KG Said It Best:

[nickagneta]

And just to let you know, if you were wondering the last two seasons the Celtics FTA differential was +0.2 both years and they ranked 11th and 12th.

[FLCeltsFan]

There's no smoke without fire. Tim Donaghy couldn't have come up with 304 pages of only lies and BS. David Stern swept everything under the carpet and threw Donaghy under the bus....this whole thing goes way up. I'm not saying that the league has something against the Celtics...but a lot of games are officiated in the most ridiculous manner. Fans sitting at home make more correct calls that the Zebras masquerading as Refs.

TP... If you read Donaghy's book, it is obvious that there are a lot of games that are influenced by refs that aren't actually "fixed" and don't have anything to do with betting.  The majority of Tim's bets were made based on the preferences and agendas of other refs and directives from the front office.  Most of the games he bet on he didn't officiate.

Last night we may have gotten 3 refs who all hate KG or maybe it is Wyc that they hate.  In the book, he mentioned that refs do hate Wyc because he sits courtside and rides them.  Maybe it is still retribution for Doc's complaints that got Kennedy fined awhile back.  Or maybe Stern just wants to be sure the Celtics don't make it to the ECF to ruin his plan for the puppet finals. 

It's hard to tell what the agenda was, but there was an agenda and it was obvious to both Celtics fans and to Thunder fans.  Here is a quote from one of the Thunder threads:

It sucks have it decided by the refs especially when both teams were putting on an awesome show.

[2short]

I think a side issue should be noted as well.  Watch the espn highlights of game, they talk about the difference in ft and that celtics complained but why not take the time to show the replays slow?  Durant is a great player without the nba propping him up which is what is happening without a doubt.  We need mark cuban and his $$$ to start showing fans just how bad the nba is.  One reason why I didn't care when we had the replacement refs.
investigate corruption

[Spilling Green Dye]

I agree that last night's game was horribly officiated, and am really happy that KG said what he said after the game.

Having said that, I think part of the season wide FT differential is due in part to the Celtics either settling for jumpers, or not operating in the post.  Take last night for example:  After Rasheed went 5 for 5, and once he FINALLY got the ball again, he made a move that the Thunder had to foul on.  Had the Celtics kept running some post plays they would have gotten to the line more often.  Our player who is best at getting to the FT line, Paul Pierce, has been injured on and off and is now finally attacking the hoop.  Other than that, KG is mostly a jump shooter, Ray Allen rarely attacks the hoop, Rondo rarely gets fouled around the hoop, and Perkins is lucky he doesn't get called for traveling.  I guess what I'm saying is that you can't put much conspiracy stock in the Celtics season-wide FT numbers. 

[Spilling Green Dye]

I agree that last night's game was horribly officiated, and am really happy that KG said what he said after the game.

Having said that, I think part of the season wide FT differential is due in part to the Celtics either settling for jumpers, or not operating in the post.  Take last night for example:  After Rasheed went 5 for 5, and once he FINALLY got the ball again, he made a move that the Thunder had to foul on.  Had the Celtics kept running some post plays they would have gotten to the line more often.  Our player who is best at getting to the FT line, Paul Pierce, has been injured on and off and is now finally attacking the hoop.  Other than that, KG is mostly a jump shooter, Ray Allen rarely attacks the hoop, Rondo rarely gets fouled around the hoop, and Perkins is lucky he doesn't get called for traveling.  I guess what I'm saying is that you can't put much conspiracy stock in the Celtics season-wide FT numbers. 

Come to think of it, this team will do well in the playoffs if they can slow the game down a bit and make it into a grind.  Its better for the Celtic's organized schemes, and better for the old bodies we have on the court.  And how is this done?  By getting to the FT line. 

I hope in the playoffs we keep seeing Pierce attack the hoop, Rasheed posting up against the opposing 2nd unit at will, Marquis/Tony attacking the hoop, Rondo attacking and dishing at will, and even Ray driving to the hoop when he is guarded tightly.  I think this will go a long way in the playoff success of the Celtics, and they haven't done it nearly enough in the regular season.

[Kiorrik]

Hmmm... we need to slow opponents down on defense. We run one of the best semi-breaks in the NBA, it'd be a waste to not let everyone run it up. Especially with how Rondo works the break.

[Mike-Dub]

Hmmm... we need to slow opponents down on defense. We run one of the best semi-breaks in the NBA, it'd be a waste to not let everyone run it up. Especially with how Rondo works the break.

Wouldn't have matter had the refs called a fair game, because those measley calls they called on use would have been stops and we would have been up 5-8 in the end not tied.

And those threes by Jeff Green were set up by illegaly screens by Kristic, I know for a fact that the second one was I said it right after the replay.

[Who]

And just to let you know, if you were wondering the last two seasons the Celtics FTA differential was +0.2 both years and they ranked 11th and 12th.

No Leon Powe -- didn't Leon lead all bench players in FTAs last season? Or at least Powe was somewhere near the top in this category.

[Who]

Cleveland ranks 7th in the NBA in FTA per game(strangely the C's rank 11th but their differentials stink).

The Celtics foul a lot. It's part of their defensive strategy. No layups, no easy shots at the rim, foul them and put them on the FT line and make them earn it. It's part of the reason why their defensive FG% has been so good because they eliminate a chunk of those high percentage shots by fouling. If you compare their defensive eFG% back in 2008 to Houston and San Antonio, there is a large advantage for Boston, but that difference decreases when you use opposing TS% instead because it accounts for the Celtics strategy of making an opponent earn it at the line.

The Spurs, for example, take the opposite strategy and choose not to foul on those shot attempts. So their opponents take a low number of FTs. Byron Scott did the same thing in New Orleans and NJ. They believe the fouls and that free throws, high percentage scoring opportunities, cause more damage than a contested shot.

Also, think of Utah. They are physical team that gets to the foul line a lot every night but they also foul more than almost any other team in the NBA. So they don't have a good FT differential.

That is the main reason why Boston's FT differential isn't great despite their good number of attempts. Especially last season when Boston was up near the top of the league in FTA/FGA for most of the season but in the bottom third in opponents FTA/FGA.

[PosImpos]

I agree that last night's game was horribly officiated, and am really happy that KG said what he said after the game.

The problem with this argument in connection with last night's game is the Celtics scored more than half of their points in the paint, so it's not as if they weren't taking it to the hoop.  They simply didn't get the same calls.  Now, maybe you could argue the Thunder weren't playing defense (we did shoot 60%) and that's why the C's didn't get fouled.  I still don't buy that the Celtics fouled the Thunder so much that the free throw disparity rightfully should have been that huge.

[Spilling Green Dye]

I agree that last night's game was horribly officiated, and am really happy that KG said what he said after the game.

The problem with this argument in connection with last night's game is the Celtics scored more than half of their points in the paint, so it's not as if they weren't taking it to the hoop.  They simply didn't get the same calls.  Now, maybe you could argue the Thunder weren't playing defense (we did shoot 60%) and that's why the C's didn't get fouled.  I still don't buy that the Celtics fouled the Thunder so much that the free throw disparity rightfully should have been that huge.

Um, I'm not sure why you quoted me saying the officials were horrible, and then proceeded to disagree with me while stating that the officials were horrible... ?  I think we both are in agreement there.

And if you had read the rest of my post you would see that I was talking about FT differential on the season.  My point was that we don't take it into their defenders as much as we could. 

[liam]

"Hall of Fame Pistons Owner accuses some NBA refs of being crooked — "So I watch the referees. I watch who they are. There are certain referees -- when they come to our game -- you know you're gonna lose. And that should never be." ~Bill Davidson"

[RAcker]

This whole thread has completely in KG's camp and ready to go and punch someone in the face.   

Okay, I'll not do that, but I might freakin' smash something to make myself feel better.

[PosImpos]

I agree that last night's game was horribly officiated, and am really happy that KG said what he said after the game.

The problem with this argument in connection with last night's game is the Celtics scored more than half of their points in the paint, so it's not as if they weren't taking it to the hoop.  They simply didn't get the same calls.  Now, maybe you could argue the Thunder weren't playing defense (we did shoot 60%) and that's why the C's didn't get fouled.  I still don't buy that the Celtics fouled the Thunder so much that the free throw disparity rightfully should have been that huge.

Um, I'm not sure why you quoted me saying the officials were horrible, and then proceeded to disagree with me while stating that the officials were horrible... ?  I think we both are in agreement there.

And if you had read the rest of my post you would see that I was talking about FT differential on the season.  My point was that we don't take it into their defenders as much as we could. 

Sorry, must have quoted the wrong part of your post (or meant to quote somebody else's).

I was responding to somebody (not sure if it was you) who said we needed to take it inside more to try to get to the line more often. The C's did take it inside yesterday, they just didn't get to the line nearly as much as the other team.

[Vermont Green]

It is interesting to me that both the Celtics and the Lakers lost to younger teams last night.  I did watch our game and yes, it was odd to see Durant getting more "respect" from the refs than KG or Pierce but it is also true that we did not play better than OK City.  The game could have gone either way based on a few whistles or us hitting a few more shots (or Green missing one of his 3's).

OK City is the 6 seed in the West.  We should be good enough that the game doesn't come down to a few bad calls.