[WideRight05]

Final.

Rondo with an insane performance with 44 points, 8 rebounds, and 10 assists for the Celtics. Pierce fouled out late in the game and Rondo stepped it up, but it wasn't enough.

Call me crazy, but I really think the Heat play better without Bosh.

[Spud6]

^I agree with you in some cases. Because it makes Wade step up big time, so far.

[Wildcatk23]

Lol ! Is all I have to say. I feel sorry for rondo. Getting smacked in the face by a superstar that results in a fast break dunk on the other end. Sad to see. Stern had his way tonight. His team got the first pick in the draft and his golden boy looked like he had a great. iChat shooting 24 free throws

[RunItUpTheGut]

Rondo=Best PG in the game.

Im telling you guys, ive been saying it all along, Rondo may be the best player in the game. Put him on the Lakers, Heat, or Spurs and those teams could win it easily.

I really hope Boston can turn it around.

[Patch]

Yeah, James shoots nearly as many free throws as the whole Boston team by himself. And has only two fouls called on him in nearly 48 minutes of playing time. So obvious that Stern wants the Heat in the finals.

[zaga_fan]

blah blah freakin' blah

[WideRight05]

RIUTG - I totally agree about Rondo. You could make a great argument for him with that, especially with how he has stepped it up big when Pierce has fouled out (Tonight, and in game 7 against Philly).

Zaga Fan - I know you're an official and I don't know if you saw the game or not, but if you see the calls the people above are referring to you would probably agree. I know you referee and are quick to defend the refs, but a clear slap (unintentional) to Rondo's face by Wade on a layup attempt in overtime was not called.

[ekff]

Sweep is coming.... Oh yeah Lebron led a small 4th quarter come back..

[Wildcatk23]

Sweep is coming.... Oh yeah Lebron led a small 4th quarter come back..

Was that before or after his 2 missed game winning shots?

[Stardust]

Lebron - Greatest player in the league on the team with the greatest talent ever assembled!

[ekff]

Was that before or after his 2 missed game winning shots?

Before... Because Miami wouldn't have even been in the game if it wasn't for Lebron... Wade was a no show again..

Kobe has been named one of the greatest closers of all-time but he's 7/27 in last second shots in the playoffs.. It happens...

Sorry forgot your a Pacers fan... You have a good reason to be mad at Lebron, because he owned that series..

[Stardust]

Before... Because Miami wouldn't have even been in the game if it wasn't for Lebron... Wade was a no show again..

Kobe has been named one of the greatest closers of all-time but he's 7/27 in last second shots in the playoffs.. It happens...

Sorry forgot your a Pacers fan... You have a good reason to be mad at Lebron, because he owned that series..

Pacers??? WNBA??? Who are the Pacers?:igiveup:

[zaga_fan]

RIUTG - I totally agree about Rondo. You could make a great argument for him with that, especially with how he has stepped it up big when Pierce has fouled out (Tonight, and in game 7 against Philly).

Zaga Fan - I know you're an official and I don't know if you saw the game or not, but if you see the calls the people above are referring to you would probably agree. I know you referee and are quick to defend the refs, but a clear slap (unintentional) to Rondo's face by Wade on a layup attempt in overtime was not called.

It was a missed call...
but they were up 15 at one point and this game shouldn't have went into overtime in the first place.

No way that the missed call forced this outcome and there is no way that there weren't a few missed calls in the paint on the other end as well.

99% of missed calls are going to be in the paint. It gets clogged up really quickly and there are a lot of things to look at. Sadly, a players face is one of the last places a ref is going to stare down to make a call.

[Stardust]

Celtics get 3 T's on Monday night and respond by scoring more points in a quarter than they have the entire season. The Celtic's are just OLD and they have no legs in the 4th quarter. There is no longer a "Big 3", It's a BIG ONE! Get rid of the Big Three and bring Rondo in a guy like D-Howard!

[zaga_fan]

Celtics get 3 T's on Monday night and respond by scoring more points in a quarter than they have the entire season. The Celtic's are just OLD and they have no legs in the 4th quarter. There is no longer a "Big 3", It's a BIG ONE! Get rid of the Big Three and bring Rondo in a guy like D-Howard!

The Celtics will look COMPLETELY different next year.
I would hang on to Pierce for a little while, cut your losses with the other 2, and bring in some young help.

[zaga_fan]

They have back-to-back picks in the draft in the first round. If they play their cards right they could be a force next year.

[WideRight05]

It was a missed call...
but they were up 15 at one point and this game shouldn't have went into overtime in the first place.

No way that the missed call forced this outcome and there is no way that there weren't a few missed calls in the paint on the other end as well.

99% of missed calls are going to be in the paint. It gets clogged up really quickly and there are a lot of things to look at. Sadly, a players face is one of the last places a ref is going to stare down to make a call.

I did not say that the missed call forced this outcome. LeBron did his typical choke job and missed a game winning shot, plus two free throws to start the overtime. Wade missed a free throw in overtime. The Celtics had plenty of chances to win and did not convert. Not having Pierce hurt them, and the rest of the team other than Rondo disappeared.

Don't know if you saw it or not, the call was in the paint but it was also evident if you watch it. I know you are quick to defend the refs for whatever reason, but plain and simple a call like this cannot be missed in an NBA game of this magnitude. The game was tied at the time of the missed call.

[Wildcatk23]

Game 2 of the 2012 Eastern Conference Finals is in the books and, once again, the credibility of the NBA is left for dead and all that remains is for fans to draw a chalk outline around the details.

With Game 2 tied in overtime, Rajon Rondo is attempting a layup and gets raked across the face by Dwayne Wade with no call. The Celtics are outshot from the free-throw line, 47-29. LeBron James’ 24 freebies almost singlehandedly eclipses the Celtics' total team attempts. The Celtics are down 2-0, and in both games lopsided officiating is a major story line.

I saw the expected rage on Twitter last night and heard it on the radio this morning, but at this point, I have to ask NBA and Celtics fans a serious question: Are you really still surprised? Honestly, are you shocked and outraged when NBA game officials commit atrocity after atrocity? It’s not like this is a new story. It’s something that you can see coming a mile away. And, in fact, it could have been worse, much worse.


The fact of the matter is that the NBA is now nothing more than a sports version of a formulaic 1980s slasher movie. During the postseason, “evil” referees leap from the shadows and use free-throw discrepancies and pivotal calls to swing games in favor of the team that has the superstar(s) and makes the NBA more profitable. Last night, your Celtics just happen to have been the coeds who went skinny dipping at midnight. If James Capers and Kenny Mauer were wearing hockey masks and dropping some terrible one-liners while calling fouls, I would have at least laughed a couple of times.

And just like the local authorities in those movies, any mention of these atrocities to sports reporters or analysts is met with disbelief and disdain until it’s too late. Even after Tim Donaghy was exposed as an official who manipulated scores for gambling purposes, we were still told that there is no way the league could be fixing games. “The NBA has biased/dirty referees? You must be crazy. Those calls didn’t cost (insert screwed team here) them the game. Tim Donaghy acted alone!” When the FBI was investigating the NBA after the Donaghy scandal, they asked former ref Hue Hollins more questions about Dick Bavetta than they did about Donaghy. But there is nothing to see here, right ESPN?

The fans of the Sacramento Kings know better, and so should you. Today is the 10-year anniversary of Game 6 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals. If the first two games of this Eastern Conference Finals were murder to the NBA’s credibility, then that Kings/Lakers game was the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The Kings were on their way to vanquishing the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers. But, as Tim Donaghy alleged, Dick Bavetta -- who made a career out of being David Stern’s go-to company man -- decided that for the good of the NBA, the series would go to a Game 7. So Bavetta, Bob Delaney and Ted Bernhardt turned in the single most embarrassing, if not fraudulent, display of officiating since the gold-medal basketball game of the 1972 Olympics. The officials called phantom foul after phantom foul on the Kings, fouling out both low-post players Scott Pollard and Vlade Divac. Mike Bibby’s face was given a flagrant for slamming itself into Kobe Bryant’s elbow. Forget home-court advantage; in the fourth quarter on the road, the Lakers shot 27 free throws to the Kings' 9. When the final whistle blew, the Kings and their fans were blatantly and obviously robbed of a rightful trip to the Finals and most likely, their first NBA title.

That game not only changed the course of that NBA season, it changed the course of the NBA itself. Without that title, maybe Kobe and Shaq feud and get been split up before 2004. Maybe the Lakers stick with Shaq. Maybe Kobe manages to force that rumored deal to Chicago. Maybe the infamous Pau Gasol “deal” never happens. In my opinion, all that we as fans can say for certain is that the Kings were robbed of a potential NBA title and almost everything since then has been a fraud perpetrated on the people who follow the league.

So instead of being incredulous about what David Stern and the NBA did to your team last night, be thankful. Be thankful your team won the majority of its titles before Stern got his grubby little hands on the league. Be thankful that when the Celtics faced the Lakers in the 2008 NBA Finals, all the Donaghy allegations were blowing up and the tremendous scrutiny that followed forced the refs to call Game 6 of the Finals straight and Celtics were allowed to obliterate the Lakers in the single biggest title-clinching blowout in NBA history. Be thankful that when the events of last night played out, you at least knew it was coming.

But most of all, be thankful that you were never a Sacramento Kings fan.


http://www.csnne.com/basketball-boston-c...edID=10424

[WideRight05]

^ Not the greatest quality, but this shows the Kings/Lakers game 6 from 2002 and some of the calls made or not made.

[Wildcatk23]

Believe me wide right I have seen it 100 times.

[TheChosen one]

Lebron is my guy. Some pressure he brought on himself. That said How many times have we seen stat lines from Lebron 40+ 10+ 10+ and no one considers his play to be the "best a player can play" or such a big deal. Doesn't seem fair to me as most of his non game tv time involves scrutiny.

[zaga_fan]

I did not say that the missed call forced this outcome. LeBron did his typical choke job and missed a game winning shot, plus two free throws to start the overtime. Wade missed a free throw in overtime. The Celtics had plenty of chances to win and did not convert. Not having Pierce hurt them, and the rest of the team other than Rondo disappeared.

Don't know if you saw it or not, the call was in the paint but it was also evident if you watch it. I know you are quick to defend the refs for whatever reason, but plain and simple a call like this cannot be missed in an NBA game of this magnitude. The game was tied at the time of the missed call.

I saw it...and I am quick to defend refs - but mostly because everyone else is quickly to call them out.

I watched the entire game.
Here is a picture of the foul as it happened.
Although it is obvious from the 20 camera angles we can see it at....
the ref on the baseline looks like his vision is completely obstructed because there are several players between him and the ball.
It was his call to make and he couldn't have seen it.

[Image:

]

[WideRight05]

I saw it...and I am quick to defend refs - but mostly because everyone else is quickly to call them out.

I watched the entire game.
Here is a picture of the foul as it happened.
Although it is obvious from the 20 camera angles we can see it at....
the ref on the baseline looks like his vision is completely obstructed because there are several players between him and the ball.
It was his call to make and he couldn't have seen it.

I will admit that I am one that is fairly quick to call the referees out. Not so much in high school or below unless it's a major, major missed call. However, this is the NBA and these referees should be the best of the best. Things like this happen too often in NBA games and calls are highly inconsistent, especially as of late.

Watch this video of the incident. I feel it provides a more accurate angle in the replay. You will see that the referee standing along the side has a pretty solid angle on it, I don't know how he missed it.



And Zaga, take note that I'm not trying to claim the refs are cheating with this. I am just saying that this was a big call that was missed, and something needs to be done to prevent it from happening again.

[WideRight05]

I think also this thread has turned into one that needs your quote, Zaga.

[Stardust]

I saw it...and I am quick to defend refs - but mostly because everyone else is quickly to call them out.

I watched the entire game.
Here is a picture of the foul as it happened.
Although it is obvious from the 20 camera angles we can see it at....
the ref on the baseline looks like his vision is completely obstructed because there are several players between him and the ball.
It was his call to make and he couldn't have seen it.

[Image:

]

Why even argue such a dumb play with him. How about calling out the bunny shot that Garnett missed that would have made this shot meaningless. How about Pierces inability to hit a FT? You could pulled into his troll comments in every game about refs, don't fall prey.....:biggrin:

[Wildcatk23]

^ or we could take away half of James free throws and we wouldn't have seen overtime.

[Stardust]

^ In order to take away half of the Free Throws from Lebron, we would have to bitch about the Refs not calling fouls on the blatant mugging that Garnett was doing to him. I'm glad the players are professionals and don't bitch and whine after every single game complaining about how the REFS cost them every loss on their schedule. I guess they leave that to those who don't know any better......

[WideRight05]

Why even argue such a dumb play with him. How about calling out the bunny shot that Garnett missed that would have made this shot meaningless. How about Pierces inability to hit a FT? You could pulled into his troll comments in every game about refs, don't fall prey.....:biggrin:

100 times more reasonable than calling the Miami Heat the best team ever assembled.

[Wildcatk23]

^ Not the greatest quality, but this shows the Kings/Lakers game 6 from 2002 and some of the calls made or not made.

^ In order to take away half of the Free Throws from Lebron, we would have to bitch about the Refs not calling fouls on the blatant mugging that Garnett was doing to him. I'm glad the players are professionals and don't bitch and whine after every single game complaining about how the REFS cost them every loss on their schedule. I guess they leave that to those who don't know any better......

I'm sure they would. But don't like being punished by dictator stern.

[Wildcatk23]

Lol i went back and watched the video and there was 2 refs that had a 100% correct view at the play.