What is the deal with Tony Brothers? seriously

[ThunderBolt]

Seeing a Mavs fan start another refs thread involving OKC for another team’s series is pretty epic, even for realgm.

[dans1230]

He clearly was betting on the game, Celtics got every benefit of the doubt.

Makes me miss Joey Crawford, egotist but he called the game somewhat fairly

He did a pretty terrible job at it then, the game ended in a tie at the end of regulation.
What a stupid statement.

[MrGoat]

It's actually a pretty tragic medical condition that is the deal with Tony Brothers

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/17955-micropenis

[Bergmaniac]

Celtics shooting a lot more FTs than the Pacers was to be expected, I have no problem with this, but a team doesn't end up shooting a total of 3 FTs in regulation of a close game without the refs helping the other team significantly. It just doesn't happen.

[dhsilv2]

Worst ref in the game by far. Not sure why Foster is the meme one. Foster is crooked. Brothers is just an **** with a giant ego. Games always get chaotic.

Foster gets in active fights with players. Mostly that. But yeah Brothers is nearly as well known which is a red flag.

[dhsilv2]

The Celtics are 7-20 in playoff games officiated by brothers....I promise you there wasn't a conspiracy by him to help Boston lmao

why do celtics fans keep thinking this is about the game or a bias? The OP is saying he's a bad ref. Nothing more or less.

[dhsilv2]

Opening line of the thread

Reading comprehension failure, I didn't say it wasn't about your game at all, I said it wasn't 100% about your game only. This is a Tony Brothers thread not a Boston Celtics thread. There's footage of him ignoring a call against the Mavs and cussing out a Mav too. Guess you still have yet to realize that.

The world does not revolve around the Boston Celtics, especially not the general board. If you want it to revolve around your team only use your board.

Right. Your opening statement includes a box score watching take about the Celtics game and you think people aren’t going to talk about the Celtics game?

If you didn’t want people to talk about the Boston Celtics, then maybe don’t talk about the Boston Celtics.

Kind of weird you can’t comprehend that.

I read it...I didn't think a second time about the celtics game after he covered other series. I knew he was just dunking on Brothers.

[Lunartic]

He clearly was betting on the game, Celtics got every benefit of the doubt.

Makes me miss Joey Crawford, egotist but he called the game somewhat fairly

He did a pretty terrible job at it then, the game ended in a tie at the end of regulation.
What a stupid statement.

A "stupid statement" would be implying that betting on a game can only be the moneyline and not Over/under or different scoring/reb props, MPG, total points scored, etc.

Surely, you knew that though, right? Surely, you didn't think that sports betting only meant wagering on the winner of the game?

Why don't you educate yourself on sports betting before labeling things "stupid"

[Lunartic]

Celtics shooting a lot more FTs than the Pacers was to be expected, I have no problem with this, but a team doesn't end up shooting a total of 3 FTs in regulation of a close game without the refs helping the other team significantly. It just doesn't happen.

Yeah, there was some homecooking going on -

The usual argument is that one team shot more distance shots didn't drive to the basket however,

The Celtics shot 45 3 pointers to the Pacers 35 3 pointers

The Celtics drove to the basket only 5 more times (45 drives vs 41) yet gleaned 30-10 FTA advantage (minus fouling to stop clock at the end) Pacers having 6FTA to the Celtics 22 by the end of regulation was incredibly questionable.

I'm not arguing that the FTA should equal, that's silly but we all watched the game and saw ticky-tack fouls called for Brown but then a playoff whistle on the other end for the Pacers.

[zeebneeb]

Tony Brothers should have been demoted or fired awhile ago. The league office, in good faith, to the people who keep them in business, the fans, review each season to see if a ref has a bad rap amongst the fanbase, and see if it has merit.

An NBA referee should never be that well known, and loathed, by every fanbase. As a Pistons fan, I hate nothing more then seeing he is going to be reffing the game.

Why the league doesn't do this once a ref gains a reputation, is beyond me.

One of the newer refs that is really starting to get on my nerves is Tyler Ford.

My current favorites working the conference finals are Eric Lewis, Bill Kennedy, and Ed Malloy.

[Dirk]

Aren’t there two other refs? Can a FT disparity be pinned on just one ref because he’s the crew chief? Is he intimidating the other refs not to make calls for certain teams and to make them for others?

Boston was I believe the best team in the league at not giving up FTA, so that is a fact.

Another interesting fact is that Indiana also had an 8 FTA game in the playoffs with the Knicks getting 31 where they won in a blowout. Tony Brothers was a ref in that game (just trying to stoke the fire)

Ironically, in this particular game, when I was paying attention... Brothers didn't see:

- Brown grabbing Siakam's jersey (called a foul on Siakam instead)

- Brown grabbing Siakam's jersey on an inbounds situation

- Pritchard hack Haliburton

I imagine some other bad/good calls were made for both teams. That just stood out to me when I was watching.

Disclaimer: I am a traumatized Tony Brothers victim. He and the crew tried so hard in game 6 vs Thunder.

[GrandTheftRondo]

Celtics fans didn't even read through the thread they just assumed it was 100% about their game only. Not surprised.

Time and time again the Celtics live rent free in your head.

Pathetic

[toooskies]

It's the old rule where if you know the ref's name, they probably aren't doing a very good job. And everyone knows Tony Brothers.

[Mavrelous]

I'll never understand the reluctance to make a very simple and obvious observation, bad officiating changed the outcome of this game, Pacers should be criticized for leaving it to the refs to decide the outcome (Haliburton turnover and the risk pass to Siakam), but if the game was called within reasonable expectation of officiating competence, the outcome would've been Pacers win.

[hippesthippo]

Any referee where everyone knows the dude's name is, generally speaking, a piece of ****.

This game ain't about you, bro. It's about the players.

[CoP]

Celtics shooting a lot more FTs than the Pacers was to be expected, I have no problem with this, but a team doesn't end up shooting a total of 3 FTs in regulation of a close game without the refs helping the other team significantly. It just doesn't happen.

Yeah, there was some homecooking going on -

The usual argument is that one team shot more distance shots didn't drive to the basket however,

The Celtics shot 45 3 pointers to the Pacers 35 3 pointers

The Celtics drove to the basket only 5 more times (45 drives vs 41) yet gleaned 30-10 FTA advantage (minus fouling to stop clock at the end) Pacers having 6FTA to the Celtics 22 by the end of regulation was incredibly questionable.

I'm not arguing that the FTA should equal, that's silly but we all watched the game and saw ticky-tack fouls called for Brown but then a playoff whistle on the other end for the Pacers.

18.8% of the Pacers' points were midrange shots, while 4.5% of the Celtics' points were midrange shots. That's the main reason. Anyone who watched the game saw Siakam and nearly every other Pacer take a ton of midrange jumpers. You could also just look at the game's shot chart and this is evident.

The Celtics had five more drives as you said (46 to 41) but they also seven more FGAs from those drives (25 to 18). That's another factor.

The Celtics just have personnel that are better defenders. There's a reason their backcourt both made 2nd Team All-Defensive. Meanwhile, the Pacers had one of the worst defensive ratings and gave up the most FTAs per game of any team this season.

And then finally, the Celtics were at home and typically teams have better FTA differential at home. There were certainly a couple missed calls where the Pacers should have gotten FTAs. By the same token, McConnell is allowed to get away with a ton of contact on defense before he's called for something, and we saw that last night too.

Combine all those factors and it explains that large discrepancy.

[Lunartic]

Celtics shooting a lot more FTs than the Pacers was to be expected, I have no problem with this, but a team doesn't end up shooting a total of 3 FTs in regulation of a close game without the refs helping the other team significantly. It just doesn't happen.

Yeah, there was some homecooking going on -

The usual argument is that one team shot more distance shots didn't drive to the basket however,

The Celtics shot 45 3 pointers to the Pacers 35 3 pointers

The Celtics drove to the basket only 5 more times (45 drives vs 41) yet gleaned 30-10 FTA advantage (minus fouling to stop clock at the end) Pacers having 6FTA to the Celtics 22 by the end of regulation was incredibly questionable.

I'm not arguing that the FTA should equal, that's silly but we all watched the game and saw ticky-tack fouls called for Brown but then a playoff whistle on the other end for the Pacers.

18.8% of the Pacers' points were midrange shots, while 4.5% of the Celtics' points were midrange shots. That's the main reason. Anyone who watched the game saw Siakam and nearly every other Pacer take a ton of midrange jumpers. You could also just look at the game's shot chart and this is evident.

The Celtics had five more drives as you said (46 to 41) but they also seven more FGAs from those drives (25 to 18). That's another factor.

The Celtics just have personnel that are better defenders. There's a reason their backcourt both made 2nd Team All-Defensive. Meanwhile, the Pacers had one of the worst defensive ratings and gave up the most FTAs per game of any team this season.

And then finally, the Celtics were at home and typically teams have better FTA differential at home. There were certainly a couple missed calls where the Pacers should have gotten FTAs. By the same token, McConnell is allowed to get away with a ton of contact on defense before he's called for something, and we saw that last night too.

Combine all those factors and it explains that large discrepancy.

You make compelling points

However, what FTA discrepancy would you consider to be unacceptable? If the Celtics were +40 FTA to the Pacers, would you acknowledge that ref/home cooking bias might have played a larger role?

What if they were +50?

I watched the entire game and there were instances of flopping from Celtics players as well as no calls against Pacer drives. I don't think anyone could watch that game and believe the refs weren't displaying a slight bias towards the home team.

[CoP]

Yeah, there was some homecooking going on -

The usual argument is that one team shot more distance shots didn't drive to the basket however,

The Celtics shot 45 3 pointers to the Pacers 35 3 pointers

The Celtics drove to the basket only 5 more times (45 drives vs 41) yet gleaned 30-10 FTA advantage (minus fouling to stop clock at the end) Pacers having 6FTA to the Celtics 22 by the end of regulation was incredibly questionable.

I'm not arguing that the FTA should equal, that's silly but we all watched the game and saw ticky-tack fouls called for Brown but then a playoff whistle on the other end for the Pacers.

18.8% of the Pacers' points were midrange shots, while 4.5% of the Celtics' points were midrange shots. That's the main reason. Anyone who watched the game saw Siakam and nearly every other Pacer take a ton of midrange jumpers. You could also just look at the game's shot chart and this is evident.

The Celtics had five more drives as you said (46 to 41) but they also seven more FGAs from those drives (25 to 18). That's another factor.

The Celtics just have personnel that are better defenders. There's a reason their backcourt both made 2nd Team All-Defensive. Meanwhile, the Pacers had one of the worst defensive ratings and gave up the most FTAs per game of any team this season.

And then finally, the Celtics were at home and typically teams have better FTA differential at home. There were certainly a couple missed calls where the Pacers should have gotten FTAs. By the same token, McConnell is allowed to get away with a ton of contact on defense before he's called for something, and we saw that last night too.

Combine all those factors and it explains that large discrepancy.

You make compelling points

However, what FTA discrepancy would you consider to be unacceptable? If the Celtics were +40 FTA to the Pacers, would you acknowledge that ref/home cooking bias might have played a larger role?

What if they were +50?

I watched the entire game and there were instances of flopping from Celtics players as well as no calls against Pacer drives. I don't think anyone could watch that game and believe the refs weren't displaying a slight bias towards the home team.

To your question about +40 or +50 - what I would acknowledge is that it's much, much more likely that home cooking bias had a larger role. Of course I'd have to watch the game to really decide.

And yeah, I do think there was some home bias for the Celtics last night. I just don't think it was egregious or anything close to the refs deciding the game. I think the FTA differential is explained much more by those other factors vs. home cooking.

It just hasn't been that unusual for the Pacers to have a large FTA deficit in games this season. Game 4 vs. the Knicks is an example, and that game was in Indy.

[FrobeBryant]

Pacers were 30th in opponent Fts and Fta. No one fouls more than them in addition to them being a bottom 5 defense.

We're 1st in opponent Fts and Fta

We're watching the team who fouls opponents the least against the team that fouls opponents the most and are a horrible defense. It is what it is

Wasn't this, more or less, the case last year when the Lakers played the Warriors in the second round? I remember Lakers fans being ridiculed for defending the FT disparity then.

[UglyBugBall]

Boston was I believe the best team in the league at not giving up FTA, so that is a fact.

No, they were the team refs wanted to call the least fouls on. Boston wasn't the best at anything, it was an NBA and league decision to not call fouls on Boston this season.

Another interesting fact is that Indiana also had an 8 FTA game in the playoffs with the Knicks getting 31 where they won in a blowout. Tony Brothers was a ref in that game (just trying to stoke the fire)

They did their best to cook that series. Sometimes players over come it, but the refs clearly had orders as you suggested.