The Year The Refs Stole A Title From Dirk Diggler, Avery Johnson, and the Mavs
Apartment 404 spent the afternoon watching high school ball at the Cumberland County Civic Center and found our collective minds wandering to a thought late in the second game, as the Falmouth boys were beating up on Cape Elizabeth in the Western Maine Class B Finals: How tough is it to officiate a basketball game? And more importantly, to officiate it well?
The three man crew working the Falmouth / Cape game were basically "Two Men and a Baby": Two offcials working hard and effectively, with the third member of the crew doing absolutely nothing but calling simple out of bounds plays. This official, whom we don't know by name, literally made ONE foul call in the last three quarters by our count. (And that foul was an intentional called on a breakaway, a whistle that looked to be highly questionable.) The rest of the time we were concentrating on him he let his two partners make EVERY SINGLE FOUL CALL. How does this lame excuse for an official get awarded to the most important game of the season for the young men involved?
We have no idea, but it's a travesty.
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That brings The 'Pent to the main point of this post: How inept officials can alter sports history, not just through gambling or drug use but also by incompetence:
In the 2006 NBA Finals between the Mavs and the Heat, the series was tied 2-2. Game 5, being played in Miami (remember, the NBA uses a 2-3-2 format), was all even at 100-100 with 1.9 seconds left after Dwayne Wade made the first of two free throws. He had one left, which if made would give the Heat a 1 point lead, a miss and the game is still tied. Dallas had one timeout left, but Coach Avery Johnson doesn't want to use it until after the second shot so that they can advance the ball to halfcourt, regardless of a make or miss by Wade.
Here's a YouTube video of what happened next.
And here's our subsequent take on the fiasco, with a surprising Boston connection.
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Let's say the percentage chance that Dirk "Diggler" Nowitzki or teammate hits a shot off an inbounds pass with 1.9 seconds left is about 40%, maybe a little less. And the percentage chance of hitting a running full court heave is maybe 3-5%; basically not going to happen. So a major difference between the two scenarios for Johnson.
If Joe DeRosa had let Coach Johnson call the timeout after the SECOND free throw, the Mavs would have had 1.9 seconds to use after Wade's make, with Dallas down 1, or slightly less after a miss due to the fraction of a second needed to corral the board, albeit with the score tied and no chance for the Mavs to lose in regulation.
His grandstanding in forcing Johnson to use his final timeout in a useless situation will long be remembered by Apartment 404 due to the likelihood that it greatly contributed in the loss by the Dallas Mavericks of the 2005-06 NBA Championship, since a win in Game 5 would have given the Mavs a 3-2 lead with the last two to be played in Dallas. Would Dirk Diggler and his band have lost those last two? Not bloody likely!
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Instead, history tells us that Wade hit the game winning free throws in the final seconds, Avery Johnson and Josh Howard stupidly pulled a C-Webb vs UNC type bonehead maneuver to cost their team, and the Heat wound up winning the final four games of the series to become champions.
The reality is that a title hinged on a ridiculous call by a no name ref who didn't understand that his job is more art than science. Hopefully the Heat awarded Joe DeRosa a ring or at least a half share of the playoff loot.
The three man crew working the Falmouth / Cape game were basically "Two Men and a Baby": Two offcials working hard and effectively, with the third member of the crew doing absolutely nothing but calling simple out of bounds plays. This official, whom we don't know by name, literally made ONE foul call in the last three quarters by our count. (And that foul was an intentional called on a breakaway, a whistle that looked to be highly questionable.) The rest of the time we were concentrating on him he let his two partners make EVERY SINGLE FOUL CALL. How does this lame excuse for an official get awarded to the most important game of the season for the young men involved?
We have no idea, but it's a travesty.
================
That brings The 'Pent to the main point of this post: How inept officials can alter sports history, not just through gambling or drug use but also by incompetence:
In the 2006 NBA Finals between the Mavs and the Heat, the series was tied 2-2. Game 5, being played in Miami (remember, the NBA uses a 2-3-2 format), was all even at 100-100 with 1.9 seconds left after Dwayne Wade made the first of two free throws. He had one left, which if made would give the Heat a 1 point lead, a miss and the game is still tied. Dallas had one timeout left, but Coach Avery Johnson doesn't want to use it until after the second shot so that they can advance the ball to halfcourt, regardless of a make or miss by Wade.
Here's a YouTube video of what happened next.
And here's our subsequent take on the fiasco, with a surprising Boston connection.
=================
Let's say the percentage chance that Dirk "Diggler" Nowitzki or teammate hits a shot off an inbounds pass with 1.9 seconds left is about 40%, maybe a little less. And the percentage chance of hitting a running full court heave is maybe 3-5%; basically not going to happen. So a major difference between the two scenarios for Johnson.
If Joe DeRosa had let Coach Johnson call the timeout after the SECOND free throw, the Mavs would have had 1.9 seconds to use after Wade's make, with Dallas down 1, or slightly less after a miss due to the fraction of a second needed to corral the board, albeit with the score tied and no chance for the Mavs to lose in regulation.
His grandstanding in forcing Johnson to use his final timeout in a useless situation will long be remembered by Apartment 404 due to the likelihood that it greatly contributed in the loss by the Dallas Mavericks of the 2005-06 NBA Championship, since a win in Game 5 would have given the Mavs a 3-2 lead with the last two to be played in Dallas. Would Dirk Diggler and his band have lost those last two? Not bloody likely!
-----------------
Instead, history tells us that Wade hit the game winning free throws in the final seconds, Avery Johnson and Josh Howard stupidly pulled a C-Webb vs UNC type bonehead maneuver to cost their team, and the Heat wound up winning the final four games of the series to become champions.
The reality is that a title hinged on a ridiculous call by a no name ref who didn't understand that his job is more art than science. Hopefully the Heat awarded Joe DeRosa a ring or at least a half share of the playoff loot.
posted by joe sweeney at 10:22 PM
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