Do you think the NBA playoffs are rigged?

The world is rigged.

 

It's interesting that 40% of us think it is likely rigged in some way. 40%!!

For me, it was the WCF in 2002, Game 6 that was the tipping point:

[video=youtube;H_i3Vnd0n44]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_i3Vnd0n44&feature=related[/video]

 

Bet they were relieved when Orlando made the finals instead of getting the James v. Bryant match up as well.

 

But that series wasn't even close. It would have been really difficult to swing it the other way.

 

OK

 

Is the game rigged? Yes.
Is there a conspiracy? No.
Does the league have preferences on the outcomes? Yes.

Stupid Analogy Time:
You and I make a bet on the outcome of a coin flip. You always get heads, I always get tails. However, I make sure we use a special coin that lands on tails 60% of the time. We flip it and it lands on heads, you win and I claim that there is no conspiracy. Then I say, OK, we will play the same game 10,000 times. You will win between 0 and 10,000 times and I will win between 0 and 10,000 times, but the LIKELY result is that I will win about 6,000 times and lose 4,000 times and results in a net profit for me.

Is this game "rigged"? Yes, it is. Basically, it's the same in the NBA. The Portlands and Utahs of the league can't play only a small amount better than the NYs and LAs of the league. They must clearly outplay them.

Some may think this advantage is minimal and not worth thinking or talking about. However, (especially after reading "Outliers") it seems like the big market teams get "accumulated advantage" which becomes significant over a season. A small advantage over each game adds up to a several extra wins, which results in more home court advantage, which results in more bias.

Some biases:
Small market teams vs. Large market teams
West coast teams vs. East Coast teams
Star/Superstar players vs. Average Players
Aggressive Players vs. passive players
Veteran Players vs. Young players
Preferred Players vs. Hated players

Basically, if you are a Portland Fan you are a masochist. A small market, west coast team, meh. However, we can overcome some of that by utilizing the other biases.
1) Superstar players. We suffer in multiple ways by losing Oden. When healthy, he is an undeniable superstar. Without him, we are on the wrong side of ref bias. Why did the blazers send all of the media Brandon Roy Ipods? The message is clear, we want the media convinced that he is a superstar. If they are convinced, they will write about it convincing the fans, who will convince the league/refs.
2) "Portland is a jump shooting team" Charles Barkley. Teams that shoot too many jump shots don't force the ref to make decisions and the other team doesn't get into foul trouble. Again, the loss of Oden hurts us in yet another way.
3) We are one of the youngest teams in the league, so we don't get the benefits of any doubts. Bayless drives into the pain, gets bumped, misses - no foul call. Sorry young man! The good news is that 2 or 3 years from now, he will get those calls. Of course, if we let Bayless go he will "mysteriously" blow up with another team.
4) "You can't touch Joe Dumars" NBA ref. The biggest damnation of the league made by Donahy that I am aware of is that he was able to determine which team would beat the point spread by knowing how the officials liked the star players of the other team. Ref preference is a STATISTICALLY MEASURABLE bias. Go ahead Michael Jordan, take 3 steps! The blazers are hoping that by being "nice guys" (like Dumars) that they will cash in on this ref preference. For the most part it isn't working. What does work? Ask the Suns coach who complained on every call (which really drove Mike Barrett crazy, lol).

Conclusion:
The game has many biases and in that sense it is rigged. However, it is not rigged in the sense that the outcome is predetermined. Part of the "game" is trying to become one of the teams in which the bias is for you instead of against you. Portland as a small market, west coast team has some special disadvantages, but we can overcome them! Go Blazers.

 

The LeBron/Orlando series last year was pretty close. Game 4 went into overtime and game 1 was decided by a basket. If the league was rigged you'd figure they'd try to help the face of the league get that done.


Just a couple of ref calls away from a Bryant-James Finals.

 

A series that was 4-1, with the "1" being a ridiculous game winner by LeBron with less than a second left is close to you? Wow...

 

Uh buddy they lost 4-2... ;]

Yes they needed one more ref call to win the series.

 

I thought it was 4-1, that doesn't make it a close series, either way.

 

They won Game 5 in Cleveland, that's the one you forgot.

You're right, having the Cavs steal back homecourt advantage in Game 4 is no Big Deal. It would have only given them a Game 7 in Cleveland and a chance at a title.

 

btw, I'm not trying to say the NBA is rigged. I'm just sayin, I didn't think that series was a very close one. I think if the NBA wanted to rig a series, they could only really do it in one game or else it would become obvious to everyone what was happening.

 

Hey that's cool man, I just think that series was pretty close. The Cavs lost game 1 107-106 at the buzzer and shot only 17 FTs the whole game. The Cavs shot one more FT in Game 2. The NBA could have easily called a couple more fouls and gotten them a 2-0 lead.

 

For the sake of argument, perhaps the league wanted Orlando to advance. LeBron is obviously already a superstar, but maybe the league wanted to try pushing Howard to around that same level of fame (obviously D12 is already a star, but I mean a household name. He could very well already be on the east coast [I don't know], so this could all be moot). This would lead to higher ratings/marketability of future Orl/Cle matchups, both in the regular season and playoffs.

 

I think people get angry when their teams lose in the playoffs and make up excuses. Sometimes they may have a point, but pretty much they deserved to lose. An entire series is hard to affect.

 

of course the playoffs are rigged, just look at the calls lebron (and cavs) get.

 

You should address what I just said then.

The Cavs as a team certainly didn't get the benefit of calls, and LeBron deserves a great deal of them when you're at his level.

 

Why does he deserve them? Just because he's a star?!

Shouldn't they (the refs) be fair with every team?

 

Could you be more specific? You're just making accusations no one is going to take that seriously.

I don't bring up Game 2 of the 08 Finals when you had 38 FTs and LA had 8. I don't like to make excuses, although by your standards that is suspicious.

 

Specific? Just watch Cavs during the playoffs and you'll see what I mean.