Tim Donaghy on the 2005 Dallas Houston Series

[Dan1]

So... i was reading this article about the Lakers-Celtics series and suddenly the name of our mavs showed up. It might be a useless thread but do you guys recall this game? I don't think i've watched it.

The big thing that stands out about the series is how dramatically the officiating changed after the first two games. In Games 1 and 2, the referees handed out fouls like candy — 54 were called in the opener, 58 in the next game. Over the remainder of the series, refs called an average of 44 fouls. What happened? Well, I can say from experience that it had nothing to do with the play on the floor and a lot more to do with what happened in a hotel room the morning of every game.

Here's how it works: In the playoffs, three refs and an alternate meet in a hotel room with a group supervisor before a game. The league office e-mails the supervisor a list of things it wants the officials to concentrate on, and the supervisor relays the message to the refs in their meeting. When I was in the league, the memos — hot off the desks of the likes of Stu Jackson, Ed T. Rush, or Ronnie Nunn — would usually detail what kinds of fouls needed to be better addressed. The message would be something like, Team X is getting away with an enormous amount of handchecking, or Shawn Bradley is hanging out under the basket, not really defending anybody. He's committing a defensive three-second violation. The goal was to set the tone for that night's game and, even more broadly, for the series. An extreme example: the 2005 Dallas-Houston matchup. I was the alternate for Game 3 and sat in on the meeting with the group supervisor. We were told explicitly to start calling moving screens and traveling violations on Yao Ming. (Jeff Van Gundy would later complain publicly that referees were targeting Yao; he got fined for it.) Houston was up 2-0 at that point. Dallas wound up winning in seven games.

http://deadspin.com/5567321/tim-dona...ences-a-series

[mavsfan1000]

So basically they were not paying attention to Yao Ming's illegal screens until game 3.

[Rick41]

That was 5 years ago, who cares.

[grndmstr_c]

...

I agree with mavsfan1000...

There, I said it. Now if you'll excuse me I feel that my soul has become unclean and I must attend to some corporeal mortification.

[tcat075]

They called 54 and 58 calls in the first two games, then an average of 44 in the rest of the series? That doesn't mean anything to me. First off, that's about 5 less calls for each team, not an extreme amount. Second off, it just means the team's adjusted. Adjustments happen all the time...I don't know what all the calls were, but let's say there was a bunch of blocking fouls called in the first 2 games. The two teams would realize they need to back off the physical D they were playing, because it was causing the refs to whistle them for it. Third, it easily can be the officials, too. Each official has different viewpoints on what is and what isn't a foul.

[RareMilk]

You say you are reading the Laker Celtics series on Deadspin? So you've been reading Tim's stuff through Game 1-7? They are good reads and you get to see how refs do or don't do with Tim's breakdown of all the calls and non calls

[SMC0007]

Funny how when the conspiracy talks caters to the Mavs rather than against them people say things like "So basically they were not paying attention to Yao Ming's illegal screens until game 3." AND "That was 5 years ago, who cares."

[Dirkadirkastan]

Yao wasn't called for any moving screens in Game 3.

It's pretty obvious what actually happened, and how Donaghy is always trying to make something more of it than it is. Cuban, like he always does, sent in a bunch of clips after Game 2. The NBA realized he was right for once (so who has been screwed over again?), so instead of just ignoring him like Rockets fans would have wanted, they addressed the issue to the referees. Of course, Donaghy has to use suggestive terminology like "targeting", though he smartly never says anything ridiculous like the refs were intentionally throwing games in Dallas' favor. He's very clever when he claims the officials were mandated "to enforce rules strictly against one player", as if there's something wrong with enforcing the rules!

Then Donaghy claims that an NBA official warned Van Gundy prior to Game 3 about said "targeting". Somehow he makes this part sound fishy, but what would be the more prudent thing to do? Keep it a secret and let Yao rack up the illegal screen calls? That would sound far more conspiratorial than giving the Rockets the opportunity to adjust. And apparently they did, since Yao didn't pick up any illegal screen calls in Game 3.

There really is nothing to see here.

[Dan1]

so... i did a quick search and apparently this information is kinda old, didnt know that
sry guys, feel free to delete this thread

[fluid.forty.one]

Originally Posted by Rick41

That was 5 years ago, who cares.

LOL irony

[Rick41]

Originally Posted by fluid.forty.one

LOL irony

I would rather much care about iffy calls in a 4th round than in a 1st round.

The Finals is the only series gets my attention to bullshit calls and such, and was our chance at a ring.

[tcat075]

Originally Posted by Rick41

I would rather much care about

I'm sure that sounded clearer in your head.

[Mavericks Rockets Fan]

As a Rocket fan, I can honestly say that Houston losing that series was not because of the refs. When you have a 2-0 series and in Game 3 at home you give up a 20-0 run to lose the lead in the 4th quarter - that's all on you.

All in all, it had more to do with the fact that after Yao and Tmac, the Rockets had nobody else. Both of them had to have monster games or else Houston was screwed. This why you see that in 2009 Houston finally won a playoff series (even though T-Mac wasn't there). This time they also had Brooks, Artest, Scola, Wafer, and Landry to help shoulder the load.

[Budapest Maverick]

Who cares, even if the refs helped us, we paid for it one year later.

[Rick41]

Originally Posted by tcat075

I'm sure that sounded clearer in your head.

Actually yes, i've been off lately.

[G-Man]

What I remember about this series is not the Refs. Its the comeback. It's Avery's 1st time coaching a playoff game and he loses the 1st 2 games at home. How many teams have come back to win a series after losing the 1st 2 at home? I was at 1 of the wins and 1 of the losses. Beating those guys felt so great, Crushing Tmaq after watching him struff o out court after game 2 was just great fun.

I have no individual memory of the refs. As it should be. We all know what happens when the refs become the center of attention

[xrobx]

Originally Posted by G-Man

How many teams have come back to win a series after losing the 1st 2 at home?

i would actually like to know this statistic as well.

[Dirkadirkastan]

Three.

Up 2-0 .. sport .. round ... site .... Game 3 rec. .... series rec.
Line #30: NBA ..... all ........ V ..... 14-11 (.560) ... 22-3 (.880)