The Refs are who we thought they were
This is a response to Neubiedamus' post earlier.
Neubie, I have to do this. I agree with somethings you wrote, the Celtics are great passers, a great defensive team, they play with their metaphorical hearts (which are also huge I hear), etc. But there are a few things that kill me about game two.
You say that the team who are the aggressor will shoot more free throws, which is completely true. My problem with game two is that the Lakers were unable to be aggressive. After taking a 15-8 lead in the 1st quarter the game was over. It seemed as if they were getting every little touch called on them.
I could fact check this but I'm lazy, but yesterday I read a fact that was something like this. Game 2 was the largest discrepancy in foul shouts attempted in either the playoffs or the finals. The guy had check back into the 50's, so I don't know how far he got but it was the biggest, i'm guessing it was the Finals he was checking. Fuck, Leon Powe shot 13 free throws. The Lakers shot 10. +28 free throws for the Celtics is just a sick joke.
As you can tell, I was fairly disgusted with this game and then it got worse when I read an article today. The subject was a letter filed in court by Tim Donaghy. I will leave you with a little taste. It's eerie with what happened Sunday.
In one of several allegations of corrupt refereeing, Donaghy said he learned in May 2002 that two referees known as "company men" were working a best-of-7 series in which "Team 5" was leading 3-2. In the sixth game, he alleged the referees purposely ignored personal fouls and called "made-up fouls on Team 5 in order to give additional free-throw opportunities for Team 6."
"Team 6" won the game and came back to win the series, the letter said.
The letter also alleged manipulation during a 2005 playoff series.
"Team 3 lost the first two games in the series and Team 3's owner complained to NBA officials," the letter said. "Team 3's owner alleged that referees were letting a Team 4 player get away with illegal screens. NBA Executive Y told Referee Supervisor Z that the referees for that game were to enforce the screening rules strictly against that Team 4 player. ... The referees followed the league's instructions and Team 3 came back from behind to win the series. The NBA benefited from this because it prolonged the series, resulting in more tickets sold and more televised games."
Now, these are just allegations, but it's fucking scary if any of it is true. After the Donaghy allegations broke last year weren't we promised more "transparency" in the NBA, I don't see anything different, do you?
Game 3 just started and Kobe is on the line for the 2nd straight trip down the floor, and have taken more ft in 4 min then in all of game 2, sweet. He's going back to the line. So much for home court advantage, I'm going to dub it home team assistance from now on.
1 comment:
I agree that some of the calls were a little iffy(one or two of Kobe's fouls) But you can't expect to get many calls when you let a guy drive coast to coast with no one touching him for an uncontested dunk in the Finals.(Leon Powe)
And I do agree that the home team gets WAY more calls then they should, which is really really sad.(and everyone knows it, too!) And yes, I wouldn't surprised if the NBA is fixed at times. This would be murder for the league and its credibility. I hope this guy is just trying to get his sentence reduced.
And, for clarification purposes, I said the Lakers were an amazing passing team, not the Celtics. They are just really good at stuff and things. But mostly stuff.
peace
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