Stephen A. Smith "NBA Needs to Fall Back"

[Fred Roberts]

Thank you Stephen A.

He called it exactly how most of us fans saw it. I hope lots of other media outlets pile on bc that was atrocious and somewhat expected based on what we've 'witnessed' in the past.

[prov1ml34]

I love the fact that SAS came out and grilled this league. Somebody needed to do it and for the the guy who probably hates the Cs more than any other team to do it shows how bad it was last night. TP to you Mr. Smith.

[esel1000]

I love the fact that SAS came out and grilled this league. Somebody needed to do it and for the the guy who probably hates the Cs more than any other team to do it shows how bad it was last night. TP to you Mr. Smith.

Hey hes the best at being a talking head in the business, glad hes the one doing it haha

[BballTim]

I think Stephen A Smith has tea parties with Teddy bears he calls Lebron, D-Wade, Melo, and Kobe, who all constantly tell him that he's super cool and they think he should hangout more.

  Truer words were never typed.

[33-00-32]

Jim Leyland was going off about the 3rd strike call yesterday and he's right. Until the media starts calling the officials out (and I'm not talking about Tommy here) it will just continue to happen. I think you need to see someone like KG go off on them too. Get his wallet out with a check pre-labeled payable to David Stern NBA and then say his piece.

[CoachBo]

The Pietrus call against HGH James was one of those that never, ever gets called against Pierce on the fadeaway, or anyone else for that matter.

It was a bailout call, plain and simple, one of several.

[Celtics4ever]

Some of the calls were dubious at best.   I appluad Stephen A for having the stones to call it.   I would give him a TP if I could.

[33-00-32]

The Pietrus call against HGH James was one of those that never, ever gets called against Pierce on the fadeaway, or anyone else for that matter.

It was a bailout call, plain and simple, one of several.

Agreed, at last three times in the last game they waited for the shot to miss and then blew the whistle, all bailouts.

[guava_wrench]

The Pietrus call against HGH James was one of those that never, ever gets called against Pierce on the fadeaway, or anyone else for that matter.

It was a bailout call, plain and simple, one of several.

Which one? The one where Pietrus clearly swings down on the fadeaway and smacked Lebron on his elbow with the ball still in contact with Lebron's fingers? That was a horrible defensive play. Pierce would not swing down on a play like that. There was a great defensive play Pierce made on a Lebron fade away in the 1st half where Pierce may have made a little contact, but nothing was called because he just raised his hand and jumped out. He didn't swing down. If the ref sees that, he has to call that one.

I wonder if Pietrus was trying to fluster Lebron by swinging his hand past Lebron's face and made contact by mistake. A shame after Pietrus's recovery from biting on the shot fake.

[guava_wrench]

It wasn't just the techs though.  I thought the biggest BS call of the night was the foul on Pietrus, when he played solid D on Lebron, forced a fadeaway shot with on chance of going in as the clock expired.  The ref blew the whistle after the ball went past the hoop.  Pietrus may have put a finger tip on James wrist as he was coming down from the shot, but that was it.

It was a momentum-killing kind of a call when we could least afford it.

If we are going to be hit for those kind of fouls on Lebron, the series is over.

Pietrus bumped him with his body and then reached in and swiped.  Pretty easy call for the official to make when you reach out of front you and swipe your arm and aren't even close to the ball.  It was pretty weak contact, but a very easy call to make and one that will be called all day long.  You should never reach in and swipe.  Ever.

Yeah. I am shocked people object to this one. Pietrus made it so obvious by swiping. Complete brain fart for Pietrus.

Just more evidence for flawed perceptions when emotionally invested in a game.

[thirstyboots18]

I fully agree with Stephen A. Smith in this instance.

In my opinion, the Celtics did not lose to the Miami Heat last night....the refs did not give them a chance to lose. Watching the game it felt like all "chance"  was taken out of the game by the officials and the final results were premeditated and awarded.  Those techs were game changers and were ridiculous.

I am one who usually says..."it evens out, play above it and win in spite of it" ...but I am disgusted.

I wouldn't even mind if Doc took his team off the court in protest (imagine the fine for that) or instructed them to sit down  on the court and watch the heat finish the game.  (I grew up on sitdown strikes, lol.)  Since the owners are Stern's boss, I can't understand why they don't back Cuban in his calls for reform of the league.

[blink]

I think most of us have a problem that the game wasn't called consistently on both sides of the ball.  That is where it is just unacceptable. If Lebron blocks rondo's shot and obviously hits him in the head it isn't a foul.  But if anyone so much as touches d wade or lebron in the act of shooting it isn't a question it is a foul.  Either call it the same both ways, or let them play both ways.

It was absolutely clear last night that a lot of the officiating wasn't consistent on both sides of the ball.  Look at 2 of the T's we got.  Ray turns his back and walks away from the ref and gets t'd up.  Doc mildly asks the ref about the call and gets t'd up.  I saw Haslem be way more demonstrative on a foul call against him, and no T.  Lebron clearly taunting KG, no T.

If you are going to call in one way, call it that way on both sides of the ball.  It isn't the reason why we lost, but if we can't at least be able to turn around and walk away from the ref after a bad call, then something seems fishy.

[ballin]

I think most of us have a problem that the game wasn't called consistently on both sides of the ball.  That is where it is just unacceptable. If Lebron blocks rondo's shot and obviously hits him in the head it isn't a foul.  But if anyone so much as touches d wade or lebron in the act of shooting it isn't a question it is a foul.  Either call it the same both ways, or let them play both ways.

It was absolutely clear last night that a lot of the officiating wasn't consistent on both sides of the ball.  Look at 2 of the T's we got.  Ray turns his back and walks away from the ref and gets t'd up.  Doc mildly asks the ref about the call and gets t'd up.  I saw Haslem be way more demonstrative on a foul call against him, and no T.  Lebron clearly taunting KG, no T.

If you are going to call in one way, call it that way on both sides of the ball.  It isn't the reason why we lost, but if we can't at least be able to turn around and walk away from the ref after a bad call, then something seems fishy.

I totally agree. I'd just like to add that this is the most common problem with officiating... inconsistency.

9 times out of 10 the refs aren't calling phantom fouls or just blatantly making stuff up. Bad officiating almost always is a product of calling it differently on one side of the floor versus the other. The league should recognize that and try to come up with a solution for it.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

I'm not a huge Stephen A. fan, but I have to give him credit for saying this, not only because it needs to be said, but because his boy LeBron is a primary beneficiary of the bad officiating he's criticizing. I would add to what Stephen A. said by saying that it's not only about the Ts that were called on Boston, but also the Ts that WEREN'T called against Miami.

I'd also like to propose that the league expand to include one more team: we could call it Team NBA, and it would comprise all the players who get all the calls—you know, LeBron, DWade, Kobe, Durant. Yeah, it would be a killer team and the rest of the league wouldn't have a chance, but does the rest of the league really have a chance now when any of these guys is involved? And this way, you won't have cities being able to celebrate titles simply because one (or more, in Miami's case) of Stern's pets happens to be on their team. Seriously, if Boston wins a title, it's because the team truly earned it (every team gets a few beneficial calls, but I think those even out). If Miami wins a title, it's not simply because they have the best team and truly earned it, but also because they have two of Stern's "protect at all costs" super-cash-cows. What would the NBA do if LeBron never won a title? That can't happen (in the league's view), it simply can't. And if the NBA has to help one of "its guys" get the ring, then so be it.

[action781]

It wasn't just the techs though.  I thought the biggest BS call of the night was the foul on Pietrus, when he played solid D on Lebron, forced a fadeaway shot with on chance of going in as the clock expired.  The ref blew the whistle after the ball went past the hoop.  Pietrus may have put a finger tip on James wrist as he was coming down from the shot, but that was it.

It was a momentum-killing kind of a call when we could least afford it.

If we are going to be hit for those kind of fouls on Lebron, the series is over.

Pietrus bumped him with his body and then reached in and swiped.  Pretty easy call for the official to make when you reach out of front you and swipe your arm and aren't even close to the ball.  It was pretty weak contact, but a very easy call to make and one that will be called all day long.  You should never reach in and swipe.  Ever.

Pietrus bumped him???  Pietrus jumped up in the air (when Lebron should have jumped into him if he really wanted the foul), then Pietrus came down standing up straight.  THEN Lebron lowered his shoulder into Pietrus creating a "bumping" appearance.  THEN Lebron leaned back into a jumper.  If the "bumping" was the foul, then that is on the floor, not shooting.

And I'm not so sure that he "smacked" lebron on the elbow.  It was a grazing at best.

And those kind of minor grazing contacts (while legally fouls) happen all the time in the NBA.  Sometimes they are seen by the refs and called, while 90% of the time they are not.  When the ref waits literally seconds until the ball has airballed before the whistle is blown, the ref was clearly giving Lebron a bail out there.