I think Boti was referring to the GF's in his piece today. As you also stated "up until the GF"s" so maybe you thought they werent done well yourself?

Boti is Boti- calls it as he sees it. Like him or hate him.

I was a neutral supporter at the games and thought the umpiring was very poor.

He misuses his privledge of one way media to dump his bitter thoughts on us.
Keep it positive Boti - too many other people are dragging the sport of basketball down as it is.

He also picks and chooses his targets... He has his favorites - both clubs and people.

- arn't jurno's ment to be impartal.
Just state the facts, and try to promote basketball.

Dont give us your dribble - keep that for your ghostwriting...

Nope he mentioned the umpiring all the way through and yes I agree the grand final didn't look as good but thought his comments were off the mark.

It's not like Vargha is going to get a final over the four who were on the games.

Up until the GF, I thought those four were easily the best

I think Boti just looks for ways to fill up his article and hating on the ref's is easy for him

Point I am making is that for a long time now Boti is anti-umpires in the way he writes

As both a player & umpire I think that I can say it is not good for the game.

It's all about being balanced in your view

Sorry have put up with the terrible state of umpiring all season so I have run out of love for the officials! Understand numbers for umpires are extremely low and most of these young and supposedly up and coming umpires have been thrown in the deep end and unfortunately they are not swimming! And that is entirely my opinion.

And in my opinion because they are getting ABL games before thier time they now have inflated opinions of where they are at as an umpire!

Boti is entitled to write his opinion because that is his job and on this occassion I believe he is spot on. I understand umpiring is a very very tough gig but if you put in a bad performance then people should be allowed to voice thier opinion on it.

You write that Boti bagged the refs but did you also defend Blake Truslove, Paul Bell or even Scott Butler because they were all criticised in the same article?

Boti hated refs 25 years ago and nothing will change that. Chad there is no defending Blake Truslove. Its a pity NBL and WNBL players get preferential treatment but I can't see that changing either.

I am genetically pre-disposed to hating refs. What's more, it's been emphatically re-inforced by watching Sixer games.

This pre-disposition will not change. Hence, my bias concurs with Boti's opinion (re: refs only. I still reserve the right to bemoan his other opinions. Yes, I mean the article about cutting Rob specifically).

I agree on the can't defend Truslove comment but after this season I feel the same way about refs unfortunately! It just seemed this season we never got the refs I percieve as good refs enough!

My point was more that in the same article Boti not only bagged the refs but several player/ coaches from the same game but no one is crying foul that they were bagged - not saying they shouldn't be either.

I agree there is no defending Truslove - his team mates don't even like the bloke! But after this season I can not defend the refs either! It's felt like we just didn't get the refs I percieve as good refs enough.

My point was more that several coaches and a player were also bagged in the same article but no one cries foul to that!

Simple,

1st: The refs sucked most of the season and their egos are driving quality players out of the league.

2nd: The 36er players dont get preferential treatment... they are just much better than a big chunk of the other players so make it look that way.

DEAL WITH IT!

He's nothing but a glorified keyboard warrior.

Why did Paul Wellbourn quit?
He's a really good ref treated poorly by his own kind.

Blake Truslove must have hurt a lot of people out there. He seems to rank up there with Chad Cornes as the player they all love to hate, but would love playing for them.
Perhaps he ran over Boti's cat one day, then Belly and Butler drove over it to finish it off.
Any body/team can have a shocker (Power AFL GF), but don't forget that they got there- more than many other teams.
We are 'deprived' in Adelaide that we only have 1 newspaper. If we had 2, imagine the dirt that could be dug up on Boti's history? How many clubs now???
Oh to live in a glass house in a world without stones!

And how many grand Finals chokes has Boti had?

I think it was 8 in a row at one point. Even though he recruits more than anyone.

And how many clubs have gotten rid of him?

After he makes promise after promise they work out he's just their to coach his own kids. And treats his players like they are all there for him.

I wonder when Boti will write about all that?

If you want a 'balanced view', read NBL press releases (like eating cardboard for breakfast). Not like he was alone in disagreeing with that Holmes call. If you have a beef with him, email or speak with him - he always replies to me quickly and explains things he's written. I often learn new things about his trade along the way as well.

From my memory of the article, it was all constructive criticism (e.g., what Belly should've done) and my job on Hoops would be a lot more pleasant if more people followed his lead - used their real name and watched how they said what they said.

I think we got what could be expected by two relatively inexperienced refs. My question is why weren't the most experienced ref's umpiring the grand final? We had a guy like Phil Haines sitting in the stands watching FFS!

The most bizarre thing about that is that there is a policy to PREVENT our most experienced guys from umpiring in the GF (something about if you have umpired a certain number of NBL games then you are not eligible). I beleive this was put in place to allow other umpires to get GF experience. This is a load of BS IMO. The best ref's should do the GF regardless. If you want your umpires to get GF experience tell them to keep umpiring until they can rightly claim to be in the best 2 in the state. Hell, why did Phil Jackson play Kobe and Gasol in the Finals - surely he should've let someone else ghet some Finals experience?

I could be wrong but I think Phil Haines may have been injured? I think I remember someone telling me that at some point during the season.

In regards to the Womens game surely the Womens Ref Of The Year should have got a gig?

"I think we got what could be expected by two relatively inexperienced refs." Benny Mac does bloody NBL? Andrew Just does WNBL? Nathan Wieland does NBL/WNBL? Nathan Durant does NBL? ohh yeaah inexperienced refs!!! i bet you couldnt even get as far as they are! quit bagging refs.

I personally look forward to Boti's articles and like the way he writes it as he sees it. The umpiring standards over the last few years IMO seem to be getting worse and more inconsistant which is frustrating to all the fans when games are being decided by poor officiating. Boti is rest writing what the average fan in the street thinks anyway.

The only solution is to provide the umpires with more resources, support and training in order to iron out these inconsistencies. This all comes back to the administrators in charge of the game at state and national level. We also need to ensure that these adminsitors in charge have the necessary skill set to make correct decsiosn e.g appoiting correct umpires to games that have satisifed KPI's etc rather than on a political basis.

Boti 96, 97, 98, 99 ...... .....

Chad your a tosser...
Stop dribbling over your keyboard and get a game!

Why do so many have to degenerate into personal attacks - use your imagination to present appropriate argments please. Couldn't play? Don't make up what you don't know. From my recollection Boti had the promise of being a great player until his knee was shattered and the medical technology was not what it is now - end of career. Like him or not, you also can't argue that he's put an immense effort into contributing to the game that can be so cruel.

Perhaps Boti's hate is family related. In the 60's a couple of Nagys were suspended for physical contact with two officials. Reg Davey and Greg Love. So it could be argued he is biased against officials.

Razor querys "personal attacks" on Boti.
Don't get me wrong. I look forward to the Thursday 'Tiser for his column (Too bad Heal retired).
However "personal attacks" on Boti???
What about his "public attacks via media?" - be real & fair.

I was watching the game that Boti did his knee and saw him several times in the preceding months. He was not quite the player older brother Huba was, but certainly was very promising. As "razor" said, medical technology in knee surgery was in its infancy then and Boti never got his second chance as a player. Who knows how good he may have been.