It’s weird cause game 1 had near perfect officiating and since then the series has been borderline unwatchable at times

Refs are def making mistakes but also Spurs are missing open looks. Wemby played awful last game and looked exhausted.

Anybody feels that people only feel this way when their favorite team is losing or already got eliminated?

If we’re talking about game 5, I don’t think it was solely dependent on refs… in fact, not at all dependent on them.

Spurs played bad. Wemby was invisible and never near the OKC basket. Spurs players committed so many bad fouls for no reason. OKC outclassed them.

I say this as someone who is neutral but leans towards wanting Spurs to win if anything.

if the Spurs win: great game

if the thunder win: waaaah refs

So essentially for game 6 if they don’t let the Thunder bigs get away with anything and they let the Spurs guard maul Shai then Spurs win easy?

Nobody had anything to say about the refs after games 1 and 4. Only when OKC wins are the refs an issue. Bit odd

Not really. That’s just the discourse going around rn, because people want to talk about it instead of the games for some reason.

Wemby played like dogshit

Did you even watch game 3??? The one with the 46 minute third quarter because of how many fouls they were calling?

You people don’t even watch this spoooort

Referee talk is referee talk but dont masked the awful shootings from each team (in the last two games) we can clown the awful brick shooting by OKC but we can also clown how awful that shooting by wemby and co .

No, but I feel like these ref criticism posts only drop when the Spurs lose…

But when OKC loses, it magically turns into ref praise posts

No

So not Wemby barely doing anything? Not all the guards clanking their shots? This sub is insane

2 missed calls at the end of the 3rd does not mean the game was rigged. Spurs played poorly

I miss not knowing the names of NBA referees.

No because I’m not stupid

NBA has been like this for a while

It literally feels like they change the criteria based on the score to force game 7

We got Wendy tonight I’m ngl. Ya’ll dont watch games I swear. Champaignie showed up but the rest didn’t. You can’t afford a scoring drought against the champs! They’re just too deep and spurs just can’t keep up with okc’s bench. It’s that simple lol

I want the spurs to win but it did seem like the refs were highly favoring the spurs game 4. I agree with your sentiment.

Yeah, every WCF game has felt like the refs completely favor one team one night, and the other team the next. Has been pretty annoying

I think the rules need tuning when it comes to fouling, every damn physical touch is a foul these days.

Couple points on this:

1. Nothing in this series, aside from the hitjobs Wemby put on McCain last night, come anywhere close to 90s basketball.
2. It’s pretty ridiculous to say that OKC took full advantage of the refs whistle when I would argue that it was the Spurs who took full advantage of the quiet whistle in games 3 and 4.
3. So yes the games, like any basketball games, have been affected by the refs. But it’s pretty silly at this point, with 4 games of evidence, to pretend like OKC is gaining an excess advantage from the refs.

Game 4 was won by 20, this is an asinine post

If you get off Reddit I promise it’s a different experience lol.

The Jaylin Williams flop in the 2nd quarter was so shameless. Crossed halfcourt…walked up to Keldon Johnson away from the ball…fell down….and got the call.

At the point I have no idea why the league likes flopping. They have the tools to penalize and even retroactively assess techs…but they actively choose not to use them.

No they lost those games because they got outplayed.

The nba is rigged son.

No

All games are like this, even the regular season

Yeah, but basketball has always been like that. That’s why it’s frustrating to watch basketball

Usually with the refs, the only time I get really upset is when someone like Foster or Brothers doesn’t call something on a star, but then gets it back by calling a foul on a role player next time down. And then the player gets in foul trouble and it impacts the team’s strategy. Other times it’s annoying but not much different than it’s been for the last 30-40 years.

Scott Foster, Tony Brother, Marc Davis have got to go. James Capers should probably be added to that list. I shouldn’t know these refs better than I know the players.

Notice that you’re only talking about this from the perspective of OKC. Consider it from the perspective of the Spurs too, how have the different games affected their strategy? When you only look at it from one angle, which you presumably agree with somewhat, it’s very easy to confirm your own beliefs.

To test a hypothesis you need to look at it from every angle. For instance, Castle has been hustling like hell out there defending SGA, he’s like a mirror of OKC’s pressing defence in Caruso and Dort so you’d expect the refs to affect his game as well as OKC’s. How are other Spurs players adapting to the refs? Surely it’s not just OKC doing this.

I agree the inconsistency is annoying but it also means we get to see different play styles but the focus is always on OKC. As you put it, either it’s SGA baiting his way to the FT line to win the game or it’s Hartenstein and Caruso hacking their way to win possession and the game. What are the Spurs doing in all of this? How has it affected strategy overall? In the games that have given tick-tacky fouls to SGA, Wemby has also looked exhausted on the floor. Why is that? Is it not relevant also to OKC winning those games? With all the stoppages you’d think it’d be better for Wemby’s stamina.

pulling hair

Hartenstein had his hand get caught up in Castle’s hair and that’s unfortunate and a foul but it’s not intentional IMO. In the replay it looked like there was a second pull at the hair but it was just Castle’s delayed reaction to the first pull to help sell the foul (and fair enough). You can see in the live video that Hartenstein’s hand was likely clear of Castle’s hair when it looked like Castle’s hair was pulled again.

Sure I’m biased but if it’s unequivocal that Hartenstein pulled his hair twice I’ll absolutely call that out, I have no problem calling out dirty plays whether by OKC or other teams. The replay I’ve seen is from one angle and doesn’t give us the perspective to determine this with certainty. The live video’s angle is better but zoomed out so the quality is not great. To me, I give Hartenstein the benefit of the doubt and I think it makes the most sense seeing as it seems like his hand was inadvertently caught in Castle’s hair originally.

Wasted 200 words on a garbage post like this lol. Game 3’s third quarter was 46 minutes.

Why can’t we just have consistent reffing crew for a series. By game 1 they’ll know how the crew calls fouls and it goes from there.

It definitely feels that way lately. I think, most people would agree that the officiating has only gotten worse over the last few years. I have no suggestions on how to fix it though.

Karma farmers are feasting off of this discourse.

This post boils down to the low iq casual basketball fan take of, OKC is ahead only because of the refs.

There is a reason they don’t post ref stats. It’s by design

rigged

I don’t think refs are everything, but they are a part of the game, for sure. I don’t really complain, but it’s been tiring to make what could’ve been a legendary series be more about refs and flopping than basketball

Not really, mostly extended by injuries.

No. It only has to do with whether the supporting cast makes enough shots to free up the star. In game 3, the spurs overcommitted to the double team and left the Thunder role players wide open, which they capitalised on. In game 4 no one on OKC could hit the broad side of the barn, so the spurs crushed them. In game 5 everyone aside from Champagnie was bricking everything for the spurs. They had plenty of open looks, they just weren’t landing

To say the refs are dictating the series is some engagement farming bullshit.

Personally I think whoever makes the most shots wins, despite the refs that’s generally how it’s been. It shouldn’t be discounted how the refs can break a teams rhythm either way by calling dumb fouls tho

Things the referees had zero to do with:

Wemby getting gassed

Wemby staying out of the lane and shooting jump shots

Castle turning the ball over

Missing open shots

San Antonio had PLENTY of calls other way. Plenty. But, sure, sit around and complain about the refs. Maybe if you can get a Reddit post to 1M views, you can get Sipver to overturn the results.

Ive said it over and over. Refs have a bigger influence on the game then any superstar.

Look. I dont like the way SGA plays, or Harden, or anyone who blatantly initiates contact and then falls to the ground.  But the Spurs offense where Wemby doesn’t shoot in the first half and when he does its from 3 is equally unlikeable.  You cant watch game 5 and think the Spurs deserved to win if not for the refs.

I think the refs at least last game basically decided the game towards the end but the spurs put themselves in that situation

post like these only happens when OKC win. When spurs wins it’s all crickets about the refs it’s crazy to witness this

There are some bad ref moments but the team that has come out with the most energy and physicality (and been simply better) has always won. Spurs were ass in game 3 and 5, no amount of ref-foolery was going to save them from those losses.

People choose what narrative to run with based on if the team theyre rooting for won that game. As an objective hater of both teams refs have not had an impact on who won or lost each game, its been fairly bad or good as a whole for the series

that’s because you’re not as smart as you think you are

I dislike both teams and both fanbases are incessantly whining over fouls and flops. Wemby is as unethical a player as SGA. He has to be since he legit does not have the mass or strength to compete down low.

In regard to Brothers and the extender I think the NBA is obsessed with “engagement”. The league doesn’t much care if they are the best refs just that we all talk about them. Chances are high Foster gets game 6. Everyone talks about how the Spurs get the extender. Fact they are probably going to win a home game with any ref in the world gets mitigated by having the extender who gets bs credit.

They can still manipulate the games now.

It will get harder and harder as the Spurs mature.

Tony Brothers is the superstar of this playoff series.

I’ve stopped watching.

if this goes to a game seven they must bring back the refs of game one

no. it’s been decided by which team makes shots and doesn’t turn the ball over a thousand times. idk how referees are your takeaway unless you’re looking for them to be

every year it’s the same narrative on reddit lol

I was thinking that now with MLB having pitch review and NFL reviewing more plays, the NBA is left as the major pro league where refs are such a big part of the game, which, as we all see, is a bad experience for fans.

Then stop watching. 

eh. IMO, this result was supposed to happen either way. Then the spurs will get the next one. League wants game 7.

100 percent on how impactful the refs are to these games. There could be so much more consistency across the board. Zarba and Davis have been great, but Brothers has been on some Scott Foster ish and is calling every other game

no.

ya’ll just really riding the narrative for karma farming. okc lost game four because they shot horribly. they won game 3 because they shot very well. they also won game 5 because spurs played like shit - wemby still not ready for a deep playoff run, doing tackles every now and then.

game 1 was won by wemby because of that curry 3 to tie the game. he completely dominated chet on that game.

anyone that watches the game know that the officiating has been fair in terms of physicality.

Kinda yeah

Nope. Thunder are the better team and will very likely win as expected

It’s influencing it hard, but not dependent. SA loses yesterday with fair officiating, but it’s way closer. It’s hard to watch this shit when Dort is laughing on the sidelines as the officials clearly fucked up and gave them a late advantage

My conclusion is that basketball is an inherently inferior game because fans talk about refs and seldom about the game itself.

Only when Victor Wembanyama has a bad game.

This the first time ya’ll watched the nba? Lol

People were calling game 1 one of the greatest ever been all downhill since then blowouts and refs stoppages

No, it feels like it’s decided by effort and urgency.

It feels solely dependent on if the refs want to let the Thunder get away with whatever they want.

Only people who know basketball.

Refs in 6

Cry

The NBA wants this series to go 7. It means more 💰and that’s all that matters to them. Each extra game played is a ton of money. And OKC will probably win in 7 regardless of refs or whatever. But who cares ? I’ll go on with my life and not think about it an hour later. Their run will end like all others.

Knicks working the heading pointing gif – Can’t have games decided by bad reffing when you obliterate the competition.

Only if you decide to ignore all the basketball that’s been played

The better team is winning, that’s all

Oh this your first time experiencing a rigged western conference finals huh?

Always has been

Absolutely. Was looking forward to this series. Refs are destroying it. 38 and 30 FTA last night? Who wants to see that?

Going 7 games means nothing if you’re only getting 3.5 games of actual competitive play

how do people not get tired of blaming everything on the refs like genuinely

No, and I’m tired of people whining about it.

Even if it’s not NBA telling refs to make sure it goes to 7, it’s clear that they are doing it by choosing correct personnel for every game to get what they want.

Spurs disappeared for game 3 and some of 5, simple as that. Ironically game 1 was the only game close enough to be influenced by ref decisions yet it’s the best officiated game so far. 

I think this sub has a very strong opinion on this wcf in particular and it’s unwise to attempt a logical debate, on reffing of all topics

But my opinion is that players are still the ones who impact the game the most, and when two squads are matched so closely like this, it kind of zooms in on other impurities of the game, such as the reffing, so they are blown out of proportions

Or maybe nba rigged this who knows

Last night felt particularly bad for what has already seemed….not great. Frustrating that the league has no accountability for blatant “mistakes”

I’m all for crapping on the refs when they do a bad job but OKC just outplayed the Spurs out last night. I’m pulling for the Spurs but even if any of the questionable ref decisions hadn’t happened they were getting blown out.

This series isn’t over yet. The Spurs are capable of outplaying OKC. The ref blame in this particular series seems overblown to me. And the closest game in the series went San Antonio’s way.

No. Blaming the refs is way overblown.

It does not matter the game or sport; it’s always the refs fault when. Always…

Not really… game 5 for example Spurs guards were flat out awful and Thunder going double big always even with JWill out on the floor lead to Wemby being on the perimeter while iHart was by the basket eating up boards… they won the IHart minutes with Wemby on the floor by 20… that’s what swung the game

Nope

Call me crazy but poor shooting and streaky offenses seem to be the real story?

I mean if you look back at history they’re basically all this way. Starting to feel like this is the same as WWF at this point

Wish the game 1 crew was the crew every game this series and the entire playoffs. Ik that’s impossible but they haven’t reffed a game since game 1.