knownone":1c6kvvwb said:
I find it funny that Steph Curry's wife said the NBA is rigged last night. I can't imagine that's what the NBA wants to hear from the MVP of the league's wife, but I can't really blame her. Last night's game was some of the most biased officiating I can remember, since the Celtics and Lakers in 2010. The sad part? Cleveland was clearly the better team, yet at no point in Cleveland's domination, did I feel like the game was being fairly called, which is pretty sad.
I know some of you are betting on game 7. If you think momentum is on Cleveland's side, and think Lebron is going to will his team to victory, keep this in mind. Cleveland got away with a lot of grabbing and holding during screens, the refs allowed them to be physical with the Warriors on both sides of the ball, but called it very tight on the Warriors under similar circumstances. If they call the game tighter on Cleveland, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson will explode, that's my biggest concern as a Cav's fan going into game 7.
I think the biggest tell will be who the officials are. As of right now Monty McCutchen, Derrick Stafford, Jason Phillips, and Scott Foster have called fairly erratic games which have favored Cleveland. In fact McCutchen and Stafford have officiated two of Cleveland's wins (Game 3 and Game 5). More interesting is that the Warriors are 0-3 in the playoffs with McCutchen on the court, 2 of those 3 he was the crew chief. Currently it sounds like Game 7 will probably have Dan Crawford or Mike Callahan (maybe both) two guys who've called fairly tight games both ways, this IMO benefits Golden State.
I'll be pulling for the city of Cleveland, I want them to end that curse so badly! but I've got a bad feeling that this will be a Golden State blow out. If I see Dan Crawford and Callahan. I'd almost be down to throw money on it... which is odd for a Finals game 7. Do I think it's rigged? No. I don't think Mrs. Curry claim is that far off though.
I understand the skepticism with NBA. I read the Tim Donogahy book, he was fixing games for quite some time in the NBA. And he mentioned how other officials would make bets between each other on various things (who can give a technical first, who can throw out this coach or that player, etc.). Fixing isn't happening by the NBA, Silver and the NBA aren't that dumb. If it does happen, it's a ref who is doing it on his own. Maybe it happened way back in the day, but in today's world, you can't hide anything. We live in a day and age where everything gets exposed thanks to the media and social media.
And while were on the topic of fixes I'll dive deeper into it. First of all, it's a psychology thing. If a weird thing happens once every few years, people jump to the "It's Fixed" theory. Okay so the NBA suspended Draymond Green in a pivotal game, when was the last time you can remember the NBA suspending a player in a key game? I can't think of one off the top of my head. We never remember the times when things go quickly (4-game sweeps or short 5 game series). But we remember the times when "weird" stuff happens. Here are some examples:
- The biggest money maker could have been in 2009. Kobe and the Lakers advanced to the finals, all they needed was LeBron's Cavs to beat Dwight Howard's Magic. They would have had Kobe vs LeBron. That matchup would have made all kinds of money. But it never happened, instead Magic advanced and got beat quickly in 5 games.
- The Finals last year were won in 5 games. Very short. How come they didn't fix it to 6 or 7 games?
- The Finals 2 years ago only went 5 games, with the Spurs beating the Heat 4-1. Why not 6 or 7 games?
- In 2012, after falling behind 0-1 to the Thunder, they won 4 consecutive games and finished the series in 5 games. Why not 6 or 7 games?
There are about as many 4 and 5 game series as there are 6 and 7 game series. IMO, a sweep is much more rare than a 7 game series. IMO, logically the most common would proabbly be a 6 game series.
