Game 3 Ref Assignments (Merged)

[nickagneta]

Here's a very bad little tidbit for the NBA. How is it that most basketball fans can probably rattle off about 10 names of referees pretty easily in the NBA but the same cannot be said for most fans in baseball and football?

It's real easy. Because in baseball and football the officiating is what it is supposed to be, an unbiased, rule enforcing entity that helps the game along.

In basketball, it is a perceived part of the game that a team needs to overcome in order to win.

That doesn't really say much for David Stern as a commissioner in my opinion.

[celticmaestro]

Lakers were 9-1 with Salvatore reffing. Ironically that one loss was us!

yeah i noticed that, not sure what to make of it really.

[BrickJames]

Here's a very bad little tidbit for the NBA. How is it that most basketball fans can probably rattle off about 10 names of referees pretty easily in the NBA but the same cannot be said for most fans in baseball and football?

It's real easy. Because in baseball and football the officiating is what it is supposed to be, an unbiased, rule enforcing entity that helps the game along.

In basketball, it is a perceived part of the game that a team needs to overcome in order to win.

That doesn't really say much for David Stern as a commissioner in my opinion.

Uhh...do you watch baseball or football??

[BringToughnessBack]

All I Know is that a plus 10 or 20 free throw differential for the Lakers tonight and a Celtics win nonetheless will be that much more satisfying. The excuses will fall down from the sky in Laker Land like a summertime thunderstorm in Florida. I cannot wait!

Beat LA in LA!

[Amonkey]

How come everybody is all up in arms about reffing these finals (including the national media) but nobody was questioning the legitimacy of Donaghy's allegation that there were games rigged and refs, players and coaches may have been involved?

[angryguy77]

The Celtics got lucky with some absolutely awful officiating.  Yes the 38-10 FT edge was unfair.  But the Celtics WERE more aggressive, so that part of it was reasonable.  Powe outshooting the Lakers team was a bit much.

Crawford, Salvatore tonight.  If the FT edge is not 40-20 Lakers or something I will be stunned.

were you complaining during the Utah series?

[Kuberski33]

Why does Stern do this stuff?  All he does is play into the hands of us cynics and the conspiracy theorists and there are more of those jumping on board as things move along here -- especially in Boston.

All I can say as someone who's watched this league for 35+ years is where there's smoke there's fire.

I swear Stern is taking a page out of Vince McMahon's playbook.

[nickagneta]

Here's a very bad little tidbit for the NBA. How is it that most basketball fans can probably rattle off about 10 names of referees pretty easily in the NBA but the same cannot be said for most fans in baseball and football?

It's real easy. Because in baseball and football the officiating is what it is supposed to be, an unbiased, rule enforcing entity that helps the game along.

In basketball, it is a perceived part of the game that a team needs to overcome in order to win.

That doesn't really say much for David Stern as a commissioner in my opinion.

Uhh...do you watch baseball or football??

Yes, extensively. And the last thing I could say about the officiating in baseball or football is that it appears to favor one team or another or one player or another or that certain officials have certain team biases.

Maybe in baseball the strike zone changes ump to ump and maybe there's some not so great calls but for the most part it is easy to see that they are unbiased.

In football perhaps one crew calls certain things like holding and interference a bit tighter than another but for the most part I can't say as I have ever seen favoritism towards one team or another.

Bad and good calls that go both ways but not biased, superstar, home court, head scratching calls that we see in every game in the NBA.

Not close.

There's just no way in hell that a call as blatantly bad as the Pierce-LeBron call and the Brent Barry call happen as often in those other sports. Over the years in baseball there have been some calls that stand out and have become famous. Same for football. But to the extent that basketball has it in a game in and game out manner, it's truly not possible in those sports without a government investigation commencing.

[BlountTrauma30]

I agree that baseball and football appear to be reffed better, BUT, they are also much different than basketball.  Baseball is a lot slower and there really are only a few things to focus on, mainly on the ball when it's in motion.  Football is different in that it's faster but it's also a contact sport where there aren't little fouls called, so you also have less to focus on as a ref.  In basketball, there are 10 guys you have to watch, all at once, both with the ball and without it, constantly moving and having 100s of possessions per game. 

I'd be interested to hear how a hockey fan feels the refs compare to that sport, or soccer.

[coco]

I noticed that the Lakers are a 9.5 points favorite for tonight's game.  I wonder if Salavatore's presence has anything to do with it.

[Robb]

How come everybody is all up in arms about reffing these finals (including the national media) but nobody was questioning the legitimacy of Donaghy's allegation that there were games rigged and refs, players and coaches may have been involved?

This post can't get enough Tommy Points.

[Frontierboy]

ESPN's accuscore computer has the Lakers favored 69% to 31%....... ouch.....

Vegas has the Laker by 9.5......

And the refs ( man!!!)......

Talk about climbing a mountain...... but if any team could do it, it's this team.

[Roy Hobbs]

I noticed that the Lakers are a 9.5 points favorite for tonight's game.  I wonder if Salavatore's presence has anything to do with it.

Yeah, Vegas isn't stupid.  They recognize what's going on, just as much as we do.

Much like there were "make up calls" in the second half of Game 2, Game 3 has the potential to be a "make up game" for the Lakers.  The Celtics will just have to come out and play a near perfect game, and make it so the officials *can't* take this game away from them.

I agree with nick above, we're probably making too much of this.  Really, the refs only cost us two or three games (if that) over the course of the entire season, where those games were made virtually unwinnable because of the way they were called.  Even if the Lakers get the benefit of the doubt -- and they will -- the Celtics can still win this.

[Kuberski33]

How come everybody is all up in arms about reffing these finals (including the national media) but nobody was questioning the legitimacy of Donaghy's allegation that there were games rigged and refs, players and coaches may have been involved?

For the national media, it's simply a matter of job security.  It's one thing to call a Bill Belichick a cheat.  You take on Stern and the NBA and you'll be on an island and the national guys make too good a living to want to take a chance like that -- without compelling evidence to back it up.

[Cman]

p.s. I watch the game again last night and did anyone else notice how during the game they said next week games 3,4 and 5 will be in LA and then they had games 6 and 7 if necessary?  Should game 5 be an "if necessary" game? Seeing how the Cs are 2-0? 

I thought I saw what you saw, but did a double take and saw that they had listed at the bottomw games 5,6,7 if necessary.  But it was confusing because they listed games 3, 4 and 5 as if they were certainly going to happen (ie, no asterisk on game 5).