Referees Tonight (Good) EDIT: They Absolutely Ruined The Game (4th Quarter)

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i'll say most of the calls against us were legit fouls, BUT they weren't called for 3 quarters, and we didn't get similar calls on the other end. LA played great D, yes, but we tried to attack them on offense as well, but just didn't get calls. you figure the home team gets a few, sure. but that disparity was ridiculous. there is no way one team should be shooting more FTs in the 4th quarter of a game 7 of the finals than the other team shoots the entire game unless one team is always in the paint and the other just shoots 3s. this entire series is a travesty, and the 4th quarter was just the final act.

[jasail]

C's lost this game by not controlling the boards and Rondo not dictating the pace.  Our offensive execution in the 4th quarter was pitiful.  I also credit the Laker's pick and roll D for that as well, Gasol stepped up his game. 

All that said, the refs changed the way this game was officiated in the last quarter. 

I am proud as hell of this team.  I doubted them the whole way and they were within a championship until the last 5 seconds.  They played their arses off. 

Wish they could have and I could have gone out on a better foot.  But I am going to turn in my NBA fan card until David Stern leaves.  What I have seen throughout the playoffs, and at times it benefited the C's, is a mockery of the game I love. 

[jdpapa3]

That's my view as well. Lakers deserved to go to the line on a lot of their drives, but we weren't getting that same benefit. KG had 2 should've been and 1's(6 pts that only netted us 2 pts because of poor reffing) and a drive that should've been rewarded that ABC for some reason decided to keep showing even though it was a clear foul. With the way he played, he deserved much more than 1 FT.

[Simulacra]

Ive written this elsewhere but I just have to say this. The statistics are just the details but this is the essence of my issue with all this.

I used to watch the NBA religiously growing up and unfortunately didnt get to do so for the past decade on account of moving/living in Sweden. I wasn't even a Celts fan when I left, I was a hardcore Bulls fan from 85 to 00. My pops was the Cs fan so I guess I thought it was cool to route against Bird and the Cs. Decided to switch allegiances since I was already a Pats and Soxs fan a few years into the 00s. I just identified more with being a New Englader after moving away. I needed to mature to appreciate the Celts I guess.

Now that I am back and having watched this I can honestly say with a little bit of objectivity, that this isn't the same league I watched growing up. It has massive problems with its refs and obviously when money is an important issue in tough economic times I really question its integrity from top to bottom. Things happen all over the place that Ive never been witness to.

With everything else that is going down currently in this country with Wall St. and the rich guys working over the little guy I think its probably dangerous to entertain any form of idealism. It is an amazing disappoint me for me not in the fact the Cs didn't win a title, I am too old to get too worked up over sweaty men throwing a rubber ball through a hoop but in the fact that as a thinking person it wasn't even possible to get away for a while with a sport I grew up playing and love to death. Its a microcosm of the much larger malaise and chicanery. And that's something I can get worked up over and dont mind drawing attention to.

[twinbree]

The officiating went south very quickly in the 4th. Some of the stuff had my jaw dropping and I didn't think that was possible after some of the bizarrely officiated games I've seen. It's crazy (and this has happened a couple of times this postseason) that the other team manages to go on a run at the FT line without having to make any baskets.

Both teams were struggling in certain aspects but were fighting hard. Inexcusable on the part of the refs given how well they'd officiated the 1st 3 quarters to not give that same effort in the final quarter of a Game 7 in the freaking finals.

[BigBaby]

Horrible loss.

But they did show replays on almost all those calls. They were fouls. They showed some we got away with too. Celtics were desperate to stay in the game all they could do was foul.

It was dreadful watching the Cs unable to get anything offensively.

[FLCeltsFan]

The refs let them play in the first 3 quarters.  Then they started calling it tight in the 4th.  No consistency.   Stuff they let go in the first 3 quarters they suddenly started calling on the Celtics.  Very frustrating for me to watch.  I can only imagine how frustrating it was for the players. 

[mahonedog88]

The refs weren't terrible.  I will say that alot of those fouls called on the celtics were fouls.  Which is unfortunate, because van gundy said it best when they were allowing the lakers to build the lead at the line and not by trying to make shots.

What I DON'T like is that it wasn't called evenly.  The celtics were fouled alot more than what was shown at the line.  That's whats frustrating.

[Rondo_is_better]

Horrible loss.

But they did show replays on almost all those calls. They were fouls. They showed some we got away with too. Celtics were desperate to stay in the game all they could do was foul.

It was dreadful watching the Cs unable to get anything offensively.

I could see most of those calls as fouls in a typical NBA game, yes. However, according to the parameters established by the first 3 quarters of the game -- none of those plays were fouls. In this game, none of those plays were fouls. Not for the first 3 quarters they weren't. Also, the same types of plays -- "fouls" that according to the parameters of this game were not fouls -- were NOT being called against the lakers. they were bumping and pushing and hitting us on drives but we couldn't buy a freethrow. Make sense?

[connerhenry43]

Horrible loss.

But they did show replays on almost all those calls. They were fouls. They showed some we got away with too. Celtics were desperate to stay in the game all they could do was foul.

It was dreadful watching the Cs unable to get anything offensively.

off the top of my head:

artest catches in lane, slides into PP. either no call or charge, they put arterst on line

rondo strips Kobe towards the end, kobe grabs rondo, ball squirts out of bounds, laker ball.

pau travels on close shot, comes down before releasing ball. abc actually showed a replay. close call, but that is why they are there.

the worst of the quarter, an out of control big man, gasol, barrels into PP at halfcourt. easy charge because pierce was set and gasol was out of control. they put gasol on the line for his 74th and 75th ft's of the quarter.

pp splits double team, gets hammered going to line, pau gets credit for a block.

[jasail]

Kobe pushed into Ray and pulled up through his arms 3 times in the first half. It was not called a foul until the 3 in the 4th quarter.

[angryguy77]

Horrible loss.

But they did show replays on almost all those calls. They were fouls. They showed some we got away with too. Celtics were desperate to stay in the game all they could do was foul.

It was dreadful watching the Cs unable to get anything offensively.

Then they should have been fouls in the 1st 2nd and 3rd quarters too. It's a "mystery" to me as to why that happened(not really because im officialy believe this league is crooked).

[Schupac]

I'm so happy this is over.  After game 5 of the Magic series, I told myself:  Win, lose or draw this season is my last season watching the NBA because I can't stand the way officiating determines games.

You didn't surprise me, NBA.  Conspiracy or not, the officiating determined who won this game.

Goodbye.

[dark_lord]

The refs let them play in the first 3 quarters.  Then they started calling it tight in the 4th.  No consistency.   Stuff they let go in the first 3 quarters they suddenly started calling on the Celtics.  Very frustrating for me to watch.  I can only imagine how frustrating it was for the players. 

my exact thoughts....and one of my biggest gripes in general.  it is one thing to be inconsistent game to game, but being inconsistent within the same game is not acceptable.

[Simulacra]

All you guys who are being so idealistic not to see things are unbalanced need to wake up before it happens to you in a much more serious arena in your lives.

This is just a sport on TV but its the same type of crap prevalent beyond the world of basketball. Its the same, logically speaking, as to why you have half a 401k now. Duped out of it due to idealism about things being run straight like banks and elections.