http://czabe.com/the_daily_czabe/2008/06/the-lost-nba-travesty.html
This will not come as news to any Milwaukee Buck fans, but most of the rest of the country is unaware of how horribly one-sided the officiating was in the 2001 NBA Eastern Conference Finals.
Let’s call it the “Lost Travesty†that is not being discussed in the wake of the ongoing Donaghy bombshell and aftershocks.
To summarize, David Stern wanted a Lakers v. Bucks finals about as much as he wanted a gloveless proctology exam by George “The Animal†Steele.
Earlier that season, the Sixers with bankable star Allen Iverson in his prime, had made a bold trade for Dikembe Mutumbo that seemed to put Larry Brown’s squad in great shape to advance to the Finals for the first time since Dr. J.
The only problem, was the the Bucks were a better team that year, and in that series. So here’s what went down. I quote from my own researched column of 2002 at OnMilwaukee.com (thanks fellas, for such good archiving!)
If Kings fans are feeling down, they can always just call Milwaukee Bucks fans and commiserate. Last year, the small market Bucks got whistled out of a seven game series in much the same fashion as Sacramento. The Philadelphia 76ers have A-list superstar Allen Iverson. The Bucks had what the media called derisively "a bunch of jump shooters."
Here's how the series went. The Sixers were called for 43 fewer personal fouls than the Bucks, an average of six per game. In one game, the Bucks got only three free throws. The technical foul count went 11-2 against Milwaukee. The flagrant foul count went 4-0 against Milwaukee. Center Scott Williams was suspended for a flagrant foul and missed game seven. Sixers' center Dikembe Mutumbo never came close to fouling out.
And then in Game 7 Mutumbo shot a series high 19 free throws, making 13 of them. Does that sound like a statistical "outlier" to you? It should. Mutumbo averaged just 6.5 free throws per game through the first six games.
The Bucks and George Karl went home for the summer bitter and grumbling about getting the bum rush by Stern and his henchmen. Most people called them whiners, and told them to shut up.
Did I mention that Philadelphia is the country's #4 TV market? Milwaukee is #39. Sacramento is market #22. Los Angeles? Um, #1. How 'bout that, sports fans? All coincidence, I'm sure.
There’s simply no way you can justify those numbers. I think somebody also emailed me to say that Glen Robinson didn’t shoot a single free throw for like the first 5 games of that series.
Preposterous.
Were those Bucks the most physical team you’ve ever seen? Hell no. Were they a shooting team? Yes. But so what. That hardly accounts for those stats I quoted above.
But since it was Milwaukee, a team and a fan base with virtually no national concern (and please don’t take it personally, it’s just essential to point out how easy the screw job was to order) the deed was done.
It hardly robbed the Bucks of a potential title. The Lakers were downhill rolling freight train that year. The Sixers stole one game, and that was it. The league knew however, Lakers v. Sixers was sellable, even it went short.
How could you hype the Bucks? You couldn’t. And guess what? Nobody in the NBA’s marketing office had to wrestle with that one.
Thoughts? :wacko: :huh:
This will not come as news to any Milwaukee Buck fans, but most of the rest of the country is unaware of how horribly one-sided the officiating was in the 2001 NBA Eastern Conference Finals.
Let’s call it the “Lost Travesty†that is not being discussed in the wake of the ongoing Donaghy bombshell and aftershocks.
To summarize, David Stern wanted a Lakers v. Bucks finals about as much as he wanted a gloveless proctology exam by George “The Animal†Steele.
Earlier that season, the Sixers with bankable star Allen Iverson in his prime, had made a bold trade for Dikembe Mutumbo that seemed to put Larry Brown’s squad in great shape to advance to the Finals for the first time since Dr. J.
The only problem, was the the Bucks were a better team that year, and in that series. So here’s what went down. I quote from my own researched column of 2002 at OnMilwaukee.com (thanks fellas, for such good archiving!)
If Kings fans are feeling down, they can always just call Milwaukee Bucks fans and commiserate. Last year, the small market Bucks got whistled out of a seven game series in much the same fashion as Sacramento. The Philadelphia 76ers have A-list superstar Allen Iverson. The Bucks had what the media called derisively "a bunch of jump shooters."
Here's how the series went. The Sixers were called for 43 fewer personal fouls than the Bucks, an average of six per game. In one game, the Bucks got only three free throws. The technical foul count went 11-2 against Milwaukee. The flagrant foul count went 4-0 against Milwaukee. Center Scott Williams was suspended for a flagrant foul and missed game seven. Sixers' center Dikembe Mutumbo never came close to fouling out.
And then in Game 7 Mutumbo shot a series high 19 free throws, making 13 of them. Does that sound like a statistical "outlier" to you? It should. Mutumbo averaged just 6.5 free throws per game through the first six games.
The Bucks and George Karl went home for the summer bitter and grumbling about getting the bum rush by Stern and his henchmen. Most people called them whiners, and told them to shut up.
Did I mention that Philadelphia is the country's #4 TV market? Milwaukee is #39. Sacramento is market #22. Los Angeles? Um, #1. How 'bout that, sports fans? All coincidence, I'm sure.
There’s simply no way you can justify those numbers. I think somebody also emailed me to say that Glen Robinson didn’t shoot a single free throw for like the first 5 games of that series.
Preposterous.
Were those Bucks the most physical team you’ve ever seen? Hell no. Were they a shooting team? Yes. But so what. That hardly accounts for those stats I quoted above.
But since it was Milwaukee, a team and a fan base with virtually no national concern (and please don’t take it personally, it’s just essential to point out how easy the screw job was to order) the deed was done.
It hardly robbed the Bucks of a potential title. The Lakers were downhill rolling freight train that year. The Sixers stole one game, and that was it. The league knew however, Lakers v. Sixers was sellable, even it went short.
How could you hype the Bucks? You couldn’t. And guess what? Nobody in the NBA’s marketing office had to wrestle with that one.
Thoughts? :wacko: :huh: