 |
| |
|
 |
 |
|
|
|||||||||||
|
War of the whistles Posted: Thursday May 22, 2003 8:13 PMUpdated: Thursday May 22, 2003 9:42 PM DALLAS (AP) -- There were no referees around Thursday, an off day in the Western Conference finals. Accordingly, nobody got too upset. A day after the technical foul-fest known as Game 2, the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs insisted they are not going to let the officiating get to them in Game 3 on Friday night. "It's stupid to even worry about referees. They have a tough job to do. Let them do it," Dallas guard Steve Nash said. "No matter what's happening, whether you're not getting a fair shake on a given night, there's nothing you can do about it. It's not deliberate. "Even if it is deliberate, what are you going to do about it?" In a series tied at one game apiece, the officiating has been the hot topic -- and the debate has had a personal twist. The person people were wondering about after Game 2 was referee Joey Crawford. The notoriously quick-tempered Crawford called four technical fouls in the first quarter of San Antonio's 119-106 victory, ejecting coach Don Nelson with two quick technicals during a timeout. "I thought Joey was playing for a championship last night," Dallas guard Nick Van Exel said Thursday. "It's over with. Let's stop talking about it so you don't get me fined." Players and coaches are not allowed to publicly criticize referees, so the easiest thing for them to do Thursday was to try to steer clear of the controversy. NBA vice president of operations Stu Jackson, who oversees the referees, did the same. "We're not commenting on it," Jackson said. "I don't have a reason why we're not commenting." Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said he received 750 e-mails concerning the officiating by the time he went to sleep Wednesday night and had another 500 awaiting him when he awoke. A common theme: Why does the NBA assign playoff games to referees whose personalities affect the way the game is called? In the case of Crawford, an NBA referee for more than 20 years, every NBA player and coach is well aware of his quick fuse and confrontational personality. And when Nelson walked to the center of the scorer's table and stared at Crawford during a first-quarter timeout, Nelson had to know that Crawford would take the bait and eject him. "I know fully what Nellie was doing," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said, refusing to elaborate. Cuban said the reason why Nelson was staring at the referees was because he was upset by the officiating of Ted Bernhardt, who had called a questionable third foul against Dirk Nowitzki midway through the first quarter. As the Mavericks players yelled at Bernhardt from the bench, Bernhardt yelled back at them -- both as he ran past them, and as he stood along the baseline while play was ongoing, Cuban said. "I'm not going to justify the ejection, other than to say this: I've been thrown out before and I'll probably be thrown out again. It's part of the game. When a referee wants to toss you, he's going to toss you. End of story," Nelson said. Following his ejection, the Mavericks gave up runs of 17-2 and 18-3 that allowed the Spurs to go ahead by as many as 28. Dallas got no closer than eight the rest of the way. "I think we were way too emotional about the officiating," Nowitzki said. "I thought everyone should've left it alone. We've got to do a better job of focusing on playing basketball." The NBA assigns referees to playoff games based upon seniority and merit, and many of the veteran officials have strong personalities and distinct styles of officiating. Referees began wearing wireless microphones a few years ago, giving television viewers the opportunity to hear conversations between referees and others. The technology gives fans an added level of insight into the games, but it also spotlights the peculiarities of some individuals. When Bennett Salvatore seemed to be calling a majority of the fouls in Game 1 of this series, it was reminiscent of Game 6 in the Philadelphia-Detroit series when 76ers coach Larry Brown told Salvatore that he was dominating the officiating. Salvatore heard Brown out and then stepped back and hit him with a technical. League officials have worked quietly behind the scenes through the years to change the behavior of some of the more confrontational referees, and some of them have adapted well. Many coaches cite the example of referee Steve Javie, who is no longer considered as much of a hothead as he was five years ago. Knowing which buttons can be pushed with which referees is part of the knowledge that successful coaches and players draw upon during games. Each game is different; each ref is different -- and the savvy coaches and players know how to proceed accordingly. "The referees can only take so much -- you've got to know what you can get away with," San Antonio's Stephen Jackson said. "I had to learn that the hard way, too, about getting techs. But you've just got to know what you can get away with. Keep your mouth closed and you'll be fine."
|
|
|||||||||
| |||||||||||
