Biggest story in the finals is the refereeing MERGE

[MyInsatiableOne]

Eddie Rush is **** horrendous...and two Laker lovers? I don't know if I even want to watch...

[Lewis35]

Found this interesting.

http://www.nbastuffer.com/referee_stats

[TonyMontana]

Dam reffs!!!!

[RCS926]

I don't really have a ref hit list, but based on one of the threads in Lakersground, Laker fans aren't happy with Rush and Foster officiating tonight's game. There is also some negativity towards Willard particularly for a non-call he was involved in that almost cost the Lakers a win in game 3 against Utah.

[CeltsfanSinceBirth]

I don't really have a ref hit list, but based on one of the threads in Lakersground, Laker fans aren't happy with Rush and Foster officiating tonight's game. There is also some negativity towards Willard particularly for a non-call he was involved in that almost cost the Lakers a win in game 3 against Utah.

It's a sad state of affairs when both sides are unhappy about the officiating. Bad calls on both sides - game 2 was horrific from a Laker viewpoint, while game 3 was bad from Boston's point of view. Feels like Stern is jerking us around. If there's terrible calls against the Lakers tonight, it's going to become obvious that Stern is trying to stretch this series. I miss the good old days in the 80s, where no one cared about who was reffing the game, no ticky tack fouls were called, and the refs let the players decide who won.

[Datruth345]

The NBA needs to institute the audit function I suggested earlier in this thread and then only have refs in the playoffs that achieve high enough grades for consistency and accuracy.

that is actually what they do right now, if i understand your idea correctly

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball ... do_better/

[FAB0L0US]

Also, the NBA needs to give coaches in the finals at least 5 challenges that can be used during a game. The challenge would be evaluated by another person or persons (non-refs but knowledgeable people - e.g., former coaches, etc.) not on the court. And if the challenge leads to a call being overturned then it does not cost the coach a challenge.

Thats a terrible idea. I dont want coaches stopping play 10 times a game so referees can look at a monitor for two minutes. If I wanted to watch a sport that stopped play every 5 seconds and had minutes between considerable action I would watch football. Basketball doesnt need more slowing down.

if you want to be sick to your stomach re-watch the 4th quarter and look at the screens the Lakers set, almost all of them, and all the ones in crucial plays, were blatantly illegal

Bynum was getting away with murder setting screens in the 4th quarter, i couldn't believe it

Shockingly, Borgia -- the man in charge of telling referees what is and is not a travel -- admits that referees are instructed, by him and others, to ignore one part of the NBA's written traveling rule.

"We really don't reference the rulebook," says Borgia. Where the rulebook says Wade, in our example, has to shoot or pass after taking just one step, Borgia says NBA referees work with the rule of thumb that such players are entitled to two steps.

Without wanting to be identified, other NBA officials confirm that there is an age-old schism in basketball that is only now coming to light. The rulebook says one step, and vocal fans have long insisted it stay that way -- in keeping with every other level of the game. Yet for as long as anyone can remember, NBA referees have operated with the direction to allow players to take two steps after picking up a dribble, or catching the ball on the run.

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/6035/nba-traveling-we-really-don-t-reference-the-rulebook

NBA referees have a similar policy with moving screens when they are far away from the basket or some such like that. I cant find a link for it but I have read it before. This stuff isnt in the rulebook and lots of fans have no idea about it but watch games, moving screens happen all the time on high pick and rolls. Its not just something that happened in this game that the referees were allowing.

[MyInsatiableOne]

^then that's pathetic..how low must the grades have been for the refs who DIDN'T make the cut?

[ryaningf]

Re: the grades.

Exactly, Insatiable^^^ It's amazing to me that Eddie F. Rush made it from the conference finals to the NBA finals given what occurred in Game 5 of the Orlando series. How bad must the other officials be rated in order for Rush to make the cut?

[GreenMachine]

Go Jim Pallotta!

[CeltsfaninDC]

Try going back and watching those sequences objectively.......Fisher is playing tight defense and Ray Allen is SHOVING him to try to gain separation. He is getting called for the fouls because Fisher is over exagerating the contact BUT ALLEN IS STIFFARMING HIM to gain separation....and he is doing it much more then it even gets called.

That is in fact a offensive foul.

He wasn't shoving him..... Fisher had draped himself on Ray, had his arm wrapped inside of him and was pushing him as he was flashing across the lane. Ray pulled his arm out of the lock and Fisher flopped his head back like he was JFK getting shot in Dallas and the whistle blew. What you are forgetting to mention is that this was a MAKE UP CALL!

[mwhis21]

mwhis21 wrote:The reason why I see things objectively is because on top of being a Die Hard Celtics fan I'm a die hard NBA fan and Die Hard Basketball fan. I don't let my emotions invested in this series get in the way of how I view the officiating. If you were an LA fan right now you could easily point out every blown call against them and make the same argument.

The point is completely moot on this topic. The Celtics are down 2-1 and have yet to show up as a team and play in these Finals. If they manage to do that they should take 3 of 4 and win Banner 18."

CelticsfaninDC-

"Oh, thats right, I forgot..... YOU are the objective Celtics fan because you understand basketball so much better than all of us people who are not real ATHALETES. So silly of me to forget.
<<<Just make shots and the Celtics will win>>> now I get it...."



There you have it Celtics fans. Such an intelligent and thought out response.

[PPAW4Life]

What's sad about this Finals is that you got the richest historical rivalry that your league has ever had & it's the refs and officiating that all anyone wants to talk about.

[Lewis35]

Stern is sticking to the Celtics by having Rush as a ref.

[mr_sunshine]

^^^
Laker bigs don't have to push off to grab rebounds since they have the height, size and length advantage.

Yet Gasol flops when anyone touches him in the back, and Bynum/Gasol go over the back 10+ times a game and it's never called.

[MyInsatiableOne]

What's sad about this Finals is that you got the richest historical rivalry that your league has ever had & it's the refs and officiating that all anyone wants to talk about.

Well said...it is truly sad...

[MyInsatiableOne]

^^^
Laker bigs don't have to push off to grab rebounds since they have the height, size and length advantage.

Yet Gasol flops when anyone touches him in the back, and Bynum/Gasol go over the back 10+ times a game and it's never called.

I'm glad someone else has noticed both of these points...they've been driving me nuts!

[mr_sunshine]

^^^
Laker bigs don't have to push off to grab rebounds since they have the height, size and length advantage.

Yet Gasol flops when anyone touches him in the back, and Bynum/Gasol go over the back 10+ times a game and it's never called.

I'm glad someone else has noticed both of these points...they've been driving me nuts!

Yup. I'm okay with all the other fouls, but over the back is NEVER CALLED and it's a huge advantage to LA since they've got much more length at the PF/C position than we do. The play where Pierce had a text book box out on Odom, jumped for the rebound, and Lamar reaches over the back and puts it in was disgusting. We played perfect D on the possession, forced Kobe into a fade away 3 at the shot clock buzzer, boxed out, and all the work is nullified by a terrible non-call.

[return2glory]

The officiating for game 4 will favor the Celtics.

[SichtingLives]

The officiating for game 4 will favor the Celtics.

This can only be acknowledged if we win though.