Do you believe there is a wide spread problem with games being fixed in the NBA?

[buckeyemania11]

I think most be shocked at the level of gambling in all sports. All it takes is a greedy person or someone in serious debt and lots of things can happen.

Basketball is the easiest sport to fix if you were going to fix a game..............

 

[BayBuck]

Outside of the fact that you do not like the product, did the NBA do something to offend you personally? I mean, I don't watch the MLS, because the quality of soccer is poor, but I don't begrudge those that do like it or hope that the league folds.

On the flip side of that coin, is there a reason you take criticism of the NBA so personally?

 

[jimotis4heisman]

perception is reality.

and the perception is the nba is the worst officiated sport. reality is it is more real than the wwf...

 

[Buckeyeskickbuttocks]

Outside of the fact that you do not like the product, did the NBA do something to offend you personally? I mean, I don't watch the MLS, because the quality of soccer is poor, but I don't begrudge those that do like it or hope that the league folds.

Yes, the NBA came over to my house 3 years ago, kicked my dog, pooped in my fridge and then tried to run off with my daughter.

I guess I don't understand your question other than it being loaded. Of course the NBA didn't personally do anything to me. My point isn't to take away something any one else enjoys (like I even have that ability) My point is to say fuck them, I don't care, and to the extent that I do care, I'm more interested in the league's failure than it's success. It is what it is - an opinion, nothing more nothing less.

I like college basketball, so it's not the sport generally. It's the NBA I don't like. I don't like the way its run, I don't like the players, I don't like their attitidues, and I don't like the people who are in the media commenting on it. I don't like the way the game is played (in the few times I've watched it in the last 10 years), I don't like the of the court actions, I don't like the ME FIRST feel I get from the league's "Spokesmen" and so on. Infact, there is nothing in it of interest to me (with the possible excpetion of the passing interest I have in James' play and I kinda sorta like Kevin Garnett), and in my mind the league represents the worst of the sporting world on all ... maybe not all, but multiple... levels. Fairly or unfairly, that's what I think of the NBA - fuck it. It sucks.

Watching it fail is just .... well... it's like watching Michigan get beat by App. State. I just enjoy it.

Edit: And I'd like to know the answer to Bay's question as well, FWIW.

 

[ScriptOhio]

Basketball is the easiest sport to fix if you were going to fix a game..............

I would say there are other sports easier to fix, like horse racing and boxing, etc.

 

[Oh8ch]

I would say there are other sports easier to fix, like horse racing

Big Brown Seen Leaving Belmont Carrying Large Sacks Of Cash | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

 

[OH10]

On the flip side of that coin, is there a reason you take criticism of the NBA so personally?

There's no real deep answer to that question other than the fact that I am a big fan of the NBA. If you're a big fan of anything, you're not going to like when someone else unnecessarily celebrates in some of its embarrassments or failures.

Watching it fail is just .... well... it's like watching Michigan get beat by App. State. I just enjoy it.

Edit: And I'd like to know the answer to Bay's question as well, FWIW.

Or, by the same token, some SEC fan enjoying Ohio State's relative lack of success against their conference. It's bitter. It's unnecessary. And I'm curious why you would think even spending time ripping something you hate and don't even bother to watch is worth it.

 

[Jake]

I wasn't aware that there was an allegation that each and every NBA game was fixed.

I wasn't aware that I suggested there was an allegation that each and every game was fixed, either.

The question says "widespread problem", which suggests we're not talking about an occasional, isolated event. My response was based on that notion, and my perception of how conspiracy theorists treat evidence when it supports or contradicts their theory.

Conspiracy theorists tend to marry themselves to their theory, and all evidence runs through that filter.

 

[Buckeyeskickbuttocks]

Or, by the same token, some SEC fan enjoying Ohio State's relative lack of success against their conference. It's bitter. It's unnecessary. And I'm curious why you would think even spending time ripping something you hate and don't even bother to watch is worth it.

Well, I'm not sure I go out of my way to express my feelings about the NBA, there, SD and how I choose to spend my time (and judge its relative worth) is really my business, isn't it?

Anyway, I gave you my reasons. I don't like the product. I don't like the people. I don't like what it stands for and I don't like the attention to self I see in it... There is nothing of interest to me in the game, and frankly one of the key reasons is because of the huge number of HS kids who were drafted in to the league. If I wanted to watch HS basketball, I'd watch HS Basketball, if you dig what I'm saying. I think the game, at the NBA level, sucks (relative to what I'd expect from a professional league) and there really aren't any people for me to root for. (Greg Oden may provide me another opportunity to become a pro basketball fan again, but realistically, the chances are slim) I don't see anything particularly compelling in watching a bunch of really tall people dunking. I don't see much defense on the rare occassions I do tune in (or flip past a game, as it were). I'm not bitter for the sake of being bitter, if anything my "emotion" to the NBA would be one of disappointment since I used to be a fan of the NBA (well, that is to say, I liked the Lakers and 76ers for various reasons). Do you see the difference?

Jake - thanks for your explanation. I took your earlier comment as more sweeping than that.

 

[OH10]

Well, I'm not sure I go out of my way to express my feelings about the NBA, there, SD and how I choose to spend my time (and judge its relative worth) is really my business, isn't it?

I suppose it is your business, but by posting on the board, you do invite my response. And that response is that the NBA fan in me will never understand why the league inspires so much vitriol hatred.

I don't like the people. I don't like what it stands for and I don't like the attention to self I see in it...

Can't argue with that. I feel the same way about Chad Johnson, Ray Lewis, and Terrell Owens.

There is nothing of interest to me in the game, and frankly one of the key reasons is because of the huge number of HS kids who were drafted in to the league. If I wanted to watch HS basketball, I'd watch HS Basketball, if you dig what I'm saying.

Very good reason to not watch the game. Not a strong reason to hate, but I get your point. I'm personally a proponent of a two-year rule.

think the game, at the NBA level, sucks (relative to what I'd expect from a professional league) and there really aren't any people for me to root for. (Greg Oden may provide me another opportunity to become a pro basketball fan again, but realistically, the chances are slim) I don't see anything particularly compelling in watching a bunch of really tall people dunking.

Good point. Is it possible that the players are too big and too fast now for the dimensions of the court? - As in, the inventors of the game did not anticipate Shaquille O'Neal.

I don't see much defense on the rare occassions I do tune in (or flip past a game, as it were).

Scoring is down. So either one of two things have changed since the 80s: 1. The players simply suck. 2. They are playing better team and on-ball defense.

It's really a combination of the two - in part because of expansion and Pat Riley's Knicks.

The Celtics interior defense has been outstanding in the Finals by the way.

I'm not bitter for the sake of being bitter, if anything my "emotion" to the NBA would be one of disappointment since I used to be a fan of the NBA (well, that is to say, I liked the Lakers and 76ers for various reasons). Do you see the difference?

Then I suppose you may also consider that the officiating scandal could be good for the league. The officiating has been the biggest problem in the league for years, and maybe (indeed, finally) something will be done about it.

And use your joy over the scandal to hope for a better league.

 

[Nutriaitch]

I think it happens.
I don't think it is this huge conspiracy from top down though. That would be almost impossible to keep a lid on.
However, gamblers "owning" a ref would be simple. Wouldn't even cost any money.

Here's how it would work.
These refs are on the road a LOT.
Set up a vulnerable ref with a lady for a night in some NBA city.
Take pics of Ref enjoying himself with her.
Threaten to inform said ref's wife and family about this behavior.
Done deal, ref is yours. Free of charge.


Now you may ask why in the NBA and not other sports. Simple.
The referrees have a much larger impact in basketball than the other sports.

In baseball, yeah you can change the strike zone around, and give all the close ones to one team or the other, but that has a minimal effect on the game. However, you can't really prevent someone from depositing a ball in the right field bleachers.

In football, you can make it more difficult for a team by calling more penalties that can kill or keep alive drives, but not much else.

In basketball, you can remove a superstar from a game by simply blowing a whistle. You can give a team the opportunity to score lots of points without the clock even moving. It is the only sport where on every single play, the official can decide who gets the ball.
All of these things affect the outcome for the gamblers.
Whether they are voting on who wins straight up, point spread, or over/under. The officials have the ability to decide these things.

I left hockey off, because I have never watched or played the game, so I know none of the rules, or impact an official can/can't have.

 

[Buckeyeskickbuttocks]

Your point about the player outgrowing the dimensions of the court seems to me to be a good one. Perhaps an 11 foot rim? Move the line back another 3 feet? Three point line back again... I don't have the answer, but I do agree that it was never considered that the players would be the size(s) they are now when the game was developed.

Yeah, it's funny about the scoring, and my assertion regarding defense. I mean, I remember games from the 80s... it always seems like they were 132 to 121 or some such. Now, again I don't pay that close attention, but games seem to be more in the 80s and 90s.

But, then, every time I flip past a game, it seems like it's shot - bottom, shot - bottom, shot - bottom and no one ever gets a serious "hand in the face" I can't truly reconsile this, except for the fact that I never watch more than a few minutes of a game, and so it's probably just coincidence that the few moments I seem to watch are so offense heavy (All Star game-ish)

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

NBA
Bob Hunter commentary: Game-fixing conspiracy theories still just as stale

Friday, June 13, 2008 3:09 AM
By Bob Hunter


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

There are people who would have you believe that just about everything in the modern sports world is fixed, including yesterday's Texas Rangers-Kansas City Royals baseball game. I'm serious.
We live in a suspicious society, often for good reasons, and some people naturally assume that Big Money is pulling the strings on most of the games we see.
This line of thinking isn't even new. Years ago, one of the local sportswriters was a notoriously lousy gambler, and whenever he'd lose a bet because the score was within a point or two of the spread, he just knew he was the victim of a backroom deal.
"The point spread was five and they won by six," he'd say. "You don't think something fishy is going on?"

Continued......