NBA Finals: Lakers (1) vs Celtics (4)

[NovU]

True, Sauru and Andrew. I can't agree with you guys more. By the way, I don't think the NBA should be more generous towards offensive players anymore than now, as scoring seems to be the least problem for the legaue at the moment. But they need to draw clearer line when it comes to fouls/non calls especially on the issues of physical plays.

Series tied at 1 apiece, I can only praise Boston's stifling defense.

[Rip32]

I don't wanna say that the Celtics didn't deserve the win but the officiating played to big of a role in this one.

It did, the Lakers out-shot the Celtics 41-26 from the free throw line. What the hell, right?

[IcemanOutlaw]

just found it from facebook

[shadowgrin]

I don't wanna say that the Celtics didn't deserve the win but the officiating played to big of a role in this one.

It did, the Lakers out-shot the Celtics 41-26 from the free throw line. What the hell, right?

You see it was the referees' way of being fair by giving the Celtics favor on most calls but still giving the Lakers more FT attempts.
Everybody wins!!11! LAKERS 4 EVAH111!!!

[benji]

A fairly called game for the Lakers would be something like 65-15 from the line. Last time I've seen a game called fairly for the Lakers was in the fourth quarter of game six in the 2002 Western Conference Finals.

[IcemanOutlaw]

A fairly called game for the Lakers would be something like 65-15 from the line. Last time I've seen a game called fairly for the Lakers was in the fourth quarter of game six in the 2002 Western Conference Finals.

benji's right. a fairly 4th quarter

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0KJvlSU ... re=related

[Andrew]

True, Sauru and Andrew. I can't agree with you guys more. By the way, I don't think the NBA should be more generous towards offensive players anymore than now, as scoring seems to be the least problem for the legaue at the moment. But they need to draw clearer line when it comes to fouls/non calls especially on the issues of physical plays.

That's true, offensive players certainly get some generous calls on continuations and the like. The approach seems to be to reward effort and cunning, with somewhat loose guidelines as to what constitutes establishing defensive position or being in the act of shooting. You can't really fault the players, if that's the way the game is being called then the smart thing to do would be to try and take advantage of it when the opportunity arises.

[Jackal]

Lamar Odom is the dumbest player on the court at the moment. The guy can't do anything right. He's absolutely horrid. Next in line has to be Shannon Brown. What. The. Fuck. You know a guy is on fire and you still refuse to stick to him thinking you can recover on time and get a blocked shot with your mad hops? Seriously dude? Seriously?

Bryant wasn't aggressive going to the basket like in game one, he held the ball a lot longer on certain plays than needed and Frank Hamblen mentioned that the ball just wasn't moving enough. Bryant should go back to attacking the basket. I guess some could say it was due to foul trouble but he wasn't going to the basket from the get go. He held the ball on the perimeter against Allen way too much.

Pau Gasol was a rockstar once again and Bynum was pretty amazing too. He was blocking shots left & right, good stuff from the Laker big men. (Sans L.O.)

Epic game by Rondo, he's come pretty far with that jumpshot & especially his decision making since 2008.

Off to Boston we go.

[rise]

Epic game by Rondo

Yes, amazing triple double and more importantly, you forgot something: Ray Allen. He broke the record for most threes in a playoff final game.

[Jackal]

I didn't forget that. Allen is a damn good shooter, it wasn't a fluke game so I didn't feel like I had to mention it.

More importantly you need to not talk to me.

[puttincomputers]

to those who think the refs gave the celts an unfair advantage i have two calls that stuck out to me.
1. there was a drive by brant where a celts player was called with a blocking foul. i believe kobe should have fouled out at that point.
2. the question of who touched the ball, gasols fingers were touching the ball through garnets fingers.

[Phil89]

Plus those two legitimate blocks by Pierce and Davis that were called fouls.

[benji]

Somebody stirred up the Celtics Nest of fanboys and haters. Enough to make them come out and live in denial about the corrupt anti-Laker referees and media.

It was Kobe.

[Patr1ck]

2. the question of who touched the ball, gasols fingers were touching the ball through garnets fingers.

I think they gave it to Boston because Gasol was pushing Garnett's hand from behind. Garnett definitely touched the ball last, but I think the refs made the right call.

[Valor]

[b]I didn't forget that. Allen is a damn good shooter, it wasn't a fluke game so I didn't feel like I had to mention it.

I think more importantly it was just bad defense by the Lakers....you mentioned Shannon Brown, he was standing under the frigging rim when Ray was out beyond the arc, what does he think Ray Ray would do? Drive and Dunk?

[koberulz]

[b]I didn't forget that. Allen is a damn good shooter, it wasn't a fluke game so I didn't feel like I had to mention it.

what does he think Ray Ray would do? Drive and Dunk?

Probably.

phpBB [video]

[NovU]

I am interested to know where the 2008 and 2010 Celtics would stand in the history if they end up winning the title again against the Lakers. I know 2006 Heat are far from being amongst the best, in the talks of greatest teams that won the title, so how will or should these Celtics squad be remembered? Probably same question for the Lakers, if they win.

[Andrew]

Predictably, the referees have been getting the blame for the Lakers losing (at least from fan comments I've seen scattered around the Internet) and while there were some questionable calls, I think that's letting the Lakers off the hook and not giving the Celtics enough credit for overcoming the odds - and themselves, at times - to get the split. I also feel that there were bad calls both ways and if the Lakers had won, we could still dissect the officiating and pinpoint bad, questionable and missed calls as being responsible for the loss.

Even if the Celtics got the benefit of some timely calls, the Lakers were still very much in the game, which was very much up for grabs until basically the last minute. The Lakers still had the edge in free throws (that was much larger before the intentional fouls in the last minute) and had been whistled for fewer fouls overall until the intentional fouls evened things up by the end of the game. The final score doesn't really do justice to how close the game was until the waning moments and Artest's errors are fine examples of how the Lakers came up short as much as they were affected by a couple of calls. I'd even go so far as to say the same of the reviled 2006 Finals. Even with the calls that favoured Wade's forays to the basket, that was a winnable series for the Mavericks but they made their share of blunders.

At the end of the day, it's easier to claim referee incompetence and point to bad calls here and there rather than admit to bad plays and bad shots here and there. Playing in my local league all those years ago, my coach used to tell us when the officiating was bad (and because we often had kids and teenagers refereeing, we got some really bad officiating at times and a few refs that didn't care for us to boot) that we just had to play through it, not rely on them to be perfect and get the job done. At the time we didn't always believe it, but looking back he was absolutely right and I truly think it applies to any organised basketball game at any level. The officials are not going to be perfect, one can't expect 100% accuracy, so you can't depend on that to win games.

Of course, it's easy for me to say that when it's not my favourite team that's suffered a loss and referees certainly do need to be held accountable. But it seems to be taken too far, not just in regards to Game 2 but the officiating in general. They're not perfect, they make some really bad calls at times and there's a lot of things about the officiating and interpretation of the rules that I'd like to see fixed. But they're too often used as a scapegoat in defeat and ultimately the losing team has to share in the responsibility for the outcome. If you want to win, you just can't bank on every call being right.

Anyway, just my take on the whole "the referees are in the Celtics' pocket" accusations I've been seeing. Bring on Game 3.

[The X]

I didn't hear any Lakers' fan crying about their team's favourable treatment by referees early in the Western Conference Finals. You can't have it both ways.

I think Andrew makes a very good point about just playing through it. I get sick of my teammates IRL consistently bitching to the refs, which always results in more calls against us. Just play through it. I also agree with Heat-Mavs series, Heat definitely deserved it because Mavs didn't get it done & couldn't find a way to win.

[Valor]

[b]I didn't forget that. Allen is a damn good shooter, it wasn't a fluke game so I didn't feel like I had to mention it.

what does he think Ray Ray would do? Drive and Dunk?

Probably.

He probably can do that once every series, i'll take giving up a dunk over getting 8 threes rained on my head any day

[Jackal]

Anyone who is bitching about the calls from the refs has either never played themselves or is simply a whiney little bitch.

Refs do what they do, shut the fuck up & play on. End of story.

You lose because you didn't execute, no one loses it for you.

[Sauru]

Anyone who is bitching about the calls from the refs has either never played themselves or is simply a whiney little bitch.

Refs do what they do, shut the fuck up & play on. End of story.

You lose because you didn't execute, no one loses it for you.

99 % of the time. i still say the ref gave the heat the win, either that or wade is a better actor than basketball player. lakers had some help vs the kings/trailblazers too in the past

[Jackal]

The Heat championship was a give away indeed, concur with you on that one.

For the second part of your post: You're a whiney little bitch. Kthx.

[Jeffx]

i still say the ref gave the heat the win, either that or wade is a better actor than basketball player. lakers had some help vs the kings/trailblazers too in the past

Right on both counts, especially the last one. Kings got screwed out of a championship.

NBA refs have been a joke for years. And they do show star favoritism.

[JaoSming]

from a boston radio station