We have seen Derrick Rose and Rajon Rondo ignite themselves into the top point guard discussion. Some are even saying this is the Chris Paul-Deron Williams match up on the Eastern Conference. Hmm...I think both of these point guards would show up on a do-or-die game at home. So maybe the discussion isn't precise, but it's close. These two are going to be good.
But with all the physical beating both teams are taking, and all the shoves that are being thrown..the question is, is this series fixed?
Some people in Boston think so.
The report says that an NBA source pointed out before the game 4, two of the referees, Marc Davis and Dan Crawford are Chicago Natives. The third official, Bill Kennedy also was involved in an incident with Rivers during the Bulls' St. Patrick's Day win in which both were fined by the league for jawing.
The source also said that after the game, family members of both referees departed wearing Bulls gear.
Hmm...really? Is that what we're going to do now to figure out why the Bulls are out-hustling the Celtics? That's not even personal opinion; that is fact. Nearly 75% of this series, it has seemed that Boston has been out-hustled. In Game 2, it was a bout between UCONN studs, Ray Allen and Ben Gordon. In Game 3, Boston simply man-handled the Bulls with brute force, but Game 4 went back to Chicago's uptempo style basketball (something Rondo has seemingly thrived on).
Granted, NBA officiating in general has seemed to be pretty terrible all around this entire season, but on paper, let's look at the only thing we can look at, fouls.
In game 4, Boston was called for 31 fouls to Chicago's 28 fouls. In the entire series, the Celtics have been called for 93 total fouls to the Bull's 90. Not a big discrepancy. Granted, that's only a foul count, and we can't factor in the missed calls in an overtime, or a non-call on a jumpshot or a rebound, or even what should have been a charge when it was called a blocking foul, or vice versa.
But what you can conclude is that the game wasn't a one-sided effort. The refs didn't cause the Bulls to have their 15 turnovers, nor did they help the Chicago defense in forcing Boston into 19 turnovers, or notably, Paul Pierce and Kendrick Perks each having 6.
This might come out to be a bigger story than not, simply because Davis and Crawford's families were wearing Bulls gear. But really? Is that an accurate assessment of why the Bulls tied the series game 4? I truly don't think so. And if it was, I think the Bulls would have gotten more calls in the paint.
But then devil's advocate in me says, isn't this the same officiating crew that threw Brad Miller out for a little rift with Glen Davis, only to retract it and give him a technical?
It's highly assumptive of me to think that the officiating crew will be completely different tonight, and Stern might even send veteran refs who are known for their thick skins, Steve Javie or Joey Crawford to Boston to monitor game 5.
But really, at the end of the day... the winner to this series, is the team that is on the ground more.
I'm a huge Celtics fan, and I've heard this on the local sports radio show as well. Quite frankly, it's embarrassing.
I really wish my fellow massholes would realize that it's got nothing to do with one team getting preferential treatment... NBA officiating just sucks overall. For EVERY team. And anyone who has watched basketball over the past few years should know that.
The refs didn't cause Big Baby to miss those 15 layups.
Great comment dudde, the refs suck for BOTH sides. This article is embarrasing and I wonder why this "writer" doesn't talk about the tooth some guy lost because some guy hitting in the face, ring a bell-yet you go into details about the refs backing down from ejection to technical on Miller...Suck it up. Great series. Hope the bulls pull it offffff