If somebody says they have been impressed by the officiating during the NBA playoffs, they are selling you something. Yes, we’re looking at you, David Stern.

Though the calls from the referees have been inconsistent, the whining about them from the coaches, fans and members of the media has been constant. It's draining. Whining, more than the officiating, is what is sucking the enjoyment out of the playoffs.

Bottom line — the Lakers and Magic are up 3-2 in both their series' because they have been the better teams in those series. Magic players have made the big comebacks, launched the three balls and the key shots, while Cleveland has been too much LeBron and not enough LeBronettes. Denver has wilted in the pressure of the fourth quarter three times and suffered three losses.

And all of that cannot  be blamed just on officiating. It's on the teams.

If Stan Van Gundy and Magic fans want to know why LeBron James got some calls in Cleveland’s game five win (and throughout the series) it is because he attacked the rim — in the NBA the player and team that is the aggressor always gets the majority of calls, especially the close ones. Like a boxing match where the judges have to score a fairly even round, the fighter that is the aggressor gets the round. Same with a guy attacking the rim off the dribble versus the guy trying to take the charge. It is that way in the regular season, and it is that way in the playoffs. Everybody knows it. There is no grand conspiracy, this is a league that couldn’t even figure out what ball to use a couple years ago. They are not masterminding anything.

I get that coaches trying to lobby the refs through the media is a time honored NBA tradition, but it has reached new levels of annoying this season. Coaches, just get your teams to play harder. If George Karl is curious why the Lakers got the calls in game five (although they only had five more free throws) it is because Los Angeles was the team attacking the rim. If Phil Jackson is curious why Denver had such a free throw disparity in game four, it is because Denver was aggressive going to the rack while his Lakers were passive.

LeBron James and Kobe Bryant have gotten a lot of calls, but they are players who handle the ball virtually every time down the floor, shoot often and attack the rim a lot. They are going to get a lot of calls because they get fouled a lot.

All of this is not to say that there doesn’t need to be improvement in the officiating in the NBA. It is frustrating as a fan of basketball to watch a guy go to the rim and there is all kinds of contact and no call on one end, then as the other team fast breaks the other way a touch foul is called on the perimeter. The consistency has been nonexistent.

And the constant upgrading and downgrading of flagrant and technical fouls by the league is simply embarrassing. Not the end result of said changes, those have been pretty much correct (save for the Rajon Rondo foul on Brad Miller). But the fact that they seem to happen daily is a testament to how poorly the referees are judging things in real time.

Still, here we all are with two game sixes in the next two days, and the two Conference Finals series are just where they should be. Close, but with the teams that have made the plays when it mattered ahead and with the chance to close out.

In the end, that’s what we all want as basketball fans — for the best team to win. And that’s what we are getting.

It’s time to stop whining about it and just enjoy the games.

Kurt Helin blows his share of close calls at his blog, Forum Blue & Gold.