Free Throws, 2nd chance pts, and officiating

[PerkinsERA43]

In every single loss for the C's this postseason, there have been two consistent threads: Poor FT shooting by the C's, and poor defensive rebounding. Tonight Cleveland killed us with their offensive boards. They didn't get as many as Atlanta did, but they capitalized on the ones they did gfrab. 3 of Delonte's 3's came off an offensive board by the cavs. Lebron also hit a 3 after varejao chased a loose ball down. Ditto for Szcerzbiak. We also missed chippy shots in the early minutes, which is really really frustrating. Still, one positive note:My latest stats on Lebron indicate a 4-14 shooting night. Hardly superstar quality.

Also...  Posey's foul = not flagrant

Officiating was not as bad as it was in the atlanta series, but it still made me want to retch. Lots of plays where Cleveland would do something on one end, then Boston would do something identical the next play, and only the C's would get whistled for it (i.e. Ben Wallace pushing Perk under the hoop with his off hand to get an offensive board, then KG doing the same thing the next trip up the floor and getting called on it). I think the C's ARE a victim of circumstance on the road, and the national media is out to get them. I just wish we could shove it back in their faces with spectacular play. Our road efforts probably wouldn't have resulted in W's even if the games were called fairly.

[wdleehi]

The difference. 


25 more points allowed.


45% + allowed on the road vs 35% - at home.




It is defense.

[NoraG1]

In every single loss for the C's this postseason, there have been two consistent threads: Poor FT shooting by the C's, and poor defensive rebounding. Tonight Cleveland killed us with their offensive boards. They didn't get as many as Atlanta did, but they capitalized on the ones they did gfrab. 3 of Delonte's 3's came off an offensive board by the cavs. Lebron also hit a 3 after varejao chased a loose ball down. Ditto for Szcerzbiak. We also missed chippy shots in the early minutes, which is really really frustrating. Still, one positive note:My latest stats on Lebron indicate a 4-14 shooting night. Hardly superstar quality.

Also...  Posey's foul = not flagrant

Officiating was not as bad as it was in the atlanta series, but it still made me want to retch. Lots of plays where Cleveland would do something on one end, then Boston would do something identical the next play, and only the C's would get whistled for it (i.e. Ben Wallace pushing Perk under the hoop with his off hand to get an offensive board, then KG doing the same thing the next trip up the floor and getting called on it). I think the C's ARE a victim of circumstance on the road, and the national media is out to get them. I just wish we could shove it back in their faces with spectacular play. Our road efforts probably wouldn't have resulted in W's even if the games were called fairly.

Well definately would not matter in this one. Can't play this bad and blame the refs much. Can't blame the refs for this one but a few of the Atlanta games I thought the refs controled.

[greenhead85]

Bad officiating, that is.  No other reason but bad officiating.
The game was over after the 1st quarter.  The Celts didn't get (and will never get) their rhythm on the road because of spotty officiating.  They referees set the tone early for the Cavs' fans and owners. The same thing happened in Atlanta.  The Celts will be treated the same in Games 4 and for sure in Game 6.
Conspiracy theory? Come on, these 2 teams (Atlanta and Cavs) are nothing to compared to our team.  They are NOTHING. The NBA should not allow this to happen.  Making a killing in the ticket box office at Bostons' expense!!!
Since we are winning in all our home games and that's how I see it until we win #17.  Doc Rivers might as well use all his 2nd stringers in all our road games to gain experience.  Let KG, PP and Ray Allen take some rests by not letting them play on the road so that they get a lot of energy when they play home.  We won't win on the road anyway. 
The key to # 17 is winning all our home games.  Let them just concentrate on it.
Those games on the road will only lead to a lot of frusttration if the games are officiated the way they had done in our postseason road games.

[liam]

Bad officiating, that is.  No other reason but bad officiating.
The game was over after the 1st quarter.  The Celts didn't get (and will never get) their rhythm on the road because of spotty officiating.  They referees set the tone early for the Cavs' fans and owners. The same thing happened in Atlanta.  The Celts will be treated the same in Games 4 and for sure in Game 6.
Conspiracy theory? Come on, these 2 teams (Atlanta and Cavs) are nothing to compared to our team.  They are NOTHING. The NBA should not allow this to happen.  Making a killing in the ticket box office at Bostons' expense!!!
Since we are winning in all our home games and that's how I see it until we win #17.  Doc Rivers might as well use all his 2nd stringers in all our road games to gain experience.  Let KG, PP and Ray Allen take some rests by not letting them play on the road so that they get a lot of energy when they play home.  We won't win on the road anyway. 
The key to # 17 is winning all our home games.  Let them just concentrate on it.
Those games on the road will only lead to a lot of frusttration if the games are officiated the way they had done in our postseason road games.

I agree. Everytime we started a come back-BANG- Bad call. All night long. Lebron is a cheese-ball actor.

[Onslaught]

To me it came down to

Poor defense.
Poor Offense.
Everything the Cavs players put up went in. I won't count on that happening for every game.
Bad free throw shooting. It's called a FREE throw for a reason. Make one!


They just looked bad from the begging. And whatever they are doing to prepare for road games isn't working.
I'm actually not all that worried about it. I figured that the Cavs would win this game. I just didn't think it would
be a butt kicking like this one. I want to see how the Celtics handle this loss on Monday. I just have this feeling
that they will win a very close game Monday and finish it up at home.

As for the calls what did you think would happen? They aren't at home and the calls won't go for them as often.
Truth be told it wasn't called that bad and I can think of some calls that went our way when they shouldn't have.
Some of them were even against King James!

[Onslaught]

Bad officiating, that is.  No other reason but bad officiating.
The game was over after the 1st quarter.  The Celts didn't get (and will never get) their rhythm on the road because of spotty officiating.  They referees set the tone early for the Cavs' fans and owners. The same thing happened in Atlanta.  The Celts will be treated the same in Games 4 and for sure in Game 6.
Conspiracy theory? Come on, these 2 teams (Atlanta and Cavs) are nothing to compared to our team.  They are NOTHING. The NBA should not allow this to happen.  Making a killing in the ticket box office at Bostons' expense!!!
Since we are winning in all our home games and that's how I see it until we win #17.  Doc Rivers might as well use all his 2nd stringers in all our road games to gain experience.  Let KG, PP and Ray Allen take some rests by not letting them play on the road so that they get a lot of energy when they play home.  We won't win on the road anyway. 
The key to # 17 is winning all our home games.  Let them just concentrate on it.
Those games on the road will only lead to a lot of frusttration if the games are officiated the way they had done in our postseason road games.

I agree. Everytime we started a come back-BANG- Bad call. All night long. Lebron is a cheese-ball actor.

Yes he is. But it's his job to do so and it works. And he got hit on every one of them.
We never made a real run. You could tell this game was over after the first 10 minutes.
Boston was never "in" it and had no chance.

[Bahku]

LeBron is definitely one of the biggest actors and wimps in this league, (along with Ginobili, Duncan, and half of the Spurs), but he's always going to get the benefit of most calls ... that's just the way it is. I hate it, it drives me nuts when he starts his whining and flopping, but you can't count on calls to win in this game.

If you start expecting to get the calls, and depend on that to make the difference, you're never going to get far in this league. Let the refs blow their whistles, let LeBron do his ballerina act, let the Cavs get all the calls ... just depend on your team-mates, defense, and the fast-break ... like you have all year, and you'll get to the Prize.

[greenhead85]

Instead of allowing our Big 3 getting overused and overexposed why not use players like Eddie House, TA, Brown, Posey and Rondo most of the playing time.  Let us use them for more than 30 minutes.  It's a lost cause (game 4) anyway.  Now is the time for Doc to use these guys and look for alternatives in our offense and defense.  If we really want # 17 so badly then we should not let Doc coach like KC Jones by overusing his best 5 all game long.  We can afford to experiment in the next game but not in game 5 which is a home game. Winning an NBA title needs a team to win 16 games postseason and now is the time to use the others to distribute their energies evenly.  Forget the road games - they're badly officiated. The team is under NBA refs' microscope.
It's a shame.  The game is not much like the NBA games I used to watch back in the 70's and 80's.

[Onslaught]

You KNOW that they will get calls at home. It's just the way it is and always has been.
Boston has to forget about that and play on and not let it get to them. You know that some of the
physical steals and plays that we get in Boston will be called the other way on another teams floor.

They need to go out and just kill the Cavs from the start. Attack the basket and get them into foul
trouble ASAP. Take the crowd out of it and take the heart out of all of LBJ's "help."
Do this by playing Boston defense and the offense will flow from that.


And could someone please put a hand in Ilgauskas face? If I have to see him hit one more
uncontested shot I'll throw up.

[Onslaught]

Instead of allowing our Big 3 getting overused and overexposed why not use players like Eddie House, TA, Brown, Posey and Rondo most of the playing time.  Let us use them for more than 30 minutes.  It's a lost cause (game 4) anyway.  Now is the time for Doc to use these guys and look for alternatives in our offense and defense.  If we really want # 17 so badly then we should not let Doc coach like KC Jones by overusing his best 5 all game long.  We can afford to experiment in the next game but not in game 5 which is a home game. Winning an NBA title needs a team to win 16 games postseason and now is the time to use the others to distribute their energies evenly.  Forget the road games - they're badly officiated. The team is under NBA refs' microscope.
It's a shame.  The game is not much like the NBA games I used to watch back in the 70's and 80's.

I do think that we should use House from time to time more.

But I don't agree with any of the other stuff. It's playoff time. You use your best players as much as you can.
And I'd be happy if Doc was half the coach that KC Jones was.