http://www.oregonlive.com/nba/index.ssf/2009/06/professors_nba_officating_stud.html What I took from that, and hopefully what the Blazers took from that article is this. Portland gets 10.5 fast break points at home, and about 7.3 or so fast break points on the road. Maybe teams should really concentrate a lot on attacking the rim on the road because going in they are likely to get less calls.
Well, here's what I know. In the Houston series, in one of the games there were two calls in the same quarter against Houston. The slow motion replay showed that both fouls were clearly against Yao. However, both fouls were called on a different player- one who was about 3' from the play and the other about 6' from the play and neither was even involved or had any contact. I also note Yao brings in, literally, hundrends upon hundrends of millions of dollars for the NBA. He will never foul out of a game of any importance or on national TV. Here's something else I know. In the LA/Houston series I was watching the first quarter of game 7. A pull-up 3 point shot was taken by Houston on a semi fast break. Under the basket, in a perfect row, was Brooks, Kobe & some other Houston player. The referee had a perect and unencumbered 90 degree position and view from about 10'. Kobe put both hands in Brooks back and shoved him hard, fully extending both arms and Brooks flew out of bounds from a stopped position. The ref saw every bit of it- no foul. The trailing Houston player, literally, slightly touched Kobe on the back with a few finger tips and was immediately called for a foul. That's when I knew LA was going to win the game. They can do whatever studies they want, but NBA ref Bernie Fryer admitted the refs have the league's blessing to give star treatment to certain players and teams- if they choose. It's not about fairness. It's not about wins & losses. It's about marketing and revenue that puts money in everyone's pockets- the refs included.
Any question you have about the refs, the NBA, any crazy bullshit that happens... your answer is MONEY! Everything is about money.
