It’s not my position to come out on the side of criticizing NBA referees in the playoffs as being one-sided. I do think they were pretty bad at their job in Game 2 of the 2015 NBA Finals, but I tend to think it was bad across the board mostly.
I tend to side with Brian Windhorst, who said on Mike and Mike this morning (I’m paraphrasing) that every call that gets swallowed by the refs in this series benefits the Cavaliers, who are playing the more physical, aggressive style of basketball. With that overarching philosophy in mind, I’d be lying if I said it isn’t frustrating to watch LeBron get hacked and held on a jump ball in crucial moments of the game and hear silence from those who are supposed to award free throws.
That frustration was overflowing last night on the local TV home for the NBA Finals, WEWS, where weather man Mark Johnson made it known that he cares not for the “let them play” vibe going on in these NBA Finals.
WATCH: @MarkJWeather doesn't agree with the #NBAFinals refs http://t.co/EtWdI88jKD | #ALLinCLE | pic.twitter.com/cbvcSkOAn2
— WEWS NewsChannel5 (@WEWS) June 8, 2015
These are the fun asides of having a team in the playoffs, by the way. Not the attempt to “go viral,” per se, but the idea that “All In” is more than just a catch-phrase. Everywhere I go from restaurants to oil change places, everybody is talking about the Cavaliers. It is ubiquitous and fun and gives the city an extra sense of community that’s been missing. That obviously extends across boundaries including those in newsrooms, where those who deal in double-doubles have plenty to talk about with those who deal more regularly in Dopplers.
