Part 2: NBA Says Percentage Of Correct Officiating Calls 'Up In The 80s'

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NBA says percentage of correct officiating calls 'up in the 80s'




Blazers coach Terry Stotts argues with official Zach Zarba during Game 2. (AP)
Print John Canzano | JohnCanzano@iCloud.com By John Canzano | JohnCanzano@iCloud.com  
on April 24, 2014 at 4:45 PM, updated April 25, 2014 at 9:11 AM




CANZANO IN DEPTH: NBA OFFICIATING
Does the NBA want us to believe in its officials or not?
Part 1: Ex-NBA official Tim Donaghy tuned into Blazers-Rockets
Part 2: NBA says percentage of correct officiating calls 'up in the 80s'
NBA commissioner says expansion of instant replay on table
Part 3: 'Joey Crawford' is trending on Twitter -- why the NBA wishes he weren't
Part 4: Great, now will Adam Silver fix David Stern's officiating problem?
Part 5: Punching out Joey Crawford, and the issues on NBA officiating




PART TWO: At the NBA office at 100 Plaza Drive in Secaucus, N.J., there is a bank of employees whose job it is to watch every one of the league's basketball games, logging every play that occurs along with what might be said about it on the television broadcast.

When the Trail Blazers won Game 2 of their Western Conference first-round playoff series on Wednesday night against the Rockets 112-105, those employees noted the fouls, the shots, the non-calls on potential fouls, and even listened to the various play-by-play broadcasts of the game, noting if anything was said, particularly about rules and officiating.
There are "loggers" and "super-loggers" and what the NBA calls "reviewers" and "expert reviewers." They work together, the league revealed, for among other reasons, to help them grade, monitor and track officials. That data has never been made public.

"We have so many more people that work here now in my department than when I was here before," said Rod Thorn, the NBA's director of operations. "There's so much more scrutiny."

Thorn, 72, has been back with the league offices for eight months. For the prior 13 years he served as general manager of the 76ers and Nets. As a former player, coach, executive and the one-time head of discipline for the league Thorn has a reputation as a straight shooter who can see the issues from all angles.

Former Knicks and Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy, who now works as an ESPN analyst, said Thursday of Thorn, "Two years ago in Philadelphia Rod would have been (trashing) the officials. Now he's in charge of them."

Thorn doesn't disagree. In fact, he remembers calling the league offices to complain once or twice a season.

"I would get upset at a game, maybe some particular call that happened that I felt wasn't correct. By the next day, it always went away... at some point you realize they're not going to get every call right."

Officials blow calls. With three officials on the floor and 10 professional basketball players, often moving at full speed, they miss. With the increased number of television cameras on broadcasts, slow motion, and high-definition cameras it's become easier for fans to notice. I asked Thorn why the league wouldn't be interested in going public then, acknowledging that they're doing the best they can, but only getting 70-75 percent of the calls right.

After all, who among us wouldn't empathize with that?

He said, "We actually get more than that right. If you count every call, plus incorrect non-calls and correct non-calls it's higher. We log every game, every day. We log them all, here. Our percentage is higher than 75 percent... it's up in 80s."

Only the reports themselves could back that up.

The NBA currently keeps those in-game reports confidential. It's a sticky subject that results in the league taking a defensive stance. I've been critical of the NBA for not being totally transparent with the reports, mostly because if they were made available it would lead to more accountability and increased trust in the product.

It might also foster consistency among officials, but most of all, wouldn't it help the most-skilled referees fight an obvious public-perception issue by demonstrating how often good NBA officials working on the fly get calls right?

Thorn has 10 front-office staff and five advisors in the referee-operations department. The staff also has 14 reviewers, "expert" and otherwise. There are lines of loggers. He said the technology is already there. He believes the NBA has the best basketball officials on the planet. What the NBA is doing is precise, he said. For example, Thorn offers, "Because we grade every call we can pull all of Scott Foster's calls over the course of a year. We can pull every one up, exactly what the call is."

They can also search "LaMarcus Aldridge" and "three-point shot" and "fourth quarter" and the results will give every fourth-quarter, three-point attempt during the season by the Blazers forward.

This is a sports/entertainment league that has successfully introduced instant-replay use in the final two minutes of each half. That's helped the officials keep from blowing critical possession calls that might be perceived as game-changing, even as one might argue that every big call matters the same. The league said it may consider expanding replay, but doesn't appear to be headed toward widespread use, however.

"The games would be interminable," Thorn said. "...I don't know how you could review every call. To me, there will always be areas of judgment."

It's that judgment that often comes into question during games, and especially during the playoffs.

Former NBA official Bob Delaney refereed more than 1,700 regular-season games and nine NBA Finals. He told me that he thought the biggest battle for officials was the idea that star players got special treatment.

"Some ballplayers are better than others. When Michael Jordan goes to the line people think he's going there because he's getting the call because he's great Michael Jordan. The reality is that he was quicker and stronger and faster and they had to foul him to catch up with him.

"I think it's a perception. It's hard to change perception. I know nobody sits there and says, 'Let's figure out who it is out there before I make a call.' We're just not that good."

Thorn said it's the big market vs. small market battle that drives him batty.

"The conspiracy theories, that the league doesn't want certain markets to advance or do well. That we only care about big markets -- that's the one that I slap my head about. No. 1 it goes to integrity. No. 2, it goes to everything these (officials) are going to do, working as hard as they can. It's an unfair attack. That's the one that gets me."

The current officiating review process also has a team component. NBA franchises can use a web-based platform to submit calls they think were missed. Thorn said sometimes teams submit one call, other times as many as 20.

"Sometimes," Thorn said, "it's whether you won or lost as to how many plays you want looked at."

So why not make those game reports public? Why not open the doors?  

The NBA maintains it would be the equivalent of taking an employee's performance review public. But isn't that what NBA players get nightly in a box score? For the first time on Thursday, Thorne hinted that NBA under new commissioner Adam Silver, those officiating reports might one day be as public as a box score.

"There may come a day when something like that transpires," Thorn said. "Right now, we're not to that point yet. At some time in the future, someday."

... to be continued.





bob



.

I almost never comment on referees, but this is to good to pass up: Up in the 80s? How about down in the 80s?

Sam

Up in the 80's.

Is that a strong C or a weak B?

I think one factor being overlooked are "superstar calls."

Why should the best players also receive the most beneficial treatment from officiating crews? If they are truly better, they shouldn't need extra assistance from the referees to reinforce it. Defenders are no only defending against opponents, they are at the mercy of the whistle-happy refs waiting to blow the whistle for looking at a guy wrong.



KJ

k_j_88 wrote:I think one factor being overlooked are "superstar calls."

Why should the best players also receive the most beneficial treatment from officiating crews? If they are truly better, they shouldn't need extra assistance from the referees to reinforce it. Defenders are no only defending against opponents, they are at the mercy of the whistle-happy refs waiting to blow the whistle for looking at a guy wrong.



KJ

KJ,

You're singing my song now. I've been carping on this for years. If they're so good, why do they need extra help?



bob


.

If they called travel and carrying (palming) like they do in most high schools the "stars" would not shine as bright. These guys are not that much faster or bigger than they were 30 years ago. Heck the court is the same size. Perhaps basketball needs to be more like boxing with refs sitting at various points around the court and "blowing" calls from there. Sitting still and watching the play is perhaps much more effective in making the right call than running down the court looking over your shoulder.

beat

Did the nba referees of the 50's,60's and 70's do a better job of making the correct call ? One thing for sure is that they weren't subjected to instant criticism by fans who had the luxury of slow motion, stop action instant replay. At least not until about 1975 when instant replay was introduced to the nba. Does anyone have any data as to the frequency of use in the 80's as compared to the present ?.

swish

One of my friends is related to one of the very, very top NBA officials. My friend is a basketball purist, and he can't stand the palming and the traveling that goes on in today's NBA. When he complains about all these non-calls, his relative just shrugs his shoulders and won't say anything. Ever. I think this is like Major League Baseball, where there's an unwritten rule whereby shortstops or 2nd basemen don't have to actually touch the bag now in a double play before throwing the ball on to first. Unlike in Ty Cobb's day when he would tear up those trying to put a tag on him at 2nd with his spikes, missing the bag now is part of the culture in baseball. They say it's for safety. Similarly, the NBA has its own culture. Certain rules are just not enforced, and another part of the new NBA culture is to call fouls on rookies and sophomores but to let the superstars glide and slide.

Altogether there are about 1200+ non-player employees of the NBA. Apparently a bunch work in Rod Thorn's office observing officiating.