Refereeing has been [terrible] this playoffs

[GeoDim]

Sure, there were some missed calls here and there, but I thought that it was pretty balanced.  I just checked the box score to back up my argument and the free throws were 28 to 27 in favor of the Magic...so, almost dead even.  At the very end of the game, they let them play and didn't call any weak fouls, which I liked.  I like for the players to determine the outcome of the game and whistles to only be blown for obvious fouls.

Also, I'm surprised that the NBA owned up to the Dallas/Denver game.  I didn't think that they were really at fault.  There was definitely enough contact to justify a foul, but nothing overly obvious.  Dallas is acting like the refs cost them the game, when they stopped playing defense on Melo, expecting a whistle.  That is there own fault... you can't expect the refs to bail you out.  If he wanted the whistle, he should have either communicated this with the ref prior to the play or wrapped him up, so that they had no choice but to blow the whistle.

You can look at the numbers all u want, sure 28-27 doesn't SEEM bad but there are a lot of other things to consider when judging the officials performance.
1) Who the fouls are being called on - Paul Pierce is absolutely on fire and the celts are pulling away, the refs hit him with a "phantom" call while covering Turk off a screen. Hmmm
2) Who the fouls AREN'T being called on - If Dwight Howard commits a foul and another Magic player is in the area the foul automatically goes on the other player. Not to mention the Lebron DWade rule in which no foul could possibly be committed on them and yet they get fouled on EVERY drive to the hoop. Especially if they miss the attempt youll always see a LATE WHISTLE HAHA
3) LACK OF CONSISTENCY - The end of games in the Bulls/Celts series guys were getting hammered, thrown to the ground and no calls occured, they let them play. However, we go to this series and the end of game 4 Rashard Lewis is barely bumped and he gets to go to the line in what could have been the game winning points. THANK YOU BABY!! I have no problem with them calling a tight game, or letting things go at the end of games, JUST MAKE IT CONSISTENT!!!!

Theres something going on with the refereeing but it will never be addressed. They call games to keep them close and I bet thats what they are TOLD to do. Anyways we got new life thanks to BABY GO CELTICS!!!!

I understand your point of view, but the refereeing wasn't that bad tonight.  They're still human beings and are going to miss some calls.  This isn't baseball or football.  The players are running up and down the court the entire game, play after play. 

And my point about the Dallas game is that the refs didn't decide the game.  They expected a foul, so they didn't play defense.  You can't anticipate a whistle...this loss is on them, not the refs.  The refs didn't put the ball in the hoop for Melo, did they?

[kozlodoev]

Losers always blame the refs, because it was the one thing in the game beyond their control. Im not saying we're above it, but its the truth.

I agree, but I find it humorous that the fan of the team that has Dwight Howard on its roster complain about three-second violations, goaltending, and Perkins' forearm.

[crownsy]

Sure, there were some missed calls here and there, but I thought that it was pretty balanced.  I just checked the box score to back up my argument and the free throws were 28 to 27 in favor of the Magic...so, almost dead even.  At the very end of the game, they let them play and didn't call any weak fouls, which I liked.  I like for the players to determine the outcome of the game and whistles to only be blown for obvious fouls.

Also, I'm surprised that the NBA owned up to the Dallas/Denver game.  I didn't think that they were really at fault.  There was definitely enough contact to justify a foul, but nothing overly obvious.  Dallas is acting like the refs cost them the game, when they stopped playing defense on Melo, expecting a whistle.  That is there own fault... you can't expect the refs to bail you out.  If he wanted the whistle, he should have either communicated this with the ref prior to the play or wrapped him up, so that they had no choice but to blow the whistle.

You can look at the numbers all u want, sure 28-27 doesn't SEEM bad but there are a lot of other things to consider when judging the officials performance.
1) Who the fouls are being called on - Paul Pierce is absolutely on fire and the celts are pulling away, the refs hit him with a "phantom" call while covering Turk off a screen. Hmmm
2) Who the fouls AREN'T being called on - If Dwight Howard commits a foul and another Magic player is in the area the foul automatically goes on the other player. Not to mention the Lebron DWade rule in which no foul could possibly be committed on them and yet they get fouled on EVERY drive to the hoop. Especially if they miss the attempt youll always see a LATE WHISTLE HAHA
3) LACK OF CONSISTENCY - The end of games in the Bulls/Celts series guys were getting hammered, thrown to the ground and no calls occured, they let them play. However, we go to this series and the end of game 4 Rashard Lewis is barely bumped and he gets to go to the line in what could have been the game winning points. THANK YOU BABY!! I have no problem with them calling a tight game, or letting things go at the end of games, JUST MAKE IT CONSISTENT!!!!

Theres something going on with the refereeing but it will never be addressed. They call games to keep them close and I bet thats what they are TOLD to do. Anyways we got new life thanks to BABY GO CELTICS!!!!

I understand your point of view, but the refereeing wasn't that bad tonight.  They're still human beings and are going to miss some calls.  This isn't baseball or football.  The players are running up and down the court the entire game, play after play. 

And my point about the Dallas game is that the refs didn't decide the game.  They expected a foul, so they didn't play defense.  You can't anticipate a whistle...this loss is on them, not the refs.  The refs didn't put the ball in the hoop for Melo, did they?

also if reports are to be believed, dallas made a pretty rookie coaching mistake in not telling the refs they were going to use the foul.

I mean, it was a missed call, but rick said "i would assume they would be aware we had one to give and would use it"

they asked karl about that and karl said " Well, when we are going to do that, we inform the refs so they know your going to foul. I thought everyone did that."

so i say thats a bad on rick, do what every other coach/ player captain on the floor does. walk over to the offical during the Timeout and say "hey, were going to be looking to foul here" so they give it to you the second you breath on a guy.

should have been called, no doubt, but karl is right. thats bad on rick for not having an offical looking for it.

[nickagneta]

I just caught a second or two of ESPN's First Take and they had a question to the commentators as to whether the Cavs were that good or the Hawks that bad? One of the analysts said that the Cavs weren't that good because of LeBron's Rules. Rules where LeBron can run over Mike Bibby or Joe Johnson twice and yet not get called and that everyone is laying off him because LeBron gets the call every time.

That's on a major network with one of their paid analsts saying that. It's only a matter of time before more and more national outlets start calling out what the average basketball fan can see and that is that the officiating is completely different from game to game, player to player, situation to situation, ref to ref and game moment to game moment.

That LeBron gets the calls he does is amazing. Michael Jordan in his prime would foul out guarding LeBron this year because of the calls he is getting. Yes, I said it and yes, I believe that.

[GeoDim]

Sure, there were some missed calls here and there, but I thought that it was pretty balanced.  I just checked the box score to back up my argument and the free throws were 28 to 27 in favor of the Magic...so, almost dead even.  At the very end of the game, they let them play and didn't call any weak fouls, which I liked.  I like for the players to determine the outcome of the game and whistles to only be blown for obvious fouls.

Also, I'm surprised that the NBA owned up to the Dallas/Denver game.  I didn't think that they were really at fault.  There was definitely enough contact to justify a foul, but nothing overly obvious.  Dallas is acting like the refs cost them the game, when they stopped playing defense on Melo, expecting a whistle.  That is there own fault... you can't expect the refs to bail you out.  If he wanted the whistle, he should have either communicated this with the ref prior to the play or wrapped him up, so that they had no choice but to blow the whistle.

You can look at the numbers all u want, sure 28-27 doesn't SEEM bad but there are a lot of other things to consider when judging the officials performance.
1) Who the fouls are being called on - Paul Pierce is absolutely on fire and the celts are pulling away, the refs hit him with a "phantom" call while covering Turk off a screen. Hmmm
2) Who the fouls AREN'T being called on - If Dwight Howard commits a foul and another Magic player is in the area the foul automatically goes on the other player. Not to mention the Lebron DWade rule in which no foul could possibly be committed on them and yet they get fouled on EVERY drive to the hoop. Especially if they miss the attempt youll always see a LATE WHISTLE HAHA
3) LACK OF CONSISTENCY - The end of games in the Bulls/Celts series guys were getting hammered, thrown to the ground and no calls occured, they let them play. However, we go to this series and the end of game 4 Rashard Lewis is barely bumped and he gets to go to the line in what could have been the game winning points. THANK YOU BABY!! I have no problem with them calling a tight game, or letting things go at the end of games, JUST MAKE IT CONSISTENT!!!!

Theres something going on with the refereeing but it will never be addressed. They call games to keep them close and I bet thats what they are TOLD to do. Anyways we got new life thanks to BABY GO CELTICS!!!!

I understand your point of view, but the refereeing wasn't that bad tonight.  They're still human beings and are going to miss some calls.  This isn't baseball or football.  The players are running up and down the court the entire game, play after play. 

And my point about the Dallas game is that the refs didn't decide the game.  They expected a foul, so they didn't play defense.  You can't anticipate a whistle...this loss is on them, not the refs.  The refs didn't put the ball in the hoop for Melo, did they?

also if reports are to be believed, dallas made a pretty rookie coaching mistake in not telling the refs they were going to use the foul.

I mean, it was a missed call, but rick said "i would assume they would be aware we had one to give and would use it"

they asked karl about that and karl said " Well, when we are going to do that, we inform the refs so they know your going to foul. I thought everyone did that."

so i say thats a bad on rick, do what every other coach/ player captain on the floor does. walk over to the offical during the Timeout and say "hey, were going to be looking to foul here" so they give it to you the second you breath on a guy.

should have been called, no doubt, but karl is right. thats bad on rick for not having an offical looking for it.

Yes, exactly.  And let's not take away Melo's amazing game winning three.  One of the biggest shots of his career is being overlooked by this.

[Jaycelt]

Losers always blame the refs, because it was the one thing in the game beyond their control. Im not saying we're above it, but its the truth.

I agree, but I find it humorous that the fan of the team that has Dwight Howard on its roster complain about three-second violations, goaltending, and Perkins' forearm.

.....or moving screens

[jdpapa3]

refereeing has been less than even handed in my opinion. However, nobody loses a game because of the refs. You lose games because of coaching and players you don't lose because of the refs.

You are forgetting the Donaghy factor here. There is a precedent.

[angryguy77]

refereeing has been less than even handed in my opinion. However, nobody loses a game because of the refs. You lose games because of coaching and players you don't lose because of the refs.

You are forgetting the Donaghy factor here. There is a precedent.

Just like every lose cannot be balnketed with the refs being at fault, not every lose can be blanketed with players being at fault.

There are games where only perfect execution will get you by what the refs are doing. Take the Cleveland game at boston this year. The refs did everything they could to give them that game, but we played flawless and won. The problem is I dont know of ant team that can play flawless night in and night out. I dont believe in blaming the refs every time your team loses, but it can be a valid arguement that they have cost teams games.

[indeedproceed]

refereeing has been less than even handed in my opinion. However, nobody loses a game because of the refs. You lose games because of coaching and players you don't lose because of the refs.

You are forgetting the Donaghy factor here. There is a precedent.

Just like every lose cannot be balnketed with the refs being at fault, not every lose can be blanketed with players being at fault.

There are games where only perfect execution will get you by what the refs are doing. Take the Cleveland game at boston this year. The refs did everything they could to give them that game, but we played flawless and won. The problem is I dont know of ant team that can play flawless night in and night out. I dont believe in blaming the refs every time your team loses, but it can be a valid arguement that they have cost teams games.

Well I mean I guess its just a difference of opinion. Basketball was never my sport, so I dunno how players look at calls the refs make, but I know in football we could never blame the game on the refs. In a lot of ways its like blaming the game on the rain, or the snow, or the heat, or the bus ride over, or the crowd, or the sloppy turf...whatever. Its all the same crap. The refs, like the weather, are just another factor you can't control.

So bottom line, instead of blaming the loss on that holding call on the 3rd down with 1 minute left in the 4th, blame it on the blown coverage at halftime that left their guy open. Blame it on how you mishandled the block, or blame it on how you didn't fold on the double team. Blame it on whoever you want but whatever it is, all it should do is serve as a testament that there are always ways you can execute better, and be a better player, and be a better team. Blaming it on the refs is just an excuse to accept your own mediocrity.

Kind of a hard line to toe, but my football coach was a real jerk. (But a really good coach)

[JSD]

Holley said this on the radio about an hour ago and I'm in agreement with him.

Is this even a story anymore? really? It's a matter of fact at this point that the NBA has the poorest officials of all the 4 major sports.

[nickagneta]

refereeing has been less than even handed in my opinion. However, nobody loses a game because of the refs. You lose games because of coaching and players you don't lose because of the refs.

You are forgetting the Donaghy factor here. There is a precedent.

Just like every lose cannot be balnketed with the refs being at fault, not every lose can be blanketed with players being at fault.

There are games where only perfect execution will get you by what the refs are doing. Take the Cleveland game at boston this year. The refs did everything they could to give them that game, but we played flawless and won. The problem is I dont know of ant team that can play flawless night in and night out. I dont believe in blaming the refs every time your team loses, but it can be a valid arguement that they have cost teams games.

Well I mean I guess its just a difference of opinion. Basketball was never my sport, so I dunno how players look at calls the refs make, but I know in football we could never blame the game on the refs. In a lot of ways its like blaming the game on the rain, or the snow, or the heat, or the bus ride over, or the crowd, or the sloppy turf...whatever. Its all the same crap. The refs, like the weather, are just another factor you can't control.

So bottom line, instead of blaming the loss on that holding call on the 3rd down with 1 minute left in the 4th, blame it on the blown coverage at halftime that left their guy open. Blame it on how you mishandled the block, or blame it on how you didn't fold on the double team. Blame it on whoever you want but whatever it is, all it should do is serve as a testament that there are always ways you can execute better, and be a better player, and be a better team. Blaming it on the refs is just an excuse to accept your own mediocrity.

Kind of a hard line to toe, but my football coach was a real jerk.

No, your coach was just a coach and he's 100% right. As a player, the refs never determine the outcome of the game. But a coach at times and fans very often don't see it that way.

The coach has to convince the players to adapt, to fight through, to overcome any and all obstacles. And that includes the refs. But in the coarse of any game, there are times when very significant calls that are wrong can change the momentum and ultimately the outcome of a game. Seeing and understanding this, more and more, video review is being used as a tool to eliminate as many of these moments as is possible.

The problem is that in some sports(international football, hockey and basketball) video review isn't conducive to every important moment. The key is proper training and overall consistency of the enforcement of the rules by the officiating body as a whole. As a whole, the NBA officiating body is as bad and  inconsistent as it gets in professional sports.

[jdpapa3]

I hear you. As a coach, you want your players to have that mindset. After that Blazers game where they let the 6 on 5 basket stand, our players completely lost their edge. The players should never allow the refs to creep into their heads during a game.

We, as fans and observers of the game that pay money to watch and attend games, have the right to question some of this stuff. There are always going to be plays of the game the losing team can blame that weren't the refs fault. I'll take that Blazers game for instance. You can say that the Celtics completely rolled over and missed a bunch of shots. People said " you can't blame the refs. the celtics blew that one on their own." In reality, the Blazers had their fair share of mistakes, too. Missed a lot of jumpers, etc. etc. The point is, the refs allowed them more cushion with a terrible call.

We can question their ineptitude at the end of games and their ABSURD assignments. Bill Kennedy made every one of those questionable calls against us last night and in game 4 vs Chicago. He shouldn't be doing our games when Doc Rivers directly caused him a hit to his paycheck.

[indeedproceed]

refereeing has been less than even handed in my opinion. However, nobody loses a game because of the refs. You lose games because of coaching and players you don't lose because of the refs.

You are forgetting the Donaghy factor here. There is a precedent.

Just like every lose cannot be balnketed with the refs being at fault, not every lose can be blanketed with players being at fault.

There are games where only perfect execution will get you by what the refs are doing. Take the Cleveland game at boston this year. The refs did everything they could to give them that game, but we played flawless and won. The problem is I dont know of ant team that can play flawless night in and night out. I dont believe in blaming the refs every time your team loses, but it can be a valid arguement that they have cost teams games.

Well I mean I guess its just a difference of opinion. Basketball was never my sport, so I dunno how players look at calls the refs make, but I know in football we could never blame the game on the refs. In a lot of ways its like blaming the game on the rain, or the snow, or the heat, or the bus ride over, or the crowd, or the sloppy turf...whatever. Its all the same crap. The refs, like the weather, are just another factor you can't control.

So bottom line, instead of blaming the loss on that holding call on the 3rd down with 1 minute left in the 4th, blame it on the blown coverage at halftime that left their guy open. Blame it on how you mishandled the block, or blame it on how you didn't fold on the double team. Blame it on whoever you want but whatever it is, all it should do is serve as a testament that there are always ways you can execute better, and be a better player, and be a better team. Blaming it on the refs is just an excuse to accept your own mediocrity.

Kind of a hard line to toe, but my football coach was a real jerk.

No, your coach was just a coach and he's 100% right. As a player, the refs never determine the outcome of the game. But a coach at times and fans very often don't see it that way.

The coach has to convince the players to adapt, to fight through, to overcome any and all obstacles. And that includes the refs. But in the coarse of any game, there are times when very significant calls that are wrong can change the momentum and ultimately the outcome of a game. Seeing and understanding this, more and more, video review is being used as a tool to eliminate as many of these moments as is possible.

The problem is that in some sports(international football, hockey and basketball) video review isn't conducive to every important moment. The key is proper training and overall consistency of the enforcement of the rules by the officiating body as a whole. As a whole, the NBA officiating body is as bad and  inconsistent as it gets in professional sports.

FTR I used the word jerk because the one I wanted to use, while more endearing, is more offensive. I guess I would like to amend that to say he was a real "hardbutt", but he was a great coach and he taught me that life's outcomes, just like games, are always to some degree in your hands, so when stuff turns out poorly blaming it on the refs (or the rain) never helps anyone. Just learn and get better.

[PierceMVP08]

refereeing has been less than even handed in my opinion. However, nobody loses a game because of the refs. You lose games because of coaching and players you don't lose because of the refs.

You are forgetting the Donaghy factor here. There is a precedent.

Just like every lose cannot be balnketed with the refs being at fault, not every lose can be blanketed with players being at fault.

There are games where only perfect execution will get you by what the refs are doing. Take the Cleveland game at boston this year. The refs did everything they could to give them that game, but we played flawless and won. The problem is I dont know of ant team that can play flawless night in and night out. I dont believe in blaming the refs every time your team loses, but it can be a valid arguement that they have cost teams games.

Well I mean I guess its just a difference of opinion. Basketball was never my sport, so I dunno how players look at calls the refs make, but I know in football we could never blame the game on the refs. In a lot of ways its like blaming the game on the rain, or the snow, or the heat, or the bus ride over, or the crowd, or the sloppy turf...whatever. Its all the same crap. The refs, like the weather, are just another factor you can't control.

So bottom line, instead of blaming the loss on that holding call on the 3rd down with 1 minute left in the 4th, blame it on the blown coverage at halftime that left their guy open. Blame it on how you mishandled the block, or blame it on how you didn't fold on the double team. Blame it on whoever you want but whatever it is, all it should do is serve as a testament that there are always ways you can execute better, and be a better player, and be a better team. Blaming it on the refs is just an excuse to accept your own mediocrity.

Kind of a hard line to toe, but my football coach was a real jerk.

No, your coach was just a coach and he's 100% right. As a player, the refs never determine the outcome of the game. But a coach at times and fans very often don't see it that way.

The coach has to convince the players to adapt, to fight through, to overcome any and all obstacles. And that includes the refs. But in the coarse of any game, there are times when very significant calls that are wrong can change the momentum and ultimately the outcome of a game. Seeing and understanding this, more and more, video review is being used as a tool to eliminate as many of these moments as is possible.

The problem is that in some sports(international football, hockey and basketball) video review isn't conducive to every important moment. The key is proper training and overall consistency of the enforcement of the rules by the officiating body as a whole. As a whole, the NBA officiating body is as bad and  inconsistent as it gets in professional sports.

Come on guys, give me a break. Point to one game in these playoffs where the official have either caused the Celtics the game or won it for them.  Yeah, they blow calls but they don't decide the outcome of the game.  Do you honestly think that they think about making the game close or making one player a bigger star (something that was said in another thread) in a split second when they make a call?  I have reffed before in a youth league, and I can distinctly remember calling a foul where there was no foul.  There was contact on the play but it wasn't a foul.  I simply looked at the nature of the play and the whistle blew.  I knew I made the wrong call after the fact, but I couldn't take it back.  I didn't do it with a purpose but it was just a human judgment error.  NBA refs must and are more professional but that doesn't mean they don't commit mistakes at time.  Basketball is the hardest sport to ref.

Somebody above said that the refs are told to keep the games close, well how do you explain three blowouts in the first three games.  You knew their eventually had to be a close game in this series; they are both quality teams.  Can we please stop blaming the refs for everything, even after WINS!!!  Hearing all the whining ruins the experience as a basketball fan.

[fairweatherfan]

The refereeing is the single biggest problem the NBA faces right now - it's woefully inconsistent from ref to ref, game to game, and even play to play.

Fans tend to use bad reffing as an excuse when their team loses or struggles, and conveniently ignore bad calls that favor their own team, but when refereeing is bad it's a bad thing for the game in general, no matter who wins by what margin.

Bill Kennedy for example is an awful ref - even ignoring some of his questionable calls last night (haven't heard anyone mention the phantom offensive foul on Pierce in the 1st quarter yet; I replayed it 4 or 5 times on frame-by-frame and still couldn't figure out what was called), I've watched him referee several other games where I had no rooting interest, and he made multiple questionable calls and flat out blew others each time.  And what's scary is he's far from alone, there are at least a half dozen other refs who are in the same boat.  Even the refs that are pretty good in game have a tendency to get emotionally involved (Crawford) or make prima donna calls (Salvatore). 

NBA refereeing is flatout a black eye on the league right now, whether it affects a game's outcome or not.  Instant replay and YouTube is showing how embarrassingly off the refs are night after night, and the league doesn't seem to care enough to change it.  I think that more than warrants complaining about it.