Kennedy, Delaney, and Javie are refs for Game 3

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According to this: http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/celtics/post/_/id/4683759/game-3-referee-assignment. Shoot me now. Seriously, given the beef between Doc and Kennedy, and the fact that there are only 2 games a night, I find it absolutely ridiculous that he gets to ref an incredibly important game. Delaney and Shaq have some issues, too. Needless to say, I won't be shocked if we get the short end of the stick on calls by a lot tonight. Not encouraging...not encouraging at all.

[Q_FBE]

What a travesty! The NBA absolutely sucks for giving us three notorius Celtics Haters. We would have been better off with the three blind mice - Knick Bavetta, Joey Crawford, and Bennett Salvatore.

Well, the game hasn't started but I already feel like I'm 10 points behind already.

OK they have not shafted us yet.

[SalmonAndMashedPotatoes]

It's worse than that.  We all know about the Bill Kennedy/Doc Rivers feud.  But the other two refs assigned to Game 3 have also had their run-ins with the Cs.

Bob Delaney has a documented 10-year beef with Shaq.  He fouled him out after only 13 minutes on Christmas Day in Orlando, and he also ejected him from a playoff game in 2004.  Shaq was fined 35 grand for making derogatory comments following the Christmas Day game.

Steve Javie ejected Doc Rivers this year in that game in PHX where KG made contact with Chandler Frye's boy parts (it was more of a fact-finding mission than a cheap shot).  This is what Doc said of that confrontation and ejection:

He actually came into our huddle. We were standing there, he came up to us. I'll tell you exactly what was said. He said, 'You guys are complaining way too much.' And I said, 'Well, let's make the right calls.' And his answer back was, 'I'll make a call for you.' And that's how I got the tech... I didn't have any choice words for him. I didn't say a word. I didn't even swear then. You know what I said? 'It's about the game. It's not about one individual.' That's all I said, over and over again.

Of all the officials still working, the Javie/Delaney/Kennedy trifecta is probably the most anti-Boston group you could put together.  Kudos to the league office for keeping appearances up.

Read more about each ref at:

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/celtics/post/_/id/4683759/game-3-referee-assignment

[j804]

yuck so basically Stern and his minions are called upon to personally help get LeBron to the finals 

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I mean...let's see how this plays out in the game. But...if the refereeing is questionable or (more likely) bad, it's pretty obvious what's going on here. The fact that even ESPN is putting up something about the history between the C's and these 3 refs is telling. Again...you only have 2 games each night...yet you put together a trio of refs with serious beef with our players/coach together to ref an incredibly important game? At the very least, it is obvious the league wants to make us winning tonight very difficult.

[action781]

I think people are blowing this out of proportion.  Any ref that could have been assigned to this game is bound to have had some sort of beef with some celtics players or staff over the longevity of their veteran careers.  Eddie Rush is the only ref I'd really hate to see in any playoff game and we don't have him, so I'm happy.  Delaney is probably second, but whatever.  Like I said, this is being blown out of proportion.

[Spilling Green Dye]

Oh no.. these really are the worst 3 we can get.

The silver lining though is that if we can pull this game out, we should have more normal refs for game 4.

[Drucci]

Ridiculous. Don't know if this will influence the outcome (hoping it won't but I'm not confident) but whether you believe in NBA conspiracy theories or not, it's pretty clear that the NBA LOVES to put such conspiracies when assigning this kind of crew for this kind of games...

[xmuscularghandix]

Ray needs to come off screens hard, KG has to stop pump faking, and Paul needs attack the rim... if all that can happen Boston still has a chance.

[GrandTheftRondo]

I really don't care if Pat Riley was assigned to be a referee tonight. There are NO excuses. Just play the [dang] game and win.

[JT11]

I really don't care if Pat Riley was assigned to be a referee tonight. There are NO excuses. Just play the [dang] game and win.

Agree.

[GreenFaith1819]

Certainly cause for concern, but I just pray they make the right calls.

A fairly reffed, unbiased game means Boston takes game 3 tonight.

[CelticG1]

The thing is that since they are under a microscope a bit as far as their history with this Celtics team, they will probably end up trying to be as unbiased as possible.

Everyone knows their history and if they ref a very unfavorable game towards the Celtics it will make them look real, real bad.

Kind of like that ref (forget which one) that the Mav's had never won with in a playoff game or something. And what do you know they ended up winning that game against the Blazers this year

[FLCeltsFan]

Here's the official report from the game thread for more info on these 3 refs.  In fairness, Javie and Riley have had a run in as well (see below).  With the incompetence, bias and agendas of the NBA referee corps it's hard to find any refs that haven't either screwed the Celtics over at one time or another.  Tim Donaghy said on his podcast that the Celtics probably don't want Javie as a ref because he least likely to be influenced by the home crowd. 

Official Report
Steve Javie
Playoff Games: 5 (all as lead)
Home Team win % in playoffs: 80%
Fouls called per game: 36.6
Percent of calls on Home Team:44 %
Technical fouls called per game: 2.6
Steve Javie has been officiating games since the 1986-87 season and has officiated over 1,300+ regular season games, 190+ play-off games, and 18 NBA Finals games. He had refereed in the Finals every year since 1995 up until last year when he missed the playoffs with a knee injury. He is one of the more respected referees in the league by most fans but he is not without controversy. He was fined for telling Pat Riley, when he was the coach of the Heat,  “It‘s giving us absolute delight to watch you and your team die.” He also isn't very well liked in Portland after tossing their broadcaster, Mike Rice, from a game. He was also once threatened by Sheed when he played in Portland. Javie's career was in jeopardy when he missed last year's playoffs with knee problems. He joins players like Wally Sczcerbiak, Jermaine O'Neal, Kobe Bryant and Brandon Roy who have knees that are reportedly bone on bone. The Celtics are 4-2 this season. One of the losses was in Phoenix where Javie called 2 technical fouls on Doc and tossed him and then called 2 on KG and tossed him as well as one each on Perk and Nate. No T's were called on the Suns although some were warranted. The 6 free throws and ejections ended a run by the Celtics and sealed the loss for them. Here is Doc's side of that ejection:

    "He actually came into our huddle. We were standing there, he came up to us. I'll tell you exactly what was said. He said, 'You guys are complaining way too much.' And I said, 'Well, let's make the right calls.' And his answer back was, 'I'll make a call for you.' And that's how I got the tech... I didn't have any choice words for him. I didn't say a word. I didn't even swear then. You know what I said? 'It's about the game. It's not about one individual.' That's all I said, over and over again."

The Celtics are 7-3 in their last 10 with Javie calling the games.  The Heat are also 7-3 in their last 10 with Javie. Javie's home W/L record is 34-20 this season.

Bob Delaney
Playoff Games: 5 (4 as lead, 1 as crew)
Home Team win % in playoffs: 50% as  lead, 0% as crew
Fouls called per game: 46.3 as lead, 29 as crew
Percent of calls on Home Team: 44.8% as lead, 41.4% as crew
Technical fouls called per game: 1.5 as lead, 3.0 as crew
Delaney has officiated over 1,300 regular season games, 120+ play-off games and 7 NBA Finals games. Delaney was formerly a police officer. He worked under cover in an investigation of New Jersey organized crime and helped to bring a portion of the mob in that state down. Delaney has announced that this will be his final season as a ref as he plans to work on a movie about his experiences working under cover.   While serving as a police officer, Delaney was also a high school basketball referee in New Jersey from 1972 to 1982 and later officiated in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) for four years before being selected by scouts to officiate in the NBA, beginning in 1987. The Celtics are 4-6 in their last 10 games with Delaney officiating and are 2-5  this season. The Heat are 6-1 this season and 8-2 with Delaney in their last 10 games. If you recall, it was Bob Delaney that Shaq was fined for calling out after the Celtics Christmas Day loss in Orlando. He was also terrible in the Denver game ignoring many Denver fouls including a flagrant by KMart on KG that should have been called. The Nuggets shot 23 free throws to just 15 for the Celtics. His home W/L record this season is 43-26

Bill Kennedy
Playoff Games: 6 (all as crew)
Home Team win % in playoffs: 100%
Fouls called per game: 42.3
Percent of calls on Home Team: 49.6%
Technical fouls called per game: 1.7
Celtics fans will remember Kennedy's run in with Doc Rivers that resulted in both of them being fined. Yes, David Stern fined one of his precious refs and certainly, Kennedy hasn't forgotten.   Here is how Doc described the incident:

    "[Kennedy] stood there and goaded me and goaded me and goaded me and stared at me," Rivers said. "Look at the film. I actually walked away. He asked me, 'Where do you want the ball?' And I said, 'Ask them,' talking about our players. That's my right to say that, and I walked away. He stood there and stared me down and stared me down and goaded me until I turned around and said, 'What?' That's when I got thrown out of the game."

Doc was fined for criticizing a referee, but since the league fined Kennedy, they as much as admitted that Doc's criticism was deserved. Go figure. According to Tim Donaghy, Bill Kennedy is gay and his beef with Doc stems from Doc questioning his sexual orientation.  The Celtics are 3-1 this season and 6-4 over their last 10 games with Kennedy on the court.   The Heat are 4-1 this season and 8-2 over their last 10 games with Kennedy calling the games.   His home W/L record this season is 53-24

[screwedupmaniac]

Hey guys, what if this is Stern's idea of reverse psychology, and it's his way of making the refs look clean and unbiased? Let me explain.

These guys have bad reputations with the C's and biased officiating...let's say that Stern wants to prove to the critics that they are wrong about the biased officiating by putting these three refs on this game and making sure that more calls go the C's way than the Heat's way?

I know it's crazy, but so is the notion that "Stern and his minions" are intentionally attempting to screw us over. Yeah, the league wants to screw over the C's and Lakers, their cash cows in the league. Makes perfect sense