2008 NBA Finals: Los Angeles Lakers vs Boston Celtics

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

I doubt some of you watched the game. House over Cassell? Good officiating? LMAO! Sorry, but the officiating heavily favored Boston in that game, and if you couldn't see that, you're blind. How 'bout that backcourt violation on KG? Gasol blocks KG clean and gets called for a foul? Odom's jersey grabbed, no whistle? Garnett travel? Gasol/Kobe hacked over the back numerous times? How many balls did Boston knock out of bounds only to be given back to them? What about that terrible touch foul on Rondo at half court that change the flow of the game?...you name it. I'm afraid to say it, but it looks like Detroit all over again. Hopefully, the officiating crew turns things around in Staples, but this was ridiculous. Now of course, Lakers couldn't make a shot towards the end, so I'm not blaming the refs as a cop-out. But the league is barely 12 months removed from a betting scandal and you'd have to be insane to not see that Boston was allowed to play aggressively, while the Lakers were getting called for ticky-tack fouls left and right. Do you wonder why Kobe wasn't driving it in to the hoop? This wasn't called a foul:




RONDO: 10 free throws on 10 field goal attempts
RAY ALLEN: 8 free throws on 13 field goal attempts
PIERCE: 7 free throws on 10 field goal attempts

KOBE: 6 free throws on 26 field goal attempts



Quite discouraging.

[Antonio_]

Why is Doc Rivers so bad at coaching a basketball team? He's been doing it for a while. He REALLY has to play House instead of Cassell. Everybody knows that.

Cassell played pretty well. I don't know what's House's problem, but Cassell did a great job for them. And he even made what i consider the game-winning shot (a jumpshot with less than 2 minutes to play who emotionally destroyed us).

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

I am as hard on NBA officiating as anyone but I didn't see anything wrong w/ how the game was officiated.

It was just the old-ass Dick Bavetta who made horrible calls. On both sides of the floor. He's just old, he ain't the same one no more. That's why they gave him Game-1 and not Game-5, 6 or 7. He's still the most respected one, but he's done. Anyway we gotta keep it real: Celtics won not because of those calls, but because they played better than us.

Yes, we coulda won had we played better...but you're kidding yourself if you don't think the atrocious officiating in the 2nd half swayed the flow of the game in Boston's favor.

[eS El Duque]

Damn. Kobe just disappeared in the second half.

Kobe did nothing in the 4th! Where was Kobe in 4th?!?!? I think he might've had one basket...dude pooped himself out in the 3rd.


KG is on a way different level than Odom and Gasol.

[Antonio_]

I am as hard on NBA officiating as anyone but I didn't see anything wrong w/ how the game was officiated.

It was just the old-ass Dick Bavetta who made horrible calls. On both sides of the floor. He's just old, he ain't the same one no more. That's why they gave him Game-1 and not Game-5, 6 or 7. He's still the most respected one, but he's done. Anyway we gotta keep it real: Celtics won not because of those calls, but because they played better than us.

Yes, we coulda won had we played better...but you're kidding yourself if you don't think the atrocious officiating in the 2nd half swayed the flow of the game in Boston's favor.

Man we were still up late in the 3rd quarter!! And we were close till 5 minutes in the 4th quarter. Ok, Dick made some disgusting calls in the 2nd quarter. But we still lost the game because of our own.

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

Damn. Kobe just disappeared in the second half.

Kobe did nothing in the 4th! Where was Kobe in 4th?!?!? I think he might've had one basket...dude pooped himself out in the 3rd.


KG is on a way different level than Odom and Gasol.

Kobe was getting hacked left and right...He's known for overcoming bad officiating, but this was just too much. There was even a sequence in the 4th quarter towards the end where Kobe just forced the ref to make a call in protest. He tried driving in on Posey and got hacked but the ref didn't blow the whistle. So instead of pulling up for a jumper, Kobe brought the ball back out to the three point line and tried the same drive again and that time the ref blew the whistle because it was quite obvious. Remember that play?

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

I am as hard on NBA officiating as anyone but I didn't see anything wrong w/ how the game was officiated.

It was just the old-ass Dick Bavetta who made horrible calls. On both sides of the floor. He's just old, he ain't the same one no more. That's why they gave him Game-1 and not Game-5, 6 or 7. He's still the most respected one, but he's done. Anyway we gotta keep it real: Celtics won not because of those calls, but because they played better than us.

Yes, we coulda won had we played better...but you're kidding yourself if you don't think the atrocious officiating in the 2nd half swayed the flow of the game in Boston's favor.

Man we were still up late in the 3rd quarter!! And we were close till 5 minutes in the 4th quarter. Ok, Dick made some disgusting calls in the 2nd quarter. But we still lost the game because of our own.

So you're saying the terrible officiating had nothing to do with our uninspired play? Come on, Antonio. I know you said you know a lot about reffing. I'm sure you were shouting your ass off at some of those horrendous calls harder than I was.

[Antonio_]

I am as hard on NBA officiating as anyone but I didn't see anything wrong w/ how the game was officiated.

It was just the old-ass Dick Bavetta who made horrible calls. On both sides of the floor. He's just old, he ain't the same one no more. That's why they gave him Game-1 and not Game-5, 6 or 7. He's still the most respected one, but he's done. Anyway we gotta keep it real: Celtics won not because of those calls, but because they played better than us.

Yes, we coulda won had we played better...but you're kidding yourself if you don't think the atrocious officiating in the 2nd half swayed the flow of the game in Boston's favor.

Man we were still up late in the 3rd quarter!! And we were close till 5 minutes in the 4th quarter. Ok, Dick made some disgusting calls in the 2nd quarter. But we still lost the game because of our own.

So you're saying the terrible officiating had nothing to do with our uninspired play? Come on, Antonio. I know you said you know a lot about reffing. I'm sure you were shouting your ass off at some of those horrendous calls harder than I was.

Hey, i'm a Laker fan. You don't have to be like that with me. I was as mad as you because of them mistakes. I mean it was a really bad officiating (exp. from Bavetta). But what i'm saying is a different thing: we lost because we shot 5/20 in the 4th Quarter, and the ball wasn't going in, for us. We should start from there to improve, if we wants to win Game-2. And i'm not worried, cause we have Phil and Kobe who i'm sure will fix our offensive problems. Every one of us still remember Game-1 vs the Nuggets, where it looked like they found a way to stop Kobe and our offence. Well... Kobe scored 49 the next game, and we destroyed them. It's still a long long run. Let's focus on our mistakes, not on the refs. Cause we can't improve the refs. But we can improve from our mistakes.

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

^I see what you're saying and I never like to blame the refs...I think ultimately, the Lakers coulda' won the game with or without the refs. But that doesn't mean that the refs didn't contribute to the lack of flow in our offense during the 4th quarter.

[GangstaBoogy]

Its like a wise man once said: "if they're gonna set you up to lose, why try to win". We didn't have a chance last night. Kobe's shot wasn't falling and Boston was getting every fuckin touch call available.

[Antonio_]

^I see what you're saying and I never like to blame the refs...I think ultimately, the Lakers coulda' won the game with or without the refs. But that doesn't mean that the refs didn't contribute to the lack of flow in our offense during the 4th quarter.

They did. But it's like you said: they contribuited. It's not like they were the only reason. They probably wasn't even the main one. That's what i'm saying. It was the refs officiating really bad + Boston wonderful team defence + Pierce hitting them shots + Lakers shooting 5/20 and missing open shots + Gasol being wack under the boards + Cassell hitting that damn late jumper + KG making that dunk + Farmar not being able to play good enought to replace Fisher, etc..

[Stone Cold is Bout It, Bout It]

Frustrating lost.....kobe needs to take better shots...be patient, run the offense...pau needs to get some fucking rebounds...lamar also needs to get some rebounds.......choking away our 5 point halftime lead in the 1st 20 seconds in the 3rd quarter was pathetic.........we didn't take advantage of  PP's injury, we had a 4 point lead when he got hurt and allowed the celtics to go on a 8-0 run......we made some dumb fouls...(some were the refs fault but most of them were our fault).....and the dagger was that hustle play by garnett that led to a sam cassel jumpshot, they got a 5 point lead with that shot....if that would of been a backcourt violation we would of had a chance to cut the deficit to 1 point or tie the game......we need to get a fucking split..

[OG Hack Wilson]

I'm surprised no one mentioned the TERRIBLE officiating...Lakers will NOT win 5-on-8. Shit better be different in LA...That said, I'm not worried at all. We played like complete shit, got terrible calls down the stretch, and still had a chance to win. We're gunna win the next one in Boston, then the next 3 at home...PeACe

want some tissues?

[Nutty]

It was an intense game to watch, the lead changed so many times. Great first game.

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

and the dagger was that hustle play by garnett that led to a sam cassel jumpshot, they got a 5 point lead with that shot....if that would of been a backcourt violation we would of had a chance to cut the deficit to 1 point or tie the game......we need to get a fucking split..

Yup...and that WAS a backcourt. No question.