Guess what ref was a part of the April 11th Celts-Hawks game?

[wahz]

How anyone can watch a ton of NBA games and not come away believing the refs are corrupt is beyond me. I truly believe they go beyond incompetent and some calls are caused by something that the NBA is driving or they are betting on games.

Having said that, if I am a Celtic player and want to win a title, I know this already and know I can't afford to let down because I am quite possibly battling the refs too.

So imho Mark Davis may well be a felonious dude as Sheed would say but its all the more reason you don't sleepwalk through the 1st quarter because you already know they will bite you later if they have the chance

[KGs Knee]

I loathe NBA officials.  They are the worst of any professional sport.  If there was a way to conduct the game without them, I would be 100% in favor of it.

Unfortunately we're stuck witht the idiots we got.  Personally, I think they need to be held to a higher standard of quality of officiating.  They need to face more strict reprecussions for their mistakes.  Guys like Davis should be fired.  Make way for the next guy.  If they screw up fire them too.

I have no sympathy for officials, and in fact despise their existence.

[CelticG1]

Why does it matter?  So what if Marc Davis is a bad official (he is terrible).  That does not give Rondo the right to make contact with him. 

?? Not reading the thread, nice.

Its more about the pattern of strange calls in crucial moments of close games against the same team 3 weeks a part.

After everyone going ape crap over that regular season game 3and weeks later we see a couple bizarrely similar bad calls at the end of this game.

You can say he's just a bad official but obviously refs dislike players and teams so its not that crazy to bring this up

[drogbagarnett]

I just watched the highlights of that OT game vs Hawks at the garden where the refs tried to blatantly rob us!! Even Hawks fans where incredule on some of the calls that when their way at the end of a tight game... And watching the replay, guess who call that crazy offensive foul on Pierce with 9 sec left..?
Mark Davis!!
My case is close!!

[CelticHooligan3]

Why does it matter?  So what if Marc Davis is a bad official (he is terrible).  That does not give Rondo the right to make contact with him. 

Your absolutley right. But i'd have to add that there needs to be some sort of supplimental discipline publically for the type of atrocious calls that were made by davis. The NBA isn't transparent enough in my eyes on this issue.

The last ref i can ever remember being disciplined in a public forumn was Joey Crawford for the tim duncan incident. I just think they need to be held accountable far more in a way that the fans understand and see where they were coming from on these horrible calls because they look like there's an agenda of some sort.

I agree, but it will never happen publically.  Beyond just the fact that the NBA doesn't seem interested in publically discussing how they deal with refs, I am pretty sure they are also forbidden to, based on the collective bargaining agreement with the refs.

As far as being transparent though, I really with the NBA would take a page from the NHL's book when it comes to discipline.  No one does it better than them.  Whenever someone is disciplined in the NHL, Brendan Shanahan makes a detailed video directed at their fans, explaining exactly why he made the decision he did, including video evidence of the incident, as well as video of any previous incidents which played a role in the decision.

Clearly the NHL recognizes that the fans are the ones paying the bills, and they are working hard to reach out to them, and I wish the NBA (and NFL) would follow their lead.

Well said TP. I admire the approach the NHL has taken and just wish the NBA would do the same. The fact they dont just stinks of Sterns arrogance.

To be fair to Stern though, the fans haven't demanded it.  The NHL started doing it, because they need to make the most of every fan they have.  But the NBA is going strong, and while people whine about the refs, it doesn't show on the bottom line. 

So, I can't blame Stern for deciding the stay the course until there is even a shred of evidence that it is worth changing things.

That's an interesting point. I can certainly see how the bottom line is the major factor here. But with the way the NBA is growing among casual and overseas fans i dont see it ever reaching the point where Stern has to pander to the die hards like many of us on this site. Simply put he doesnt need to. I just dont see it happening because the game is gaining popularity in leaps and bounds.

In a sense that's unfortunate however because i think the clarity would be beneficail to the sport as a whole. But your right about the fact at the end of the day the only thing that matters in Sterns eyes is the bottom line. Thats his job as commissioner, so in a sense i understand i guess. But i still think the fact the referees are so protected leads to all these conspiracy theories and is my main criticisim of the league. I think there just needs to be some more transparency to some of the calls and actual individual referees.

Personally i beleive Donaghey was not alone. And if theres one theres gotta be more. But i think the league swept the issue under the rug because it would have been a scandal the likes of which we havent seen in professional sports before. It would make the NFL bountygate spygate etc. pale in comparison.

[ACF]

While we can't blame the refs for our own lousy showing in the first half, it's all too common to watch a bad call essentially killing our chances in the final minutes. We still had a chance to win the game at that point. If I recall correctly, the Hawks were up by six points when Davis made the (bad) inbounds call. If we get the ball at that point, we get a chance to get within two buckets. That's a wide open game right there. Instead, the Hawks got the ball and a chance to go up by eight and essentially seal the game. Now, I suspect Rondo was still fuming because of that call and when Davis decided to whistle a foul on what looked like a scramble for a loose ball (in the playoffs, mind you) he just got mad and overreacted. He should've controlled himself but from a competitive standpoint, I can understand why he didn't.

If Rondo gets more than a one game ban, I call shenanigans. Sadly, I wouldn't be too surprised if he gets two games, though.

Actually, after watching the clip again, I could see the score was 78-74 Hawks. If we get that inbounds ball, we have a chance to move to within a single basket. I'd be mad, too.

[droopdog7]

Here's the thing.  I am convinced that the (apparent) bad call the same ref made on the out of bounds play between rondo and smith a couple of plays earlier contributed to rondos reaction.  I am surprised they didn't show the replay but it looked to be out on smith from my angle.

I guess rondo couldn't take both calls.

It was clearly off Smith and the tnt guys played it over and over again after the game. I thought it was pretty blatantly off Smith when I was watching, I was shocked.

Davis immediately said it was Hawks ball without hesitation. He either completely missed it or was just going to give ot to the Hawks anyway. No replay, no looking at other refs, no jump balls. 2 minutes left at a crucial time.

That definitely led to the Rondo situation.

I didn't see the post game show so I am curious about their comments.  Did they attempt to connect that call to what happened next?  Were they unanimous in their opinion that the out of bounds call was not correct?

[wiley]

Here's the thing.  I am convinced that the (apparent) bad call the same ref made on the out of bounds play between rondo and smith a couple of plays earlier contributed to rondos reaction.  I am surprised they didn't show the replay but it looked to be out on smith from my angle.

I guess rondo couldn't take both calls.

It was clearly off Smith and the tnt guys played it over and over again after the game. I thought it was pretty blatantly off Smith when I was watching, I was shocked.

Davis immediately said it was Hawks ball without hesitation. He either completely missed it or was just going to give ot to the Hawks anyway. No replay, no looking at other refs, no jump balls. 2 minutes left at a crucial time.

That definitely led to the Rondo situation.

I didn't see the post game show so I am curious about their comments.  Did they attempt to connect that call to what happened next?  Were they unanimous in their opinion that the out of bounds call was not correct?

NBA refs operate in panic mode these days.  They choose certitude as a default mode to deal with their inability to operate in a gray zone...They are one dimensional refs, no subtlety, no understanding of nuance, no big picture (unless conspiracy to promote ESPN/Stern agenda)....

Zero flexibility, whistle happy reffing.

[CelticG1]

Here's the thing.  I am convinced that the (apparent) bad call the same ref made on the out of bounds play between rondo and smith a couple of plays earlier contributed to rondos reaction.  I am surprised they didn't show the replay but it looked to be out on smith from my angle.

I guess rondo couldn't take both calls.

It was clearly off Smith and the tnt guys played it over and over again after the game. I thought it was pretty blatantly off Smith when I was watching, I was shocked.

Davis immediately said it was Hawks ball without hesitation. He either completely missed it or was just going to give ot to the Hawks anyway. No replay, no looking at other refs, no jump balls. 2 minutes left at a crucial time.

That definitely led to the Rondo situation.

I didn't see the post game show so I am curious about their comments.  Did they attempt to connect that call to what happened next?  Were they unanimous in their opinion that the out of bounds call was not correct?

Yes they were all unanimous in their opinion that it was the wrong call and that is where Rondo started to get heated (you can see Rondo chirping at Davis after the call). They were saying that's what he was upset about. Rondo mentioned that in his post game interview too

[CelticG1]

Im really not someone who complains about officials all the time. I know its tough to officiate and that the refs are just terrible in general, but pointing out crap like this is definitely warranted sometimes and people shouldn't just say "the crappy calls will even out" that basically let's officials call and do whatever they want throughout the game.

Just found out another fun fact about last night. Every 4th quarter foul called on the Celtics was made by Marc Davis. So he's a terrible ref that tends to make terrible calls against us in critical moments. Nice

[CelticHooligan3]

Im really not someone who complains about officials all the time. I know its tough to officiate and that the refs are just terrible in general, but pointing out crap like this is definitely warranted sometimes and people shouldn't just say "the crappy calls will even out" that basically let's officials call and do whatever they want throughout the game.

Just found out another fun fact about last night. Every 4th quarter foul called on the Celtics was made by Marc Davis. So he's a terrible ref that tends to make terrible calls against us in critical moments. Nice

If that statistic is correct about the fourth quarter someone in the league needs to take a look at this game and this particular individual. This is getting ridiculous.

[Celtics4ever]

Sometimes I think wrestling is more fair than NBA refs.

[CelticG1]

Im really not someone who complains about officials all the time. I know its tough to officiate and that the refs are just terrible in general, but pointing out crap like this is definitely warranted sometimes and people shouldn't just say "the crappy calls will even out" that basically let's officials call and do whatever they want throughout the game.

Just found out another fun fact about last night. Every 4th quarter foul called on the Celtics was made by Marc Davis. So he's a terrible ref that tends to make terrible calls against us in critical moments. Nice

If that statistic is correct about the fourth quarter someone in the league needs to take a look at this game and this particular individual. This is getting ridiculous.

That was via Reds Army twitter feed. Apparently it is false, there were a couple late fouls called on Bradley (when the game was eventualyl out of reach.

Check out this KG foul made by Davis in the 4th quarter: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w36VNGEuQ7k&feature=youtu.be

That was KG's 4th foul, remember he fouled out in the previous Marc Davis game. I think Bass's last 2 fouls came in the 4th (from davis) to foul him out

[Celtics4ever]

Davis had money on that game.   NBA where Refs win bets.