I'm done

[Chelm]

Look, the Celtics played a great game.  They just didn't have it at the end.  It wasn't the officiating.

I look forward to basking in the next Celtics championship, especially knowing I won't have to listen to so many of the conspiracy theorists now that they're all "done with the NBA".

If you truly think it's fixed, just stop.  Don't watch.  It's not worth it.  I don't, and I'm truly proud of our team's effort tonight.

[freshinthehouse]

Look, the Celtics played a great game.  They just didn't have it at the end.  It wasn't the officiating.

I look forward to basking in the next Celtics championship, especially knowing I won't have to listen to so many of the conspiracy theorists now that they're all "done with the NBA".

If you truly think it's fixed, just stop.  Don't watch.  It's not worth it.  I don't, and I'm truly proud of our team's effort tonight.

Post of the night.  TP+

[luckthefakers]

Do you honestly believe it has to be predetermined or "fixed" for the officiating to have a bearing on the result?  Even a blind guy would see that the officiating changed dramatically in the 4th quarter, where suddenly all of the clutching and touch fouls were being called.  And it was definitely slanted towards the Lakers.  Were the Celtics really so egregiously physical that they should have been in the penalty three minutes in?  

The fact is, the Lakers didn't do anything special in the 4th.  They shot just as poorly as they did all game (the worst performance in Finals history) and they only made six (6!!!) FGs.  The reason they won was FTs, and that's it.  Even if all of those touch fouls were deserved (and they weren't), they weren't consistent with the way things had been called up to that point, and that isn't fair to the players or the fans.  

I feel jobbed as to the outcome.  Maybe not a conspiracy, but sheer incompetence.  And if you can't find three competent refs to officate the most important game in the last 20 years, there is something wrong with your league.

[NoraG1]

Lakers get so much help from the league it is unbelievable. Still not over the fact that Gasol was traded to them for nothing, I mean seriously there were no other offers better then the Lakers? Not buying that for a second!

[NoraG1]

.

[ACF]

I tend to moan a little bit about the refs if they give me a chance. But to me it felt like what happened was we stopped playing, we stopped defending and we did not make our shots. The refs did not win this game for the Lakers and the Lakers did not win this game. We lost this game. If we had won, no one would be mentioning the refs. I did not post this to make a fool out of anyone but merely to call it as I saw it. People are down right now and that is totally understandable. The good guys do not always win and sometimes life can suck more than we like to believe. But the sun will go up tomorrow. GO CELTICS!

[celtics2]

Some of you guys will never realize how hard it is to officiate until you are thrown into action.  Some of you guys will never realize how hard it is to officiate when you are 6'0 trying to see through and around 7 foot players.  Some of you guys will never realize how hard it is to officiate when you have to learn discretion in not making everything a foul. 

etc. etc.

I honestly think its easier to officiate from a tv monitor, because you can actually see the whole floor. 

Refs, like us and players, are human.  Get over it

Oh please spare us. Maybe the biggest mistake was adding another ref years ago. Boston fans are hated because of our level of excitement for our teams. Refs are not treated kindly here and we get repaid negatively. I agree NBA refs are the most incompetent of any sport.

[kenmaine]

I usually agree with any anti-refs thread, but it didn't seem to me that the refs cost the C's the game.  The foul situation in the 4th quarter was ridiculous though.
 
Three reasons the C's lost-
 
Ray Allen sucked. He had one good game out of seven in the finals.
C's couldn't get a rebound to save their lives. Should have been up by about 25 points at halftime.
Artest was left wide open all night, and he may be crazy and a dirty player, but he's clutch.

[NoraG1]

I usually agree with any anti-refs thread, but it didn't seem to me that the refs cost the C's the game.  The foul situation in the 4th quarter was ridiculous though.
 
Three reasons the C's lost-
 
Ray Allen sucked. He had one good game out of seven in the finals.
C's couldn't get a rebound to save their lives. Should have been up by about 25 points at halftime.
Artest was left wide open all night, and he may be crazy and a dirty player, but he's clutch.

Free throw desparity was pretty huge

[greenhead85]

Some of you guys will never realize how hard it is to officiate until you are thrown into action.  Some of you guys will never realize how hard it is to officiate when you are 6'0 trying to see through and around 7 foot players.  Some of you guys will never realize how hard it is to officiate when you have to learn discretion in not making everything a foul. 

etc. etc.


I honestly think its easier to officiate from a tv monitor, because you can actually see the whole floor. 

Refs, like us and players, are human.  Get over it

Oh please spare us. Maybe the biggest mistake was adding another ref years ago. Boston fans are hated because of our level of excitement for our teams. Refs are not treated kindly here and we get repaid negatively. I agree NBA refs are the most incompetent of any sport.

Agree. I think it is the only professional team sport wherein the referees can change the outcome of a game. Their incompetent and at times what-may-look-like biased ways must end.

[kenmaine]

I usually agree with any anti-refs thread, but it didn't seem to me that the refs cost the C's the game.  The foul situation in the 4th quarter was ridiculous though.
 
Three reasons the C's lost-
 
Ray Allen sucked. He had one good game out of seven in the finals.
C's couldn't get a rebound to save their lives. Should have been up by about 25 points at halftime.
Artest was left wide open all night, and he may be crazy and a dirty player, but he's clutch.

Free throw desparity was pretty huge

True. And like others have pointed out, they were allowed to play physical for three quarters, then all of a sudden they were in the penalty situation about three minutes into the fourth. So I understand the questioning of the refs, and believe me, I hate to defend them. But during the game, I really didn't feel that the C's were being jobbed, just felt that they were blowing the game.
Just an ugly game all around, but before I give most of the blame to the refs, I'd have to re-watch it and see how many of those fouls were legit and how many were gifts to the Lakers.

[nickagneta]

The problem isn't some grand conspiracy of pre-determined outcomes or entire groups of referees with personal vendettas against the Celtics(though I will say that there probably does exist a vendetta against the Celtics from at least one official), the problem is the perception of those things due to the wide range of inconsistency in the way the game is called, not only from series to series or game to game but from quarter to quarter, minute to minute.

The Lakers deserved to win that game last night. They played better defense and rebounded the ball better. That said they couldn't hit the broad side of a barn, shooting under 33% for the game. The completely different style in which the 4th quarter was officiated as compared to the way the first three quarters were officiated definitely had an effect on the game.

If the game was called the same way in the 4th as it was in the first three quarters would the outcome had been the same, probably, but we will never know because it wasn't and because of that the perception is that the officials lost the game for the Celtics. They didn't though. The Celtics lost the game and the Lakers won it.

[Chelm]

Offensive rebounds get you to the line.  If we could get some defensive rebounds, they wouldn't have gone to the line.  Allowing twenty-three offensive rebounds is unacceptable.  Gasol ALONE got more than our entire team combined.  Aside from rebounds, our defense was great, but if they just keep getting opportunities, we're digging ourselves a grave.

[angryguy77]

OK, refs cannot determine a game according to some here. So if they play such a small role and we should expect our team to rise above it every single time, then we should have no problem with refs betting on games. I'm not saying this crew was betting on the game last night, but if you believe that refs cannot turn the tide and that we should be able to play through each and every time there is a poorly reffed game, then the rules against betting on games should be removed.

Look at my first post in this thread and tell me where I went wrong. Tell me what was crazy about what I predicted, because it was 100% correct.

Oh and it also states that there isn't a need for the league defenders guild to come to action and put down this rebellion.

[dark_lord]

Some of you guys will never realize how hard it is to officiate until you are thrown into action.  Some of you guys will never realize how hard it is to officiate when you are 6'0 trying to see through and around 7 foot players.  Some of you guys will never realize how hard it is to officiate when you have to learn discretion in not making everything a foul. 

etc. etc.

I honestly think its easier to officiate from a tv monitor, because you can actually see the whole floor. 

Refs, like us and players, are human.  Get over it

collegiate officials seem to do it ok as a whole.