NBA Finals Officials

[actuary77]

It looks like Ron Garretson has not gotten Finals assignments for at least the past 4 years. I know he's been there in the early 2000s. Any speculation out there why he's not? (I have been noticing that he's getting a little "chubby")

Same is true for Dick Bavetta, though I kinda know why they don't give him Finals assignments anymore, i.e. old age.

Any guesses who will get be in the Finals for the first time this year?

[rockyroad]

Snaqs???

[JugglingReferee]

J Crawford, D Crawford, McCutchen, Foster, Stafford, Willard, Callahan, Mauer, Malloy, Washington, Spooner, Phillips

[rockyroad]

Originally Posted by JugglingReferee

J Crawford, D Crawford, McCutchen, Foster, Stafford, Willard, Callahan, Mauer, Malloy, Washington, Spooner, Phillips

No Snaqs???

That sucks.

[gamefaceref]

Originally Posted by JugglingReferee

J Crawford, D Crawford, McCutchen, Foster, Stafford, Willard, Callahan, Mauer, Malloy, Washington, Spooner, Phillips

No Kennedy or Woods?

[amusedofficial]

What I'd give for just one more Richie-and-Mendy final.

Heck, I'd settle to have them back to do Cavs-Bobcats on a Saturday afternoon in December..

[Jay R]

Originally Posted by gamefaceref

No Kennedy or Woods?

Bill Kennedy worked the Finals last year.

Do you mean Leon Wood? He's one of the officials who's working more playoff games this year with so many guys retiring in the last few years.

[Victor74]

I'd put the following into the Finals
17 Joey Crawford (crew chief)
43 Dan Crawford (crew chief)
13 Monty McCutchen (crew chief)
48 Scott Foster (crew chief)
9 Derrick Stafford
24 Mike "Duke" Callahan
57 Greg Willard
55 Bill Kennedy
41 Ken Mauer
14 Ed Malloy
23 Jason Phillips
49 Tom Washington
alternates: 33 Zach Zarba and 10 Ron Garretson

To answer someone's question of why not Leon Wood in the Finals, I don't believe he is ready. Generally, Finals officials are also crew chiefs, which Leon Wood is not. And the pool of officials for the Finals can and does change every year based on who the twelve best officials are. Ron Garretson has fallen out of favor since his Finals appearances.

I didn't consider Marc Davis because of his involvement in two technical foul (one being Rajon Rondo's rightful ejection) situations. He comes across as quick with the whistle and a bit over zealous with a slight ego. I also didn't consider Bill Spooner because in games he serves as crew chief, he appears to let things get to the point they can get out of control (lacking game management).

I put Zach Zarba in as an alternate because I recognize what a great, young official he really is. I don't think he is ready for the Finals stage yet but will gain a lot from serving as an alternate. I expect within two years, he'll get a Finals game. Ron I put in as alternate almost out of default. It could very easily have went to Tony Brothers.

No matter who is assigned the Finals, it is nice to see the NBA move from giving seniority a thought in who gets Finals. They now are recognizing the better officials and assigning accordingly. Not ten years ago, Dick Bavetta would be in the Finals just because he has been in the NBA longer than most any of the players themselves.

[tomegun]

I think it is kind of odd that Malloy is now considered ahead of Zarba. But I don't keep track of them as much as some. What do you think about Mott?

[actuary77]

Originally Posted by Victor74

I'd put the following into the Finals
17 Joey Crawford (crew chief)
43 Dan Crawford (crew chief)
13 Monty McCutchen (crew chief)
48 Scott Foster (crew chief)
9 Derrick Stafford
24 Mike "Duke" Callahan
57 Greg Willard
55 Bill Kennedy
41 Ken Mauer
14 Ed Malloy
23 Jason Phillips
49 Tom Washington
alternates: 33 Zach Zarba and 10 Ron Garretson

Thanks for your detailed response. I actually agree with your list above, not because I think they are necessarily the best 12 officials (haven't watched a lot of games this season to make that determination), but based on the assignments that's been handed out so far in the playoffs. Actually, based on this, I believe Tony Brothers and/or Ron Garretson might make the Finals this year. But then again, we'll probably know more when we see who works the Conference Finals.

Getting back to my original post... why did Garretson fall out of favor after his Finals appearances? Did he have major screw ups?

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by actuary77

...
Getting back to my original post... why did Garretson fall out of favor after his Finals appearances? Did he have major screw ups?

Are you looking for an official answer (no pun intended) or speculation by a bunch of officials who frequent internet forums?

[Victor74]

I'll try answering further without sounding like I'm an expert that I am not.

Generally speaking, you can forecast Finals officials by two major things. How many regular season games they worked and of those, how many they were crew cheifs in. Second, how many playoff games they officiated. Again generally speaking, all eight crew chiefs will make it into Finals (Joe Crawford, Dan Crawford, Derrick Stafford, Ken Mauer, Monty McCutchen, Scott Foster, Mike Callahan and Greg Willard) unless three things occur: injury, controversies and/or an unprecidented drop in ratings/accuracy.

My take on Tony Brothers, Ron Garretson and Rodney Mott? These are personal opinions only:
Brothers appears to be laid back, sometimes too much so. Perhaps game management is an issue with the brass. Looking at his schedule the last couple years, he isn't always a crew chief. Generally speaking, the higher rated crew chief is a consistent and constant crew chief. Others not so highly rated are paired up with another crew cheif. (Thus with exception to the possible Dick Bavetta farewell tour, you won't see Dan Crawford working with Monty McCutchen in regular season games generally speaking.)
Garretson may have fallen victim to the fact that there are many younger crew, less experienced crew chiefs (McCutchen, Malloy...) that are performing better than him. I also tend to believe (this would be borderline conspiratorial) that Garretson is "old NBA" and the new brass doesn't care for that. Garretson also may have game management that doesn't appeal to the brass.
Mott in my opinion is an average official at best. He may have become a crew chief for no other reason than younger officials worthy of it (John Goble and Eric Lewis for example) weren't yet ready. I suspect that if Mott wasn't a crew chief, he may not have even made playoffs. If I scheduled the playoffs, Mott wouldn't make it into Conference Finals.

Again, these are my personal opinions and I do not want to come across as an expert at all. Take them for their worth, opinions only.

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by Victor74

I'll try answering further without sounding like I'm an expert that I am not.
....

Since you appear to have some insight, do you have an opinion on why Guthrie and Lewis are getting play-off games but Olandis Poole has not yet? Lewis & Poole came up in 2004 and Guthrie in 2005.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by rockyroad

Snaqs???

I know I have that picture around here somewhere....

[Victor74]

Originally Posted by BadNewsRef

Since you appear to have some insight, do you have an opinion on why Guthrie and Lewis are getting play-off games but Olandis Poole has not yet? Lewis & Poole came up in 2004 and Guthrie in 2005.

Let me try this.

Guthrie: Excellent young official and is a go-getter, which is obviously what the brass is looking for. I am a little surprised he is in the second round this soon but I congratulate him.

Lewis: another good and young official. In the past, he tended to take on the mannerisms and attributes and temperment of the crew chief he was working with. He has grown into his own official. I wouldn't be too surprised to find him made a crew chief within the next two years.

Poole: I would liken Poole to the following: Some students are A students and some are C. No matter how hard the latter works, they'll only get a C because that is their level. That is Poole. He is an average official. In playoffs, you need, at minimum, above average.

I could provide better, more in-depth reviews if I knew their accuracy rates and tendencies. My best guess is that any category that can be tracked and rated would indicate how excellent Guthrie and Lewis are and that Poole is not yet at their levels.