The fix is still in! Cavs commit 0 foul during the ENTIRE 2nd quarter

[wdleehi]

I have said it before, they do such a better job in college calling everyone the same way. 


There is no reason they can't do that in the NBA. 

[MBunge]

The refs were pretty bad last night, though it got a bit better in the second half.  It has more to do with just how arbitrary and inconsistent NBA officiating is in general than any bias for or against a team or a player.  That means that fouls calls too often follow the flow of the game, rewarding the team that has momentum.

Mike

[Amonkey]

I thought the refs were pretty bad in the first half with a reluctancy of calling Cavs fouls.  All the fouls they committed didnt send us to the free throw line.  Then on the 3rd quarter we got a couple of bad calls going our way.  However, on the 4th quarter and especially on the last 5 minutes, when they should allow to let them play, that was the most obvious.  There were a series of 3-4 blatantly bad calls in a row that resulted in 6-8 points for them, which was the difference between 'game out of reach' to 'there is a chance'.  Unfortunately, that is the way that the Celtics will have to deal with it.

Like I was saying last night.  The Celtics will have to play extra special cuz they're also playing against the refs.

[DannyZ]

Even the announcers were openly commenting on the one-sided officiating.

[Vermont Green]

I try not to be a Ref whiner but there were several times in last night's game where I just sat back and said "wow".  For the series, there have been 33 fouls called on Cle and 56 called on Bos resulting in 69 attempts for Cle and 39 attemps for Bos.

I don't know if a kind of +/- for players is kept but between PP, RA, and KG, they get to the line a lot (or at least KG used to).

They don't play again until Friday (which is ridiculous but another topic) so the NBA has plenty of time to address this and I sure hope they do.  Even neutral fans don't want to watch games where the officiating is so one-sided.

[jpd985]

Most of the worst officiated games we have seen have come against the Cavs.

[jpd985]

I try not to be a Ref whiner but there were several times in last night's game where I just sat back and said "wow".  For the series, there have been 33 fouls called on Cle and 56 called on Bos resulting in 69 attempts for Cle and 39 attemps for Bos.

I don't know if a kind of +/- for players is kept but between PP, RA, and KG, they get to the line a lot (or at least KG used to).

They don't play again until Friday (which is ridiculous but another topic) so the NBA has plenty of time to address this and I sure hope they do.  Even neutral fans don't want to watch games where the officiating is so one-sided.

I am not going to hold my breath. They didn't do anything after the Donaughy scandal and they won't do anything now.

[Vermont Green]

I try not to be a Ref whiner but there were several times in last night's game where I just sat back and said "wow".  For the series, there have been 33 fouls called on Cle and 56 called on Bos resulting in 69 attempts for Cle and 39 attemps for Bos.

I don't know if a kind of +/- for players is kept but between PP, RA, and KG, they get to the line a lot (or at least KG used to).

They don't play again until Friday (which is ridiculous but another topic) so the NBA has plenty of time to address this and I sure hope they do.  Even neutral fans don't want to watch games where the officiating is so one-sided.

I am not going to hold my breath. They didn't do anything after the Donaughy scandal and they won't do anything now.

Donaughy went to jail.  I don't see your point.

And I think the C's will start to see some make-up calls.  I could be wrong.

[MBz]

Donaughy went to jail.  I don't see your point.

And I think the C's will start to see some make-up calls.  I could be wrong.

Yes he went to jail, but the NBA basically just threw the problem under the rug and ignored it.  They really didn't acknowledge the issue or how many games he could have affected, as well as all the other things Donaghy was saying.  I really wish his book was able to be released, hopefully another publisher will pick it up.  Some of the things Donaghy talked about on 60 minutes I think it was, were pretty interesting.  Hopefully we get to learn more on the matter.

[Evantime34]

Donaughy went to jail.  I don't see your point.

And I think the C's will start to see some make-up calls.  I could be wrong.

Yes he went to jail, but the NBA basically just threw the problem under the rug and ignored it.  They really didn't acknowledge the issue or how many games he could have affected, as well as all the other things Donaghy was saying.  I really wish his book was able to be released, hopefully another publisher will pick it up.  Some of the things Donaghy talked about on 60 minutes I think it was, were pretty interesting.  Hopefully we get to learn more on the matter.

I really don't think the problem with the NBA refs are how they are fixing games. The problem is how the star players get preferential calls to the point that it makes the game unfair.

[MBz]

Donaughy went to jail.  I don't see your point.

And I think the C's will start to see some make-up calls.  I could be wrong.

Yes he went to jail, but the NBA basically just threw the problem under the rug and ignored it.  They really didn't acknowledge the issue or how many games he could have affected, as well as all the other things Donaghy was saying.  I really wish his book was able to be released, hopefully another publisher will pick it up.  Some of the things Donaghy talked about on 60 minutes I think it was, were pretty interesting.  Hopefully we get to learn more on the matter.

I really don't think the problem with the NBA refs are how they are fixing games. The problem is how the star players get preferential calls to the point that it makes the game unfair.

Right, but I would say giving star players preferential calls is fixing the game.  There are some excerpts of Donaghy's book floating around on the net that were quite interesting to read.  Basically he was saying that he bet on games with how the other officials were for certain superstars.  He said some would give AI all the calls in the world, while others wouldn't give him a thing.  He also really threw Bavetta under the bus saying the NBA would let him officiate games where the NBA wanted a certain team to win.  Be interesting to see a list of the playoff games Bavetta has done recently. 

[fairweatherfan]

He also really threw Bavetta under the bus saying the NBA would let him officiate games where the NBA wanted a certain team to win.  Be interesting to see a list of the playoff games Bavetta has done recently. 

This is an old list, but in 2002 Simmons put together some of Bavetta's greatest hits.  You can find a copy/paste of that part of the article here.   It's an interesting list to say the least.

[banty19]

To play devil's advocate...

About the Foul Discrepancy

The Cavaliers are a younger, more athletic team. The Celtics are an older, jump shooting oriented team (though the Cavs have good shooters, too). Also, the Celtics don't have anybody like Lebron James who deserves to be near the top of the league in free throw attempts. Rondo could be but he'd have a hard time finishing the season if he tried.

About the 4 calls sent to league officials

I'm sure in most NBA games there are bad calls for both sides. I'd also guess that in most games 4 clearly wrong calls could be sent to the league office. Refereeing such a fast-paced sport is difficult.


Now with that said, I think the refereeing has been inconsistent and generally favored towards the Cavs (with some exceptions). This doesn't really come as a shock because NBA home teams have the best W/L differential of any sport. I attribute this mostly to the officiating. What drives me crazy is this has been going on for so long and nothing happens.

Heck, Donaghy even said Bavetta was notorious for letting losing teams back in the game in the 4th Quarter. It happens again last night and there's no national media attention. Incredibly irritating.

I will say it was nice in '08 when the Celtics were ref favorites. Unfortunately, it seems like the only two likeable players now are Rondo and Ray. Pierce, KG, Sheed, and Perk aren't going to get any borderline calls.

[angryguy77]

Anyone tired of the "cavs didn't have intensity" or "they better start taking boston serious" lines? I saw a team that looked confused by our PG more than not showing up for 6 of the last 8 quarters.


To sum it up: we won becuase of lelbow, and a team that's looking to the ECF already is why they lost from some of the stories I read today.

No my friends, we came to play and are playing up to our potential. When we do that we are the best team in the league.

[EJPLAYA]

Time to re-visit this thread. I came out in defense of the officiating when all this was being thrown around as I didn't feel like it was that bad. This game however took the cake! Even though the foul count on both sides was pretty high, Lebron was getting away with murder for the most part on both ends of the floor. He must have committed 15 plus fouls and only got whistled for 4 of them. Perk, PP, and Ray all get the slightest hint of contact called on them and this guy nothing… That was horrendous! The only reason they got so many fouls called on them was because they were manhandling us so badly they couldn't completely swallow the whistle. They should be ashamed of themselves. It's a good thing Rondo and TA came today or the NBA marketing department would have gotten their wish.