The NBA has a postseason officiating problem - and it's probably more complex than you think

https://celticswire.usatoday.com/lists/nba-boston-celtics-refs-need-change-2022/



The NBA has a postseason officiating problem - and it's probably more complex than you think



(AP Photo/Jon Durr)


May 9, 2022 11:47 am ET



If you ask the fans who watched Game 3 of the series between the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday, more than a few of them would likely say they had a bone to pick with how the game was officiated.

Not just Celtics fans, either — or even media who cover the team or the coaching staff or front office members who look at these games with a trained eye. No matter which way you slice it, the game had major officiating problems, with the NBA’s Last Two Minute Report for the game noting a total of FIVE incorrect calls or non-calls in a critical contest that went down to the final buzzer to be decided.

And it wasn’t just this game that there were problems with.


Early in the 2022 NBA Playoffs, there were gripes that the league was calling too many fouls as games seemed to slow to a crawl with trip after trip to the free-throw line.

Then, as the whistles got scarcer, physical play ticked up, with the resulting chippy play and subsequent injuries creating a whole new realm of (justified) concern over how the play has been more dangerous in the second round.


In the Celtics-Bucks series, even Boston head coach Ime Udoka risked a fine from the league to call out the fact that he had been told by refs that “if they don’t fall down, they don’t call it.”

“I’m going to have to teach my guys to flop more,” he half-joked at what could become a dangerous precedent that could end with star players out for the rest of the season or worse, fights, and all kinds of negative outcomes.

In short, the league has an officiating problem on several levels in need of rapid attention.


The safety concerns should not take a backseat to aesthetic concerns, and striking the balance while staying as true as possible to the rulebook is no easy challenge.

And when both Udoka and Bucks GM Jon Horst both have legitimate bones to pick — Horst recently highlighted the nearly two-to-one free throw disparity between Boston and Milwaukee in Game 3 — it’s clear that this is no case of salty fans unhappy with an unfriendly whistle.


“When you start looking at the numbers, … it’s pretty outrageous,” Horst said in a recent interview with The Athletic’s Eric Nehm.

“And I think our players and Boston’s players just deserve to have it be addressed and have it be looked at and to just have some improvement … That wasn’t a quality playoff basketball game, and I think officiating played a role in that.”

Similar sentiments could be heard around the league’s fans and analysts Sunday regarding the West semis matchup between the Dallas Mavericks and Phoenix Suns, and throughout the postseason more generally.


Fans are growing unhappy with a system they see as both unfair and unaccountable, and while it may have considerably more training and self-policing than most fans and even media may be aware, a general lack of transparency regarding the way the NBA referees their refs isn’t helping.

It’s not uncommon for even very knowledgeable NBA writers, for example, to be unaware the league uses a very complex system to train, assess, grade, and place league referees.

But, even the teams involved in that process do not have a clear picture of how individual refs are assigned to high-profile games.


The league uses three vaguely-defined guidelines to determine who gets promoted up the ranks for higher-profile games such as take place in the postseason, writes FiveThirtyEight’s Ben Dowsett.

Without a comprehensive idea of what exactly these guidelines entail, or how they are weighted against other factors, it includes:

1.  grading analytics compiled by game reviewers and league analysts,
2.  specific input/rankings from each NBA team regarding individual referees, and
3.  assessments of referees from the NBA’s developmental advisers and other top management/training staff

Want to know more? Per the author, you’re out of luck.


“The NBA steadfastly refuses to disclose (its internal review process) during any promotion or playoff assignment decisions,” suggests Dowsett.

“Multiple league staffers were also quick to point out that these three variables are not the end-all, be-all for these decisions. Important intangibles like communication and confidence are also factored in, especially for vital playoff assignments … the league will consider when selecting its 12 primary Finals officials each season.”

“This realm inspires some definite consternation in certain NBA executive circles,” he adds.


“Multiple team sources — requesting anonymity so as to avoid possible fines — told FiveThirtyEight, in essence, that they doubt the league’s truthfulness here,” continues Dowsett.

“Some believe that when it really comes down to it, vital playoff and Finals assignments are based on favoritism above all else,” relates the author, which doesn’t help yet another mini-crisis of legitimacy regarding rumors certain senior referees are deployed to extend series by calling them tight.


The solution to all the above? More consistency, and more transparency, with an eye to player safety and aesthetics, in that order.

And while it is easy enough to write about it, the processes going on behind the scenes will likely always leave some feeling dissatisfied about the refereeing outcomes in any given game or playoff series.

So long as the game is played in ways that minimize player injury and ugly play, salty fanbases will survive so long as that salt is sprinkled across the league consistently.


Bob
MY NOTE:  The NBA doesn't just have a post-season officiating problem, they have a regular season officiating problem too.  The refs stink.  I find it interesting that Adam Silver has implemented the Last Two Minute Report to provide some transparency to end-of-game calls and non-calls but won't share with anyone which referees are guilty of more L2M mistakes than others.  When was the last time you heard of an NBA ref being fired/let go because due to poor performance?  Ever?  Have you ever heard of that?  Tim Donaghy, that's it, and we heard about him only because the FBI was investigating him, NOT because the NBA was watching him and the way he called games. Are they letting refs go and replacing them without telling us?  How does that help to inspire confidence in them?  We think we're still seeing the same old lousy refs but they're not there anymore and we don't know about it because there's no transparency.  We know when players are cut from teams, waived, bought out, retire or just can't land a spot on a team.  We know about players having to go to China or Europe to play because they're not wanted in the NBA anymore.  Why shouldn't we know about refs who are demoted to the G-League or who become refs in China?


.

It is a very secret society. Where do these guys hang out?! Where do they train? They are treated like sacred cows. Nobody can touch them or say anything about them without penalty.

db

Even with a few key fair calls in the 4th, the way these refs have protected and looked the other way on Giannis is so blatantly fo(ked up and wrong, it’s totally blasphemous….!!!!

If Barkley or Karl Malone were protected like this, they would have won multiple championships. He’s constantly literally running over players on his way to the basket that is unprecedented and has to stop. How many times did he inflict pain on RWill and GWill and Jaylen and Portis also joined in on the cheapshots with nothing called? Then he gets hit by Al on a play he fouled Al while he was dunked on and he gets a technical called on Al….???? This is sickening and has to be stopped and these sh!theads are still going to lose this series. I am gonna feel so good when we win this !!!

Most fans just want a fair whistle. Call it both ways. Unfortunately they are all over the map and these refs are becoming too much part of the game.

There are two players in the NBA that have made a living by initiating and creating contact that is clearly offensive.

Too many refs swallow their whistles and by doing so they give certain players a huge advantage.

Giannis commits more offensive fouls than any player in the NBA including LJ. I think he is a tremendously gifted player but my goodness, you just cannot allow him to run over players.

Shaq was a player that also made a living by initiating and creating contact that was clearly offensive, at least to the rest of the league. I am sure that there were others in the NBA timeline as well. Lamebeer anyone?

The same thing was being argued (fruitlessly, as I may add) 20 and more years ago. The thing in common? Unique athletic ability and first-ballot HOF players. (except Lamebeer).

It doesn't make it right, but it is not a recent phenomenon in the league.

The game has changed a lot.  

Maybe it is just my warped perception but I see way more controversial offensive/blocking foul head scratchers.

bobheckler wrote:https://celticswire.usatoday.com/lists/nba-boston-celtics-refs-need-change-2022/



The NBA has a postseason officiating problem - and it's probably more complex than you think



(AP Photo/Jon Durr)


May 9, 2022 11:47 am ET



If you ask the fans who watched Game 3 of the series between the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday, more than a few of them would likely say they had a bone to pick with how the game was officiated.

Not just Celtics fans, either — or even media who cover the team or the coaching staff or front office members who look at these games with a trained eye. No matter which way you slice it, the game had major officiating problems, with the NBA’s Last Two Minute Report for the game noting a total of FIVE incorrect calls or non-calls in a critical contest that went down to the final buzzer to be decided.

And it wasn’t just this game that there were problems with.


Early in the 2022 NBA Playoffs, there were gripes that the league was calling too many fouls as games seemed to slow to a crawl with trip after trip to the free-throw line.

Then, as the whistles got scarcer, physical play ticked up, with the resulting chippy play and subsequent injuries creating a whole new realm of (justified) concern over how the play has been more dangerous in the second round.


In the Celtics-Bucks series, even Boston head coach Ime Udoka risked a fine from the league to call out the fact that he had been told by refs that “if they don’t fall down, they don’t call it.”

“I’m going to have to teach my guys to flop more,” he half-joked at what could become a dangerous precedent that could end with star players out for the rest of the season or worse, fights, and all kinds of negative outcomes.

In short, the league has an officiating problem on several levels in need of rapid attention.


The safety concerns should not take a backseat to aesthetic concerns, and striking the balance while staying as true as possible to the rulebook is no easy challenge.

And when both Udoka and Bucks GM Jon Horst both have legitimate bones to pick — Horst recently highlighted the nearly two-to-one free throw disparity between Boston and Milwaukee in Game 3 — it’s clear that this is no case of salty fans unhappy with an unfriendly whistle.


“When you start looking at the numbers, … it’s pretty outrageous,” Horst said in a recent interview with The Athletic’s Eric Nehm.

“And I think our players and Boston’s players just deserve to have it be addressed and have it be looked at and to just have some improvement … That wasn’t a quality playoff basketball game, and I think officiating played a role in that.”

Similar sentiments could be heard around the league’s fans and analysts Sunday regarding the West semis matchup between the Dallas Mavericks and Phoenix Suns, and throughout the postseason more generally.


Fans are growing unhappy with a system they see as both unfair and unaccountable, and while it may have considerably more training and self-policing than most fans and even media may be aware, a general lack of transparency regarding the way the NBA referees their refs isn’t helping.

It’s not uncommon for even very knowledgeable NBA writers, for example, to be unaware the league uses a very complex system to train, assess, grade, and place league referees.

But, even the teams involved in that process do not have a clear picture of how individual refs are assigned to high-profile games.


The league uses three vaguely-defined guidelines to determine who gets promoted up the ranks for higher-profile games such as take place in the postseason, writes FiveThirtyEight’s Ben Dowsett.

Without a comprehensive idea of what exactly these guidelines entail, or how they are weighted against other factors, it includes:

1.  grading analytics compiled by game reviewers and league analysts,
2.  specific input/rankings from each NBA team regarding individual referees, and
3.  assessments of referees from the NBA’s developmental advisers and other top management/training staff

Want to know more? Per the author, you’re out of luck.


“The NBA steadfastly refuses to disclose (its internal review process) during any promotion or playoff assignment decisions,” suggests Dowsett.

“Multiple league staffers were also quick to point out that these three variables are not the end-all, be-all for these decisions. Important intangibles like communication and confidence are also factored in, especially for vital playoff assignments … the league will consider when selecting its 12 primary Finals officials each season.”

“This realm inspires some definite consternation in certain NBA executive circles,” he adds.


“Multiple team sources — requesting anonymity so as to avoid possible fines — told FiveThirtyEight, in essence, that they doubt the league’s truthfulness here,” continues Dowsett.

“Some believe that when it really comes down to it, vital playoff and Finals assignments are based on favoritism above all else,” relates the author, which doesn’t help yet another mini-crisis of legitimacy regarding rumors certain senior referees are deployed to extend series by calling them tight.


The solution to all the above? More consistency, and more transparency, with an eye to player safety and aesthetics, in that order.

And while it is easy enough to write about it, the processes going on behind the scenes will likely always leave some feeling dissatisfied about the refereeing outcomes in any given game or playoff series.

So long as the game is played in ways that minimize player injury and ugly play, salty fanbases will survive so long as that salt is sprinkled across the league consistently.


Bob
MY NOTE:  The NBA doesn't just have a post-season officiating problem, they have a regular season officiating problem too.  The refs stink.  I find it interesting that Adam Silver has implemented the Last Two Minute Report to provide some transparency to end-of-game calls and non-calls but won't share with anyone which referees are guilty of more L2M mistakes than others.  When was the last time you heard of an NBA ref being fired/let go because due to poor performance?  Ever?  Have you ever heard of that?  Tim Donaghy, that's it, and we heard about him only because the FBI was investigating him, NOT because the NBA was watching him and the way he called games.  Are they letting refs go and replacing them without telling us?  How does that help to inspire confidence in them?  We think we're still seeing the same old lousy refs but they're not there anymore and we don't know about it because there's no transparency.  We know when players are cut from teams, waived, bought out, retire or just can't land a spot on a team.  We know about players having to go to China or Europe to play because they're not wanted in the NBA anymore.  Why shouldn't we know about refs who are demoted to the G-League or who become refs in China?


.

 Bob I really don't see the purpose behind the NBA letting everyone know who f’d up and what actions were taken.
We know when players are a part of a transaction because they are the league. They are the attraction. Players just can’t disappear from a team without fans knowing what happened and why. There’s no comparison when it comes to referee’s. What good would it do to let us know that Tony Brothers was made to sit in the corner for a week because he missed too many calls?
As you’ve stated, officiating is a league wide problem. A serious problem.
The league needs to take the initiative to hire and train quality officials and get rid of the bad ones. And while they’re at it they can take the 2 minute BS report, replay and the Secaucus circus along with the coaches challenges and trash them too.

Oh- P.S. And quit changing the rules every year. Leave the game alone!

gyso wrote:Shaq was a player that also made a living by initiating and creating contact that was clearly offensive, at least to the rest of the league.  I am sure that there were others in the NBA timeline as well.  Lamebeer anyone?

The same thing was being argued (fruitlessly, as I may add) 20 and more years ago.  The thing in common?  Unique athletic ability and first-ballot HOF players. (except Lamebeer).

It doesn't make it right, but it is not a recent phenomenon in the league.  

Shaq took way more of a beating than he dished out. Please don't conflate his actions with the actions of a Laimbeer.

Looks like I am in a big minority here.

The game of basketball is just difficult to officiate as it requires judgement calls all the time.  All that we can ask for is that the refs be consistent.  Towards that, I have found the games to be consistently officiated.  We just have to expect some error as these are human beings making judgement calls.

What I hear when GMs and coaches complain about calls is, "consistently bias your judgement calls in our favor."  Hence, when people point out free throw discrepancy, what they are saying is consistently allow more contact because we rely on that.

This series has been fun to watch.  This is two big physical giants battling it out.  The officiating has been fine for me.

NBA has come a long way since David Stern's days when officiating biases were all about favoring some group: home team, big market team, etc.

Sorry but I have to disagree. When a player the quality of Giannis is allowed time after time to bowl over players, not get called for it and then go to the other end and drop to the floor for a call. It is called ridiculous. Giannis is my favorite player outside of the Boston Celtics. I have bought tickets to games just to watch him play. Over the years, it has gotten worse and worse. I know they will never call him for traveling, but he does it all the time That is not my issue. He is much too talented to have ref’s protect him play after play. He can do fine all by himself. He is truly gifted. Call the game fairly, and he would learn how to play the game the way the rest of the players have to play.

My opinion. That is all

RosalieTCeltics wrote:Sorry but I have to disagree.  When a player the quality of Giannis is allowed time after time to bowl over players, not get called for it and then go to the other end and drop to the floor for a call. It is called ridiculous.  Giannis is my favorite player outside of the Boston Celtics. I have bought tickets to games just to watch him play.  Over the years, it has gotten worse and worse. I know they will never call him for traveling, but he does it all the time  That is not my issue.  He is much too talented to have ref’s protect him play after play.  He can do fine all by himself. He is truly gifted.  Call the game fairly, and he would learn how to play the game the way the rest of the players have to play.  

My opinion. That is all

He also travels half the time on his drives. Often blatantly.

Then just call it what it is: The LeBron rule. No one ever got away with travels the way LeBron does Now it is Giannis. Last night was so blatant it was sickening.. Then they come down the other end and call a ticky tacky call of whoever is the scapegoat. It is what it is, it is never going to be called so I will just try not to dwell on it, but, to someone who has watched basketball for as many years as I have, if they are not going to call that call, then announce that it is no longer a foul. what is good for one is good for the rest