JT the Brick

The NB playoffs' final four is finally set, and hopefully we can see more competitive games with better officiating.

Listeners to my radio show have not stopped complaining about the awful officiating, and I agree with them. Each series has been dominated by the home team. San Antonio stayed out of foul trouble Monday night to close of New Orleans in Game 7 in one of the cleanest games of the postseason.

Referees seem to be deciding games at an alarming rate. This complaint has gone on for more than 50 years, and I'm sure we'll always have the officials to pick on when our favorite teams come up short.

I’m a big fan of advanced technology and instant replay. I wouldn’t mind seeing robots run up and down the court with high-tech cameras instead of the same familiar officials we know on a first-name basis. Commissioner David Stern spent most of the season trying to downplay the prosecution of former referee Tim Donaghy, who pleaded guilty in federal court to gambling on games he officiated while tipping off gamblers who benefited from his inside information. Stern has always stood behind his officials when they are scrutinized in the media and that is what a good leader should do when his employees are being harassed on sports radio and throughout the sports blogisphere.

Last week, Utah fans booed while looking on in amazement as they were closed out at home by the Lakers in Game 6. Utah was a physical team that liked to foul throughout the season, but their bully tactics weren’t enough to eliminate Kobe Bryant.

Jazz coach Jerry Sloan must have realized he had no chance of reaching the Western Conference finals after Lakers forward Pau Gasol pushed Mehmet Okur in the back while grabbing an offensive rebound and then easily scoring to put away Game 5 in L.A. My 6-year-old son could see that Gasol pushed off and committed an offensive foul, but Steve Javie and his two partners didn't blow their whistle.

Paul Pierce was called for an offensive foul in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals as he attacked the basket and tangled with LeBron James. James didn't have his feet set, but that didn’t matter to the officiating crew led by Dick Bavetta in Cleveland. The better team ended up advancing, with the Celtics winning Game 7.

I want to see more consistency from the referees when they calls fouls against road team player. I'm fed up with “make-up calls” and star players getting the benefit of the doubt. If Tayshaun Prince gets hacked while he is taking off for a dunk, call a foul instead of letting the play continue. If Pau Gasol has his hands all over the back of an opposing big man, whistle the play dead instead of letting him continue to gain an unfair advantage. If a player begins to pop off verbally after being called for a foul that he feels went against him, light him up for a technical foul and send a message. Carrying on a heated conversation with a referee should not be accepted in the playoffs.

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The lack of team play also has been upsetting, so the playoffs need to finish on a high note.  Stern and the league should be thrilled that we now have Los Angeles, San Antonio, Detroit and Boston all alive and playing with tremendous momentum as the conference finals begin this week.

The league can showcase their best teams on the global stage, and I still believe that Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker and the deep Spurs will win it all. They could go head-to-head with any great team of the past 30 years because of their superior coaching and great team play.

Believe it or not, I’m looking forward to the rest of the playoffs from the perspective of my glass being half full. I hope the road teams will be more competitive and the referees will stop dominating the action and pace of games.

I want to watch the Eastern and Western finals without home teams getting rewarded with an unfair amount of free throws, which end up deciding the outcomes of games.

I just want to see the best players in the world play at their highest level and hope that we see a few games that are not decided by a controversial call even though that would drive fans crazy and make for much more entertaining sports talk radio shows!

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