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Refs missed Rondo calling time out on last play of regulation

So I was watching the last play of the game to see what happened and whether the Celtic could have gotten a better shot.  What I saw, though, was something that the referees missed and it should have given the Celtics a chance at a better look to end the game. 

With 2.4 seconds left, Rajon Rondo sees Paul Pierce is in trouble.  He immediately begins signaling for a time out.  Here it is in full speed.  Watch Rondo (circled in the photo) and how adamantly he's calling for time out.

 

It happens at the :14 mark. 

My problem is that all three referees on the floor were watching the ball, rather than the whole play.  Their job is to watch the whole floor, not gawk at the ball handler.  Who knows what the Celtics might have drawn up in 2.4 seconds, but it would have been better than Pietrus fading away from almost 30 feet away. 

As for the play itself, Pierce had Ray open for a second, but he had Artest in his way and it wasn't the easiest pass in the world.  I would have loved to see KG roll a little bit as a safety valve for a foul line jumper and maybe some action on the weak side between Rondo and Pietrus to maybe get one of those guys open as a plan C.  

The execution of the play wasn't great.  Pierce had no options after he picked up his dribble and I guarantee you that play as drawn up by Doc does.  

But still, referees NEED to see the entire floor.  And there has been a repeated issue with refs not hearing time out.  Doc went nuts trying to call a time out earlier in the game.  And check out this video of Spurs coach Gregg Popovich trying to call a time out for like four seconds a few days ago.  These guys need to wake up.

2.4 seconds is a long enough time to get a decent shot off.  The C's should have had a better shot than they did, regardless of how the play was executed.

Fixing the ridiculous flopping in the NBA

Flopping has taken an ugly turn.  Once upon a time, you actually had to get hit by someone to try to sell a foul.  Now, though, Dwyane Wade and LeBron James have taken it to a whole new level.  They're flopping without even being touched.  And the worst part is, they're GETTING THE CALLS!!

It's ridiculous.  It's embarrassing to the game and to the officials who keep falling for it.  So I came up with a solution on Crossover Chronicles (along with all he video evidence of the touchless flopping):

1:  Punish the players

The players are purposely deceiving the officials and violating the spirit of the game.  Excessive acts meant to deceive the officials should come with punishment.  Therefore, a fine and a retroactive technical foul should be assessed to the offending player.  If you hit the player in wallet and start tacking on technical fouls that could (if the player reaches seven in the postseason) lead to a suspension, players will think long and hard about acting like they've been punched when no one was within two feet of them.

2: Punish the refs

Let's face it.  These are the most blatant examples of refs calling what they think, not what they see.  And their job is to call what they see.  Referees who blow the whistle and give that call need to be disciplined because they are anticipating plays rather than officiating the game.  Any sort of fine or removal from the playoff officiating rotation (which can really hurt the bank account) will ensure officials go back to doing what they should be doing: observing the game action and looking for infractions of the NBA rule book.  Bottom line: if you don't see the foul happen, you don't blow the whistle.

Those two can be instituted immediately.  I also explain how a fourth official would help (follow the link to read that part), but that would have to wait until next year. 

It's really sad that Dwyane Wade and LeBron James, two of the best players in the world, resort to such cheap tricks.  It's one thing to flop and sell a foul... it's another to pretend someone touched you and flail when no one's even near you.  It's an embarrassment that needs to end now.

LeBron traveled, the refs blew it, and now our season is almost over

LeBron James scored a key bucket in the paint that put Miami up two with :48 left.  Paul Pierce would later tie it and... well... we know what happened to end regulation. 

But it should never have gotten to that point.  The referees blew an OBVIOUS traveling call on LeBron James on that bucket.  It's something Rob Mahoney illustrates perfectly on Hardwood Paroxysm.

It's impossible to predict how the game would have finished had this been called.  Its possible the Celtics would have missed their next shot and Miami would have won at the buzzer.  But given recent history, it's also very likely that the Celtics could have scored to go up 2 and put the pressure on Miami to tie the game. 

We know how they've closed out games when they've been behind.  Hell, LeBron choked and turned it over to give the C's a chance at the win.  

I will always say that if it came down to a ref's call, then you probably could have done something else to win the game (Ray's missed tech FT, Rondo's missed layup, botching the final shot of the 4th).  But it would still be nice if the refs at least made the OBVIOUS call.  

Honestly... this is just a kick in the balls to know this could have ended differently in regulation.  

Your Morning Dump... Where KG is too unselfish

Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

“Kevin is the most unselfish player in the NBA,” teammate Delonte West said before yesterday’s practice at the University of Miami. “It kind of goes against his game. He makes the right play at the right time. Sometimes he passes up shots for the betterment of the team, and it works for us. But moving forward, I think we’re looking for him to start knocking down some of those shots that he’s accustomed to doing.”

Coach Doc Rivers took the blame for Garnett’s lack of involvement early. The All Star forward attempted just four shots in 18 first-half minutes.

“I have to do a better job with getting Kevin involved,” Rivers said. “Kevin is one of our featured scorers, and I didn’t think we did a good job with him at all.”

Herald: Green to get in touch with KG

Nine shots just isn't enough for KG.  

I think sometimes when a guy like Ray Allen gets as hot as he does, KG gets into "set a pick" mode or "Keep feeding Ray" mode.  And that's great.  We should want Ray to get the ball more, but not at the expense of one of our top three options on the floor. 

KG's got to be more aggressive and win that matchup with Chris Bosh.  That's an advantage the Celtics have.  They need to win that battle or they're going to have a lot of problems in this series.  At least KG knows that.

“I was stressing ball movement and what they asked us to do as a team and Doc [Rivers] tells me I got to be a lot more aggressive so I will,’’ Garnett said. “Our mind-set has to be a lot more defensive. Mine was probably a lot more offensive. [Tonight] I will be a lot more aggressive.’’

Related links:  ESPN Boston: Practice: The post, man  |  WEEI:  Doc: "I've got to do a btter job with getting Kevin involved  |  ProJo:  Doc looks for more shots for Garnett

On Page 2: Pierce takes a jab at the refs

Pierce got tossed for swearing at Wade

 

Official Dan Crawford spoke to an AP reporter after the game and explained the two technical fouls on Paul Pierce. 

I suggest you sit down before you read any further.  Maybe grab a drink.  Do some yoga or meditation.  

Ok?  

Here it is.

Q: What did Paul Pierce do to merit the 2nd technical with 7:00 remaining?  

Crawford: "It's what we call a verbal taunt. He directed profanity towards (Dwyane) Wade. And in the rulebook, that is a verbal taunt. And it just so happened to be Pierce's second technical foul."  

Q: What did Pierce do for the technical after the (James) Jones foul with 7:59 left?  

Crawford: "The first technical foul, it was contact during a dead ball. He approached Jones and got right in his face. There wasn't a head-butt, but he got right into his face after a hard foul."  

Yes.  You read that correctly.  Pierce directed a profanity at Wade.  He swore at him.  That warranted a second technical and an ejection. 

HEY...

That's a tech on you for your reaction to that.  You're ejected from your room.  Go outside for the rest of the night. 

I'll repeat what I said on Twitter after the explanation came out:  If players got techs every time they swore at each other, every player would be tossed from every game... and KG would be executed.

Props to Doc Rivers for telling it like it is during the game:

100% correct Doc.  

There's nothing more to say.  Chuck was right on in the recap.  The refs didn't cost the C's the game.  The Celtics did a great job of losing on their own.  But a few calls... the second Pierce tech in particular... were atrocious and need to be addressed.

Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

It hasn't been a 'technical foul fest' like we feared

Back in the preseason, most of us were pissed off about the league's new 'respect for the game' mandate.

This was going to result in a ton of technical fouls especially for our mouthy Boston Celtics - or so we thought.

NBA.com's Fran Blinebury:

A year ago there were 866 technical fouls called, compared to 782 heading into the final four weeks of this season, with nearly 50 of those rescinded after league review.

Doc Rivers relayed this story:

"It's evolved the way it should," said Celtics coach Doc Rivers. "It's gone back to how it should be, a case by case basis. I think the officials have done a much better job. First of all, they don't have to do what they did earlier. They understand emotional outburst. That's why I said from the beginning that I didn't think we gave the officials enough credit.

"There was a great example we had recently late in a game with Delonte (West). An official thought he had missed a call. He wasn't sure. But it was a hard foul on Delonte and Delonte had an outburst. The official actually said to me, 'You know, I could easily have given him a tech. But I knew the guy's been injured and I think I missed the call. But I just couldn't make the call, because I wasn't sure. So I had to let him go.' To me, that's great officiating instead of just reacting."

It's refreshing to hear about an official who uses common sense on the court. I'll bet my life the official Doc referenced isn't Bennett Salvatore, Joe Crawford, Ken Mauer, Bob Delaney or Bill Kennedy.

Bill Spooner might be a little sensitive

NBA officials take a lot of heat.  Sometimes they deserve it, sometimes they don't. 

Right now, Bill Spooner, the fine gentleman you see on the right, deserves some heat.  And here's why:

Bill Spooner said he has "honestly" refereed NBA games for 22 years, but was investigated by the league after AP writer Jon Krawczynski posted a message on social networking site Twitter.com during the Jan. 24 Timberwolves game against the Houston Rockets at the Target Center.

According to his suit, the Oak Park, Cali. referee called a Minnesota player for a foul at 10:22 in the second period and got an earful from Rambis.

After promising to review the call at the half, Spooner said Rambis asked him how he would get the points back.

Spooner said he didn't respond to the comment, but Krawczynski soon after tweeted: "Ref Bill Spooner told Rambis he'd "get it back" after a bad call. Then he made an even worse call on Rockets. That's NBA officiating folks."

One of two things is happening here... and neither of them is worthy of a lawsuit:

1: Krawczynski mis-heard the exchange but doesn't realize it.  That's certainly possible.  And he'll swear he heard what he heard just like people who witness a crime will swear they saw what they saw... yet its been proven that some people will have different accounts of what happened.

2:  It went down exactly as tweeted... which means an NBA ref blew a call, then made a make up call.  Whoa... stop the presses.  It's not an ideal system, but I actually can understand a ref who blows the whistle, makes a call and then thinks to himself "ah crap, I shoulda let that go."  So the only way to "atone" for that is to even it out on the other end. 

Either one of those is entire possible.  But Spooner is going overboard... even IF one of his bosses questioned him on it.  This is one of those "methinks the referee doth protest too much" moments.  For Chrissakes, the guy references the Tim Donaghy scandal in the complaint.  Easy there buddy... no one is comparing a make-up call to the Donaghy scandal.

Except for you, of course.  And why a ref would willingly lump himself into that... even if its an effort to distance himself from it... is beyond me.

Ease up, Spooner.  No one gave a crap about the tweet until you turned it into a lawsuit.  It's too bad you didn't have someone around to let you know "ref sues over a tweet" is a bazillion times juicier than "reporter tweets about blown call."  You've just made it infinitely worse for yourself.

Tim Donaghy's ringleader speaks

TrueHoop has a must-read today about the man who ran all the money in the Tim Donaghy scandal.  James Battista is giving an account of the entire scandal that jives with what the rest of the co-conspirators and the FBI found.... and less with what Donaghy claims about mafia involvement and not fixing NBA games.  And as far as we're concerned, as fans of the NBA... it's the fixing that we're most concerned about.  Donaghy says he hasn't... the evidence suggests otherwise.

Late in the book, in a footnote, Griffin makes something of a "game, set, match" observation. Donaghy told authorities, and Battista confirms, that Donaghy and Martino used a secret code to communicate picks over the phone. "If Donaghy mentioned Martino's brother Chuck (who lived in the Philadelphia area), the pick would be the home team," the U.S. attorney explained in a letter to the judge. "If, on the other hand, Donaghy mentioned Martino's brother Johnny (who did not live in the Philadelphia area), the pick would be the visiting team." 

That the three conspirators agree on this point is proof positive that the conspiracy was about games Donaghy reffed. Such a code would not work in a world where, as Donaghy alleges, the three were looking to exploit his leaguewide insight on a regular basis. This code assumes everyone knows which of the NBA's many games they're talking about. 

Battista also points out that Donaghy was religious about checking with Martino, before games he reffed, to find out the point spread Battista had been able to get. That's information that would be essential for a game-fixer, but a curio otherwise. 

[...] As of today, all four conspirators -- Donaghy, Ruggieri, Martino and Battista -- have talked in some fashion or another. Ruggieri, Martino and Battista all agree that the only picks from Donaghy that mattered were picks on games he refereed. 

"Being able to control the outcomes," says Battista, "was the big reason he won his games. That was why he couldn't pick those other games." 

Of course, that leaves Donaghy alone with this theory, and credibility issues. 

This just makes me think Tim Donaghy fixed games.  He risked the integrity of a multi-billion dollar entity because he saw a way to manipulate games for his own gain.  

Did he act alone?  We don't know for sure, but I sure as hell hope so.  Could it happen again?  Absolutely. 

Take a look at the Celtics-Heat game.  For about 38 minutes, the game was called loosely.  Guys were allowed to play physically, some calls that could have been made, weren't.  Then, late in the 4th quarter, things changed on a dime.  Plays that were allowed earlier in the game were suddenly fouls.  For about a four minute stretch, the game was called tight.  And then, just as suddenly, things loosened up again. 

Was it a conspiracy?  Was it an anomaly?  Was someone covering a spread, or was someone just trying to make sure the game didn't get out of control?  The sad thing is, each side can make a case.  And that's the NBA's problem. 

The more that comes out about Donaghy, the more he is shown to be a dirty ref, and a dirty person who will say and do anything for his own personal gain.  The NBA needs to look at its officiating situation and make necessary changes to protect the integrity of its league.  I don't believe in vast conspiracies to fix games and the league... but the NBA needs to do a better job of not giving those who do so much ammunition.

Doc fined 15K

Doc apparently didn't leave the floor fast enough for the NBA, so dipped into his wallet and pulled out $15,000.

To me, it was worth it just so the world could see Doc tell Steve Javie "It's not about you, it's about the game."  I wonder if he'll have to tell Joey Crawford the same thing today.  Chances are Joey doesn't care.  

Four hours till your close up, Mr. Crawford.

Pierce fined $15K for tossing "object"

ESPN Boston's Chris Forsberg tweeted the following:

"Paul Pierce fined $15,000 for throwing an object in the stands vs. Indiana, NBA announced this afternoon."

At first, I thought they were definitely talking about his headband-which he throws to the crowd after every game.

But Forsberg went on to say that after watching some highlights it "doesn't appear" that it was his headband. The incident occurred in the 1st quarter of the game vs the Pacers on 12/28. Hmmmm...so who knows.

This is the 2nd recent fine for the C's. The Big Shamrock was also fined last week for criticizing the NBA's fine officials.

UPDATE: 

Chris Forsberg passes along video of Pierce tossing his gum.

 

That's an expensive piece of gum.  Must be the kind that changes flavors on you.