In LeBron's case, he flopped and baited the ref into calling a flagrant 2. In Rondo's case, there was no acting job. I think the Artest elbow has the officials on high-alert and is part of why the Knicks/Heat officials were on edge from the very beginning. The double-tech was just a stupid call. IMO, refs should conference with coaches before the game when they will call things tighter.
I agree the call was bad but when you get in the face of a ref yell and clap your hands expect a tech. Especially with how soft the NBA has gotten with their officiating the last few years.
I don't know if you saw the Clippers/HOrnets game earlier, the refs initially called a flagrant 2 b/c of an Evans flop, but changed it to a personal foul after reviewing the replay. They watched the replay of the Lebron play (as they did take the time) and simply changed it to a flagrant 1 from a 2. Look, refs want absolute control of a game. They will use any type of hard foul/confrontation to do that. The NBA is a beautiful game. The playoffs is the best time for NBA fans, and it's a time where fans get to see the players play at the highest level and intensity. You have to let them play. You have to allow the players to demonstrate their emotions. That's why we watch the game: the passion and hunger the players show for the games. If we want to watch a methodical game with the players going through the motion, we would watch the Bobcats. Ultimately, I hope the league knows this and won't suspend Rondo. That's my point from all of this. The league seriously can't suspend Rondo over something triggered by the stupidity of a referee.
Normally refs back off during the playoffs and allow much more physical play. This post-season will be no different. They also slack off with calling techs but Rondo deserved both of his. There wasn't much room for judgement. I think the NBA wants to avoid suspending Rondo, but since it was a bump, it's a done deal IMO. I truly believe Artest's elbow has refs jittery. This will wear off. The NBA is embarrassed by what we are discussing and officials will dial back. The Evans flop was a disgrace. Players should get technical fouls for those.
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I'll be glad if the Celtics lose to Hawks, I am sick of watching the same teams get promoted on national TV. Let a team like Memphis, Atlanta, and etc. get some real televised prime time games.
he bumped a ref. they can suspend him. every league for any sport won't let you bump a ref. everybody knows this, no matter how much they may or may not like a call. end of discussion. and i'm not sure why people think the call was so terrible. there was very little time that the celtic was touching the ball to get a jump ball and josh smith did get smacked in the head while he had the ball cleanly. now maybe people think there should never be calls in those scrums and that's fine, but it's not like the replay doesn't show contact. it certainly wasn't the worst call ever. if rondo needs to bump a ref for that then too bad for rondo i guess.
WTF, I live an 1.5 hours from ATL and I can't watch this game on TV. The local affiliate supposed to be broadcasting the game is showing the Braves and NBATV is blacked out because it is supposed to be on local broadcast. Just goes to show how popular the Hawks are.
