Deadspin - But calls going against the Flyers is nothing new. Questionable calls going against the Lakers, and specifically Kobe? Well, we're in a whole new era of Sternball.
Five fouls on Kobe, the fifth coming less than a minute into the fourth. Five fouls on Andrew Bynum, who was the Lakers' best player until his foul trouble. Ron Artest fouled out. Five fouls on Lamar Odom (which, let's be honest, didn't affect anything.)
While it'll be a little disingenuous for Lakers fans to cry about the officiating when they took 15 more free throws than the Celtics did, that's an awful lot of foul trouble for one team's impact players. On the other side, only Kevin Garnett racked up five, and Boston wasn't about to miss him if he fouled out. Rajon Rondo, the one Celtic constantly cutting to the basket, only picked up two.
So, needless to say, this article got me a little bit heated. First of all, the referees were pretty blatantly in the Lakers' favor. But I'll even give it to you if you say it was close to being even. But no way in hell were they on the Lakers' side in this game. 41 free throws to 26. Yes, Kobe had five fouls. Did you know that actually IS possible? Even though he's Kobe Bryant, he plays with the same rules. Or he's supposed to anyway. And he should have fouled out. They avoided calling a blatant foul when he contested Ray Allen's layup attempt with 5 fouls already. And yes, I know KG isn't playing great. But the fact that he had 5 fouls still affects the game. Just because he's not scoring, it doesn't mean he's not still a core player defensively. At one point in the third quarter, the free throws were 37-14 for LA. 37-14! So please, PLEASE, for the love of God, don't tell me the Lakers got robbed by the refs again. It was the other way around, my friends.
PS - This article just made me lose so much respect for Deadspin.
everyone thinks the refs are against their team... write your articles about the games not the refs
ReplyDeleteThis is a Boston sports blog. There's obviously a bias if you haven't seen the whole layout. If I was writing for a newspaper, I wouldn't be biased. But even so, I'm not sure how you watched that game and don't agree. Like I said, 37-14 free throws mid way through the third. 37-14. So lopsided.
ReplyDeleteOooohhh - are the refs not part of the game?? Interesting. Then what the hell are they doing out on the court?
ReplyDeleteThis makes no sense if you're directing it at me. You're the one who said "write your articles about the games not the refs" and now you're saying the refs are part of the game... this can't be the same person both comments right? Because you basically conveyed two conflicting points...
ReplyDeleteSorry for the confusion DRob. No, the second comment was not made by the same person who made the first comment, and it was not directed at you.
ReplyDeleteAlright, I got ya. I'm with you, 2nd anonymous person. The refs are part of the game. They're fair game to be talked about.
ReplyDelete