S C O T T F O S T E R

You're the real MVP.




Yeah, i just watched replay Bulls/Cavs gm4

Of all the playoff series thus far, bulls/cavs have been influenced by the refs the most IMO.

Kyrie Irving is on one leg guys. There's reports that he's playing w/ fractures in his foot, give him credit for being tough. But his play has been compromised big time the past 2 games.

Now add a twisted ankle to the mix, yes Lebron...but he's known to be a drama queen. The severity is unknown. (like when he got carried off the court for a leg cramp)

Game 5 will be the toughest cap of the series. Ref bias being the key. IMO

Spot on mate!

i was initially leaning Chicago for gm3 thinking no way officiating will tilt towards Cavs 2 games in a row.......Then i saw they sent in Foster. He was 6-1 SU for the rd team so far in the playoffs. 7-1 now after that game. So i switched sides and low and behold Scotty got the play to profit.

Gm 5 refs will determine the series imo. I smell Joe Crawford.

3ball, Glad to see you posting.

To chime in a little further on the officiating, you are 100% correct that Scott gave Cleveland that Game 4 to tie the series up. Refs could've easily given game 3 to Cleveland as well if not for the D Rose buzzer beater, but given they lost it was so easy to schedule Foster on the next to even it out.

I am not a huge conspiracy theorist, but when you look at how refs account for about 20 fts each way in a typical game, just ignoring a few fouls throughout the game can make a huge difference. I'm not a believer that the outcomes are predetermined before a game, but the what the officials decide to put their emphasis on is predetermined. I don't believe the NBA has an agenda to advance any one team (then why would Spurs go b2b?) - just to generate the most revenue by extending any series they can. Sometimes your team just sucks too much for the refs to even help close the gap (i.e. Raptors, Mavs, Blazers, Pels - all of these teams could've won a game more than they did, but couldn't capitalize on the help they were given in certain games).

Given the amount of BS people and even announcers have given towards the biased officiating in Game 3 and 4 in Bulls/Cavs, it is highly unlikely Bulls get 3 terrible ref crews in a row. On top of that, refs will look back at these previous games and realize they missed a ton of calls on the Cavs. Still, it is a wait and see on the ref assignments before backing Chi next game because we all know a 7 game series is in the leagues best interests (and for the fans as well).

Just one pre-game discussion from the officiating crew about whether they want to focus on offensive fouls or not (or other infractions) can mean the difference in a teams pace and their chances of covering.

Clippers may not have advanced vs the Spurs if they refs were really astute about calling moving screens and defensive 3 secs. Yet you can also make a case that the Spurs shouldn't have even gone to 7 games with what went down in game 5 with the questionable calls to extend the series.

yep, game 3 and 4 officiating tilted towards the Cavs. I feel that Chicago should be up 3-1 right now. Scotty saved the Cavs from being down 2 games. Foster's 6-1 road record in the playoffs got him the job for game 4 to send the series tied back to Cleveland. Lebron should have been shaking in his boots & biting off all his finger nails right now.

I do think the league has an agenda to not only extend series but to send a particular team to advance. You mentioned Spurs & ironically you gave a great example of league manipulation. I'm not sure if you followed my playoffs and finals run last year but i had the Spurs going to the finals again for a rematch w/ Miami from the get go. I then resumed to bet accordingly to what i thought was the leagues agenda. I do not have time to bring up my post but i called it game for game. I called specific games for spurs to win if indeed they were supposed to advance and bet accordingly......i profited all the way to the finals where i had the Spurs to win the Championship and made the 2nd highest profit in my betting career (for lack of a better word) and also 2nd consecutive season hitting a ridiculous % clip of 70+ percent. All based on what i thought the league wanted to achieve and also game for game predicting officiating and making plays based offa officiating crews.

Remember also ratings whent up each time Miami would lose a game. The second finals match up/Spurs revenge finals after the years prior heart breaking loss was a big story in itself that gained the league big revenues. I felt that the league wanted to reward the Spurs after being on top of the west and the league in past seasons by advancing them to the finals. I feel they were cheated out of many advancements prior to the last 2 seasons. I also felt that the league wanted to clean up it's image after Stern left from all the Tim Donaghy/game fixing/players colluding/miami big 3 fiasco and have a team as pure as the Spurs/the anti-thesis of Miami Heat to win the title and clean up the NBA's image a little. I also stated after the Spurs won that they will not make the finals again. Though i did not think they would be eliminated so early i knew the league was done w/ the Spurs for a while since there was no story line for them this season.

I will feel sick to my stomach if they will bring in another bunch of crook refs to tilt the game for Cavs 3 games in a row. Hoping this won't turn out to be a Miami/Boston type rivalry where the league continued to screw over Boston 2 seasons in a row to get Miami to advance to the finals. Will Chicago become Lebrons new Boston? Let's hope not. highly anticipating who they will send for game 5.

I have to agree 3ball. I also feel like the league HAS to bring in favorable refs to keep this one close. The last 2 games came down to buzzer beaters.

Lebrons ankle should be a concern. Yes he finished the game, but those type of injuries get worse the following day. Lets not forget that Lebron is the true coach of this team. Blatt should of got T'd up Chris Webber style last game.

Kyrie is on the verge of of sustaining a serious injury on top of all his compounded ailments. Kid has heart, he's playing out of necessity.

If I'm the bulls, I don't double Lebron today. No way. Let Jimmy man up on him on a bum ankle, someone has to keep an eye on JR Smith at the arc.

From my playoffs threads:

Will Scotty get the Rox to cover today?


Foster 7-1 SU for the Road Team these playoffs.