How do you have a job Joey Crawford and you TNT hacks?

I love Charles Barkley, but before Tuesday’s game he said something stupid again.

Sir Charles said, repeatedly, that Joey Crawford officiating this game “isn’t a story.”
Well, if it wasn’t a story before the game, it sure became one afterward.

But I don’t want to ride just Barkley, because Marv the Perv and Collins the Crappy Coach (15-23 in the playoffs) sucked even more during the play-by-play portion of the broadcast. Collins, AN EX-COACH OF MJ – didn’t even realize the shot clock hadn’t reset on the Lakers’ final possession when Derek Fisher “air balled” (another call the refs probably blew) a shot in the waning seconds.

So when the Lakers got the ball back after it ricocheted off a Spurs player, the fans had no idea Kobe Bryant was going to jack up that quick, off-balanced shot that fell short (unless you were watching the miniscule shot clock in the corner like my boy Ryantific).

Then, on the next possession, TNT’s dynamite duo failed to mention if the Lakers were in the penalty, which left more questions than answers when the final horn sounded and Brent Barry’s desperation three shanked off the backboard after an apparent foul by Fisher.

And neither commentator even bothered to bring up the previous history Joey Crawford and the Spurs had, even though this hack blogger has been writing about that “isn’t a story” storyline since the Phoenix-San Antonio series. (If it’s not a big deal, why did Crawford and Gregg Popovich have that on-court squabble during the conference semifinals, with Popovich throwing Crawford’s hand away when the ref shoved his index finger into the coach’s sternum).

And wasn't it Crawford who was involved in another off-court issue involving NBA referees in 1998 when he was one of eight zebras charged with filing false income taxes?

Dear David Stern, why are you opening yourself up to another officiating scandal? If I've told you once, I've told you a hundred times. Fire the dude or banish him to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Someone in the mainstream media finally asked Stern about the Crawford-Spurs beef last week when the commish was on Rome is Burning.

Rome: Should (Crawford) have been in that series (Western Conference semis)?

Stern: When I have a referee that I can’t assign to a series then I don’t have a referee.

Rome: You couldn’t have put him in another series just to avoid that (conflict)?

Stern: I have to put a referee in the rotation. We can’t do that. If a referee can’t referee a game then he can’t referee.

Well David, it's becoming quite clear Joey can't referee. Crawford, as luck would have it Tuesday, was in fact the official who swallowed his whistle on that final play, when Barry was clearly fouled by Fisher after the up fake. You know if Kobe made that pump fake, he would’ve got the call. Heck, RK’s boy Sasha Vujacic got a whistle on a three-pointer toward the end of the third quarter … and at least Barry has a last name. But "he didn't sell it," another TNT brainiac, Reggie Miller, pointed out after the game. Hey Reggie, when did NBA players become used car salesmen. I guess he should have had a "full steam of head," too.

The only question that remained was whether Barry was fouled on the shot (continuation goes a long way in the NBA) or on the floor. Either way, Barry should’ve been at the line with two free throws (that was the fifth foul on the Lakers) to tie or three to win (if that last foul came on the shot). I thought it was a one-and-one, myself.

Then again, Fisher’s last shot likely hit the rim at the other end and should have reset the shot clock and put an end to that last Spurs’ attempt to win or tie it.
And if you watched the entire game, it was obvious the Spurs didn’t deserve to win this one and never led for a reason.
They were outrebounded 46-37. And they got seven points from Ginobili on 2-of-8 shooting.

Defense and guard play, y’all.

Maybe that’s why both Popovich and Barry took the high road after the loss, saying (although I doubt they believe what they were saying) that it was a good no call in the end.

"That's not going to get called in the Western Conference finals," Barry said. "Maybe in the regular season. But that call shouldn't be called in the Western Conference finals."

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said: "If I was the official, I wouldn't have called that a foul."

If you were that official, you would’ve have thrown Tim Duncan out of a game for laughing or challenged him to a fight either.

Say it with me people, "Hey Joey Crawford and you TNT hacks, how do you have a job?"