21 free throws in the 4th quarter

[swisshh]

The Lakers were driving to the rim all night and had 15-20 more FG attempts than Boston in that 4th quarter, within that, a lot of offensive boards that put a ton of pressure on their D. I don't know how it can be claimed that they didn't attack the rim enough in this game.

Just to be clear, I did not claim that. If anything, I aimed to point out that both teams attacked the rim. LA had about 36% of their shots from outside and Boston 39%. Not a difference equal to the FTA difference.

The refs SHOULD HAVE called the entire game like they did the 4th instead of letting them play death ball for 3 Qtrs. It would have been a much better game if they had done that and no room for the accusation that they swung their style to different poles mid-game. The refs can't or won't find a medium between calling ticky tack weak shh like they did in Gms 1 and 2 and patently refusing to call fouls that would be called 100% of the time in the RS just because it's Gm 7 of the Finals.

The refs should have taken one style the whole series. They did not or chose not to because of some reason. Either they were told and given notes to ref certain ways or they switched on their own.

LA wound up dead last in FTAs and average differential among all 16 playoff teams. At one point before the Finals, they shot 99 fewer than their opps. This ain't the year for FT differential conspiracies unless you wanna start listing the calls that had absolutely no merit. I assure you, it won't meet the standard of 2002 Gm 6 or Wade in 06. Very little Funderburke and Pollard type of juice. If you had gone into the playoffs knowing that, anti-LA fans would've taken it and run. I think Gm 2 of the Finals was the only one out of 23 games in which LA had a gross advantage in officiating, and they had a blown review in that game that sealed it -against- them. I'm actually proud that there was as little controversy for them this year as there was.

Unfortunately, LA's FTA number for the playoffs is skewed by the zone defense in the Phoenix series and makes it hard to judge FTA trends in regards to the Lakers.

The issue is not a conspiracy, but an overall trend of how much the officiating can impact the game. (Never was a conspiracy, just observation without fear) There were two teams in this Finals looking to win via the officials. Both teams knew that either way the game would not be called like a game is called 'normally'. A tightly whistled game helped LA, letting them play helped Boston. Just calling the rules in a sensible manner? Nobody expected that to actually happen and that is an issue. Certain games Boston were helped out, other games it was LA helped out by the refs. At no point were the refs something you did not notice. That is a problem.

 

[Gargamel]

The issue is not a conspiracy, but an overall trend of how much the officiating can impact the game. (Never was a conspiracy, just observation without fear) There were two teams in this Finals looking to win via the officials. Both teams knew that either way the game would not be called like a game is called 'normally'. A tightly whistled game helped LA, letting them play helped Boston. Just calling the rules in a sensible manner? Nobody expected that to actually happen and that is an issue. Certain games Boston were helped out, other games it was LA helped out by the refs. At no point were the refs something you did not notice. That is a problem.

No problem with any of this. The rest of my points were probably borne out of sensitivity to the subject. It seems to me that we're stuck with this dilemma being that we're stuck with the same group of senior officials. Javie was out this year with an injury. DeRosa was out after the fan incident. Bavetta is now retired.

By and large, there are (imo) a lot of of dubious refs in the senior group. Home team refs, extendo refs such as Salvatore, ego hotheads like the Crawfords. I'm reading more and more fans who are changing their tune towards Javie, saying he's one of the best that's left because, if nothing else, he's CONSISTENT with his style, even if he has a hair trigger. In the early 80s, most of the refs seemed to be good enough to stay in the background and even the most notorious hothead (Strom) was almost universally hailed as one of the best refs ever. Strom, Mike Mathis, Tommy Nunez, Jess Kersey, Jake O'Donnell, Wally Rooney... Besides some occasional interpersonal scrapes with various players and their egos, none of those guys are thought of as "fixers", "extenders", "homers", etc like many of the senior officials are today.

That is my own take, there are some fans who think every ref is horrible. I find it amusing that Donaghy wasn't even on anyone's radar as a bad ref before the story broke. It's entirely possible that he was a decent ref at the same time he was betting on games due to the highly subjective nature of even clearly defined rules.

 

[Big Cuz 15]

they were not getting easy buckets. they were effective earlier when they put wallace on the block. i was wondering why they went away from that later in the game.. turns out wallace just ran outta gas. perk was a huge loss for them as they didn't have enough big bodies to contend.

 

[tyrant]

i know this series wasnt as bad as the 2002 series. i.e mike bibbys face fouling kobes elbow. but for the most part this year it was pretty much called down the line. cant blame freethrow shooting. the refs might of leaned in favor of the lakers, but boston clearly helped give this game away. you dont leave derek fisher open for a 3 pointer in the final minutes of a playoff game. someone better check his resume. this is the nba finals, nothing should come easy especially in the 4th quarter. thats when its time to close shop. you clear the register, throw out the bumbs, sweep up, and chain the door behind you. thats what champions do.

 

[Gargamel]

you dont leave derek fisher open for a 3 pointer in the final minutes of a playoff game. someone better check his resume.

I don't think teams realize that his confidence comes out of a very elevated sense of self. They think he's some unassuming guy. He's not, he's stubborn as HELL and is notorious around my parts for not making a peep about any deficiencies in his game, and he's one of the few guys that sees himself as an equal to Kobe in his ownership of the team. He wants 5 mill over 2 yrs as I write this. On the floor, he does whatever he wants to do and neither Phil nor Kobe seem to tell him otherwise. Phil will just sub for him if he's displeased.

When he scored on that driving layup at the end of Gm 3, I bet it was because the 3 defenders who were caught off guard had no idea he had the gall to try it.

 

[Kings4life23]

Not only him but Phil and his gravy training ways bug me as well. I'd like to see this guy, for once, take on a rebuilding team or something more challenging than coaching the best players in the game to a title.

As far as the officiating is concerned, there were horrible calls like there always are but they were evened out throughout the series. No team was being favored over the other. Unfortunately, the Lakers won this series fair and square. I can only hope that Phil and some of these jokers go away next year.

I actually glad there coming back now. Wouldnt it be nice if they got the 1 seed and us the 8th seed and we upset them. I know its wishful thinking but it could happen I just wana see the look on Kobe and Phils faces it would be priceless.

 

[Kings Faithful]

I actually glad there coming back now. Wouldnt it be nice if they got the 1 seed and us the 8th seed and we upset them. I know its wishful thinking but it could happen I just wana see the look on Kobe and Phils faces it would be priceless.

Beating them in a seven game series is probably a pipe dream but I share your sentiments. I'd be happy if we could at least give them hell like Oklahoma City did... that seemed to give them a shot straight to the ego.

 

[Kings4life23]

Beating them in a seven game series is probably a pipe dream but I share your sentiments. I'd be happy if we could at least give them hell like Oklahoma City did... that seemed to give them a shot straight to the ego.

The good thing about are team is we are one of the few teams that can actually contend with there size.

 

[Kings Fan Gerard]

I was hoping the Celts would win. I hate the Lakers with a passion. But man, Celts threw up brick after brick in the 4th like they were trying to build a house.

Also, why am I not surprised about the free throw disparity in the 4th? hmmm