Finally - Its Go Time!

[Scrapper1]

Originally Posted by NYBLUE

Game 4 Officials:
Joe Derosa, Steve Javie, Tom Washington

I thought they did a great job. And what do you know? Only one travel call missed: Garnett lifting his pivot foot before starting his dribble at the 3-point line.

And for the guys who say that they don't even know what a foul is in the NBA anymore, this is a game that they should've watched. I thought the refs did a great job of calling contact (even some small stuff) that mattered and letting go the small stuff that didn't matter. Only two calls that I thought were obviously bad. One was when Kobe stripped KG, and obviously pulled his left arm off the ball to get the ball away from him; and there was no call. The other was a ticky-tack foul called against the Lakers on a Ray Allen drive-and-pass to the basket. The contact was minimal and Allen got the pass away easily. Should've been no-called.

There was a borderline block/charge near the basket where a block was called against Posey, but it's possible that he was still moving into the dribbler's path after the ball was gathered. Very next possession, Kobe got called for a block on a very similar block/charge.

I honestly thought the game was extremely well-officiated.

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by Scrapper1

There was a borderline block/charge near the basket where a block was called against Posey, but it's possible that he was still moving into the dribbler's path after the ball was gathered. Very next possession, Kobe got called for a block on a very similar block/charge.

Posey foot was in the restricted area. Bryant foot was also in the restricted plus Kobe was late getting to the spot. Both were good calls.

[Scrapper1]

Originally Posted by BadNewsRef

Posey foot was in the restricted area. Bryant foot was also in the restricted plus Kobe was late getting to the spot. Both were good calls.

I'm pretty sure that Posey was not in the restricted area. They showed a replay and I remember thinking it was not a factor. Additionally, the calling official did not point to the semi-circle to indicate the reason for the foul. I could be wrong, obviously, but I clearly remember thinking it wasn't an RA call. On Kobe's foul (very next possession, I think), the official did point to the floor, but it was irrelevant since Kobe was late to the spot, as you said.

Aside from me possibly (probably) being wrong about the Posey foul, do you agree with me about the overall quality of the officiating?

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by Scrapper1

I'm pretty sure that Posey was not in the restricted area. They showed a replay and I remember thinking it was not a factor. Additionally, the calling official did not point to the semi-circle to indicate the reason for the foul. I could be wrong, obviously, but I clearly remember thinking it wasn't an RA call. On Kobe's foul (very next possession, I think), the official did point to the floor, but it was irrelevant since Kobe was late to the spot, as you said.

Aside from me possibly (probably) being wrong about the Posey foul, do you agree with me about the overall quality of the officiating?

I only watched about 50% off-and-on but what I did see seemed well officiated (as if my opinion counts).

I thought I saw a replay with Posey's foot on the restricted arc but I was half-asleep at the time.

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally Posted by Scrapper1

And for the guys who say that they don't even know what a foul is in the NBA anymore, this is a game that they should've watched.

I'll pass that along to Mike Wilbon of the Washington Post and Rick Telander of the Chicago Sun. Those guys are just two examples of the many columnists that have written lately that they personally don't know what a foul is in the NBA anymore. Their exact words, Skippy. It's a fairly common, shared observation by long-time NBA observers; it ain't just coming from the haters. If you don't believe me, I'll take the time and go back and link up a few columns.

And, no, I didn't watch the game either. I had sumthin' much better to do. I was lining up all the socks in my drawer alphabetically.

Edited to add:
1) Michael Wilbon- "The larger part here is that nobody has ever known what is and what isn't a foul in professional basketball" AND "You can't get consensus from people who have been in and around the game for 100 years."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...052803351.html

2) Rick Telander- I personally have no idea what an actual foul is in the NBA these days."
http://www.chicagosuntimes.com/sport...rick11.article

They ain't the only ones sharing this particular sentiment.

[Scrapper1]

Originally Posted by Jurassic Referee

I'll pass that along to Mike Wilbon of the Washington Post and Rick Telander of the Chicago Sun.

I'm not trying to change anybody's mind about the general state of NBA officiating. I only meant that this particular game was an example of what you would probably LIKE the officiating to be all the time. IOW, even if you thought NBA officiating was generally terrible, you could've enjoyed last night's officiating. That's all I meant.

BTW, as much I like PTI, I will never completely forgive Wilbon for saying that college officials are "too stupid" (direct quote) to know how to officiate big men in big games. (He was talking about the NCAA championship game with Greg Oden.)

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by Scrapper1

BTW, as much I like PTI, I will never completely forgive Wilbon for saying that college officials are "too stupid" (direct quote) to know how to officiate big men in big games. (He was talking about the NCAA championship game with Greg Oden.)

Agreed. I like Wilbon but I have heard him (and Korheiser) make some idiotic comments about officiating.

[JugglingReferee]

Last night's game was well officiated, imho. But there was that missed call against Kobe, which lead to the Boston HC getting T'd.

Scrapper, as for Wilbon, imagine if he were to be thrown to wolves and officiate a men's D1 pre-season game; I think he'd change his mind quite quickly. I like PTI too, but comments like the one he made are worthless.

Looks like it is the Celtics in 5.

[Scrapper1]

Originally Posted by JugglingReferee

Last night's game was well officiated, imho. But there was that missed call against Kobe, which lead to the Boston HC getting T'd.

The T was well-earned, tho, don't you think?

[Bad Zebra]

Originally Posted by Scrapper1

The T was well-earned, tho, don't you think?

I don't think so. I think he could have given Doc a little leeway seeing he had a pretty good gripe about the non-call. Not a lot mind you...just a little.

[JugglingReferee]

Originally Posted by Scrapper1

The T was well-earned, tho, don't you think?

I didn't understand it. Does the NBA have any sort of policy about ABS? Or maybe the NBA has a policy of zero-tolerance about certain things being said.

I'm not very good at reading lips, so on the replay I still couldn't determine what was said by Rivers.

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally Posted by Scrapper1

I only meant that this particular game was an example of what you would probably LIKE the officiating to be all the time. IOW, even if you thought NBA officiating was generally terrible, you could've enjoyed last night's officiating. That's all I meant.

BTW, as much I like PTI, I will never completely forgive Wilbon for saying that college officials are "too stupid" (direct quote) to know how to officiate big men in big games. (He was talking about the NCAA championship game with Greg Oden.)

I really can't argue your point because I never saw any of last night's game. And since you've never lied to me before.....

I will say that as a general comment on Wilbon and most commentators.....it's easy as hell for me to cherry-pick comments from some of 'em that might agree with some of my own personal beliefs...but....it's also usually just as easy to find comments from the same or other commentators that are completely antithetical to the same or maybe some other of my beliefs. You gave a good example above. It goes back to the old "opinions are like azzholes" analogy, I guess, which is probably apt in this discussion. And ultimately, who's to say who's opinion is right or wrong?

All I can really say for sure is how I feel. And I personally don't have a clue what actually constitutes a foul in the NBA today.

[Bad Zebra]

Originally Posted by Scrapper1

..One was when Kobe stripped KG, and obviously pulled his left arm off the ball to get the ball away from him; and there was no call...

..and Javie promptly whacked Doc Rivers for protesting the lack of a call. Seemed like an odd time to get overly sensitive (Javie, I mean). That sequence is a good example of why I can't watch this game anymore.