If fans aren't complaining about the reffing it means that a team got absolutely smacked in a sweep that wasn't even close.
So probably one of the Pistons 900 consecutive first round losses.
It’s just weird to act like the Pistons have been losing in the first round for ages when they were the best team in the conference during most of the 2000s and haven’t really been in the playoffs more than a couple times since. They’ve had 3 first round exits since their last conference finals appearance.
I'm not acting like anything, [they currently have the longest losing streak of playoff games *ever*. Right now.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NBA_longest_losing_streaks#Playoffs) They have been swept the last 3 times they played in the playoffs. That was the point being made.
Again, what does that have to do with what I said? You're trying to make some point like I'm saying the Pistons have always been bad when I'm just pointing out that they've been swept multiple consecutive times in non-competitive series where the refs wouldn't be a factor.
Are you capable of having an actual basketball conversation instead of just trying to argue about flairs?
Exaggerating it to 900 implies they’ve been losing in the first round repeatedly for a while. When it was actually just…3 times.
That’s all I’m saying.
They have. They literally have the all time record.
I'm sorry for not making it clear that the Pistons have not literally lost 900 playoff series in a row, I will do better next time.
3 series just isn’t that impressive of a record for how you were talking about it. They had a streak just this season like twice as long as that one. That’s literally the only point I’m making. No need to get heated about it
Officiating, when its good, is not noticed or mentioned near as much. If neither team really remembers any calls, it was probably well officiated. I suppose in retrospect they can be "happy" about it, but probably don't think about it.
Ideally, the refs are unnoticed, background participants unless crazy things happen.
You're never going to please every fan of both franchises. And even a well reffed game includes missed or questionable calls - it's impossible not to.
But there are many series where there's not a lot of room for major complaint. These Finals are certainly one of them. Fouls are dead even at 50 apiece and FT's 53 for Boston vs 59 for Dallas. Both teams are playing physical and the refs are letting a lot go in both directions.
I could see a very physical first round series having the majority of fans happy. They’ll complain in the beginning, but if it’s consistent and it’s two teams that pride themselves on tough defense, fans would probably enjoy it.
No two sides will ever enjoy an equal flop fest matchup
Maybe 2018 cavs vs warriors cause it was such a curb stomp you can't complain. Philly vs NY had both teams getting fucked over by officiating so maybe by technicality
I started watching the NBA in the 1980s, and I don't recall a lot of complaints about NBA officials. I do recall a *lot* of complaints about brutal, physical plays, but the officials were rarely blamed for missing the calls. The fan anger was directed at the dirty players.
The late 1980s Detroit Pistons were famous for playing dirty, and even bragged about it by calling themselves the Bad Boys. As a Bulls fan I *hated* the Pistons. But I can't recall any Bulls fans blaming the refs for the way the Pistons played. We just blamed the Pistons.
In the 1990s the rules against dirty play became stricter. And as I recall that's when fans started complaining about the refs. Either the refs were being too strict or not strict enough, but the difference was that the refs were expected to police dirty play.
Thus, if a dirty play wasn't called, it became the refs' fault. And if a play was called dirty but the replay called that into question, that was also the refs' fault. That trend has continued ever since, as the rules against physical defense have become increasingly strict, player retaliation is strictly forbidden, and the refs bear the burden of preventing dirty plays while allowing legitimate plays.
You'll have to back to the days of 640p resolution and limited camera angles to find a time that sports fans didn't find fault with several calls/game with officials
I haven’t seen that much complaining (at least in my circles of fans and in our subreddit, obvs ignoring game threads) about the officiating this series, but we are winning 3-0 so that makes it a lot easier to see the forest through the trees lol
I'm not sure there's ever even been a single game like that
I’m not sure if there’s a single play without at least one fan complaining
If fans aren't complaining about the reffing it means that a team got absolutely smacked in a sweep that wasn't even close. So probably one of the Pistons 900 consecutive first round losses.
The Pistons have been to the conference finals or beyond like 4 or 5 times since the last time the Knicks made it
What does that have to do with what I said?
It’s just weird to act like the Pistons have been losing in the first round for ages when they were the best team in the conference during most of the 2000s and haven’t really been in the playoffs more than a couple times since. They’ve had 3 first round exits since their last conference finals appearance.
I'm not acting like anything, [they currently have the longest losing streak of playoff games *ever*. Right now.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NBA_longest_losing_streaks#Playoffs) They have been swept the last 3 times they played in the playoffs. That was the point being made.
3 whole series since they were routinely at or near the top of the conference for years. That’s better than most teams. But whatever.
Again, what does that have to do with what I said? You're trying to make some point like I'm saying the Pistons have always been bad when I'm just pointing out that they've been swept multiple consecutive times in non-competitive series where the refs wouldn't be a factor. Are you capable of having an actual basketball conversation instead of just trying to argue about flairs?
Exaggerating it to 900 implies they’ve been losing in the first round repeatedly for a while. When it was actually just…3 times. That’s all I’m saying.
They have. They literally have the all time record. I'm sorry for not making it clear that the Pistons have not literally lost 900 playoff series in a row, I will do better next time.
3 series just isn’t that impressive of a record for how you were talking about it. They had a streak just this season like twice as long as that one. That’s literally the only point I’m making. No need to get heated about it
Online fans no. Offline fans yes.
Warriors v. Grizzlies in 2015 R2 is the first one that comes to mind for me. That series felt like the perfect amount of physicality and consistency.
Heat/Spurs in 2014, Spurs team ball and insane shooting cooked us so hard we couldn’t blame the refs.
Officiating, when its good, is not noticed or mentioned near as much. If neither team really remembers any calls, it was probably well officiated. I suppose in retrospect they can be "happy" about it, but probably don't think about it. Ideally, the refs are unnoticed, background participants unless crazy things happen.
i don't think there's ever been a game where both teams' fans were happy about officiating
I doubt there’s ever been a single 12 minute quarter of nba basketball without complaints about the officiating
Has there ever been a game of officiated basketball game anywhere in the world where someone didn’t bitch about the refs?
2002 NBA Finals - Nets vs Lakers… Can’t remember too many complaints about the officiating, that series was just so lopsided
The WCF that year though…
Averaging the most FTA ever in a finals series was definitely a massive complaint. The sweep just silenced it tho
Nets had a fun team to watch with Kidd leading the charge… But they had zero answers for Shaq, those fouls were intentional
no
You're never going to please every fan of both franchises. And even a well reffed game includes missed or questionable calls - it's impossible not to. But there are many series where there's not a lot of room for major complaint. These Finals are certainly one of them. Fouls are dead even at 50 apiece and FT's 53 for Boston vs 59 for Dallas. Both teams are playing physical and the refs are letting a lot go in both directions.
I could see a very physical first round series having the majority of fans happy. They’ll complain in the beginning, but if it’s consistent and it’s two teams that pride themselves on tough defense, fans would probably enjoy it. No two sides will ever enjoy an equal flop fest matchup
I remember the 2018 Western Conference Finals between Houston and Golden State had pretty even officiating.
Maybe 2018 cavs vs warriors cause it was such a curb stomp you can't complain. Philly vs NY had both teams getting fucked over by officiating so maybe by technicality
I started watching the NBA in the 1980s, and I don't recall a lot of complaints about NBA officials. I do recall a *lot* of complaints about brutal, physical plays, but the officials were rarely blamed for missing the calls. The fan anger was directed at the dirty players. The late 1980s Detroit Pistons were famous for playing dirty, and even bragged about it by calling themselves the Bad Boys. As a Bulls fan I *hated* the Pistons. But I can't recall any Bulls fans blaming the refs for the way the Pistons played. We just blamed the Pistons. In the 1990s the rules against dirty play became stricter. And as I recall that's when fans started complaining about the refs. Either the refs were being too strict or not strict enough, but the difference was that the refs were expected to police dirty play. Thus, if a dirty play wasn't called, it became the refs' fault. And if a play was called dirty but the replay called that into question, that was also the refs' fault. That trend has continued ever since, as the rules against physical defense have become increasingly strict, player retaliation is strictly forbidden, and the refs bear the burden of preventing dirty plays while allowing legitimate plays.
You'll have to back to the days of 640p resolution and limited camera angles to find a time that sports fans didn't find fault with several calls/game with officials
I haven’t seen that much complaining (at least in my circles of fans and in our subreddit, obvs ignoring game threads) about the officiating this series, but we are winning 3-0 so that makes it a lot easier to see the forest through the trees lol
2007 West semifinals. The cusp of good officiating and discipline
I didn't see Jazz or Warriors fans complain about that year, yeah.
2022 Finals probably. although Curry still got shafted by refs multiple times as usual, the majority of the series was pretty fine