Re: When is it OK for fans to be critical of end-game officiating?
First of all a small tangent: The play where Joey ignored or didn't see LeBron step out despite seeming to be looking at him pissed me off only when later Joey made a big point to look for I think CJ Watson doing it at halfcourt after ignoring the fact that Watson was pushed first. Which brings me to a bigger concept that still angers me with officiating: When they don't call it both ways. I felt like Miami could flop and get a foul, then if we got hit hard but didn't flop it would get ignored. I suppose logically this means the Pacers should flop more (they do some, but not as much as they could), but it just makes me unhappy to think that's the 'solution' to that problem.
Anyway, getting to the main topic at hand, just my take:
I think it's always okay to be critical of officiating, so long as the following criteria is met:
1) There is actually room to complain about a given call, rather than you don't like that a Pacer didn't get away with something (if the violation is called on them) or you wish it were a violation on the other team but in actuality it wasn't.
2) You acknowledge that this is but one of several factors that result in a game's outcome, and that it's very likely the team could have won despite the officiating.
3) Acknowledgement that officiating basketball is hard to do, and mistakes just come with the territory.
In my opinion, officiating is completely fair game under those circumstances.
Keep in mind, this is only speaking to how FANS feel, NOT players or coaches who actually directly affect the games. THEY ought to just suck it up and play on because they can't make it better by complaining about calls (well... mostly; sometimes I think refs do get affected by complaining, good or bad), and I think they're better off just keeping their focus on what they have to do now/next rather than occupying any time thinking about ******** calls/no-calls. But for fans, that's not the same circumstance, and I think for them it's understandable to complain because no matter how little or how much they criticize the officiating, it won't change the game one bit, so who cares if they choose to complain?
Now, is there an argument to be made that it does no good? Sure, but you can say that about just about any aspect of being a fan. Watching or not watching the game doesn't change anything, either, so why bother watching, right? Of course not. So I think it's fair.
Personally, my big problems with officiating are in no particular order:
1) Inconsistency
2) Favorable treatment depending on which player it is
3) Rewarding flopping
4) The later in the game it is, the more it pisses me off because the players have LESS TIME TO ADJUST OR DEAL WITH IT. Case in point, LeBron tickles Paul George on his final shot or tries to go all Titanic on him (Jack and Rose), yet nothing is called, and now the game is over whereas Paul George legitimately should have been attempting 3 FTAs to try to tie the game. Now, if Paul misses any of the FTs, that's on him, but he deserved to be attempting them in the first place due to LeBron's infraction.
So with 4 what I'm saying is it doesn't bother me so much in the first half because no matter how terrible the call is, there is plenty of time for the guys to play on and deal with it. But late game bad calls or no calls? Drive me nuts because then the players have precious little time to recover.
5) Refs with an attitude. See Crawford, Joey. He's full of himself, and while that can sometimes be entertaining, it can also be downright insufferable, too, and I feel the same way with refs as I do with judges and attorneys: If it's supposed to be about facts and interpretation of facts... check your ego, check your temper, and just shut up and do your job without making it a spectacle.
That all having been said, I don't generally believe in the notion of teams 'deserving' to win, lose, get a call, not get a call. I'm sure I've said things like that before, and for all I know I may again, but when I consider it outside the heat of the moment, I feel like the games are what they are. Both teams always play flawed games, it's just a matter of how flawed, and the same goes for the refs, so it's always going to be that way. There are no perfect games in basketball, ever. If you won, you won, if you didn't, you didn't. BUT... that doesn't mean bad calls or no-calls don't happen, and that brings me back to thesis: Yes, I believe it's fair to criticize bad calls or no-calls, for the above reasons.
As for why I'm not upset about it... I probably could be. God knows I've been livid in previous games because of things like this. I think for me, I've reached a new level of acceptance in regards to it. I still hate it, but I also hate the fact that everybody dies, too, but at some point you just have to accept it and keep living because you can't do a damn thing to change it.
Originally posted by TMJ31
View Post
Anyway, getting to the main topic at hand, just my take:
I think it's always okay to be critical of officiating, so long as the following criteria is met:
1) There is actually room to complain about a given call, rather than you don't like that a Pacer didn't get away with something (if the violation is called on them) or you wish it were a violation on the other team but in actuality it wasn't.
2) You acknowledge that this is but one of several factors that result in a game's outcome, and that it's very likely the team could have won despite the officiating.
3) Acknowledgement that officiating basketball is hard to do, and mistakes just come with the territory.
In my opinion, officiating is completely fair game under those circumstances.
Keep in mind, this is only speaking to how FANS feel, NOT players or coaches who actually directly affect the games. THEY ought to just suck it up and play on because they can't make it better by complaining about calls (well... mostly; sometimes I think refs do get affected by complaining, good or bad), and I think they're better off just keeping their focus on what they have to do now/next rather than occupying any time thinking about ******** calls/no-calls. But for fans, that's not the same circumstance, and I think for them it's understandable to complain because no matter how little or how much they criticize the officiating, it won't change the game one bit, so who cares if they choose to complain?
Now, is there an argument to be made that it does no good? Sure, but you can say that about just about any aspect of being a fan. Watching or not watching the game doesn't change anything, either, so why bother watching, right? Of course not. So I think it's fair.
Personally, my big problems with officiating are in no particular order:
1) Inconsistency
2) Favorable treatment depending on which player it is
3) Rewarding flopping
4) The later in the game it is, the more it pisses me off because the players have LESS TIME TO ADJUST OR DEAL WITH IT. Case in point, LeBron tickles Paul George on his final shot or tries to go all Titanic on him (Jack and Rose), yet nothing is called, and now the game is over whereas Paul George legitimately should have been attempting 3 FTAs to try to tie the game. Now, if Paul misses any of the FTs, that's on him, but he deserved to be attempting them in the first place due to LeBron's infraction.
So with 4 what I'm saying is it doesn't bother me so much in the first half because no matter how terrible the call is, there is plenty of time for the guys to play on and deal with it. But late game bad calls or no calls? Drive me nuts because then the players have precious little time to recover.
5) Refs with an attitude. See Crawford, Joey. He's full of himself, and while that can sometimes be entertaining, it can also be downright insufferable, too, and I feel the same way with refs as I do with judges and attorneys: If it's supposed to be about facts and interpretation of facts... check your ego, check your temper, and just shut up and do your job without making it a spectacle.
That all having been said, I don't generally believe in the notion of teams 'deserving' to win, lose, get a call, not get a call. I'm sure I've said things like that before, and for all I know I may again, but when I consider it outside the heat of the moment, I feel like the games are what they are. Both teams always play flawed games, it's just a matter of how flawed, and the same goes for the refs, so it's always going to be that way. There are no perfect games in basketball, ever. If you won, you won, if you didn't, you didn't. BUT... that doesn't mean bad calls or no-calls don't happen, and that brings me back to thesis: Yes, I believe it's fair to criticize bad calls or no-calls, for the above reasons.
As for why I'm not upset about it... I probably could be. God knows I've been livid in previous games because of things like this. I think for me, I've reached a new level of acceptance in regards to it. I still hate it, but I also hate the fact that everybody dies, too, but at some point you just have to accept it and keep living because you can't do a damn thing to change it.
Comment