21 - 6

[libermaniac]

I am a card carrying member of the NBA conspiracy theorists, and I totally think the C's got jobbed in the 4th quarter, but I don't think it was intentional. 

I think the NBA looks to assign officials who's style works for the team they'd like to win, primarily for extending series, or for biasing the outcome of a deciding game where the ratings would take a HUGE hit if one team one (e.g. Lakers/Kings in '02).

That said, I just don't see what the NBA gains by giving the Lakers the title over the Celtics.  I think the refs just got swayed by the home court, the momentum, etc.. and blew it.

It doesn't make it any easier for me to accept.  I've decided that NBA basketball is my least favorite sport (behind MLB and NFL), because the refs have the largest impact in the game - it's just the nature of the game.  And, in a one possession game 7, that's just hard to swallow.

[BringToughnessBack]

A huge disparity like that in the 4th quarter is beyond hard to accept. You just cannot call 15 more fouls on one team over the other in 1 quarter. It was not like we were intentionally trying to foul them either.

I believe that in spite of the huge disparity, we lost because were completely out of energy. Our team fought as hard as we could and by the 4th quarter, we could barely get any lift to make any shots. It seemed Rondo stopped running, KG was gasping for air, Ray was exhausted after stellar defense and the rest of our team were physically equally taxed.

One fresh pair of star legs in the 4th quarter could have made the difference. In retrospect, resting Rondo for a few minutes when we were barely up in the 3rd might have led to a small deficit going into the fourth, but it would have given our Star PG some of his legs back. We needed a driving, slashing, passing Rondo.

But at the end of the day, Maybe us being gassed could account for a few more fouls then the Lakers gave, but 21 to 6 is just that..a travesty

Has one analyst on TV said anything about this or is this considered off limits to all? 

[BBS]

 I wake up this morning and whats the first thing I see on TV  ESPN talking about the blown Soccer Call. BARF, I understand that ESPN is in bed up to it's eyeballs with the NBA and Stern, but how is a sport that more than half of the U.S. could care less about haveing a blown call makeing such headlines? When there biggest cash cow A GAME 7 haveing such a foul descrepency in the game let alone the 4th quarter not getting any play at all from anyone?  

[tenn_smoothie]

If only Red were still with us - he sure wouldn't stay quiet .......

which is one reason Stern doesn't favor the Celtics - he already proved that by not allowing us any draft or salary cap relief when we lost both Len Bias and then later, Reggie Lewis. Red asked the league for some sort of compensation (so he could try to acquire players to at least reduce the harm done to the Celtics by the loss of these two guys) but Stern said no.

Stern just reminds me of the kid who got his lunch money taken every day in grade school and is now getting back at the world by being a dictator of something where he can tell big, grown men (athletes no less) what to do.

someone from the Celtics needs to say something - in anger !!! Doc is just too nice and tries to show himself as too fair-minded sometimes. Red would have his say - and probably told Stern to stick it a few times in the past already, which is further reason for little david stern to hate the Big Bad Mean Celtics.

[BBS]

TP, Your right Smoothie. Red whould have been saying something thats for sure. I think one thing that really drove Stern nuts was when RED said Where is your Dynasty? Everyone said they were a Dynasty, Well here it is here is your Dynasty RIGHT HERE!! If you go back and look at that footage of Red saying that you see that little schmuck standing there with this fake grin on his face.
 Why is it taboo to ask the tough question anymore?
Better yet why is it taboo to talk about the obvious? Those fouls was the major reason why LA won.
Not the rebounding cuz as someone said already the Celtics had 3 10 point leads while being outrebounded. The game turned in the 4th when the CELTICS could'nt play the same defence they did for 3 quarters.
 Why is it that Tommy Heinson gets blasted for doing the same thing that Red would do. If you watched any of that postgame footage you could tell Tommy was bitting his tounge. He wanted to explode but in this day and age you can't do that unless it's here on a blog where no one really thinks anything we say is valid. In their eyes it's just homerism or sour grapes.

I thought the CELTICS owners were fans first, Atleast thats what they were sold to us as. Well as a fan I would like to here from the owners aka "fans" and what they have to say about this. I really don't understand why these guys say they care about their fans and when the season ends on this kind of note they tuck there tails between their legs and hide without saying what half their fanbase is thinking.

[tenn_smoothie]

TP, Your right Smoothie. Red whould have been saying something thats for sure. I think one thing that really drove Stern nuts was when RED said Where is your Dynasty? Everyone said they were a Dynasty, Well here it is here is your Dynasty RIGHT HERE!! If you go back and look at that footage of Red saying that you see that little schmuck standing there with this fake grin on his face.
 Why is it taboo to ask the tough question anymore?
Better yet why is it taboo to talk about the obvious? Those fouls was the major reason why LA won.
Not the rebounding cuz as someone said already the Celtics had 3 10 point leads while being outrebounded. The game turned in the 4th when the CELTICS could'nt play the same defence they did for 3 quarters.
 Why is it that Tommy Heinson gets blasted for doing the same thing that Red would do. If you watched any of that postgame footage you could tell Tommy was bitting his tounge. He wanted to explode but in this day and age you can't do that unless it's here on a blog where no one really thinks anything we say is valid in their eyes it's just homerism or sour grapes.

I thought the CELTICS owners were fans first, Atleast thats what they were sold to us as. Well as a fan I would like to here from the owners aka "fans" and what they have to say about this. I really don't understand why these guys say they care about their fans and when the season ends on this kind of note they tuck there tails between their legs and hide without saying what half their fanbase is thinking.

thank you BBS for telling the truth - TP as well - i imagine you have a sharp radar and low tolerance for BS when you see it - and we both saw it in the 4th quarter thursday nite.

love your memory of Red with Trophy #15 in the locker room, again saying what everyone was thinking, but were too afraid to say out loud. not Red. it was part of his genius.

and that little squirrel stern standing there next to him just hating every moment of the Celtic celebration that night. at least Jim Pallotta had the balls to confront Stern-boy after game 3 ..... Grousbeck could take a few lessons from him.

[BBS]

TP, Your right Smoothie. Red whould have been saying something thats for sure. I think one thing that really drove Stern nuts was when RED said Where is your Dynasty? Everyone said they were a Dynasty, Well here it is here is your Dynasty RIGHT HERE!! If you go back and look at that footage of Red saying that you see that little schmuck standing there with this fake grin on his face.
 Why is it taboo to ask the tough question anymore?
Better yet why is it taboo to talk about the obvious? Those fouls was the major reason why LA won.
Not the rebounding cuz as someone said already the Celtics had 3 10 point leads while being outrebounded. The game turned in the 4th when the CELTICS could'nt play the same defence they did for 3 quarters.
 Why is it that Tommy Heinson gets blasted for doing the same thing that Red would do. If you watched any of that postgame footage you could tell Tommy was bitting his tounge. He wanted to explode but in this day and age you can't do that unless it's here on a blog where no one really thinks anything we say is valid in their eyes it's just homerism or sour grapes.

I thought the CELTICS owners were fans first, Atleast thats what they were sold to us as. Well as a fan I would like to here from the owners aka "fans" and what they have to say about this. I really don't understand why these guys say they care about their fans and when the season ends on this kind of note they tuck there tails between their legs and hide without saying what half their fanbase is thinking.

thank you BBS for telling the truth - TP as well - i imagine you have a sharp radar and low tolerance for BS when you see it - and we both saw it in the 4th quarter thursday nite.

love your memory of Red with Trophy #15 in the locker room, again saying what everyone was thinking, but were too afraid to say out loud. not Red. it was part of his genius.

and that little squirrel stern standing there next to him just hating every moment of the Celtic celebration that night. at least Jim Pallotta had the balls to confront Stern-boy after game 3 ..... Grousbeck could take a few lessons from him.

Thanks Tenn. I still have a hard time understanding why no one is talking about this except here? I don't blame the team they did every thing they could to win that game dispite the obvious bias against their Defence in the 4th quarter of that game. I don't blame Doc he did more politicing publicly for this team with the refs than anyone. I don't blame the Lakers they took what was handed to them. I do blame Stern and the Ref's they have turned this league into the WWE.

MR.Nasmith and Red are Spinning right now.

So I guess we just bend over and take it like Marsellus Wallace but this time Butch is'nt comeing back with samurai sword to save us.

[Yakmanev]

Well I'm telling anyone who will listen on my Facebook.

Would it help to call or write (not Email it's considered to convenient, but type and snail mail instead) letters to the  sponsors and tell them a boycott of their products is coming unless we get a new commissioner in the NBA?

Team sponsors as well. People forget Stern is employed by the team owners. He just didn't pop up out of nowhere like some Arabic dictator. Teams had to vote on this.

Maybe if we were dedicated enough put together video evidence not just of Celtics games but other teams that have been screwed without a kiss, too.

How about the fact the NBA had a referee in Federal prison and has accurately predicted the outcome of I don't know how many playoff games using the same formulas he passed onto his gambling buddies.

How about if you dare speak against a referee you are fined and told to shut up. Think about it when you aren't allowed to question authority it becomes corrupt.

I think we can do something about this. But it's going to take more than just me. We all need to step up.

I'm from the Volunteer state just like Tenn_Smoothie how many more are going to volunteer to make a stand. I mean even if we can't get new refs and a new commissioner we can at least make enough noise to scare them into changing something, maybe?

[FLCeltsFan]

It is taboo to talk about the horrible officiating because that is Stern's edict.  Any player, coach or owner who criticizes the refs face fines of upward of 100,000 and possible suspensions.  Stern has made it so that no one can question his referees and the incompetence/agendas/corruption continues and because of that fans in droves are getting disgusted.   

Tim Donaghy said he saw several questionable calls in LA's favor in the 4th quarter.  Love him or hate him, if you watch the NBA, what the guy says has a lot of merit.   They started calling things in the 4th against the Celtics that they let go all game. I'm not saying that the Celtics weren't fouling. Many of the calls were legit fouls.   But they weren't calling the same thing on the other end.  And they were suddenly calling things they let go through the first 3 quarters.      It may have been that the refs wanted to get even with Rasheed Wallace (who was the only player in the game to foul out) for all those years of abuse he has given them and rob him of getting another ring.   Who knows.  But every Celtic was in foul trouble by the end of the game while Kobe had 4 and no one else was even close on the Fakers.  You can't tell me that Gasol didn't commit more than 2 fouls.   They let them play for 3 quarters and there was a lot of contact not called on both sides.  Then suddenly in the 4th they tightened up the calls and started calling things on the Celtics that hadn't been a foul all game. 
The Celtics have to feel robbed but unless they want to be fined and/or suspended, can't say anything about it.  Maybe that is why Sheed was heading to the officials' locker room after the game.  He wanted to give them one last piece of his mind before retiring. 

Anyone who gets their livelihood from the NBA does not dare say anything and that includes Owners, players, broadcasters, and media.  Stern rules the league with his iron fist and NO ONE is allowed to question the officiating.   

There is one owner who has been speaking out about it all along and that is Mark Cuban.  Love him or hate him, he hates the fact that the league has lost it's credibility.  And he has been fined in the millions for speaking out about what he sees as corruption in the  league and officials.    Obviously the Celtics have at least one owner who is fed up with Stern's shenanigans too.  Jim Pallotta was fined over 100,000 for confronting Stern about it.
    If more owners were like Cuban and Jim Pallotta, the league would be a much better place. 

Nothing will be done until fans rise up in mass and complain to the owners and league about what is going on.  The Owners as a group have the power to force Stern to make a change but they like the money too much.  Fans have to make their voices and their displeasure known or the league will never change and we will be subjected to NBA WWE style.   

End of rant....

[BBS]

Here is something that I have been thinking about for a little while. In the four major sports they all have their own refs. Well I say that their should be a whole seprate league of Refs overseen by a comish with a board of directors. This league whould be subjected to total transpairency. Each Ref in this league is subject to in game training physcal fitness test and mental test, If they grew up rooting for one specific team or are friends with anyone on a team they don't work that teams games. If they are not up to snuff so to speak they are terminated. This league is compleatly cut off from all other leagues. The League would be responsible for appointing refs to game and the NFL NBA NHL MLB all would have to fall in line with this new league or be subject to be classified as entertainment not a Professional League and would be cut off from all sports betting. I don't know the whole in's and out's of this yet as I have only recently thought of it. But I do beleave a whole seprate league of Refs would allow for less corruption within all the other professional sports leagues.

Just a thought.

[Yakmanev]

Here is something that I have been thinking about for a little while. In the four major sports they all have their own refs. Well I say that their should be a whole seprate league of Refs overseen by a comish with a board of directors. This league whould be subjected to total transpairency. Each Ref in this league is subject to in game training physcal fitness test and mental test, If they grew up rooting for one specific team or are friends with anyone on a team they don't work that teams games. If they are not up to snuff so to speak they are terminated. This league is compleatly cut off from all other leagues. The League would be responsible for appointing refs to game and the NFL NBA NHL MLB all would have to fall in line with this new league or be subject to be classified as entertainment not a Professional League and would be cut off from all sports betting. I don't know the whole in's and out's of this yet as I have only recently thought of it. But I do beleave a whole seprate league of Refs would allow for less corruption within all the other professional sports leagues.

Just a thought.

Good idea, would these refs be trained in one specific sport or would it be that they interchange. For instance a ref doing an NBA game could also be assigned an NFL game etc;

[dooyork]

So the question is, why?  Is this just incompetence or conspiracy?  It's hard to argue that the league didn't get what it wanted.  If the Lakers lose this game, as they were on pace to do before the ticky-tack calls started happening, the league loses
1) another potential dynasty
2) the greatest coach of all time
3) Kobe's legacy / heir to MJ

I don't think there is a "why."  But to argue that the refereeing was shoddy you don't have to prove that there was some grand motive behind it.  The game was affected by unbalanced refereeing.  That's really all there is to it.  Was it a conspiracy, like they planned out ahead of time which team they would screw?  I really doubt it.  That doesn't change the fact that the reffing was bad and uneven.  Usually the home team gets the edge, maybe because the refs don't like to hear people booing them or chanting "BS" after a call.  And the NBA is such a rapid pace, with constant opportunity to have a foul on or off the ball on every play, a lot of times the refs just can't see everything so they guess.  But you don't have to prove someone had a motive to prove they're guilty of murder, you just have to prove they committed murder.  Here, we walked into the dining room and saw the refs standing over the Celtics's corpse holding a bloody whistle.  Who cares why they call games one-sided, the fact is we all know they did, because we saw it.

[TheReaLPuba]

The disparity is egregious and in no way shape or form consistent with the way the past 3 quarters were called.

The C's would have out shot the Lakers by even a bigger margin had they gotten a fair shake on their end....C's ended up shooting 41% to the Lakers 33%....but if we got even calls our shooting percentage would have been closer to 45%.

Lakers took way more 3's than we did...we had to jack up there in the end...and the Lakers were down most of the game by double digits.

I wouldn't be upset if they outplayed us and won....but the Lakers didn't out play us...they won because they got so many more freebies than we did and they sucked at hitting those too.

[BBS]

Here is something that I have been thinking about for a little while. In the four major sports they all have their own refs. Well I say that their should be a whole seprate league of Refs overseen by a comish with a board of directors. This league whould be subjected to total transpairency. Each Ref in this league is subject to in game training physcal fitness test and mental test, If they grew up rooting for one specific team or are friends with anyone on a team they don't work that teams games. If they are not up to snuff so to speak they are terminated. This league is compleatly cut off from all other leagues. The League would be responsible for appointing refs to game and the NFL NBA NHL MLB all would have to fall in line with this new league or be subject to be classified as entertainment not a Professional League and would be cut off from all sports betting. I don't know the whole in's and out's of this yet as I have only recently thought of it. But I do beleave a whole seprate league of Refs would allow for less corruption within all the other professional sports leagues.

Just a thought.

Good idea, would these refs be trained in one specific sport or would it be that they interchange. For instance a ref doing an NBA game could also be assigned an NFL game etc;

I think they would have to be trained at first in basic refing skills and once they compleated the basic trainign they would be sent to one of the four departments of the ref league so they could learn the certin sport and once they have passed the training they could be sent to do actually games on a probationary basis they would be constantly overseen by the Leages Department Head officals. The department head officals would be able to ask each ref why certain calls were made and why they wernt. Then they would be the ones to awnser the media's questions. After 10 years on the job they are let go. They would need to be paid great deal of money if they are accepted into the Professional Ref League so as to make it worth doing. But it would certianly clean up the 4 major sports.

But like I said I have only recently thought of this so feel free to add to it if you like the idea.

[get_banners]

Either the refs are crooked (not for a team, but to extend the series; or to favor certain players the league wants to promote, like Kobe and Gasol), or horribly incompetent. Somebody emailed me this post on the topic...goes a little light on the conspiracy thing at the end for my tastes, but a good read. The changing titles for Stern cracked me up. The point is true, though...the fact that he keeps everything a secret and basically silences all dissent is killing the league.