their officals as to how the league wants their games called. And if the officials are getting good grades from the league in a game while following the league's direction, you can't blame the officials for supposedly crappy officiating in the same game. The guys are just providing what their bosses want. And they really don't have a choice. Their jobs depend on their evaluations.

I completely agree, but that is the case at most pro leagues. The NBA is no different; it is just harder IMO to be an NBA (basketball) official because we have so many more decisions to make. A baseball umpire in many cases is not ruling on anything during a play. And everyone gets upset over things that happen in basketball games they do not get upset over in things like an NFL game. But all those leagues have standards that those officials must adhere to. I belong to an association that has three current NFL officials and they talk a lot about what they are expected to do as well. But an NFL official might only have 160 to 200 plays total to rule on. A basketball official does that in a quarter. And even in Tim's critique were a lot of plays that other sports might not even have to be evaluated on.

Peace

[Adam]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

I would like his take if he gave reasons for the calls being missed rather than say the officials were setting it up to screw or cheat a team.

Peace

Methinks he is projecting.

[APG]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

The NBA is no different; it is just harder IMO to be an NBA (basketball) official because we have so many more decisions to make. A baseball umpire in many cases is not ruling on anything during a play. And everyone gets upset over things that happen in basketball games they do not get upset over in things like an NFL game.

I agree with this portion 100%. I also think what helps the perception of football officials is their ability to use a mic. Football has many rules and then many exceptions to the rules. The average fan has an idea what pass interference is. The also usually know that is doesn't apply to uncatchable passes or if the defender is playing the ball (looking back for the ball, etc.). They know this because the referee will announce to everyone why a foul wasn't called. Also, everyone sees the signal and hears the announcement of said call from the official.

Contrast that with a bunch of misconceptions heard all the time at any basketball game...

"That's over the back!"
"He's reaching!"
"How was that a charge?! He was moving!"

etc.

And even though we also give a signal to indicate the type of foul, no one except maybe the coach pays attention to that. Fans see the official with a fist up and blow the whistle, disagree with the call when they may have no idea what specifically the official called the infraction for.