Today's Official Report for Finals Game 3 6/8

[Q_FBE]

Like I said in the other post, you are letting the officials get inside your head. Just play (I mean watch) and cuss over each possession like you have been doing it over the last 40 years.

That said, the three stooges analogy is a classic.

[kg is king]

It seems like we're all missing an important point. When we see the name Salvatore, we automatically think "dang it, this one will be tough and we might lose". WHY?!?!??! He is a terrible ref and misses calls but what suggests he will favor the Lakers? Shouldn't the Lakers fans be scared about him too? It seems like we think the NBA is preventing the Celtics from winning...Smarten up fans! The Lakers should be just as scared as we are.

[celticinorlando]

bill kennedy is the issue. he is one sided vs boston. combine his hate for the celtics with bennett's cluelessness...that is why we are uneasy

[RAcker]

Message to Perk:

Zip it, no matter what.

Ditto that.

[bobdelt]

Yeah this crew makes me nervous, we can't lose Perk on our home floor, almost negates winning 1 in LA.

[Cman]

Salvatore and Kennedy -- wahoo! 

If we win this one, is there any question that we're winning the series?

I like the positive attitude. 

[Beat LA]

Nooooooooooooooooooooooo   We're dooooooooooooooomed.

Did the league read my post from yesterday or something?

it (Game 2) also served as a reminder that league still has Salvatore, Bill Kennedy, Bavetta, and Eddie F. Rush in reserve to screw the Celtics in game 3.

Well, that just ruined my day and our title chances.  The insanity of the league has now reached the point where this is just comical.  Still, we all have to be careful - if we start laughing at the calls tonight, Joey Crawford will come through all of our TV's and eject us from our living rooms after laughing at his threat to fight us    Warn the villagers - no one is safe.

BTW, how could I forget about Dan Crawford?  He's horrendous as well. 

On the plus side, Bavetta, according to the article below, will not be working any of the games in the Finals and may finally be getting a subtle push from the league to retire (according to other refs).  Jeez Stern, he's only 70  .  Talk about job security.

http://offthedribble.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/06/end-may-be-near-for-bavetta/ 

And yeah, Roy, I completely agree - if we somehow win this game, the league should, but won't, finally take notice that no matter what they do, we're winning this.  Now let's go and wipe the floor with the Lakers in Game 3.

[hwangjini_1]

funny pix to start the thread. thanks and tp.

[Mr October]

I'd like to see Bynum get called for at least 2 of the dozen 3 second violations he commits each game.

[LarBrd33]

the salvatore youtube clip doesn't even make sense.  What did Iverson do?  He must have done something.  WHat does, "You went from there to there and brought the crowd down" mean?

[Donoghus]

The one thing I've hated about these finals so far (besides the Game 1 loss) has been the constant spotlight on the refereeing.  Its the league's biggest stage and they're letting their refereeing take a center stage which should never be the case.

[tb727]

I'd like to see Bynum get called for at least 2 of the dozen 3 second violations he commits each game.

This is spot-on.  I watched a couple of different plays where I only paid attention to him and he was in there for 4 and 5 seconds respectively.  Someone else I spoke with mentioned him being in there 7 seconds a couple of times which doesn't surprise me.

This has been despicable so far and that fact that no one's mentioned it is startling.

[Spilling Green Dye]

I'd like to see Bynum get called for at least 2 of the dozen 3 second violations he commits each game.

This is spot-on.  I watched a couple of different plays where I only paid attention to him and he was in there for 4 and 5 seconds respectively.  Someone else I spoke with mentioned him being in there 7 seconds a couple of times which doesn't surprise me.

This has been despicable so far and that fact that no one's mentioned it is startling.

YES!!  I have been yelling at the TV about this each game.  It's one of the non-subjective calls that a ref can make, and yes they never do.  The guy lives in the paint.

[Spilling Green Dye]

Seriously, if I had to pick 3 refs I absolutely did not want to ref Game 3, I'd pick these 3.  Amazing.  The only possible exception would be to add in some Eddie Rush somewhere.  Perhaps you can ref the 2nd half Eddie?

I actually wouldn't mind seeing senile Bavetta... he at least relishes the home-town cheers!

[reggie35]

Bob Ryan actually has an informative article on this today:
http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2010/06/08/stop_crying_foul/

I've been wondering about what event has caused nba officiating to deteriorate. It seems that one possible culprit has been a push by the league to have more control over the Refs starting 15 years ago.

I think it would be an improvement (as someone above mentioned) if basketball officials worked for companies that were separate from the NBA. That way, good officials could work NCAA tournament and NBA games.