Biggest story in the finals is the refereeing MERGE

[CeltsfaninDC]

The one that ticked me off was the one called when wee has a possesion to tie it up and he called an offensive foul on Allenfor throwing his arms in the air to take Fishers arms off him. I've almostnever seen that called an offensive foul.

That was unbelievably awful....... It also occurred right after a call took place against the Lakers on the other end of the floor. Can you say Make Up Call?

[JR Hawks]

Stop blaming the refs. There are plenty of C's players and coaches who deserve much more of the blame.

[TheOGJabroni]

He was right on the money with saying there would be a lot of tick tack fouls in this game. But right now, that's like guessing Kobe Bryant will probably take the most shots in the game.

[Kefa461]

Stop blaming the refs. There are plenty of C's players and coaches who deserve much more of the blame.

Bill...is that you........

[Red2]

this finals series will be remembered as the series where the NBA decided not to let the players play and to have its refs call every ticky tacky foul imaginable. I think some of the tight refereeing is a result of the physical play in the Celtic Orlando series ( thanks Dwight) and I think some of it is the Celts getting screwed by their own reputation. Phil Jackson , as he usually does, started manipulating the refs and this series before it even started and Doc to his credit but perhaps harm as well, said we're going to play our style of ball. Perhps the league reacted to that. Regardless, the number of fouls that have been called clearly show that the finals are being called much differently than the regular season. I said this on Celtic Blog yesterday but if the NBA continues to call the games this tight we have no shot. Add in the star treatment that Kobe gets and the non-star treatment that our guys get and that makes for a very tough road to hoe. I don't want to make this sounds like the only reason we're losing is the refs; we played like crap last night in the first half and we played like crap in game one so we deserved to lose. But there's no question that the tightness of the calls has had a far bigger impact on our style of play than on the Lakers.

[PPAW4Life]

Both teams haven't played well.

The games are not fun to watch.

The common denominator is that the reffing has brought the quality of play down to a very low level.

I mean outside of Game 1, the Lakers' play have been just as bad as the Celtics' play.

Any other game when you have Kobe shooting horribly, 24 points combined from Bynyum/Gasol/Artest, horrible 3 point shooting (2-18) it would all translate into a big fat Loss.

[FAB0L0US]

Tim knows his ****. The predicted how games 3 and 4 were going to be played out in the Lakers/Suns series, and he was right on the money. He called game 4 of the Celtics/Magic game and was right on that too.

And he also said there is no way that David Stern would let the Cavs lose their series. Hmm?

[SichtingLives]

this finals series will be remembered as the series where the NBA decided not to let the players play and to have its refs call every ticky tacky foul imaginable. I think some of the tight refereeing is a result of the physical play in the Celtic Orlando series ( thanks Dwight) and I think some of it is the Celts getting screwed by their own reputation. Phil Jackson , as he usually does, started manipulating the refs and this series before it even started and Doc to his credit but perhaps harm as well, said we're going to play our style of ball. Perhps the league reacted to that. Regardless, the number of fouls that have been called clearly show that the finals are being called much differently than the regular season. I said this on Celtic Blog yesterday but if the NBA continues to call the games this tight we have no shot. Add in the star treatment that Kobe gets and the non-star treatment that our guys get and that makes for a very tough road to hoe. I don't want to make this sounds like the only reason we're losing is the refs; we played like crap last night in the first half and we played like crap in game one so we deserved to lose. But there's no question that the tightness of the calls has had a far bigger impact on our style of play than on the Lakers.

I agree and I don't. The officiating has been bad, so in a sense it has been the biggest story. However, it has been bad both ways and I'm not sure the bad calls haven't been relatively balanced both ways.

The notion that we are at more of disadvantage when the game is called tight is an admission that the Lakers are the better team (note: that's not MY admission). Why? Because they are playing under the same rules. So if the refs were calling everything loose instead, that now makes us the better team? I'm not buying it. Give the Lakers credit, this is almost as bad as people giving us no credit for demolishing the Lebron show instead choosing the excuse of his barely problematic elbow as the reason for them losing. I'm not saying the refs are good (they rarely are), but this is just what they do. The Lakers, dare I say, have been the tougher team so far in this series, and to me THAT has been the real story and the difference between who has the series lead.

[PPAW4Life]

this finals series will be remembered as the series where the NBA decided not to let the players play and to have its refs call every ticky tacky foul imaginable. I think some of the tight refereeing is a result of the physical play in the Celtic Orlando series ( thanks Dwight) and I think some of it is the Celts getting screwed by their own reputation. Phil Jackson , as he usually does, started manipulating the refs and this series before it even started and Doc to his credit but perhaps harm as well, said we're going to play our style of ball. Perhps the league reacted to that. Regardless, the number of fouls that have been called clearly show that the finals are being called much differently than the regular season. I said this on Celtic Blog yesterday but if the NBA continues to call the games this tight we have no shot. Add in the star treatment that Kobe gets and the non-star treatment that our guys get and that makes for a very tough road to hoe. I don't want to make this sounds like the only reason we're losing is the refs; we played like crap last night in the first half and we played like crap in game one so we deserved to lose. But there's no question that the tightness of the calls has had a far bigger impact on our style of play than on the Lakers.

I agree and I don't. The officiating has been bad, so in a sense it has been the biggest story. However, it has been bad both ways and I'm not sure the bad calls haven't been relatively balanced both ways.

The notion that we are at more of disadvantage when the game is called tight is an admission that the Lakers are the better team (note: that's not MY admission). Why? Because they are playing under the same rules. So if the refs were calling everything loose instead, that now makes us the better team? I'm not buying it. Give the Lakers credit, this is almost as bad as people giving us no credit for demolishing the Lebron show instead choosing the excuse of his barely problematic elbow as the reason for them losing. I'm not saying the refs are good (they rarely are), but this is just what they do. The Lakers, dare I say, have been the tougher team so far in this series, and to me THAT has been the real story and the difference between who has the series lead.

I think by calling the game tight it favors the Lakers because it allows the finesse team to stay finesse and it brings a tougher more physical team down to a finesse team.

The tight game sort of levels the playing field so both the Celtics and Lakers are as close to even as possible.

[PPAW4Life]

Tim knows his ****. The predicted how games 3 and 4 were going to be played out in the Lakers/Suns series, and he was right on the money. He called game 4 of the Celtics/Magic game and was right on that too.

And he also said there is no way that David Stern would let the Cavs lose their series. Hmm?

I dunno man, the refs can't help a team that quits.

How do the refs prevent a 120 onslaught in Game 5 or a disinterested team who gives up in Game 6?

[mwhis21]

Officiating aside you still have to hit shots to win games. The Celtics didn't hit enough last night. Pierce and Allen were just absolute no shows last night.

Completely agree the officiating has been brutal. Both ways.

[PPAW4Life]

Officiating aside you still have to hit shots to win games. The Celtics didn't hit enough last night. Pierce and Allen were just absolute no shows last night.

Completely agree the officiating has been brutal. Both ways.

Agreed.

At its core, it's a "make or miss" league.

Derek Fisher was making.

We were turning it over and missing.

[Red2]

last night we got off to a good start and the refs were letting everyone play. Phil calls a time out and from there on in it was foul after foul, mostly on us. Whatever flow we had completely was completely stopped by the calls. DO NBA really want to watch the refs call endless fouls or do they want action?

[mr_sunshine]

Tim knows his ****. The predicted how games 3 and 4 were going to be played out in the Lakers/Suns series, and he was right on the money. He called game 4 of the Celtics/Magic game and was right on that too.

And he also said there is no way that David Stern would let the Cavs lose their series. Hmm?

They gave up. Last night he was spot on. Guess what play turned the momentum of the game? A bull moving screen on Perk. Guess what happened when we got the ball down 1? Phantom offensive foul on Ray Allen. Guess what happened when we had a chance down 4 at the end? Bill Kennedy let's Gasoft get away with another flop.

[SichtingLives]

last night we got off to a good start and the refs were letting everyone play. Phil calls a time out and from there on in it was foul after foul, mostly on us. Whatever flow we had completely was completely stopped by the calls. DO NBA really want to watch the refs call endless fouls or do they want action?

We got off to a good start because the Lakers were asleep and barely ready to play, it had very little to do with the refs "letting us play". Phil called a timeout and woke them up. Simple as that.

[PPAW4Life]

Tim knows his ****. The predicted how games 3 and 4 were going to be played out in the Lakers/Suns series, and he was right on the money. He called game 4 of the Celtics/Magic game and was right on that too.

And he also said there is no way that David Stern would let the Cavs lose their series. Hmm?

They gave up. Last night he was spot on. Guess what play turned the momentum of the game? A bull moving screen on Perk. Guess what happened when we got the ball down 1? Phantom offensive foul on Ray Allen. Guess what happened when we had a chance down 4 at the end? Bill Kennedy let's Gasoft get away with another flop.

That all may be true, but I think we should have it within ourselves to play through those.

[FAB0L0US]

They gave up. Last night he was spot on. Guess what play turned the momentum of the game? A bull moving screen on Perk. Guess what happened when we got the ball down 1? Phantom offensive foul on Ray Allen. Guess what happened when we had a chance down 4 at the end? Bill Kennedy let's Gasoft get away with another flop.

That all may be true, but I think we should have it within ourselves to play through those.

Well said.

[John from Hemet]

A couple of things...

- The refs ARE calling these games too tight....but they are calling them too tight both ways. Both teams are getting bad calls.....which in the end makes it even.

- I think the stigma of the lakers being soft and the celtics being the bully is just plain outdated. At one time it was definately true (2008) but now the lakers are bigger, have more length, and quite frankly have more toughness then the celtics due now why?

- You had key players on this team that are no longer with this team like posey.
- The Celtics are a little long in the tooth now (this does not make them a bad team...but lets face it they ARE older)
- Kevin Garnett last nights performance aside is not playing like the Kevin Garnet of old.....he is being affected by a young true center in Bynum and is being bother by the length of Gasol
- Artest makes this lakers team much tougher.....his defense is suffocating......
- The size of the lakers inside make the lakers a tougher team

Rhondo wins his matchup no doubt......but Fisher is scrappy.

This series has a long way to go.....but you have to take these teams for what they are in 2010 not 2008.

[KEGster]

I'm FULLY expecting the Celtics to have the refs in their pockets for Game 4. This series has been ref'd up and down for both teams. A very 'make up' for the last game kind of feel.

[TonyMontana]

Officiating aside you still have to hit shots to win games. The Celtics didn't hit enough last night. Pierce and Allen were just absolute no shows last night.

Completely agree the officiating has been brutal. Both ways.

Good post and I totally agree with you.