So Far, It's Another Terribly Officiated NBA Postseason

The NBA honchos must have urged ESPN announcers to keep their critique of referees to a minimum. The J.R. Smith foul of Manu Ginobili was not in the least a flagrant foul. Ginobili was never hit in the head or near his head. Smith hacked his arms ensuring that there would be no layup. Ginoblili went into his patented, 'I was just assaulted' flop and the referees fells for his tactic - for the umpeenth time.

The "pundits" who believed there would be a backlash by officials for the suspension of Joe Crawford are out of touch with the game. The referees today have as little in common with Crawford as Jerry West does with today's player. The officials of the NBA today mirror society; self-centered to a fault - protecting their own hides is paramount - and after the instant gratification of a good postgame report. Joe Crawford cared little for today's way and for the newer refs, it was a good thing to see him go; one less old school referee to look at them in disgust when they overrule on of their own because of what they thought they saw while out of position; one less old ref to admonish them after a game.

What makes all of the aforementioned so painfully obvious is the kid glove treatment of the Spurs in their series against the Denver Nuggets. The Spurs, like a few other teams in the league, foul early and often knowing officials won't call everything - knowing that in the end the referees adjust to the Spurs rather than the opposite, and more often than not, end up not calling anything.

Impeding the progress of a dribbler with a shove or a hip-check or an armbar as he enters the lane is a San Antonio favorite. Flopping to get a charge call without contact - Tim Duncan performed this maneuver perfectly in the 4th quarter of Saturday's game - is another Spurs ruse. For a team without leapers the Spurs get more over-the-back rebounds than any team in the NBA.

And when the opposition tires of the tactics and complains to officials, announcers say they are whining (Ginobili just flew through the lane Marcus Camby was called for a foul but never touched the Argentinian as he fell drama-queen style onto the floor garnering a foul - of course).

The pitiful fact of these NBA playoffs so far is the in its desperate want to advertise team over individual sport in a sport of individuals, allow teams like the Spurs, Utah, Chicago, Detroit, and Phoenix to cheapen the game and the league.

It's business as usual in David Stern's NBA.