sprignaturemoves

It didn’t surprise me to read that there could be other NBA referees caught in the F.B.I. dragnet.  While they may not face criminal charges, they could be slapped down by the N.B.A.

Stern could face some serious credibility issues after his emphatic statements about Donaghy being a “rogue, isloated criminal.”

I hope this all gets resolved by the beginning of the NBA season in October.  I really don’t want any shadows over what’s shaping up to be an interesting year in the league.

I’ve been reading the intense flurry of NBA blog-speak surrounding the momentous trade between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Boston Celtics.

Here’s my conclusion:  Boston got the better deal — in the long-term.   Yes, you heard me right.

Although the T’Wolves got (and will get) some really good, young players in the deal, I don’t feel confident Kevin McHale has what it takes to make it work in the long term.   You know — the Joe Smith debacle, the mid-season firing of Dwayne Casey, Michael Olowakandi, Ndu Ebi, Marko Jaric , etc.

Boston, on the other hand, has new hype and good players right now.  Not only is their fan base invigorated, but they will have a steady stream of free agents that will keep it going.  Sure, Danny Ainge has his critics, but this trade ought to work out nicely.  There’s a lot of pride and history in Boston.  More than in MN, that’s for sure.

You all know I’m biased about Ray Allen.  He’s the man.  It’s not going to be like Melo and AI trying to get their touches.  I think Sugar Ray and KG will be good team players.   Should be exciting.

This is just the beginning….

Case in point: 3 big questions

Here’s some of Donaghy’s stats:

Home Team Against the Spread: 30-41-3
He was in the bottom 13.3 % of all refs in this category, road teams had to love him, it was all about the spread. Scary thing is that 7 refs were worse, including Eddie Rush.

Over/Under
He was in the top 5% of all refs in the category (43-29 O/U). Jim Clark & Olandis pool were the only worse. 65% of the time the over was the way to go when he was officiating.

Compare to his stats from 2005-206
Home Team Against the Spread: The improbably perfect 32-32-2
Over/Under 36-30 in favor of the over.

In 2004-2005:
Home team ATS: 35-26-4
Over/Under in 2004-2005 was 29-35

In 2003-2004:
Home team ATS: 35-35-0
Over/Under: 30-39

h/t: nbarefssuck.com

How about this for referee Tim Donaghy and his crew during the 2006-2007 season (according to Stats LLC):

Technical fouls called – 1st
Personal fouls called – 4th
Free throws ordered – 3rd
Fouling out players – 2nd

In 68 games Donaghy officiated during the 2006-2007 season, 34 players fouled out – meaning the player was called for six fouls and forced to exit the game. The league average is 37 foul-outs per 100 games.

Donaghy averaged 2.6 technical foul calls a game – with 177 total called in games he worked, 20 more than the No. 2 ref, Ken Mauer

h/t: ny post

This is a pretty cool idea, I think…

Except he forgot all of Yi’s peeps.

This could be bad.

I don’t expect Mark Cuban to be rubbing his hands together with a wry grin.   Well….maybe.

Haha.

Nice, humorous article here by Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel columnist Jim Stingl.

I echo the sentiments of the Chinese basketball fan cited in the article:

…most Chinese fans want him to cut the crap and join the Bucks now.