The Lunatic Fringe

Yeah, I know, it seems petty to start going after the refs, especially before it’s all over, but come on.

In no sport does the “Human Element” make its presence known than officiating in basketball.  Fouling in basketball is like holding on a football offensive line; it happens pretty much every play.  It’s up to the refs to figure out who or what to call.  And that’s before realizing that the rulebook definition of traveling is about as ignored as baseball has been apparently as ignored as pine tar and the transfer rule in baseball.

And sometimes, those decisions are infuriatingly impossible to understand.

In this playoff series, the Clippers have flopped like a fat kid on a diving board all series long.  Chris Paul was basically clotheslining Steph Curry, and that wasn’t one of the fouls he did get called on.  Don’t get me started on “Big Baby” essentially halfway to performing a Lou Thesz press on Jermaine O’Neal to injure him.

And despite such a ridiculously physical game, half the calls that put the Warriors into foul trouble wouldn’t have stopped a play of touch football.

We already know just how much NBA officiating can influence games.  This is hardly a new issue or complaint.  But could the league be interested in seeing a Los Angeles Clippers team, in the league’s biggest market currently missing its usual NBA playoff team, overcoming the biggest scandal since the lockout…wow, it really hasn’t been that long between scandals…and becoming a feel good story for a league needing a little positive feelings?

I’m not saying that’s what that is…but it doesn’t sound so far-fetched.

Either way, NBA officiating is a joke.  It’s a joke far beyond anything baseball fans put up with on a daily basis.

I’d like to see the Warriors move forward.  They could do it even if my conspiracy theory is true.  But let’s face it, this is a Warriors team that hasn’t played very smart and certainly not very clean this entire series.  Curry disappears for games, which has no excuse.  It’s one thing if he goes cold and can’t hit his shots.  But when he takes only 10 shots?  That’s not good defense, that’s a team that isn’t utilizing its top scorer.

I’d like to see the Warriors move forward in the playoffs.  I swear, I do.  But shorthanded and playing like this?  And, ultimately, officiating aside, the Warriors haven’t won Game 1 or Game 6 because they played well…they won them because the Clippers played worse.  That’s very much the truth.

Let’s just say I’m taking a Sharks fan’s approach to Game 7.