The ABC announcers and the Refs

[incoherent]

Will be interesting to see if the Refs call a more fair game on Tuesday after reviewing some tape and hearing the announcers blatantly call them out for giving Lebron a free pass.

Dear NBA: Lebron does not need a free pass

[GC003332]

All the Celts can do is send the league the calls that they feel were missed, stay aggressive, when the series switches to Boston for games 3 & 4 attack and force the refs to make calls against them, if they don't call them just play through it and tough it out for the full 48.
If they start looking for the cop out of not getting the calls that is excuse talk right there.
As far the Van Gundy saying he wants to see Lebron on the court he did qualify it by saying he wouldn't if was coaching though.
Those guys are pretty juiced in, Van Gundy would have to be to say some of the stuff he does ha ha.
Stan not so much

[apc]

Thats why I was hoping we will play the Hawks, they have All-stars but not as flashy as the Cavs.

[Celtics4ever]

Dear NBA: Lebron does not need a free pass

he never has, but they have always padded his stats

[Moranis]

a foul in basketball is like holding in football.  It could be called on virtually every possession in every game. 

I thought the calls were fine yesterday.  I don't want to watch a game where the refs are constantly calling the ticky tack fouls.  I like some flow and thought it was fine yesterday.

[mef730]

I thought the officiating in the first half was pretty bad.  I thought it was much better in the second half.

They outscored us by eight in the first half and five in the second half.  As much as I would like to believe that the refs made a big difference, in the end, the result would have been the same.  I felt like they were toying with us a bit-let us get close and the turn it back up.

Mike

[incoherent]

There was one play in the 3rd quarter... Celtics had great defense shot clock winding down Lebron throws a very hard pass off of Crowders leg and out of bounds.

The refs reset the clock to 14 seconds... the announcers correctly say the clock shouldnt have been reset because it was not a kick ball and the cavs go on to score a 3 pointer. 

All this small stuff adds up, and a win by 13 points.. should probably only be by 4-5, which would have actually giving us a chance in the final 2-3 minutes of the game.  Big difference.

[Roy H.]

Van Gundy basically said that fans want to see the stars play, and on 50/50 calls, the best players should get the benefit of the doubt.

Breen disagreed.  I agree with Breen, but at the same time, I'm sure that I'd be taking JVG's side if KG had picked up his 6th foul on a moving screen in the 4th quarter of a close game, you know? 

[Kuberski33]

I thought the officiating in the first half was pretty bad.  I thought it was much better in the second half.

They outscored us by eight in the first half and five in the second half.  As much as I would like to believe that the refs made a big difference, in the end, the result would have been the same.  I felt like they were toying with us a bit-let us get close and the turn it back up.

Mike

This coincided with the Celtics defense picking up.  And this was a point I made in another thread - the Celtics ability to defend the Cavs is going to be largely dependent on how the games get called.  Not that the officiating was the difference yesterday because it wasn't.

What I think happened was the refs realized at half time that they were blowing the whistle too often.

[incoherent]

Van Gundy basically said that fans want to see the stars play, and on 50/50 calls, the best players should get the benefit of the doubt.

Breen disagreed.  I agree with Breen, but at the same time, I'm sure that I'd be taking JVG's side if KG had picked up his 6th foul on a moving screen in the 4th quarter of a close game, you know? 

KG getting his 6th in the 4th on a moving screen is a far cry from Lebron getting his 2nd in the 1st on a blatant hack/steal that leads to a bucket.

I dont want to see players getting taken out of games for moving screens. But if you rake someone's arm (twice in one play) and go on to score a bucket and the refs let you, in the 1st quarter... that's going to have an effect on the whole game.

[TheTruthFot18]

Halfway into the 2nd quarter the announcers had an interesting back and fourth.

Basically, about 3 replays indicated Lebron getting away with blatant fouls.. which prompted this discussion..

I think it was Mike Breen: "Lebron could easily have 3-4 fouls at this point"  instead he only had 1 or maybe 2.

Van Gundy responds with something like "Arent you associated with the NBA? I dont want to see Lebron sitting!"

Does anyone else have a problem with this?  Van Gundy is a very candid person, and he is right.. him, and the ABC crew, are 100% in bed with the NBA, and they all benefit from Lebron staying on the court.  He is literally confirming the conspiracy is 100% real.. He said it himself when he questioned Breen who dared to openly say Lebron should have more fouls called on him.

Did we all think Lebron wouldnt get fouls called on him, yes.. we all did. But it sucks to see it actually happening.  He's getting away with blatant hacks and goal tends. We are conditioned by the NBA to believe its OK that superstars get all the calls. 

Just so happens our team has zero all-stars and will not benefit from this unwritten rule.

I really hope to see a more fairly officiated game. The Cavs have some amazing all-star talent.... they simply do not need the refs help. Lets see some fair games, if we get beat by the Cavs thats fine, but I dont want to get destroyed by them because the refs are helping them as much as they did today.

And I would like to see some more attention being put on the refs to call the game more fairly.

I noticed this as well. I even joked to my wife that they would likely be fined for 1. saying James is not getting fouls called on him and 2. speaking highly of a team like the Celtics when this series was really about one thing or one person.

I do not like watching nationally televised games since the commentary is so bland and usually over generous to the the Lebrons and Kobes. However I enjoyed hearing their displeasure with the officiating as well as a good amount of praise for the Celtics. 

[MBunge]

What I think happened was the refs realized at half time that they were blowing the whistle too often.

On the one hand, it's good that NBA refs often try and "fix" things when they realize their calls are a little out of line.  How many times do you see huge free throw disparities in a first half even out in the 2nd?

On the other hand, it's pretty ridiculous that NBA refs commonly need to "fix" things like that.  The infamous "make up call" doesn't really seem to exist in other sports like it does in the NBA.

Mike

[Chris22]

Lebron takes seven steps and is not touched.....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGsl36MnOqY

[Roy H.]

Van Gundy basically said that fans want to see the stars play, and on 50/50 calls, the best players should get the benefit of the doubt.

Breen disagreed.  I agree with Breen, but at the same time, I'm sure that I'd be taking JVG's side if KG had picked up his 6th foul on a moving screen in the 4th quarter of a close game, you know? 

KG getting his 6th in the 4th on a moving screen is a far cry from Lebron getting his 2nd in the 1st on a blatant hack/steal that leads to a bucket.

I dont want to see players getting taken out of games for moving screens. But if you rake someone's arm (twice in one play) and go on to score a bucket and the refs let you, in the 1st quarter... that's going to have an effect on the whole game.

They're two sides of the same coin, though, aren't they?  They're making calls based on not wanting to send a player to the bench, which was basically JVG's point.  It's just a matter of degrees regarding where you draw that line.

[Celtics18]