C's turnaround too late in ref's eyes

["Michael A. DiZio" <mustang@gis.net>]

     The Celtics played pretty poorly most of the year. They lose 14 or so
games out of 18 going down the final third of the season before the Pitino
blowup and a miraculous transformation into an actual team mentality. Two
road wins back to back!! The problem, however, is that this recent play has
not been established long enough to have changed the Celtics "book" in the
eyes of the refs. They still see them as lower echelon . NBA refs make
calls most times out of a "book of perceptions". Good teams get the calls.
Superstars get calls their way against the Joe Schmows of the world even
when people can see it's wrong because it's expected. Reputation and
perceptions influence many calls. The Celtics are playing hard, but they
need a fair break to cash in with "W's" in these close, hard fought
"meaningful" down the stretch games. They are not going to get the respect
and benefits from their recent play unless they sustain it over a longer
period (like a longer presence in the 1 through 8 standings). I'm itchin'
to be really wrong but......

                                             Michael A. DiZio