ESPN pretty ridiculous this morning

[droopdog7]

Wow, I didn't know that E S P N had been placed on the prfanity list  .

Anyway, the anchor all but sent a letter to Stern regarding the fouls on kobe (and by extension, those against the lakers).  Not a single mention of the fact that the refs butchered at least as many calls against the Celts or of them basically taking out Ray in game 1.  

Pretty disgusting really.

[Amonkey]

I know what you mean.  This is what I wrote on the other forum about this topic.

The thing that ticked me off was how they were complaining on Sportscenter how the fouls were favoring the Celtics, just because Kobe got into foul trouble.  I admit that two of the fouls were weak and should be noncalls, but if Sportscenter is gonna complain about the fouling, why not mention the free throw discrepencies?  Also, those two blocks were clean as my drawers after a double wash.  I would say one thing though, the only consistancy thing from this refs are that they have been consistently calling bad fouls.  It's pretty bad that (apparently) these are the best NBA refs because the bad calls are amazing.

[Surferdad]

Tim Legler got it right this morning (as usual, love the guy) when he said that controversial officiating has always been a part of this game, and that it was pretty much a wash if you consider the foul trouble the C's were in all game.

That said, I agree with you that showing only the bad calls against the Lakers was pretty lame and once again speaks to the pro-Laker sentiment among the national media.

[Brendan]

ESPN has Magic on the studio team and Byron "I won't wear Green" Scott on the NBA show.

[droopdog7]

ESPN has Magic on the studio team and Byron "I won't wear Green" Scott on the NBA show.

I know.  At least the NBA channel has Mchale.  Makes more much better viewing for sure.  Not to mention that he at least 1) has a personality and 2) can speak a complete sentences without stuttering or butchering it.

[nyceltsfan]

I don't understand.  The Lakers shot 41 free throws last night.  The Celts shot 26 (and 6-8 of them were in garbage time, 2 for the Lakers in garbage time).  Effectively, the free throw disparity, during meaningful minutes, was 39-18.

Can someone explain to me how this translates to the officiating favoring the Celtics?

Also, a couple of the calls on Kobe were questionable, but how about the non-call on the Ray Allen drive?  Contact in the restricted area should be a no-brainer.  Does someone have a video of that play to prove that there was contact?

[Roy Hobbs]

ESPN has Magic on the studio team and Byron "I won't wear Green" Scott on the NBA show.

True, although I've got to say, Magic tries to keep things somewhat balanced.  He's got a lot of respect for the Celts, it seems.

[Frezz]

If game 2 was considered the Celtics getting the benefit of the calls.... yikes. I shutter to think what the Lakers getting the calls is going to be like. What would the free throw count have to be? 60 to our 10?

[Andy Jick]

I watched the press conference following last night's game.  Kobe was asked about the fouls - in his reply he had NO PROBLEM with it, and stated that he just had to play smarter.  I could sense this was Kobe being honest, not politically correct.

I'll take a player's word over some media tool...

[get_banners]

re: magic and scott - i wouldn't say either are terrible. magic openly loves rondo and pierce, and while he's obviously pulling for the lakers, he simply loves the rivalry and wants great games. scott is clearly anti-celtics, but i don't think that gets in the way of his actual analysis that much. but overall, yes, it is kind of ridiculous - i know ray isn't kobe, but he is also a future HOFer, and nobody made a big stink about him and fouls in game 1. kobe still played 34 minutes, and only 2 of his fouls were non-fouls (which rondo and ray sold well). so many of ours were bad calls, especially the calls that basically put our entire front court in trouble, while LA got to hack away at the other end. the refs have been awful overall, and yes, LA got screwed a few times as well, but we've been at a pretty significant disadvantage all series long with the bad calls.

[celticinorlando]

byron scott is just horrible all the way around. i prefer avery johnson. i can handle everyone else...magic is a clown but he isn't too bad. but tim legler is the best they got

[KCattheStripe]

ESPN has Magic on the studio team and Byron "I won't wear Green" Scott on the NBA show.

Essential difference between the franchises: Celtics greats keep working in Basketball. Lakers greats go on TV.

[Tai]

All of our first four bigs (KG, Perk, Sheed, BBD) had 3 fouls at halftime, while Shelden had two. AT HALFTIME.

Out of the supposed 30 fouls between those five bigs, they had a combined 14 at halftime and the Celtics were FAVORED by the refs?

Very funny. Where's my tomatoes?

[Brendan]

There was def contact by Kobe on Ray Allen during the fast break with Rondo and they didn't call it because it was number 6. No doubt about that. And there were lots of bad calls on phantom touches of Kobe. It was poorly officiated, but not unusually uneven.

[Brendan]

I thought contact was called very unevenly (against the C's in the paint.) For example the foul on KG when he and Pau were bumping for space - Gasol initiated the contact, and Artest and Kobe have been doing the same to Pierce when he posts up... sigh.