WEBVTT - Fred VanVleet Goes Off On NBA Officiating

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<v Speaker 1>So did you guys see Fred van Fleet go after

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<v Speaker 1>Ben Taylor the referee and say he was trash. If

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<v Speaker 1>you haven't heard it, haven't seen it, definitely go find it.

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<v Speaker 1>It's a little old for me to play here. Actually,

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<v Speaker 1>let's do it for those who have missed it. Let's

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<v Speaker 1>start there.

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<v Speaker 2>I mean, I don't mind, I'll take a fine, I

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<v Speaker 2>don't really care. I thought, you know, Ben Taylor was

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<v Speaker 2>fucking terrible tonight. I thought that most nights, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>a couple other you know, out of the three, there's

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<v Speaker 2>one or two that just fucked the game up, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>And it's been like that a couple couple of games

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<v Speaker 2>in a row. Denver was tough. Obviously, you come out tonight,

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<v Speaker 2>you're competing pretty hard. At the third quarter, I get

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<v Speaker 2>a bullshit tech change. The whole dynamic of the game,

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<v Speaker 2>changed the whole flow of the game. And you know,

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<v Speaker 2>most of the rest are trying hard. I like a

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<v Speaker 2>lot of the rest are trying hard. They're pretty fair,

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<v Speaker 2>they communicate well, and then you got the other ones

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<v Speaker 2>who just want to be Dix and just kind of

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<v Speaker 2>fucks the game up. Nobody's coming to see that shit.

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<v Speaker 2>They come to see the.

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<v Speaker 1>Players nobody is coming to see that shit. And let's

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<v Speaker 1>face it, Fred van Fleet has a reason to be mad.

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<v Speaker 1>He's had eight technical fouls called against him across seven games.

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<v Speaker 1>Five of those fouls were in games officiated by Ben Taylor.

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<v Speaker 1>His double technical foul game against the Pelicans was also

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<v Speaker 1>officiated by Ben Taylor, so two thirds of his text

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<v Speaker 1>came at the hands of Ben Taylor. Nothing to see here, right,

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<v Speaker 1>It's like totally ordinary, that's normal. Well, Luca don't Chich

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<v Speaker 1>has fifteen texts this year, twice as many almost as

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<v Speaker 1>Fred van Fleet, but no one, no individual raff has

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<v Speaker 1>called more than two on Luca. Doesn't it seem a

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<v Speaker 1>little suspicious? Seems a little suss. Fred van Fleet was

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<v Speaker 1>fined thirty thousand dollars for those comments, which is twenty

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<v Speaker 1>thousand dollars the most people thought. Twenty five thousand dollars

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<v Speaker 1>is the automatic fine for anyone who criticizes or even

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<v Speaker 1>intimates that there is a referee issue for the purity

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<v Speaker 1>of the game. I am sure, but this has raised

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<v Speaker 1>now awareness on bad referee. In fact, I think Fred

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<v Speaker 1>van Fleet might have started a revolution. Aaron ben Rose

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<v Speaker 1>tweeted a lot of highly paid players in the NBA

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<v Speaker 1>are going to willingly contribute to a lot of NBA

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<v Speaker 1>charities now that Van Fleet has showed them the way.

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<v Speaker 1>The latest is Marcus Smart. Marcus Smart also believes that

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<v Speaker 1>the refs are targeting players that they don't like. Smart

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<v Speaker 1>was asked that there was an explanation for why he's

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<v Speaker 1>been in so much foul trouble. He laughed and said,

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<v Speaker 1>I don't know. If you guys saw Fred van Fleet's interview,

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<v Speaker 1>that's all I'm gonna say that. Lets you know, I'm

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<v Speaker 1>not speaking out of my butt. I'm gonna let Fred

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<v Speaker 1>do all the talking. But we know Marcus Smart, right,

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<v Speaker 1>He's not gonna stay even when he says he's gonna

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<v Speaker 1>stay silent. He continued by saying this, in my nine years,

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<v Speaker 1>I have definitely have had that where I feel that

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<v Speaker 1>officials have a personal vendetta and numerous too. Sometimes they

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<v Speaker 1>feel like they're gonna get the emotions get the best

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<v Speaker 1>of them and make calls and judgment calls the way

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<v Speaker 1>that they officiate it happens. Do refs have personal vendettas?

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<v Speaker 1>You think? Yeah, I mean, those are human beings and

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<v Speaker 1>you see the same people. It's it's like working in

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<v Speaker 1>the same office as someone you see him every now

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<v Speaker 1>and again, you get the chance to give him the

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<v Speaker 1>shift back, and you do. The most famous case, of course,

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<v Speaker 1>is Scott Foster, who I think has at one point

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<v Speaker 1>ref fourteen straight playoff losses for Chris Paul. Do you

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<v Speaker 1>guys remember that stat He was zero to fourteen when

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<v Speaker 1>Scott Foster was refereeing in the playoffs, which is statistically

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<v Speaker 1>almost impossible considering Chris Paul has a playoff record that

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<v Speaker 1>is seventy two and seventy. The NBA, of course, does

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<v Speaker 1>not think that refs have vendettas because it's the NBA,

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<v Speaker 1>and why would they say anything else. Former ref MONI

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<v Speaker 1>McCutcheon twenty five years on the hardwood. He's now the

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<v Speaker 1>VP of Referee Development and Training. This is what he said.

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<v Speaker 1>We have an entire basketball strategy and analytics teams that

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<v Speaker 1>grades referees, and when we see commentary like Van Fleetz,

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<v Speaker 1>we go into analysis, analysis on referee and on referee

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<v Speaker 1>player relationships. Something like this comes up and we flat

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<v Speaker 1>out see whether there is bias or not. And in

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<v Speaker 1>my five years as VP of Referee Development and Training,

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<v Speaker 1>we have not found such bias in a single instance.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, does McCutchen know that Tim donaghy was in

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<v Speaker 1>the league for twenty five years without a flag one

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<v Speaker 1>red flag being raised? No bias at all, though, right, none? Zero,

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<v Speaker 1>And it's not like it's in their best at interest

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<v Speaker 1>to advertise bad refereeing. This is why they don't make

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<v Speaker 1>referees available for comments after games, because they probably show

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<v Speaker 1>their ass and say something dumb about Fred van Fleet

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<v Speaker 1>and why he was tecked up. This is why Anthony

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<v Speaker 1>Davis said, I guarantee that if ref started getting fined

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<v Speaker 1>for missing calls, they would be better. Julius Randall said

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<v Speaker 1>bluntly after a loss to the Clippers that the ref sucked.

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<v Speaker 1>All you gotta do is watch the game. When a

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<v Speaker 1>reporter followed up and said, oh, the refs have a

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<v Speaker 1>no blood, no foul approach, Randal replied, oh, there was

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<v Speaker 1>fucking blood. Booh. I think we're all kind of tired

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<v Speaker 1>of this. We are this is the referee problem. We

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<v Speaker 1>know there's a referee problem. I think this year is

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<v Speaker 1>maybe the worst it's ever been. When Scottie Barnes got

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<v Speaker 1>that technical foul for the night before for saying something

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<v Speaker 1>under his breath about the game being cheated and then

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<v Speaker 1>not only did you not have the technical foul under

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<v Speaker 1>his belt at that point, the one tech got him

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<v Speaker 1>ejected with one minute left to go in the game,

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<v Speaker 1>and of course that was Scott Fosters asked, you have

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<v Speaker 1>to say, maybe these players have a point. Fred van Fleet,

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<v Speaker 1>to me, seems like the last person to start this.

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<v Speaker 1>He does not seem like someone who is finding reasons

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<v Speaker 1>to dislike refs and cuss out refs. In a contract year,

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<v Speaker 1>Raptors beat reporter Michael Grange explained that it took months

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<v Speaker 1>of anger for Fred van Fleet to boil over. This

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<v Speaker 1>is what Michael Grange wrote. Turns out Van Fleet was correct.

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<v Speaker 1>Taylor was on the job in five of the eight

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<v Speaker 1>games the Raptors point guard was teed up and for

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<v Speaker 1>his only career ejection. Put another way, Taylor has drawn

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<v Speaker 1>the Raptors six times this season, and Van Fleet has

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<v Speaker 1>gotten five technicals and has been kicked out once in

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<v Speaker 1>those six times. In van Fleet's other forty nine games,

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<v Speaker 1>he's gotten three technicals and no ejections, which for van

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<v Speaker 1>Fleet is all the proof he needs that something is

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<v Speaker 1>going on the floor is not level. The sense of

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<v Speaker 1>fairness is not there what's to come with all of this.

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<v Speaker 1>One thing is for sure, people are going to be

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<v Speaker 1>looking at a lot more carefully at referee match ups

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<v Speaker 1>in the coming months, just in time for another Scott

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<v Speaker 1>Foster Chris Paul playoff game.