West Conference playoff thread

[TAFKASP]

I don't know. I'm not seeing any big conspiracy in the Lakers free throw attempts. I just went back 10 years. The Wolves actually have finished with more FTA than the Lakers 7 out of those 10 years.

2013/14: Lakers were 20th in FTA. The Wolves were #3
2014/15: Lakers were 11th in FTA. The Wolves were #3
2015/16: Lakers were 8th in FTA. The Wolves were #2
2016/17: Lakers were 17th in FTA. The Wolves were #9
2017/18: Lakers were 8th in FTA. The Wolves were #5
2018/19: Lakers were 14th in FTA. The Wolves were #8
2019/20: Lakers were 10th in FTA. The Wolves dropped to #19
2020/21: Lakers were 6th in FTA. The Wolves were right behind them at #7
2021/22: Lakers were 9th in FTA. The Wolves were #8
2022/23: Lakers were #1 in FTA. The Wolves dropped to #16

So our very own Wolves have been top 10 in FTA for 8 out of the last 10 years. I did look at the other side (opponent FTA) and it all looked pretty random for both teams. I'm not seeing any trends myself other than I was surprised to see Wolves getting that many FTAs.

They give the Lakers extra FT's so they can win the game, they give the Wolves extra hoping they'll get in the game and the crowd/viewers won't find something better to do.

[Coolbreeze44]

It appears to be a pretty blatant directive to me. I think Kek had also pointed out the Lakers weren't among the league leaders in going into the paint for shots. You would have a hard time convincing me there wasn't any chicanery going on here.

[Lipoli390]

It appears to be a pretty blatant directive to me. I think Kek had also pointed out the Lakers weren't among the league leaders in going into the paint for shots. You would have a hard time convincing me there wasn't any chicanery going on here.

I tend to agree with you on this, Cool. Maybe it’s not a directive, but there seems to at least be some signaling that officials pick up on or some assumptions they make about League intentions, which the League seems to ratify by its silence. Or maybe it’s a lot of LA money passing to NBA officials.

If you haven’t already seen it, I recommend watching the documentary called “Untold: Operation Flagrant Foul.” It’s about the Tim Donaghy gambling scandal. We all know what Donaghy did that ended up in him getting fired as an NBA official. He admitted everything. But this documentary is really chilling because it makes a pretty persuasive case in my view that there was far more widespread corruption in NBA officiating. It wasn’t just gambling on NBA games. Donaghy talks about officials deliberately manipulating games because of personal disdain for individual players or to favor particular teams.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Tim Donaghy is a self-serving crook. So I won't believe much of what he says.

BUT... it's pretty amazing how David Stern was able to dismiss AN NBA OFFICIAL BETTING ON GAMES so easily... and we all just accepted his take that it was one rogue official.

Whether it was only Donaghy or not, we should have seen a lot more reform at the time. Instead, David Stern swept it under the rug. And because of his clout at the time, it actually worked.

Pretty amazing, really.

[Wolvesfan21]

Tim Donaghy is a self-serving crook. So I won't believe much of what he says.

BUT... it's pretty amazing how David Stern was able to dismiss AN NBA OFFICIAL BETTING ON GAMES so easily... and we all just accepted his take that it was one rogue official.

Whether it was only Donaghy or not, we should have seen a lot more reform at the time. Instead, David Stern swept it under the rug. And because of his clout at the time, it actually worked.

Pretty amazing, really.

I doubt it was just him and I don't doubt most of what he says is true.

I use to dabble on a bet here or there a long time ago. Chris Webber era. Anyways I had money on Sac and the opposition scored with 4 seconds left putting them down 3. The line was 4, they pass it into Webber and the other team hacks him immediately and the officials don't call a foul. I'm thinking after the score, it's OK they will foul and hopefully hit 2/2 to cover. If not 1/2 for a push.

I have never seen another team hack a guy like that at the end of a game and just watch the time run out. With all 3 officials swallowing the whistles. I could only conclude some shenanigans were going on and I quit betting on games since. Two players hacked him too, multiple times. It was wild.

Sure if I knew which side the refs were on I'd be in I guess. But I don't.

[Wolvesfan21]

It appears to be a pretty blatant directive to me. I think Kek had also pointed out the Lakers weren't among the league leaders in going into the paint for shots. You would have a hard time convincing me there wasn't any chicanery going on here.

LeBron and the Lakers was a big story. Not just for the league but for media companies too like ESPN.

I'm sure once the playoffs got serious and the way betting has gotten that scrutiny would be very tight. They certainly couldn't go so far as to make LA win, I'm sure they would have loved it but you can really only do so much. And in the regular season it's much easier too. The eyeballs would be much less on each game. Helping them get into the playoffs could have been a directive.