Bennet Salvatore should be done!!!

[RebusRankin]

Should be fired but Stern wouldn't even fine him. Media wouldn't get on him either.

[TerreHaute]

Pierce did travel. If that would have been the call, OK. But I have never seen an offensive foul called on that play.

[CDawg834]

If I were David Stern, the thing that would make me concerned is that a lot of fans genuinely believe the league's officials conspire to turn the game one way or another.  If the officiating is SO bad that people actually believe conspiracy theories, then something must change, sooner rather than later.

The Pierce offensive foul call was a disgrace.  I could have lived with a traveling call (as Pierce may have walked just before the contact) but the offensive foul was horrible.

Detroit had some legit gripes (Rip Hamilton's theatrics aside), so I guess at least the refs were consistent in their awfulness...

[fairweatherfan]

Pierce did travel. If that would have been the call, OK. But I have never seen an offensive foul called on that play.

Again, the only real explanation I can come up with was that that call was a direct response to the league embarrassing the refs in public on the Fisher call.  I really think that's probably what prompted such a horrible call.  Goes to show something disturbing but rarely mentioned in the media: the refs have a somewhat confrontational relationship with the league, and the league does not have all the power in that relationship.  Glad it didn't cost us the game, and it's totally inappropriate from Salvatore, but I really think that may be why.

[Cman]

Pierce did travel. If that would have been the call, OK. But I have never seen an offensive foul called on that play.

A travel call, okay -- agreed on that.  But offensive foul!??!  If they are going to call that, then they need to call Billups' "kicks" as offensive fouls as well (you know that patented move where he extends his leg while shooting and kicks the defender on his way back down to the floor).  It is the total lack of consitency that just drives me nuts sometimes. 

Still, no complaints from me tonight -- love the Cs, love that Cs are headed to the finals, and love that it is against the Fakers. 

Beat LA!

[nickagneta]

Can someone also explain something to me.

It's the third quarter and Perkins was just called for his T. There's a shot that rebounds towards the camera side baseline with Rasheed and Pierce and someone else falling towards the ball.

The baseline ref called a foul on Rasheed. The replay showed him doing it. Rasheed started giving the guy a bunch of lip and the camera showed the ref taking it from Wallace and suddenly there's Bennett Salvatore.

It sure appeared to me that not only did he just stop the ref from signaling a technical on Rasheed Wallace but that he then talked the baseline ref out of the foul on Rasheed and into a call of ball out Detroit, Celtics ball to inbounds.

Does anyone else recall this play and did it appear the same way to you?

It definitely looked like the shadiest reffing move I've seen in quite a while.

[ma11l]

Wilbon had a great quote on Sportscenter.  Something along the lines that that was the worst call in the playoffs.  You know when national media is calling it that than it must've been a pretty awful call.

[X Man]

I did see that Nick, a ref getting in between a player and another ref....wow. 

The NBA...we're trying to fix games (especially if it gets close) happens!!

[fairweatherfan]

Wilbon had a great quote on Sportscenter.  Something along the lines that that was the worst call in the playoffs.  You know when national media is calling it that than it must've been a pretty awful call.

Not just the worst call of the playoffs, but "...a ridiculous call, the worst call I've ever seen..." Wilbon tells it straight and he's absolutely right. 

And that Rasheed play was very very sketchy too, I wasn't sure if they negated the foul or not, but it looked like they did.  Salvatore has been involved in enough refereeing travesties (tangent coming)...

- Remember 2002 Lakers-Kings, Game 6?  Bibby got his nose broken by a Kobe forearm on an inbounds and got called for a foul on THAT contact?  The Lakers shot something like 27 FTs in the 4th quarter, many of them questionable?  That was Bennett.

- Remember in 2000, Heat-Knicks Game 7?  Sprewell was awarded a timeout while falling out of bounds with 2.1 seconds left, that Sprewell himself admitted he never called?  The one that caused the Heat players to chase the refs off the floor and say in postgame that "the Knicks had 3 refs in their pocket"? Our man Bennett.

- Remember when the Lakers went up 3-1 against Phoenix in the first round in 2006, when they got a jump ball on Nash at the end of OT, even when replays showed both considerable, foul-worthy contact by Walton, and the fact that Walton's foot was obviously out of bounds while he held the ball, right in front of the ref?  That ref...yes, our buddy Bennett.

- Remember the phantom foul Wade got down 1 at the end of Game 5 of the 06 Finals?  Do I have to say who was behind the whistle?  82games.com broke down every call in that game and found that of the 10 questionable calls made by Salvatore, 8 favored the Heat.  http://82games.com/game5refs.htm

Anyway, with all these incidents, it's obvious something (I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but something) is up with Salvatore, and the league needs to crack down on it.  Millions of people saw that horrible call, and millions more saw SportsCenter call it out as such.  That call was an embarrassment to the league, and they at the very least need to suspend him for the playoffs.

[Bahku]

Bennett is one of the worst, most anti-Celtic biased officials in the NBA. I really hate to keep harping on these few refs who ruin the game for the rest, but it's becoming so blatant, that we've got to complain, or nothing will ever be done ... it's one of the few tools that we have.

I'm also writing another email to the NBA and Officials web-sites, as this was one of the worst calls in a very long time. The announcers on ESPN2 just called it "the worst call of the season", and that's saying something, after the end of the game "no-call" in the Spurs/Lakers series that brought so much wrath.

This was blatantly horrendous, and the only satisfaction came with the boys winning despite of it, and the class that Pierce handled it with, by not losing composure or getting ejected. Salvatore should certainly be fined and suspended for this one, but I doubt that a single thing will come of it .... another problem in the "system" that needs tweaking.

Horrible call, and you should be ashamed, Bennett!

[Mean Gerald Green]

Wilbon had a great quote on Sportscenter.  Something along the lines that that was the worst call in the playoffs.  You know when national media is calling it that than it must've been a pretty awful call.

Not just the worst call of the playoffs, but "...a ridiculous call, the worst call I've ever seen..." Wilbon tells it straight and he's absolutely right. 

And that Rasheed play was very very sketchy too, I wasn't sure if they negated the foul or not, but it looked like they did.  Salvatore has been involved in enough refereeing travesties (tangent coming)...

- Remember 2002 Lakers-Kings, Game 6?  Bibby got his nose broken by a Kobe forearm on an inbounds and got called for a foul on THAT contact?  The Lakers shot something like 27 FTs in the 4th quarter, many of them questionable?  That was Bennett.

- Remember in 2000, Heat-Knicks Game 7?  Sprewell was awarded a timeout while falling out of bounds with 2.1 seconds left, that Sprewell himself admitted he never called?  The one that caused the Heat players to chase the refs off the floor and say in postgame that "the Knicks had 3 refs in their pocket"? Our man Bennett.

- Remember when the Lakers went up 3-1 against Phoenix in the first round in 2006, when they got a jump ball on Nash at the end of OT, even when replays showed both considerable, foul-worthy contact by Walton, and the fact that Walton's foot was obviously out of bounds while he held the ball, right in front of the ref?  That ref...yes, our buddy Bennett.

- Remember the phantom foul Wade got down 1 at the end of Game 5 of the 06 Finals?  Do I have to say who was behind the whistle?  82games.com broke down every call in that game and found that of the 10 questionable calls made by Salvatore, 8 favored the Heat.  http://82games.com/game5refs.htm

Anyway, with all these incidents, it's obvious something (I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but something) is up with Salvatore, and the league needs to crack down on it.  Millions of people saw that horrible call, and millions more saw SportsCenter call it out as such.  That call was an embarrassment to the league, and they at the very least need to suspend him for the playoffs.

That's a tommy point right there.

[ACF]

I have been watching, playing, and coaching basketball for over 30 years, and I have never once seen that play with Pierce called that way. Evidently Salvatore is old enough that he can re-write the rule book as he goes along. Is he a cousin of Dr. Naismith?

I think Naismith would disown him
in a heartbeat.
That was just terrible officiating.
Celts would have won easily had the
refs done their jobs properly.
And I usually don't call out the refs
since these things always seem to even
out eventually.
But this was just plain BAD...

[FLCeltsFan]

That call on Pierce was one of the worst I have ever seen in well over 30 years of watching the playoffs.  As someone said, I could have lived with a travel, but to call it an offensive foul was ludicrous.    The 4th foul on KG was also terrible and the fact that he took a 1 minute plus tirade from Sheed and then called a tech on Perk for a couple of words was also terrible. 

For the integrity of the league, Stern should take a long hard look at this guy.  Donaghy said he gave facts about other refs being on the take.  Maybe Salvatore thinks he is in the clear because Stern said all was ok.  I don't know, but this guy should be fired.  I hated it yesterday when I saw he was one of the refs.  He always seems to ref with an agenda. 

[BCelts]

I have been watching, playing, and coaching basketball for over 30 years, and I have never once seen that play with Pierce called that way. Evidently Salvatore is old enough that he can re-write the rule book as he goes along. Is he a cousin of Dr. Naismith?

This is exactly right.  I have been involved in basketball for 25 years.  I am not an expert per se, but I know my stuff.  The offensive foul on Pierce is probably the worst call I have ever seen.  No words exist for how bad that call was.  I almost broke things at home.  Worse, this was not a meaningless call at the end of a regular season game - this call swung momentum and could have determined the game.  Even today, even after winning, I am irate.  Bennett Salvatore is my new arch-enemy.

[celticmaestro]

simply ridiculous

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5xQExrt0aA