Quote from: Spicoli on June 18, 2010, 10:31:05 AM

All the free throws Pau Gasol shot in this series. I just can't comprehend it, nor can i let it go for some reason. My mind is baffled by it and will continue to be for the rest of my existence.

The free throws he shoots don't bother me as much as how he puts hit elbow over smaller players shoulders to keep them from jumping on every rebound. This is over the back and he does it every single time.

The Laker's take advantage of the deficiencies in nba referees. Gasol, Fisher and Kobe all do illegal things like holding that are rarely called and flail their arms to attempt to draw a foul. This is not in the spirit of basketball.

The only other player who goes over the back more than Gasol is probably Anderson Varejao. The irony is in the fact that if someone on our team gets a slight bump or a slight push on him going up for a rebound, he gets the call. He can hold, push, mug on one end and get away with it, but on the other end it's a foul in his favor. I will never get over this.

Quote from: Spicoli on June 18, 2010, 10:41:09 AM

The only other player who goes over the back more than Gasol is probably Anderson Varejao. The irony is in the fact that if someone on our team gets a slight bump or a slight push on him going up for a rebound, he gets the call. He can hold, push, mug on one end and get away with it, but on the other end it's a foul in his favor. I will never get over this.

That's because Mike Breen says he's "da best big man in basketball".

I think i know why the officials were calling things in Gasols favor like this....it was all about how the Celtics gained the reputation for pushing him around and giving him the "soft" label in 08'. Because of this, they started calling things a lot tighter than they normally would, in order to try and level the playing field or so to speak. Gasol is not a tough guy, and never will be. Is he extremely long? Yes. But is he the same finesse player that he always has been? Absolutely. Nothing in Gasols game has changed enough to warrant him getting the benefit of all those calls, except for the fact that the officials got the memo of not allowing the Celtics to rough him up like they did in 08.

He was "clearly" being protected all series. Never got in foul trouble even once.

Quote from: Spicoli on June 18, 2010, 10:47:37 AM

Quote from: kozlodoev on June 18, 2010, 10:42:38 AM

Quote from: Spicoli on June 18, 2010, 10:41:09 AM

The only other player who goes over the back more than Gasol is probably Anderson Varejao. The irony is in the fact that if someone on our team gets a slight bump or a slight push on him going up for a rebound, he gets the call. He can hold, push, mug on one end and get away with it, but on the other end it's a foul in his favor. I will never get over this.

That's because Mike Breen says he's "da best big man in basketball".

I think i know why the officials were calling things in Gasols favor like this....it was all about how the Celtics gained the reputation for pushing him around and giving him the "soft" label in 08'. Because of this, they started calling things a lot tighter than they normally would, in order to try and level the playing field or so to speak. Gasol is not a tough guy, and never will be. Is he extremely long? Yes. But is he the same finesse player that he always has been? Absolutely. Nothing in Gasols game has changed enough to warrant him getting the benefit of all those calls, except for the fact that the officials got the memo of not allowing the Celtics to rough him up like they did in 08.

He was "clearly" being protected all series. Never got in foul trouble even once.

And there is the reason why I'm no longer going to be interested in the NBA. I'll still come here and post(I love this site too much to leave), but I'm not going out of my way to watch games anymore, not until Stern is gone or they do something the improve the officiating.
Boston could win it all next year and I could care less. They called a tight series to level the field just like you said, anyone in their right mind knows LA would not have beaten us if they had reffed this series like a normal playoff series.

These refs made Gasol look like the most unstoppable big man the league has ever seen.

I feel exactly the same way. After what i saw in this series, i'm definitely questioning whether or not i'll be needing a break from the NBA. They have "manufactured" Gasol into being a superstar player on the same level as James, Bryant, Wade, etc. Gasol is an all-star, no doubt about it, but only superstars typically get the treatment from refs that he got in this series. Hell, he was getting more respect from officials than even Bryant was getting. I couldn't sleep well last night because all i could think about was the sequence of events in the 4th quarter which led to a bunch of Gasol free throws.

If Gasol had received the same favorable treatment in Memphis, he would still have been there and they would've made a lot of noise in the playoffs with Battier and Mike Miller as well.

Yep. I mean, is Gasol really a different player now than he was then? He's the same finesse player. So what is the difference? What has elevated him to the point where people are now considering him the best big man in the game? It's free throw attempts. Some of his attempts are earned, but a lot of them aren't. Gasol is VERY long, but whenever he flails his arms and screams, he gets the whistle. The only other players who get calls like this are the Wades, James, and Bryants of the world. You can add Gasol to that list now i guess....

I really question just how good Gasol would've been if this were the 80's. In fact, if this were the 80's I really doubt we lose this series.

I think had we been boxing out better as a team it would be moot. And I think had we been willing to hold our ground physically udner the boards it would also be moot.

I thought as a whole we were incredibly soft underneath. I can't tlel you how mnay times I saw Lakers players come and push us from behind and get rebounds.

Point is though, if you are laying a body on someone and planting your feet in the ground, regardless of how the refs are calling it, if they can't move you around it doesn't matter, you will dominate the boards.

Not when he's allowed to climb your back like a ladder to get teh board.

We could have played better no doubt, but we shouldn't have to play better to compensate for poor officating for this many games.

I hear ya re the refs but if a guy is climbing your back all night you need to throw him off or back him up, get into with him and the refs will call it. If you let him push you all night, we can't blame that on the refs.

We were not boxing ANYONE out, alot of those rebounds wer clear path lanes for the Lakers...

We were absolutely terrible on the boards as a team.