Can They Fix The Officiating Crisis?

[azirish]

I think perhaps a better question is, does the NBA league office want the referees to call the game the same year round including the playoffs? It all starts at the top so I think most of the problems can be placed at the feet of the league office through their action... but more likely their inaction.

If those in the NBA league office cannot control the game, then they need to be replaced. I think Stern and company is more about the problem and less about the solution.

I think part of the problem is that they are reluctant to accept some ugly foul ridden games until they get teams to back off on the rough stuff. The "let them play" approach has a lot of supporters on an individual game basis, but what they don't realize is that coaches will exploit it to limit.

In any case, the league office is in denial that there is a problem.

 

[F-Dog]

http://www.nj.com/sports/ledger/index.ssf?/base/sports-2/1185337745294500.xml&coll=1

Ex-official rips ref supervisors
Mathis: Monitoring system is flawed

Wednesday, July 25, 2007
BY DAVE D'ALESSANDRO
Star-Ledger Staff


David Stern insists the safeguards were in place to ensure that his crew of 60 NBA referees is the best qualified, best trained, best prepared and best supervised group of officials in the world.

Mike Mathis claims that is merely lip service, and he is willing to cite examples.

The former NBA official, widely regarded as one of the league's best referees over 26 seasons until his retirement in 2002, said the Tim Donaghy fiasco results at least partly from Stern's systemic failures, and what Mathis said is the league's "policy" of putting cronyism ahead of competency.

"The NBA has a good ol' boy system that nobody talks about," he said in an interview. "They hire friends and friends of friends. . . .particularly in the case of hiring referee supervisors.

"This has been waiting to go off. Ask people in the league. Stern is holding the key to all hiring. The things that matter -- hiring, teaching, accountability -- if they were executed properly, this wouldn't have happened."

The league refused comment on nearly a half-dozen specific allegations from Mathis, who admittedly had a contentious relationship with Stern when he was an officer in the referee's union. But Mathis said his attention was jolted by one remark from the commissioner yesterday during his press conference called to address the allegations surrounding Donaghy.

"We have retained 30 observers, one at each of our team's games," Stern said. "They are in effect charting the game with respect to the calls and other observations that they make. They then review the game on tape. They then are audited -- not every game -- but selectively audited by the group supervisors that we have employed by the NBA."

The problem, Mathis claims, is with the group, or regional supervisors.

"They say they have qualified supervisors, but it's all bull," Mathis said. "They were once referees, and they were fired. These are guys who should be teaching and training refs, but they have no business in those positions."

A league spokesman refused comment about the qualifications of the four referee supervisors, but the qualifications of each could invite scrutiny in light of how Donaghy is accused of calling games to suit his own purposes and those of his gambling confederates.

Two of the group observers -- Mike Lauerman and Jim Wishmeyer -- both were fired as referees, only to be brought back as supervisors, confirmed an NBA official who requested anonymity because he is forbidden to discuss management personnel.

And according to NBA playoff records, the two other group supervisors, Jim Capers and Tommy Nunez, were never regarded highly enough to merit consistent playoff responsibilities during their officiating careers.

 

[F-Dog]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/24/AR2007072402211.html

Officials Say Scandal Must Lead to Change

By Michael Lee and Mike Wise
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, July 25, 2007; Page E01

Several NBA officials and players said yesterday that although the alleged misconduct by referee Tim Donaghy is likely an isolated incident, it casts a dark cloud over his colleagues and the league itself.

Lamell McMorris, head of the National Basketball Referees Association, said the union will make a concerted effort to distance itself from Donaghy in the upcoming weeks. The association will have its national conference in Los Angeles in late August, but McMorris said it will likely issue a statement before then.

"This is not going to be the final word. This is not going to be how they are portrayed in the eyes of the public," McMorris said from his office in downtown Washington. "Every tragedy leads to the potential of positive change. We think this is a renewed opportunity to instill, believe it or not, confidence in the faith, in the craft. Some of the changes it will lead to will be for the better. We want to be a partner with the NBA to make sure that this never happens again."

McMorris said he was positive that fans again will have faith in the NBA's 58 officials. "I have confidence that the fans in basketball know that the alleged actions of this individual are not indicative of the group," he said, "but those that don't and those in the general public, we are going to do our best to instill confidence in the integrity of this craft and this profession."

One veteran referee said that league will not be able to restore trust unless there is a major change in the way the NBA reviews its officials.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Donaghy had established a reputation for "deliberately blowing calls" on the court and for being a hothead off it. But he never was suspended, creating a system that made Donaghy "comfortable that he could cheat."

"If [the NBA doesn't] clean house, nothing will come of this," the referee said in a telephone interview. "I promise you, if the public, if the owners, if the coaches and GMs can see something wrong with the system -- where a guy can deliberately botch calls -- let's forget about the gambling, let's forget about the cheating. If [the league] can't see that it's a problem with the system, the NBA will be fine -- they'll just look at it like wrestling. Everybody'll make all the money that you want to make, but those of us who are serious about what we're doing, forget about it."

Former journeyman guard John Crotty, now an analyst with the Miami Heat, was struck by NBA Commissioner David Stern's somber demeanor at yesterday's news conference in New York.

Crotty and several recently retired players interviewed yesterday said they could not recall a specific incident or call made by Donaghy that directly affected the outcome of their game. "But any time the game is being challenged from that standpoint, it really shakes everybody up," Crotty said.

Rick Barry, the Hall of Fame forward who won a championship with the Golden State Warriors in 1975, felt Stern's portrayal of Donaghy as one rogue official deserves merit.

"It sounds like the guy has a problem and the problem caused him to get involved with the wrong people," Barry said. "If that's the extent of it, he should go to jail and the league should move on and treat it as an isolated incident. If it goes beyond that and he blows the whistle and others are involved, then it gets serious. But there is not one bit of evidence right now that that's the case."

 

[azirish]

The problem comes from the top. Stern cannot solve these problems because he is a big part of the problem.

 

[Mulli]

Stern said TD was one rogue individual, but his demeanor and more of what he said seems to indicate that even Stern recognizes that there is a lot more going on than one rogue individual. To me, it seems like Stern is corcerned, not just about public opinion, but about the big picture regarding how the NBA allowed themselves to get into this situation.

 

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

Great articles F-dog. Im glad refs are speaking out, as they should be. Their reputation is going down with the sinking ship that is Donaghy.

This shows that the incompetency doesn't stop with the refs, it goes all the way up to the top. What a mishandled mess.

When your checks and balance system is run by yourself and your friends, its doomed for failure

Stern needs to resign, and the new commissioner needs to hire a third party to do ref audits, plain and simple.

 

[azirish]

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-26-88/One-Good--Quick-Referee-Fix.html

One Good, Quick Referee Fix

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July 25, 2007 10:45 AM

Alan Schwarz of The New York Times writes about the state of the NBA's current referee evaluation system.

Access to the evaluation system was clearly limited. Several N.B.A. referees said in interviews this week that they had been frustrated at not receiving data and other specific evidence to explain their tier ratings. They said that their repeated attempts to get hard numbers or see video of specific plays had been rebuffed by Jackson and those working under him.

"They came to me and said my call percentage was down, so I'm like, O.K., which calls did I miss?' " said one veteran referee, who spoke on condition of anonymity because officials were prohibited to speak with the news media. "And Stu said, We can't tell you that.' They won't tell you anything. They just throw a bunch of numbers at you and say, You need to get your percentages up or down.' It's just a big secret."

N.B.A. referees are generally told whether they rate in the top third, middle third or bottom third of various categories, like missed traveling violations. These rankings are used for both hiring and firing decisions, regular-season game assignments and selection for playoff rounds, which are a considerable source of extra income for referees.
​

Why are those numbers so well-guarded. What's the advantage?
The NBA evaluates many thousands of calls a year. I'm betting the vast majority of those calls are correct, which is admirable. Barry Mano, the head of the National Association of Sports Officials, tells me the latest number for the NBA hovers around the 95-96% mark.

On a high school test, that's an A. If you got a 95% on any test, you should be proud to show the results to the world.

Not only should the referees be able to see the evidence of what they got right and wrong, but as I have written before, so should we all.
Right now there is a vacuum. No one knows how well NBA referees do at their jobs. And the vacuum is increasingly being filled with biased fan opinion, and the results are not good. Give us real evidence to dispel the rumors that this or that referee is atrocious. (And if this or that referee really is atrocious? You know what to do ...) Share the evidence that you already collect, if not with everyone then at least with a broad panel of experts who are free to talk to the press. We need some sunshine in there, especially if the existing NBA referees are excellent. Let them show off a little.

 

[elindholm]

"If [the NBA doesn't] clean house, nothing will come of this," the referee said in a telephone interview. "I promise you, if the public, if the owners, if the coaches and GMs can see something wrong with the system -- where a guy can deliberately botch calls -- let's forget about the gambling, let's forget about the cheating. If [the league] can't see that it's a problem with the system, the NBA will be fine -- they'll just look at it like wrestling. Everybody'll make all the money that you want to make, but those of us who are serious about what we're doing, forget about it."

That pretty much sums it up right there.

 

[Mad Psyentist]

I figured this didn't need it's own thread, but i thought people might be interested.

Does everyone remember this game?
http://www.nba.com/games/20060102/PHXNYK/boxscore.html

I remember everyone being really pissed after the refs fouled out all our frontcourt players and we ended up having to put pat burke on an unstoppable eddy curry.

Check out who the refs were.

 

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

Yeah someone bumped a thread the other day they found on this board that was dated for that game. It was a unanimous flip out of foul call wonderment