re: Officials

[Boston Sports Fan <bostonsptsfan@yahoo.com>]

Shawn,

Last nights game was an improvement in the officiating
department, BUT there was a major bail-out in my
opinion...about a minute left, C's down by 4, (I
think) C's play great defense, Wallace has the ball
down low on Antoine, shot clock running down, Wallace
turns and throws the ball away, C's grab it, take a
couple steps downcourt. and *tweet* there's the
whistle. Foul on Antoine, 2 shots for Wallace, who
makes both and pushes the lead back to 6. I didn't see
any replays, but even if he got hit, it wasn't big,
and you'd think there'd be some sort of Home court
edge and credit given for great D. But no. That play
combined with the Pippen 3 with the shot clock running
out seconds later were the 2 plays that put the C's
away. 

I read a startling stat in the paper today "The
referees last night - Mike Mathis, Scott Foster , and
Hank Armstrong - have not been Celtic-friendly this
year. Boston is 0-11 in games in which any of the
three has shown up, including 0-4 with Mathis and
Foster."

Somethings wrong there.

But otherwise the officials weren't horrible last
night. Hopefully you're right and the 2nd half of
season sees an improvement. 

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This is the first game I can remember this year where
the officiating was called fairly. It was called right
down the line. And the C's had a darn good chance to
win. They probably would have if not for Pierce's 3
missed free throws. Portland still shot 12 more free
throws but all the calls were good calls. There was no
bailing out the other team when the Celts made a
good block like we have seen so many times (Miami,
Indiana). A good, clean called game. Just what we have
been waiting for. This shows us what can happen when
the game is called fairly. We played the best team in
the NBA and could have easily won. That is what makes
this year that much more frustrating because what
would the C's record be if we had received fair
officiating all year rather than getting ripped off
consistently. You have to think they would have at
least seven or eight more wins than they do now. The
only hope is that maybe last night will be a turning
point. If we
continue to get fair games being called from the refs
for the rest of the year, this team will have a huge
finish.

__________________________________________________
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