@#&* the NBA

^{Note: I'm writing this as soon as I got home from BW's to ensure that I was still as angry as possible about the results of Game 2}

Now, I'm not a conspiracy theorist. I'm sure we walked on the moon, and I don't think the government somehow pulled off this elaborate 9/11 conspiracy.

That said, FUCK the NBA. Seriously. Four years ago before the Cavs had LeBron, the Cleveland Basketball Fan was an endangered species. I say this because I know it's true. I've made no secret of the fact that I'm a complete and total LeBron bandwagon fan. I didn't give a shit about the Cavs from the time the Price/Daugherty/Ehlo team disbanded until we got James.

So, how does it look to the casual johnny-come-lately NBA fan to watch a game that appears to be so fucking lopsided in the officiating? How am I *not* to think the NBA has some vested interest in seeing the Pistons advance?

As I said in Tuesday's entry, I thought the Game 1 officiating was equally loose for both teams. Tonight, not so much. Example: Anderson Verejao has the ball not once, but twice, under the hoop for a layup. On the replay (I will see if I can somehow find this, but I doubt it will make YouTube) you can see Chauncey Billups swat his arm at Verejao's not once, not twice, but three fucking times. No foul. But, sure enough, within the next minute or so, when the Pistons were on offense, the refs call a fucking hand-check. What the fuck is that?

Then, the cake-taker. Rasheed Wallace could not have more obviously pushed off of Verejao to get off his game winning shot (really, just to catch the ball and keep it in-bounds). I admit Verejao is a notorious flopper, but when it's that fucking clear in live-action, you would think a trained NBA ref standing 10 feet away could see/call it. Now, I'm all for "letting them play" when it comes to incidental contact in the deciding moments of a game. But when someone shoves off his defender to gain an advantage (in this case, to actually keep the fucking ball in his team's possession), that goes beyond "letting them play" and the ref HAS to call that foul.

Now, I'm also no fan of Mike Brown's halftime "adjustments" (note: sarcasm) or his team's offensive execution in the third quarter. But, after the entire free world bitched to high heaven about how LeBron needs to drive on the final play (why they played for the last shot instead of trying to score and play defense is another argument for another time, but has no relevence to where I'm going), he drives. He spins. He takes a shot. He gets FUCKING HAMMERED on the shot. No call. Not even so much as a sympathy whistle.

Charles Barkley, who so chastised LeBron for not taking it to the rack in game 1 has the tamarity to say, "You can't expect calls on the road," in the post-game. Weren't these the same whore fuckers who said he should drive because, "at least you get to the foul line with a chance to send it to overtime"?

Apparently you don't when the refs decide to swallow their whistles in Detroit's favor for the majority of the game.

I read a comment from someone on another sports site that Detroit gets more calls at home than anyone. I thought it was just sour grapes (not my comment in my post on Tuesday about how I thought LeBron not getting fouls in the second half was NOT sour grapes, just for reference).

I now think it's true. It's like in baseball. When a player is a star, or gets the reputation as having a "good eye" and then lays off a pitch that's close, most of the time the umpire gives them the benefit of the doubt. So, apparently it is that if the Pistons are considered a "great defensive team" they will not get even blatant fouls called on them.

I will be watching closely in game 3. If the Cavs *still* don't get any calls, then I'll start to believe something's going on. If the refs decide to call it a home-court series, then the Cavs will simply have to outplay the Pistons in Detroit.

But if not, and if the officiating remains so lopsided, the NBA is in danger of costing itself fans. They would start with me.

In summary, the Cavs had Game 1 in their grasp, and they let it go. They had Game 2 in their grasp, and the officials took it from them with two horrible no-calls in the final 30 seconds.

Careful, NBA. There's only so many times you can decide the Spurs and Pistons should play each other before the fans of the other 28 teams decide they've got better things to do with their time.