Scott Cordischi On Sports: NBA Refs Drop The Ball

Scott Cordischi On Sports: NBA Refs Drop The Ball

Monday night’s loss by the Celtics was certainly frustrating enough on its own merits. But losing to a better team is one thing. Losing to a better team and a horrible bunch of referees is quite different.

Make no mistake about it, Boston did not lose because of the officiating. If it were a 1 or a 2-point game, you might be able to make that assertion. But when you lose by 14, all bets are off. Still, what we witnessed from the men in gray shirts was downright despicable.

Boston received a whopping 5 technical fouls from Monday night’s officiating crew and very few, if any, were deserved.

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With 10:22 to go in the second quarter, the gentlemanly Ray Allen was called for a technical for simply wincing at a call and shouting the words “come on” as he turned away from the ref. You would think that the league’s officials would know enough to cut the players some slack in the Eastern Conference Finals because, unlike the regular season, the intensity level is ratcheted up a few notches. Furthermore, this was all around good guy Ray Allen mildly complaining, not Meta World Peace.

Celtics’ coach Doc Rivers received what he called “the worst [technical] I’ve ever had,” in the second quarter when he said to referee Ed Crawford, “come on Eddie,” when he thought that they missed a foul by the Heat on Rajon Rondo who went to the basket and scored.  Normally a coach has to swear at a ref to get T'd up, but not in this case.

"I know mine wasn't [deserved]. I can tell you that much," said Rivers. "I don't know how long I've been in this league, but that has to rank as the worst I've ever had. I would have loved to earn it.

Rondo also received a tech midway through the third quarter when he pushed Shane Battier away from him under the basket. In that case, Malloy only saw Rondo’s retaliation and not the fact that Battier was trying to box Rondo into the third row behind the basket well after the shot had been taken.

Even Kevin Garnett was T’d up for delay of game after hitting the ball after it went through the basket. By rule, it was the right call. However, traveling and palming or carrying the basketball are against the rules in the NBA and the refs never call those infractions.

Everyone knows that NBA officials always favor the home team and super star players. Still, you would like to think that there would be fairness and a consistency to their officiating. Monday night’s officiating was very one-sided and Commissioner David Stern and the league should be embarrassed by their efforts.

Going into the series, Boston probably had about a 5% chance of upsetting the Heat. If the refs continue to favor Miami, you can drop that to 0%.

-If, as expected, Miami does beat Boston to win the East, I’ll be the biggest Spurs or Thunder fan around.

-After HBO was rejected by numerous NFL teams to star in "Hard Knocks," is anyone really surprised that the spotlight-craving owner of the Miami Dolphins – Stephen Ross – accepted an invitation for his team to star on the show?

-Anthony Gonzalez, we hardly knew ya!

-The federal government rested its case against Roger Clemens in his trial on perjury charges. Now we get to listen to Houston’s hot-air bag Rusty Hardin present the defense.

-A PC season ticket holder told me that if Ricky Ledo is eligible to play this season along with Kris Dunn, he believes that the Friars will be a legitimate NCAA Tournament contender. I’d like to believe him, but when all of that talent is so young, I’m hesitant to make such a leap of faith.

-That and the fact the Friars may resemble a doughnut this winter sporting a big hole in the middle.

-We may have a new Brown men’s basketball coach by the end of this week.

-Who ever thought that just getting one game above .500 would be such a difficult task for the Boston Red Sox?

-Enough of this he said, he said routine between Curt Schilling and Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chafee. Just figure out what the end game is and be done with it already.

-I laugh at Bobby Valentine and Red Sox brass who claim that it would be a bad idea to try Will Middlebrooks in the outfield because he has been a career third baseman. He only needs to learn how to catch fly balls, not split the atom out there!

-Mike “Doc” Emerick and NBC Sports does a fabulous job covering the NHL’s Stanley Cup Playoffs.

-Is this the year that LaSalle finally caps off a perfect regular season with a Division 1 boy’s lacrosse championship?

-Sitting Ray Allen for one game isn’t going to make a difference for his injured ankle. Surgery to remove the bone spurs in the ankle is what Allen needs which will come after the season is over with.

-If Chris Bourque turns out to be half the player his old man was, the Boston Bruins will be very happy.

-Peyton Manning’s #18 Denver Broncos jersey is the NFL’s top-selling jersey surpassing Tim Tebow’s Jets jersey. Robert Griffin III’s jersey with Washington ranks third while the Colts’ Andrew Luck comes in fourth. In case you’re wondering, Tom Brady’s jersey is the 8th best-selling jersey in the league.  What's up with that G?