Here is my Official Report for tonight:
Today's Referees are:
Monty McCutchen
Home Team W/L 52/27
Home Team win % in Playoffs 83%
Calls 47.7 fouls per game
% of fouls called on Road Team 49.6%
Calls 1 Tech/g Called on Road Team
Calls .8 Tech/g called on Home Team
McCutchen has been officiating games since 1993 and wears number 13. McCutchen missed the 1998-99 season with a ruptured Achilles tendon. McCutchen is a former elementary and middle school teacher and is fondly remembered by his students as a really nice guy. In searching for information on him, I found a Cavs' blog that blamed their April 4 loss to the Celtics on the officiating of Monty McCutchen. That was the game where Mike Brown was ejected and the Cavs made a furious comeback but fell short. Other than that, not a lot of controversy about McCutchen. McCutchen has officiated the game 6 closeout wins over both both the Cavs and the Magic. He also officiated game 2 of the Finals, also a Celtics win. The Celtics won game 2, but the foul disparity was large in favor of LA. The final count was 41-26 in favor of LA, but it was 39-19 before LA started to foul intentionally at the end of the game.
Joe DeRosa
Overall Home Team W/L 45/26
Playoff Home Team Win % 56%
Fouls called per game 50.9
Foul % Called on Road Team 52.2%
Road Team Techs/game 1.3
Home Team Techs/game 1.2
DeRosa has officiated over 1,000+ regular season games, 75+ play-off games, and 5 NBA Finals games. DeRosa was the crew chief for Game 1 against the Heat when the melee broke out and KG was ejected. He was also the crew chief for the game 4 win vs Cleveland. and the Game 2 win over Orlando along with the Game 1 in LA, which was very tightly called and a Celtics loss. He tends to be quick to call technicals. However, he is aware of Perk's foul situation as he was the ref who issued a warning in game 1 instead of giving a double technical as has been done throughout the playoffs in situations like that. DeRosa was the referee who was suspended for a game for throwing the ball at a fan in the Orlando game.
Ken Mauer
Home Team W/L 41-34
Home Team win % in Playoffs 50%
Calls 43.8 fouls per game
% of fouls called on Road Team 49.1%
Calls .5 Techs/g on Road Team
Calls .7 Techs/g on Home Team
Mauer has been a referee since the 1986-87 season and has officiated over 1,200+ regular season games, 70+ play-off games and 3 NBA Finals games. Mauer has a quick trigger when it comes to Doc. He once ejected Doc less than 3 minutes into a game. Mauer was one of the refs charged with tax evasion and obstructing federal tax laws for receiving substantial taxable income from 1989 through 1994 and failing to declare it. He was one of the refs in the controversial Miami/Dallas Finals where the foul calls were totally lopsided. Amazingly, he has already called 5 games for the Celtics in the playoffs, Game 4 in Miami and the Game 3 debacle against Cleveland which were both losses, Games 1 and 6 vs Orlando, which were wins, and Game 2 in LA which was also a Celtics win but called fairly one sided for LA.
My Take:
Tonight's referees show that it is even more crucial for the Celtics to close this out tonight. With Bennett Salvatore and Bill Kennedy absent in this crew, that means that they will be tapped for game 7 and the Celtics would be very smart to avoid that combination of refs in a game 7 on the road. Salvatore is incompetent and Kennedy still has a beef with Doc. The crew chief tonight was also the crew chief in the Celtics previous two close out game 6's which were officiated very well. Hopefully they will let them play tonight and the Celtics will have a fair chance to win. However, if Tim Donaghy is right, if the Celtics get off to a good start, this game will be called heavily in favor of LA in order to force a game 7 for monetary reasons. I'm really hoping that they let them play in this game and not make the Refs the story of the playoffs once again.
Celtics Basketball
