Officials for tonights game...

[ACF]

Nothing Stern does shocks or surprises me anymore. It ticks me off but I'm sure he doesn't care 

[LakerPete]

Here's the corresponding "Stern is out to get us" thread on the Laker end of things.

http://forums.lakersground.net/viewtopic.php?t=113446

You're all crazy. Laker fans that blame the officials, and Celtic fans that do the same. And it's true of every fan base. Just incessant whining.

Basketball is a sport that involves more subjectivity than any other. Things happen on every play that are technically infractions, therefore if you're inclined to blame someone else for the struggles of your team, there's ample opportunity to do so. Personally, I think it's weak.

[celticinorlando]

big surprise with rush there

[jdpapa3]

The Celtics just need to play a good game.  Enough nonsense about the refs.

Not a huge fan when people go down this road. It basically assumes that the other team played a perfect game. When, in this case, I thought both defenses forced tough shots and caused offensive sloppiness all around.

[luckthefakers]

http://forums.lakersground.net/viewtopic.php?t=113446

Wow, my IQ just dropped visiting that site.  That has to be the biggest collection of homers on the planet.  Conspiracy AGAINST the Lakers, who have been in half of all Finals appearances?  Give me an f'n break.  Just when I thought fans couldn't get any dumber...

[ACF]

Here's the corresponding "Stern is out to get us" thread on the Laker end of things.

http://forums.lakersground.net/viewtopic.php?t=113446

You're all crazy. Laker fans that blame the officials, and Celtic fans that do the same. And it's true of every fan base. Just incessant whining.

Basketball is a sport that involves more subjectivity than any other. Things happen on every play that are technically infractions, therefore if you're inclined to blame someone else for the struggles of your team, there's ample opportunity to do so. Personally, I think it's weak.

I feel that all the whiny fans spouting conspiracy theories reflects poorly on all the rest of us Celtics fans.

I think you have to think of it in a different way:

There are people that feel the league is really fixed and then there are people who feel that certain players or certain teams get unfair advantages as far as foul calls go (I sometimes belong in this group) and then there are people that just feel the reffing plain sucks (I always belong in this group).

I don't think you can say that you are a "better" Celtics fan than the next guy, because we don't know if there really is shady stuff going on. Which is the the whole problem. Stern is the commish of a league where lots and lots of people question the credibility (or lack of such) of said league and its referees. It really, really sucks.

[twinbree]

Hmm Rush - Looks like Perk not only needs to zip it tonight he needs also to smile sweetly at everything all game and spend the timeouts cuddling cute little puppies.

Wishful thinking I know but hoping the refs won't be the story after the game tonight. The officiating these playoffs have been atrocious. Probably a big part of why this postseason has been so uninteresting to me.

[LakerPete]

http://forums.lakersground.net/viewtopic.php?t=113446

Wow, my IQ just dropped visiting that site.  That has to be the biggest collection of homers on the planet.  Conspiracy AGAINST the Lakers, who have been in half of all Finals appearances?  Give me an f'n break.  Just when I thought fans couldn't get any dumber...

Yeah, I apologize for sharing the stupidity that is that site. There are a few bright folks there, but the board has been completely overrun with absurd conspiracy theories. That's the case with most boards I see nowadays though, to be honest. I don't think anyone's legitimately lost a game since around 2001. It's always some insidious plot by Darth Stern.

In reality, if Stern were to manipulate the league's finances, it would be a lot more profitable and less of a threat to his business model to do so via the Draft Lottery. The fact that the last several players that were perceived to be franchise changers have gone to Orlando, San Antonio, Cleveland, Seattle/OKC, Portland, and now Washington indicates that this isn't happening.

The idea that Stern would threaten a multi-billion dollar industry for the sake of a couple of rating points for a couple of games is frankly laughable to me.

However, ACF makes a good point that they DO have a perception problem. Rightly or wrongly, there is a perception of crooked officiating from a significant segment of his customer base. I think he needs to do a better job of communicating with this group of people, instead of just rolling his eyes. Whether it's valid or not, I do believe that not addressing it hurts the bottom line of the league.

[get_banners]

stern doesn't get that the complete lack of transparency is the source of the problem. for instance, if he didn't have a gag order in effect, or publicly reprimanded refs when they screw up, or made the ref rotation for all 7 potential games available when a series started (vs. game to game), that'd help. though i do think there is a conspiracy in play, to the extent that they do their best to try and extend series.

[Thruthelookingglass]

Officials officially dont matter to me any more. There is no way to feel good about watching these finals if I keep thinking about it. It is easy to get sucked into and Im done doing so.

If we come out and play agressively we will win point blank period.

That's it man.  Don't allow it to be close enough for the refs to affect the outcome.  And we'll never play hard enough to do that if we are distracted by the calls.

[get_banners]

let's see how the game goes. my guess is we get to finally play physical the next two games, and the lakers don't. the conspiracy in effect. another thing - i wouldn't be shocked to see rush take it a bit easy on us. he knows he screwed us so badly last round, he knows everyone knows it...i mean, it was commonly argued by everyone that the league didn't rescind the 2nd T on perk because they knew it'd make the refs look incompetent (they are). anyway, just saying, given all that, i wouldn't be shocked if he decides to swallow his whistle for us tonight. we just need to play our game. if they screw up yet another game, this is going to end up as the most marred finals ever, more than dallas-miami, cuz that was dallas and miami, and this is the ultimate nba rivalry.

[twinbree]

Officials officially dont matter to me any more. There is no way to feel good about watching these finals if I keep thinking about it. It is easy to get sucked into and Im done doing so.

If we come out and play agressively we will win point blank period.

Excellent point. Easier said than done I know but the key really is for each player to make their time on the court count. That's what we need to win. Stay aggressive, play our game and stick to the game-plan and if it means everyone fouls out and the game ends with only the other team on the floor taking a 100 FTs then so be it. We leave the game saying we did our best.

[Eddie20]

With all the scrutiny  the T's on Perk received, I think you'll be hard pressed to see Perk get one today from Rush.

[FallGuy]

With all the scrutiny  the T's on Perk received, I think you'll be hard pressed to see Perk get one today from Rush.

I agree. Unless Perk goes nuts, he should be okay tonight.