One Sided Officiating???? - Today's Newsflashes!

[QuinielaBox]

Phil Jackson has his loser excuse - one sided officiating.

His team was thoroughly outplayed in all facets of the game for 36 of the 48 minutes of the game. From a 15-8 advantage, the Celtics imposed an 87-56 asswhipping on the Lakers because they forced the pace at both ends. They were quicker, bigger, and played with passion not seen since 1986 around these quarters.

You get an advantage in FTA's by going to the hole with agression and taking advantage of passive defenders. The Lakers are a soft team that shoots outside. They beat up a tired San Antonio, where Manu was MIA, team 4 games to 1 that could not hold leads.

Celtics meanwhile had to fight themselves and their opponents in the first three rounds. They did beat Lebron, Chauncey, RIP, Joe Johnson, 'Sheed....

Today's Newsflashes

Newsflash: The EC is good and getting better.

Newsflash: The Celtics going 27-5 against the WC is not an accident.

Newsflash: The Celtics play well in Los Angelos usually.

Newsflash: Their have been thunderstorms during both games of the NBA Finals and one tornado warning in my area. That is Red Auerbach telling me to stay focused for all minutes the Celtics are on the court.

[RockinRyA]

27-21 fouls called isnt exactly one sided

[kenmaine]

If it's true that Kobe doesn't get the usual star treatment(maybe the refs dislike him too), then I'm all for more of that.
Yesterday must have felt like some Bizarro world to Laker fans- Leon getting to the line and Kobe not getting calls- it was a beautiful thing

[QuinielaBox]

27-21 fouls called isnt exactly one sided

Most of Boston fouls were used intelligently to stop Laker scoring opportunites and were "on the floor" fouls.

The Lakers, meanwhile, were fouling because they were out of postion last night on good Celtic looks at the basket.

The game was called fairly last night, maybe a slight edge to Boston. Of course, it might have seemed like a big edge to Boston psychologically to the Celtics haters because they aren't used to Celtics getting calls. I wonder how many of those fans saw the third quarter of Boston-Detriot Game 6. That was a real travesty.  

[Amonkey]

27-21 fouls called isnt exactly one sided

THis is based from the box score, but out of the 27 fouls given by the Lakers, 19 of them led to FTA (most by Powe).  Out of the Celtics 21 fouls, only 5 led to FTA.  So basically, 67% of the fouls given by the Lakers led to FTA while less than 25% Celtics fouls led to FTA.

The Celtics were straight out more aggressive than the Lakers.  The Celtics D was so good that it led to the Lakers taking jumpshots.  They were literally scared of taking to the hoop.

[Ltrey]

As a Celtics fan I am willing to admit that the officiating was one-sided at times. But also keep in mind that the offensive fouls on KG and Perk were bogus.

The first two calls on Radmonavich were legit in my opinion. He just can't hang with Pierce, and Pierce made him look silly.

My only question lies in the two calls on Kobe. The offensive foul was definitely not legit in my opinion, and the elbow he threw at Ray Allen was a foul, but far worse than that happens every play in the NBA.

With that said, the Celtics won the game fair and square. The games were not fixed, there is no conspiracy and there's nothing mischevious or sinister happening.

The Celtics shot 52% from the field, they were even on the boards and played great defense...if you do that you win games, plain and simple.

PS- The people feeding the officiating fire are the zealots who don't know basketball or root for the Lakers, and the Sports Talk Radio people that prey on the ignorant and misinformed. Pay no attention to either of them. We're up 2-0....don't let them cheapen that.

[PaulBonner]

I can think of 3 different calls where Bryant had a legitimate beef... an alley-oop in the second half where Pierce pushed him, no call... a drive to the hoop in the second half where Bryant absorbed contact from two different Celtics defenders, missed the layup, no call... and the offensive foul where he elbowed Ray Allen, should have been a non-call.

This is what home-court advantage is all about. The Celtics were playing great defense, had a great crowd behind them and as a result got the benefit of some borderline calls. Expect LA to get the same benefits at home in the next few games. For the most part each team's play dictated the kind of calls it was getting; there's nowhere in the NBA rule book that says that foul calls need to be roughly equivalent when one team is taking the ball strong to the hoop and playing great defense and the other is giving up layups and dunks and shooting jumpshots.

Unless LA changes up its approach and makes a concerted effort to take the ball to the hoop instead of settling for jumpshots, there's no reason, aside from Phil Jackson's whining, why LA SHOULD be getting a significant jump in calls. But we all know this is the NBA, so expect a 20+ free throw advantage for LA tomorrow night.

[Roy Hobbs]

I wasn't sure which one of the "Lakers are whining about the officiating" threads to put this one, so I picked this one at random.

For those who are focusing only on free throw differential, rather than style of play, to suggest that the Lakers got jobbed (that means you, Phil Jackson), remember these numbers?

Utah Jazz vs. LA Lakers, 2nd Round

Game 1: Jazz 30 FTA, Lakers 46 FTA.  Net advantage: +16 Lakers
Game 2: Jazz 16 FTA, Lakers 43 FTA.  Net advantage: +27 Lakers
Game 3: Jazz 28 FTA, Lakers 37 FTA.  Net advantage: + 9 Lakers
Game 4: Jazz 45 FTA, Lakers 25 FTA.  Net advantage: +20 Jazz
Game 5: Jazz 28 FTA, Lakers 42 FTA.  Net advantage: +14 Lakers
Game 6: Jazz 25 FTA, Lakers 38 FTA.  Net advantage: +13 Lakers

That's a +59 for the Lakers in six games, and a +70 in the games they won.  Obviously, the refs decided that series in LA's favor, right?  It's the only explanation.

[Bahku]

I wasn't sure which one of the "Lakers are whining about the officiating" threads to put this one, so I picked this one at random.

For those who are focusing only on free throw differential, rather than style of play, to suggest that the Lakers got jobbed (that means you, Phil Jackson), remember these numbers?

Utah Jazz vs. LA Lakers, 2nd Round

Game 1: Jazz 30 FTA, Lakers 46 FTA.  Net advantage: +16 Lakers
Game 2: Jazz 16 FTA, Lakers 43 FTA.  Net advantage: +27 Lakers
Game 3: Jazz 28 FTA, Lakers 37 FTA.  Net advantage: + 9 Lakers
Game 4: Jazz 45 FTA, Lakers 25 FTA.  Net advantage: +20 Jazz
Game 5: Jazz 28 FTA, Lakers 42 FTA.  Net advantage: +14 Lakers
Game 6: Jazz 25 FTA, Lakers 38 FTA.  Net advantage: +13 Lakers

That's a +59 for the Lakers in six games.  Obviously, the refs decided that series in LA's favor, right?  It's the only explanation.

Great stat, Roy (TP) ... the more aggressive team almost always gets the majority of the calls, and the Lakers have been extremely non-aggressive, to say the least. Don't know if anyone caught it, but in the post-game on Comcast, even Phil Jackson admitted it was because his team was not attacking, and didn't go the "blame the officiating" route, (at least then).

[paintitgreen]

As a Celtics fan living in Southern California, I have to say it's about 50-50 on Sports Talk Radio people out here. I think a lot of people are recognizing that even if the officiating contributed a few free throws to the difference, the vast majority of that differential was the result of Boston getting the ball into the paint while the Lakers settled for jump shots. One radio host called it a "108-102 blowout" and refused to give any credence to arguments about officiating since "a team that plays defense that poorly and refuses to attack the basket has no right to complain about officiating." Thought that was very well said. JA Adande, another LA guy, says pretty much the same thing today.

[Chris]

They were talking about this on WEEI this morning, and Holley made an interesting point.  He said that this is something that has always been a calling card of the "Zen Master".  Instead of calling out his own team in public, he will try to take the pressure off them by making excuses for them.

Of course then Holly took it in a different direction, mostly saying that Jackson was just trying to get the refs to "make up for it" in the next game, but it got me thinking. 

Jackson is too smart and media savvy to make himself look so stupid without good reason.  He has always been someone who used the media to his advantage, and I think that is what he is trying to do here. 

I definitely don't think he is dumb enough to think that the refs were really the reasons for their losses.  I am sure he saw the flaws in their game, and realized that he needed to make changes with his team, not with the officials.  However, he has always been a bit different than other coaches with the way he motivated players. 

Perhaps he thinks that by convincing the players that the refs ARE against them, it will get them to stop expecting calls, and start actually making plays?

Or maybe he is just trying to take the pressure off the players, so they don't lose their confidence?

Either way, I just don't believe that someone as smart and successful as Jackson would just be whining for no reason.

[kgiessler]

Agreed Chris.  Jackson knows darn well there was no officiating difference there.  So does Kobe.

But, after last year, and all of the constant justified criticism, if he can stir up enough media hype to lead people to believe the refs are against the Lakers, then in the coming games the refs will be extra sensitive to make sure that those thoughts don't grow.  And as such, LA will be getting all of the calls they want.

He ensuring they will have to over compensate for him bringing this point up.  He's a shyster at his best.

[Oldschoolkid]

Phyllis Jackson, crying now, but not when his team was getting all the calls in Utah, Denver, and of course the game winner in San Antonio, for a zen-boy he sure forgets fast.....maybe too much meditation grass...! There was a few that they could have got, but the numbers just show what the Celts were really doing in the first 3 quarters, rebounding in the offensive zone.....i think some of these guys get paid to write pro-laker columns just to get a reaction, a market test! The Lakers will get their charity calls at home.....It would have been funny to see LA in Detroit if they cry about this....LOL, the pistons would be playing rugby out there on those pretty-boy LA clowns.....using that "too many fouls to call" strategy....! The refs do need to be re-educated, they are too into controlling the game, call it the same for everyone, at home, away, rookie, pro.....if you want to be legit, you must be consistant!!!