Disgraced referee Tim Donaghy has nothing on Bennett Salvatore and his two stooges, Mark Wunderlich and Ken Mauer.
Not after this bastard crew called 61 fouls in Denver's 106-105 win at Dallas on Saturday. There were a staggering 89 free throws attempted.
But that wasn't even the worst of it. Somehow the trio of amateurs failed to see Antonie Walker intentionally foul Carmelo Anthony twice with under six seconds left with Dallas leading, 105-103, and having a foul to give.
Yes, you're damn right I had under 209 1/2 points. And I handicapped the game right. Denver shot 42 percent from the floor. Dallas shot 40 percent from the field. The defensive intensity was up a notch.
The only way this game went over with 211 points scored is because these idiot referees had to take center stage. These aren't even two physical teams.
This is what Wright said following the game, "... All night long the whistle was blowing fast. At the end of the game when we're blatantly trying to foul, the whistle wasn't blowing."
What could Wright have done? If he would have decked Anthony a la Derek Fisher, the referees gleefully would have called a flagrant foul. That would have given Denver free throws and the ball.
Wright raked Anthony across the arm. He did so right in front of the Mavs' bench, which was screaming at Wright to foul. Wright was so sure the whistle would blow that he stopped playing.
I would have far less of a problem losing my bet if the foul is called. The Nuggets then in-bound the ball and Anthony hits a shot at the buzzer. But the way it went down wasn't right when everybody in the building except the referees and Denver coach George Karl saw a player commit an obvious foul.
"I didn't see a foul," Karl was quoted as saying.
Karl's either blind or a liar.
The league shouldn't fine Dallas owner Mark Cuban if he speaks out or Josh Howard for being justifiably angry. They should fine Karl for being totally disingenuous and fire these referees for their Ed Hochuli-type performance.
Maybe it's time to sic PreGame.Com President RJ Bell on them. Nobody did a better job researching Donaghy's misdeeds in relation to the point spread than RJ.
Does this referee crew have a propensity for calling a lot of fouls and thus being involving in far more overs than unders? It's a question worth pondering after Saturday's abortion.
The NBA isn't exactly pure is it?
See.
i dont see how even if they missed it they dont call it an intentional foul once they look at the replay and reset the clock for denver to inbound it... i love the nuggets too and clearly you cant just let the game end and then announce the mistake right after but not have anything done about it... i almost dont even want to watch the nba anymore bc refs blow so many calls.. they need to have ppl upstairs looking at the game as its going on and correcting any calls as the game goes on in my opinion
The problem was on the foul that he played the ball..he should have wrapped up Melo. By doing so, it would have been obvious and intentional.
All valid points Stephen! I always respect your views a great deal. I had the Nuggets and the over and felt like I needed to take a shower after those wins. My wife and I will be in Vegas June 8th for the week at the Bellagio and I sure hope I have the opportunity to meet and visit with some of you guys while in town.
Enjoy Vegas Spartan. The Bellagio is a beautiful place. I take the family there, which is saying a lot since I live in Vegas.
Congrats on your Nuggets and over win. Like I said in the blog, I would have felt less bad if Anthony would have made his buzzer shot after Denver inbounded the ball again following Wright's foul. At least that way, I felt the Nuggets won fair and square. This is no way detracts from Anthony's great shot. It took a pro to hit that shot and Anthony hit it.
The NBA admitting their referee made a mistake does not lessen the impact of this loss, or get my money back.
I played golf with Bennett a few months ago. He's from Stamford, CT. Then we ate at his restaurant afterwards. Good times. Unfortunately, he sucks at reffing.