Of crooked refs and cool blues

Dreary rainy day here in this garden spot, kind of like the mood around the league office, I’d presume.

Because …

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Tim Donaghy’s back in the news.

Here’s the story that’s got everyone buzzing; what deadspin says are excerpt from a book that the publisher won’t publish because its legal department had enough qualms about some of the allegations it wasn’t worth putting out a book that probably would have made millions.

The details are quite titillating, but really nothing much more than what conspiracy theorists – some of whom cash cheques from NBA teams – have been thinking for years.

The league’s going to let former federal prosecutor Lawrence Pedowitz, who did an independent investigation when Donaghy was first arrested and sentenced, look at the charges; the FBI and American federal officials say they are aware of the story but nothing else.

What do I think?

I think Donaghy is a scum felon trying to make a buck off his story; I would be more impressed had he made these specific allegations while under oath – and subject to perjury laws – during the first phase of this sordid story because that would have lent them a level of gravitas they don’t now have being in a book that a renowned publishing house won’t publish because it doesn’t seem to believe what’s written.

Are all refs crooked?

No. Not at all.

Do they make bad calls?

Absolutely.

Is the perception there that they favour star players? Without question. And has been for decades and decades.

Do refs have issues with players they see a handful of times a year?

I’m sure they do. But I don’t think they go out of their way to screw them over.

And to me, the thought that David Stern is some magician behind the curtain, pulling strings in New York to get the desired result of games, is preposterous.

Do you think he’s stupid enough to risk a multi-billion dollar business for the sake of making a few more million? If you do, then nothing anyone says will sway you.

There’ve been too many San Antonio-Detroit and Houston-New York finals, too many playoff sweeps, to make me think even the outcome of series are pre-determined. Heck, the guy couldn't even get Kobe-LeBron last June.

Look, Tim Donaghy had his chance to make these allegations when authorities could get at him and he didn’t. The FBI, which doesn’t mess around and sweep things under the rug, had him and talked to him and decided not to charge another soul.

I’m sure, if they could have, the publishers would have verified the details and had a best-seller on their hands. It couldn’t. It didn’t.

It’s juicy gossip brought to you by a convicted felon.

Of course, there will be vehement disagreement with this stance, I’m sure. The conspiracy theorists have been around for years and years and will be for years and years to come. It’s part of the dynamic of the game, I guess, and something we have to live with.

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B.B. King’s for B.B. King wheat lager and some excellent catfish with the blues playing and the TV on the ball game is a pretty neat way to spend a night, by the way.

Sometime, this job can be pretty good; tomorrow, with the 3:30 a.m. wakeup call to catch a flight to Chicago and then home to cover two practices might diffuse some of that enthusiasm.

But, yeah, it can be pretty good.

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Here’s one thing to watch when you see Marco Belinelli play.

His head.

Specifically, his head when he takes catch-and-shoot jump shots, or any jump shot, for that matter.

I’m told the one thing the coaching staff is working on more than anything else with Belinelli is keeping him from tilting his head back when he shoots.

When he does, it takes all the arc off what becomes his line-drive jump shot and if he makes it, it’s usually blind luck.

The coaches tell me it’s not horrible that he seems to shoot a fadeaway as a matter of course but only if his head stays at least level.

After each of the last couple practices I’ve been to, Belinelli’s been on of the last guys on the floor, getting up extra jumpers and working on that head thing.

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Hmm, I’m two doors down from the Elvis Presley suite here in my hotel.

Wonder if he’s there?

Haven’t seen a room service tray with the remnants of peanut butter and banana sandwiches but you never know.

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Speaking of Memphis, here’s what they’re reading in the local paper today.

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So, they did Belinelli’s contract, which was a no-brainer, but there’s no official word yet on whether they’ll take the next step up the ladder with guard Quincy Douby.

It’s a big week for the good kid, if he’s still on the roster on Sunday, his partially-guaranteed deal becomes more fully guaranteed (I think it’s something in the neighbourhood of a guaranteed $200,000 but don’t quote me on that).

Not a lot of money in the grand scheme of things, no; but I bet it seems like, well, like something in the range of $200,000 to a young kid who can probably use it.

As a basketball decision, keeping him really won’t make a huge difference right now; it’s not like they’d go out and be able to sign someone with that money who’d come in and even remotely challenge for a spot in the rotation.

No, what they do with Quincy will be all about money and the possibility to do something much later on should they feel there’s a need to.

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Wow, big weekend for those with long Raptors memories.

Hope to run into Damon Stoudamire today, he’s an assistant coach with the Grizzlies; and then Brendan Malone hits Toronto with Orlando.

Wonder if they’ll have any great 15th anniversary tales to tell?’

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Don’t forget, a new episode of GruntTV should hit the air sometime around noon and we’ll be here to chat about the game and stuff at 4 p.m. your time, too.

Of course, seeing how the wind and rain that’s pelting the area now have already knocked out the cable and internet in my room once this morning, there may be some changes to that schedule.

Stay tuned.

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Comments

[George]

Do you know how refs are governed or regulated in this league? Does someone review the calls they make? If not should such a system be put into place at least to signal that integrity is a priority? Perhaps there is and the league just needs to get on a PR campaign to educate fans without increasing speculation.

Blogger's note: Every call in every game is seen by someone in the league office and there is an "observer" assigned by the league at every game to watch the officials and submit a report

[m smith]

the thing with the donaghy book is that the publisher would pull it if they thought even ONE thing wasn't true, or else be liable. so how much is true? 20%? 50%? we'll probably never know, but I bet there is a lot of truth 'in there'. if you read his writing he never DIRECTLY points a finger at the league, but suggests subtle hints were given, therefore, probably BS. however, the stuff about gambling on first fouls and some refs being cozy with certain teams/stars is definitely not as far fetched. if they would just start calling games as they are played (Bosh blocking foul!) the whole thing wouldn't be an issue.

[LeeZ]

Just curious: twice (at least) on opening night, the refs' egregious calls were shown on the ACC video screen, to thundering boos and cries of horse manure (or something like that). I thought that was against the rules for an arena to show contentious replays and thereby hold the refs up to scorn, ridicule and (potentially) risks to their safety (in some of the more hostile arenas). Or is that the rule only in baseball? And if it is indeed against the NBA edicts, will the Raptors be fined?

Blogger's note: Not sure if they'll be fined, but I would hazard a guess they'll at least get a call from the league office

[LeeZ]

Oh, one more thing: a columnist in The Little Paper that Blew (actually, Blows) mentioned -- without any clarification -- that two of the Raps' assistant coaches had an argument on the bench on opening night. I didn't see anything of the sort, nor did I hear anything about it anywhere else. Do you know what this is all about?

Blogger's note: I didn't see anything specific, but with a couple of passionate types on staff, it wouldn't surprise me if there was a heated discussion or two every game.

[BiLL]

Say what you will about the character of Canseco or TMZ or Deadspin but sadly they are more right than they are wrong. I think we'll have to accept Donaghy in the same light.

[BiLL]

Iverson Teams are 5-12 ATS (Against the Spread) in games refereed by Steve Javie. Just saying

Blogger's note: And all-time in his career in games not refereed by Steve Javie, what's the number ATS? What is he in games refereed by the other 59 individually? You need to bring context.
Just saying

[dave]

during the run in the 3rd quarter by the cavs, barg was called for two offensive foul and one was real fishy while the cavs went on to tie the game.
this just makes Tim Donaghy's book that much credible.
well of course, the raps were parts to blame when they shoot all those outside shots early in the clock.
however, the Dick Bavetta style of officiating - having the game called one sided for the team that is behind - is quite obvious and the raps were in the penalty by the 6 min mark.

[BiLL]

I apologize for being lazy with my previous comment, here is the ATS record of AI's teams over the last 6 seasons. It will take me time to find the rest of the Iverson ATS records, Other than last season where he was traded to Detroit the rest of the seasons don't have that same 5-12 disparity.

03/04 38-44 -.463
04/05 38-43-1 -.469
05/06 37-44-1 -.456
06/07 45-36-1 -.555
07/08 44-38 -.556
08/09 34-48 -.414

Steve Javie games -.294

Blogger's note: Thanks. And when you find out his numbers against every individual referee, as you've singled out Javie, I'd like to see them.

[Jojo]

I hate to harp on this and appreciate your earlier response, but LeeZ's post and your reply just reinforces in my mind one of the problems here. The league completely tries to insulate their officiating from too much external scrutiny and that makes no sense at all given the influence of officiating on the game. The more you try to insulate something, the more you feed suspicion.

Contentious calls in football are reviewed all the time on the big screen and booing often ensues. Some of those calls in the 2nd half against the Raps were objectively bad and they had a real impact on the game. Are the fans not entitled to see a replay of these calls? I'm sorry, but do the refs need to be protected from booing or something?

I'm not clear if you're saying that you're fine with the current state of transparency on the league's officiating. You're obviously entitled to that opinion if that's what it is. Personally, I don't understand why the league can't share more information with the fans.

For example, you say someone in the league "sees" (I take that to mean "reviews") all the calls made every game. Great, can these reviews be shared in some way? Presumably the league would have an assessment at the end of every season of the general accuracy of calls made league-wide, team and even player-specific, and what areas need to be cleaned up (e.g., travelling continues to be under-called, 3-second violations are not being called consistently, etc.). I understand they may not want to issue report cards for every ref and they can't share everything, but the status quo strikes me as excessively secretive and paranoid. My 2 cents and I'll leave it at that.

[marc in Burlington]

Hola Doug,

What role does Stu Jackson play in the evaluation of the officials and who has the penultimate voice in the room when these discussions happen, the General they hired to instill confidence in the refs or the VP of basketball ops?

I'm not sure who I trust less, a General who willingly followed orders of the worst Commander in Chief in history and only criticized those orders after he left the service, or the clown who is most responsible for there being no NBA team in Vancouver.