(Oh, yes, there was a foul, oh yes not calling it helped the Lakers win the game...the team who the NBA desperately want in the Finals to improve the ratings over last years ratings disaster of San Antonio and Detroit. The NBA is dying to get Boston/LA who they can hype as a "return to the glory" of the NBA. Anyone who has watched the Lakers in their series with Sacramento several years ago know these games are fixed to favor the big market teams and superstar driven teams like the Lakers. If that had been Kobe, or MJ, or Wade, or LeBron instead of a nobody like Barry, a foul would have been called. Crap like this makes the NBA unwatchable.) Wednesday, May 28, 2008 League acknowledges Spurs' Barry was fouled By Marc Stein ESPN.com The league office on Wednesday reviewed the final play of the San Antonio Spurs' 93-91 home loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals and acknowledged that a two-shot foul should have been called on Derek Fisher for impeding Brent Barry. After falling behind by seven points in the final minute, San Antonio sliced the deficit to two and regained possession with 2.1 seconds to play. Barry then wound up with the ball in the center of the floor on a play called for Manu Ginobili and faked Fisher in the air but struggled to get off a 3-point heave at the buzzer after Fisher came down and bumped Barry. "With the benefit of instant replay, it appears a foul call should have been made," league spokesman Tim Frank said Wednesday. The miss sealed an L.A. victory that moved the Lakers into a commanding 3-1 series lead entering Thursday's Game 5 at Staples Center. But the Spurs did not protest the non-call afterward, even though a foul called before the shot would have sent Barry to the line for two free throws and a chance to force overtime. The non-call nonetheless generated more than the usual scrutiny because the closest referee to the play was Joey Crawford, with whom San Antonio has a contentious recent history. "That play," Barry said, "was not where the game was lost." The Spurs, in truth, wouldn't have had a chance to tie or win the game in the final two seconds if not for a fortuitous non-call on the previous possession. Television replays indicated that Fisher's shot with 6.9 seconds to go grazed the rim before bouncing out of bounds off of Robert Horry's leg, meaning that the Lakers should have had a new shot clock instead of asking Kobe Bryant to hurry a fadeaway jumper after the ensuing timeout. The new shot clock likely would have forced San Antonio to foul Bryant as opposed to getting the ball back off Bryant's miss to draw up a potential game-winning play. "It wasn't a foul. ... I think it was a proper no-call from what I saw," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said of Fisher bumping Barry. Added Spurs forward Tim Duncan: "You're not going to get that call. They're not going to make that call." The Lakers were likewise adamant that no foul should have been called on Fisher, pointing at least in part to the fact that they didn't get a new shot clock on the Fisher miss -- and that Bryant didn't earn a single trip to the free-throw line despite attempting 29 shots from the field. "Yeah, he bumped him," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said of Fisher landing on Barry. "You know, games go like that."
With conspiracy charges being thrown around willy nilly over the flimsiest of evidence, I'm beginning to wonder if zzzzzz and ratboy88 are really evil twins. Maybe it was fox news, egged on by the neocons, that trashed all similitude of fairness in this game. If we could only figure out the role the CFR played in this, we would have it nailed.
Who cares!? Pro basketball died off for me quite a few years ago. If it's rigged then you should be able to bet on it and make a fortune. The foul/no foul - superstar/non superstar b.s. has been around for awhile at this point, so why does anyone expect anything different? The sad part is this crap is slowly seeping into the college game also. The only thing out of pro ball I'd like to see anymore is someone taking out Shaq. The guy dishes out tons of punishment and never gets called. I would love a pro football player to come in and take him out while he's pitching a tent in the lane. He'd start crying right there.
There may be some truth in the assertion that teams in the major media centers are favored . Having said that, it was a good non-call. Definitely did not merit a 3 shot foul since it was it would have been a three pointer if he had made the shot.
Foul or no foul, It was obvious the Lakers were the better team. They came from a large deficit in the first game and also in game 5. Also, at the end of the games players always have more freedom from the refs...
Donaghy docs allege refs altered games, broke league rules ESPN.com Jeff Van Gundy ultimately backed off comments that a referee told him officials had targeted Yao Ming in the Houston Rockets' 2005 first-round playoff series against the Dallas Mavericks. Maybe Van Gundy was right after all. A letter sent to the sentencing court on behalf of convicted former referee Tim Donaghy outlines just such a plan. Donaghy's legal team is trying to demonstrate his cooperation with a federal government investigation before he is sentenced on July 14 on felony charges for taking cash payoffs from gamblers and betting on games himself. In other documents filed with the Brooklyn court, Donaghy's lawyers responded to the NBA's claim that he must pay $1 million in restitution to cover the cost of the league's private investigation. The letter alleging referees altered games mentions only the year 2005, but the circumstances make it apparent that it is referring to the Rockets-Mavs series. "Team 3 lost the first two games in the series and Team 3's owner complained to NBA officials," the letter says. "Team 3's owner alleged that referees were letting a Team 4 player get away with illegal screens. NBA Executive Y told Referee Supervisor Z that the referees for that game were to enforce the screening rules strictly against that Team 4 player. Referee Supervisor Z informed the referees about his instructions. As an alternate referee for that game, Tim also received these instructions." Mavs owner Mark Cuban complained after his team lost the first two games of the series, and Dallas went on to beat Houston in seven games. Van Gundy said that a working referee had told him about the league's plan. Donaghy's letter claims that Supervisor Z contacted the coach. Van Gundy was fined $100,000. Looking at box scores from the series, however, the only game in which Yao fouled out was Game 1. He did average 4.4 fouls per game in the series. The letter also details an incident in the 2002 playoffs in which Donaghy alleges that two referees, who were known as NBA "company men," wanted to extend a series to seven games. "Team 5" could have wrapped up the series in Game 6 but saw two players foul out, lost the game and ultimately the series. Only one series went to seven games in the 2002 playoffs: Los Angeles Lakers against Sacramento Kings. In Game 6, the Lakers made 34-of-40 free throws to 18-of-25 for the Kings. In the fourth quarter alone, Los Angeles hit 21-of-27 from the line while Sacramento made 7-of-9. After that game, a 106-102 Lakers win, Kings coach Rick Adelman expressed his frustration with the officiating. "Our big guys get 20 fouls tonight and [Shaquille O'Neal] gets four? You tell me how the game went," Adelman said. "It's just the way it is. Obviously, they got the game called the way they wanted to get it called." Donaghy also alleges that team executives conspired with the league to prevent star players from being called for too many fouls or being ejected. He claimed that league officials told referees that doing so would "hurt ticket sales and television ratings." According to the letter, when an official did eject a star player in the first quarter of a game in 2000, he was privately reprimanded. In addition to game-altering allegations, Donaghy's letter claims that many officials carry on "relationships" with team executives, coaches and players that violate their NBA contracts. "Tim described one referee's use of a team's practice facility to exercise and another's frequent tennis matches with a team's coach," the letter states. The NBA has not commented on Donaghy's allegations. Donaghy's attorney and federal prosecutors also declined to comment to The Associated Press on Tuesday. Donaghy faces up to 33 months in prison.
http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=270512024 I watched this game and was sure it was fixed as I watched it unfold. Amare got 3 quick and very questionable fouls, killing the Suns chances. Look who refereed the game.
I didn't think there was a person on this planet that didn't believe the NBA wasn't fixed. I haven't watched a game in twenty years. THE WORST
Who cares? The fans still pack the house and buy dirty water hotdogs for $7. The owners are thrilled.