Re: Pacers/Knicks

[Dan Forant Sr <dforant1@nycap.rr.com>]

Yeah, the reality of it is the Pacers sucked so bad, the refs did them a
favor. 

At 09:10 AM 6/14/99 -0800, you wrote:
>I've been outta town the past few days, so I don't know if this topic has
>gotten much discussion on the list -- but, did anybody watch the final
game of
>the Knicks/Pacers series and notice some incredibly bad officiating? E.g.,
the
>Knicks made more than three times as many free throws as the Pacers
ATTEMPTED;
>Indy's two best players were hampered by fouls throughout the game and could
>never get going; and there were numerous phantom calls against Indy that I
>just couldn't comprehend. The officiating wasn't the only reason the Pacers
>lost -- their inability to put the ball in the hole while being unable to
stop
>Houston et al. from scoring at will was the main culprit -- but it's got to
>take a lot out of a team when the calls are so heavily slanted against it. 
>
>It truly made me wonder whether the league and/or NBC might have instructed
>the refs that they really, really wanted the Knicks to win. Ordinarily I
would
>dismiss such a conspiracy theory out of hand, but having watched the game it
>was impossible not to consider. It's no secret a San Antonio/Indianapolis
>final would have made for dismal ratings, even if the Spurs go on to sweep
New
>York. I really hope this is not the case, as it would basically degrade the
>league to a WCW-type spectacle.
>
>
>