Wow ... this thread is fascinating ... and the condescention and misguided arrogance of some of these Lakers fans is astounding, to the point that any discussion with them will get absolutely nowhere. Sorry to you Lakers fans who are here for good discussion, this is not aimed at you, but I think there has to be a point where it's recognized that a few of these people are here to troll and stir things up negatively, and giving them undue attention will prolong their influence and time here.
I've been around people in similar situations long enough to know a true know-it-all when I see one, and some the discussion below is clearly being put forth by people with the one goal of proving their superiority over the world, not in having a constructive, objective discourse, where something is actually learned or accomplished. These people love to quote stats, which are usually taken out of context, or manipulated to "prove their point", when most of us know how undependable stats are, and don't put a lot of faith in them.
One example from below that jumps to mind: The stats where a certain "bad" ref was officiating the Celtics for a number of games, and the majority of those games were won by the C's. According to the blogger, this must certainly prove that the ref is partial to the Celtics and calling the game in favor of them. Sorry, but that's not remotely what the stat shows or proves. That official could very well have still called most of the game in favor of the opponent, and the Celtics won anyway, so the stat is, as usual, a poor indication of the truth.
This is just one small example, but you can get a taste with this of how truly porous stats are, and how weak an argument is that's based on statistics ... they're a guide and an indication of ceratin things, nothing more. Another clear sign of someone's off-color motivations, is the constant need to state how truly knowledgeable they are about the subject, and how inferior everyone else is in that category.
Anyone with a solid argument and concrete knowledge to back it up, has no need to brag about it, as their info and posting speaks for them. You can pretty much bet that if someone is claiming to be "the foremost authority on the subject" that they're either extremely insecure about themselves and their info, or are such "know-it-alls" that any discussion , and anything you put forth, just bounces off them and falls into the verbal abyss, (in other words, a complete waste of time). You'll never be correct about anything when discussing with such people, because it's really not a true discussion of any substance in the first place, just a diatribe or vehicle for them to prove their superiority.
A true objective discussion takes input from both sides, and most know-it-alls disregard any info from your side, and the dialogue is really a monologue, and will never come to a conclusion of substance or meaning. "I'm an outsider, and I'm here to prove our superiority with my bravado, stats, loud opinion, and arrogant bragadoccio!" Yeah ... whatever ... thanks for coming! Hate to throw water on this, but honestly, good discussion and discourse about basketball is done in order to learn something, or improve something, or support an opinion by putting forth ideas and info, and nothing can be learned by someone saying: "I know what I'm saying, I'm the smartest about this subject and I'm going to disregard everything you say or disprove it with my stats, and you need to listen to me and ..." yada, yada, yada ... ad nauseum.
Anyway ... you're not going to win an argument with a know-it-all, it can't be done, because in the end, they're going to think they're right, whatever you do, and nothing you could ever say will change the fact that they view themselves as the ultimate authority on the subject ... it's the one thing in their world that makes them feel safe, that sense that the rest of the world is wrong. Compromise means a certain amount of surrendering one's ego, and admission of imperfection, and that's contrary to what motivates certain people, whose agendas are based on insecurity, and the constant need to remind themselves, (and in turn others), of how superior or knowledgeable or correct they are ... constantly.
The officiating has been horrible this year, or at least seems to be worse than it has been in a while, and every team has suffered. However, these people are right now feeling very troubled about the fact that their team lost, and Kobe the Wonder Athlete seemed a bit rattled, (as he almost always has when facing Pierce), and "proving" favoritism by the officials is the perfect excuse. These stats "show absolutely", (in their opinion), that the refs have been aiding the Celtics to win ... they must be doing so, for to say otherwise would mean an admission that their team just plain played poorly. They're setting up this excuse now, so that in the event of a Celtics Championship victory, their little purple-and-gold Lakers world won't come crashing down around them.
The problem is, they haven't seen every Celtic game, and how the officiating has been just as bad for us as anyone ... them included. They've seen a game here or there, or just plain looked at these very un-objective stats, and made very poor assumptions based on a huge lack of information. If they truly had watched our team for the entire season, objectively, they'd know that, and wouldn't put forth such empty arguments. The saddest thing is that by even saying things like "The refs are helping the Celtics all the time", they're making it painfully obvious to the rest of the world that they don't know what the heck they're talking about .... hence the need to assert their superiosirty of "knowledge". Whatever ... let them move on to another blog where ranting is encouraged, (there are plenty).
There are and have been officials who favor certain teams and players, for many reasons, but it's a small number and discouraged very vehemently by the NBA. It's also not remotely as put forth below, as the history clearly shows otherwise. To think that officials like Kenny Mauer, Joey Crawford, Eddie F. Rush, Bennett Salvatore, etc. would favor the Celtics in any way is just hilarious, and anyone with any solid knowledge about the game and this team would know that. If they don't, then they're motivated by the wrong impetus, or armed with information that's highly flawed, and that will go nowhere as well. As I stated earlier, every team has felt the bad officiating this year, and the C's and Lakers as much as anyone. It's a shame, but officiating is something that depends on human judgement, and humans are highly imperfect creatures.
As long as humans are making decisions, there will always be mistakes. But when the discussion goes to the point of claiming NBA Officials are "rigging" games or favoring one team to insure it goes the way they want it to, is past the point of good discourse, and into the land of the absurd. I personally choose to not travel quite that far ... but to each his own.
Topic: Celtics draw dream ref assignments for Game 1 (Read 37061 times)