Props to Dirk Nowitzki

Dirk is the quintessential NBA player. It was a nice gesture by the NBA to let Dallas win the championship against Miami. In return, the NBA guaranteed Miami a minimum of 3 championships to match the 3 by Chicago years ago.

After Miami wins a 3rd this year, my guess is that Kevin Durant and Oklahoma will be rewarded for their contribution to the league the following year.

How can you say the NBA fixes games? Name one game in NBA history in which one team is way ahead, but then the other miraculously goes on a run, making every shot, while the previously invincible team stunningly can neither complete a pass nor make a lay up or free throw.

say what please wrote:

How can you say the NBA fixes games?

You didn't watch Indiana/Miami last night?

It's still amazing how all you sheep don't see or understand how these games are fixed. Let me explain it.

The first priority for the NBA is to have EVERY nationally televised game come down to the last possession or shot. They really don't care who wins, just that the sheeple fans stay tuned in which they won't if it is a blowout. Advertisers don't like when they have to pay for an ad in the 4th quarter but nobody is watching because one team got ahead by 30 and all the idiots turned the channel to watch that rerun for the 40th time of their favorite college football team beating their rival.

The script they follow is pretty simple. They want the away team to get a good lead in the first half. Then the home team comes back in the second half (great drama) to even up the score with a few minutes left. At that point, they want the game to go back and forth until time runs out with the hope that a last second shot wins the game that espn can then show on their sportscenter 475 times.

It's all pretty easy to do and the master is that little bald headed midget that does the majority of the games they want fixed. Pretty sure you know who I am talking about since he is the one that makes all the bogus calls.

The easiest way to give one team the advantage is to take away possessions. This is accomplished by calling holding, 3 seconds, or illegal screens off the ball. That is a neat trick like the magicians use. Since everybody is following the ball, they really don't even know what was going on where the foul was called. Of course it's also easy to just call a foul of some sort on any pick and roll as there is always contact of some sort.

In last night's game with Miami down 12 or 14, they just quit calling any fouls on Miami on the defensive end. What happens is the offensive shooting % goes from 50% to 25%. Twelve possessions means a difference of 6 points on average. They also started calling phantom fouls on Indiana when Miami made layups. This happened at least 3 times. This is just an example of one game that you can pick out the particular plays.

Have you ever wondered why the nationally televised NBA games take 3 hours but the locally broadcast games only take 2.5?

If you don't believe me, do some research from games years ago and see what the spread was between the winning and losing scores. Of course the NBA learned this from the NFL. Remember years ago when all the NFL talked about was parity? There isn't parity in the league. They just fix the games to make them closer and even set up the schedules so the better teams play as few of the poor teams as possible. The end result is the standings are much closer at the end of the year and presumably makes more games mean something for those teams trying to make the playoffs. Closer games and more meaningful games means much more MONEY for the league. I was watching a game a couple years ago and a team was about to go up 3 scores. They had EIGHT straight penalties called on them until they had to settle for a field goal.

While I enjoy watching sports for the entertainment of the plays being made, you have to be beyond ignorant if you think these contests are fair and competitive.

And don't even get me started on that Lakers/Celtics game 7 where the lakers went to the foul line 21 times in the 4th quarter to squeak by Boston for the title.

Here's the play by play if you want a good laugh.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/pbp/201006170LAL.html

The Spurs would have won game six, and the title, if Ray Allen didn't make that last-second three pointer. Ray Allen shot 42% from 3 last season. Meaning there was a 58% chance the NBA's attempt to "rig" the finals would have failed. Please discuss...

tse wrote:

The Spurs would have won game six, and the title, if Ray Allen didn't make that last-second three pointer. Ray Allen shot 42% from 3 last season. Meaning there was a 58% chance the NBA's attempt to "rig" the finals would have failed. Please discuss...

Unexpected turnovers by Miami almost ruined the plan. You can only do so much. The players are still playing the games. The main emphasis is that the games always go down to the end so everybody is watching and the most money is made. The winner is a secondary consideration. The majority of the time though, the better team is also the better closer.