The official Heat-Celtics Eastern Conference semifinal thread

[Brady_to_Moss]

Can't play 5-8 and win. Can't believe Wade didn't get a T for playing like a linebacker on that play

Still feel very confident though. James Jones won't have a record day again and the Celtics played better than the Heat in the second half.

[ausbacker]

C'Mon Kontra, if you can't admit the umpiring was slanted massively in favor of the Heat then there's no point discussing with you further. It'll be the some in all the home games as the NBA will be pushing for 7 game series.

It's been exactly the same for the past few seasons and nothing will be change. More games = more dollars.

[ausbacker]

Originally Posted by BradysBunch12

Heat played the best they could ever possibly play, had the refs on their side, and got Pierce taken out of the game and still only won by single digits.

But they won BB12... that's all that matters in the playoffs.

[chicowalker]

OT: what are the storeis re Wade and Pierce off court?

[BradyManny]

Originally Posted by KontradictioN

There were questionable calls going both ways. It's playoff basketball. That's what happens.

Most of the questionable calls - as they often do in basketball - went to the home team. The refs don't have the backbone to hear a few boos.

You should also remember how badly the officiating was slanted in Boston's favor in the Celtics/Heat series last year.

I openly admit when the Celtics seem to be receiving officiating bias - as I did during the C's-Cavs series last year. Early on in that series, the officiating was as one-sided in the Cavs/Lebron's favor as ever, but somehow that magically reversed when it became clear Lebron had no intention of winning anything and was packing it in. It was the first time I started to buy some of the Stern conspiracy theories.

Naturally, physical players who take it to the hoop will get the calls (Lebron). And since the NBA no longer calls traveling, players who lack traditional ball-handling skills and who - by the rules - travel probably a dozen times a game, are also getting the benefit of the doubt.

Inherently, Lebron benefits from this. When he stops benefiting from it - as it did in the series last year - its noticeable.

That said, I just chalk bad NBA reffing up to the refs being swayed by the crowd, or the refs taking themselves too seriously or letting their pride get in the way. I think all of that happened last nite, particularly with the laughable flagrant on JO, and the 2nd tech on Pierce (and lack of flagrant on Wade).

You're already admitting to having a bias here. What Wade did was simply physical, playoff basketball. I'd support that any day of the week, even if it wasn't the Heat. Hell, I'd defend it if Pierce did it to Wade. By the way, Paul Pierce is a HUGE doucher off the court as well.

I've never heard stories about Pierce the way you do with Wade. If anything, I'll buy that Pierce is a bit of a punk on the court, but I don't see many people questioning him off the court of late.

As for what Wade did - no it was not simply physical. He literally left his feet and launched himself into Pierce and then stared him down. Wade's that punk who can't handle a tough pick, so he thought he'd take a cheap shot to send a message.

Wade is lucky Perk isn't around anymore - b/c he's a guy who can set a hard pick and wouldn't put up with a soft 2 guard who got fed up running around picks and tried to run through one.

[KontradictioN]

Originally Posted by ausbacker

C'Mon Kontra, if you can't admit the umpiring was slanted massively in favor of the Heat then there's no point discussing with you further. It'll be the some in all the home games as the NBA will be pushing for 7 game series.

It's been exactly the same for the past few seasons and nothing will be change. More games = more dollars.

I can admit that the officiating was slanted in favor of the home team, as it often is. But let's not pretend that it was "massive". I saw plenty of no-calls that went Boston's way yesterday as well. So let's not act as if it was the officiating alone that cost Boston the game. Boston had numerous chances to erase double digit leads, and came close a couple of times, but simply could not stop the Miami attack on the other end. That's why all the complaints about the officiating here are laughable to me. The officiating didn't lose you the game. The failure to hold Miami to under 90 points, as you guys usually did in the regular season, DID lose you the game. You guys dropped game one. The series isn't over. Just admit it and move on to the next game.

Originally Posted by BradysBunch12

Heat played the best they could ever possibly play, had the refs on their side, and got Pierce taken out of the game and still only won by single digits.

LOL at this. The Heat absolutely did not play the best they could possibly play. Bosh was nowhere to be found offensively. If he was, Boston would have gotten smoked. Chalmers wasn't there offensively as he had been in the last series either. Wade went cold for stretches of the second half and LeBron only managed to chip in 10 in the first half. The best the Heat could possibly play would be all of those guys contributing throughout the entire game. If that would have happened, the complaints about the officiating would be sounding even more ridiculous right now.

Originally Posted by chicowalker

OT: what are the storeis re Wade and Pierce off court?

I've heard about Wade from people I have met out and about. One guy I met at the Dolphins-Pats game last year, upon hearing that Wade was in the crowd, booed. I asked him why and he said that he made Wade at a Dolphins game before. Said he was sitting in the box in front of Wade and the window to the box was open. He said that he turned around and asked Wade to take a picture with him and Wade responded simply with a "nah, man". He said he figured Wade had been drinking and didn't want to be photographed hammered so he simply grabbed something and took a pen out of his wife's purse and asked Wade to sign an autograph for his 11 year old son. Wade responded by telling him (and I'm paraphrasing as this was last year and I was kind of hammered myself) that, "he's hear to watch a game. He ain't hear to sign any *****ing autographs or take any damn pictures". The guy then said Wade closed the window to the box. Personally, I didn't believe this guy until he told me that he was a Heat fan.

As for Pierce, one of my cousins up in Boston used to work as an equipment boy for the Celtics and had a lot of contact with the players. On top of telling me that KG seemed to be a racist, he said that Paul Pierce acted like an absolute douche to many of the equipment guys. He also said that he witnessed a Celts fan approach Pierce about an autograph and said that Pierce just walked past him (bumping shoulders along the way) and pretended like he didn't even notice him. Said Pierce had a ***** eating grin on his face. Then, there's also incidents like this which can't be just dismissed as hearsay...

Q: Is Kobe really the best player in the world?
Pierce: I don't think Kobe is the best player. I'm the best player

^^ That's something that LeBron would be crucified for on this forum if he had said it. I'm sure that many of you will be quick to defend Pierce for that one, though. Pierce also tweeted "anybody got a broom?" after the first victory against the Magic in the playoffs last season. The Celtics won the series, but it wasn't a sweep. And what kind of thing is that to say for a professional after a Game 1 win. What if Wade just did that yesterday? How would you all feel? By the way, the Celtics lost the next two of three games after that tweet. There's also the story on how he bet Al Horford $10,000 that the Celts would sweep the Hawks in that infamous '08 playoff series. The Celts didn't sweep, and Pierce didn't pay up: Horford says Pierce owes him $10K - Celtics Blog - Boston.com

Want more? How about KG getting interviewed after beating the Timberwolves for his first time since joining the Celtics. How about Pierce dragging KG out of the interview not even halfway through saying, "don't waste your time, let's go". The two of them openly laughed on the way out.

So is Wade a douche off the court? VERY likely. I've heard those stories too. But let's not act like everyone on the Celtics is up for sainthood.

[KontradictioN]

Originally Posted by BradyManny

Most of the questionable calls - as they often do in basketball - went to the home team. The refs don't have the backbone to hear a few boos.

I can agree with that. I called it home cooking officiating last year. But I don't think it was anywhere near as slanted as some are leading it to be on here. As I said before, the Celtics got plenty of no-calls and plenty of questionable calls against the Heat as well. Did the Heat get more? Sure. I didn't agree with the flagrant on O'Neal myself. But the Pierce technical on Wade wasn't because he "set a hard pick". It was what he said to Wade afterward. The head official of the game last night said so himself when being questioned by reporters. If Pierce was smart, he would have remembered that he had just head-butted James Jones (something he could get suspended for) and would have kept his mouth shut after the hard foul by Wade. As it stands, he started flapping his gums and got his second technical. See ya.

I openly admit when the Celtics seem to be receiving officiating bias - as I did during the C's-Cavs series last year. Early on in that series, the officiating was as one-sided in the Cavs/Lebron's favor as ever, but somehow that magically reversed when it became clear Lebron had no intention of winning anything and was packing it in. It was the first time I started to buy some of the Stern conspiracy theories.

You're a little late. I bought the Stern conspiracy theories when Tim Donaghy started talking.

Naturally, physical players who take it to the hoop will get the calls (Lebron). And since the NBA no longer calls traveling, players who lack traditional ball-handling skills and who - by the rules - travel probably a dozen times a game, are also getting the benefit of the doubt.

I'm not so sure about this. As much as I've watched the Heat, I've seen LeBron get called for traveling a ton this year. If I can find a stat for how many traveling calls he's gotten, I'll post it. You'd be surprised on how much he gets called for it.

That said, I just chalk bad NBA reffing up to the refs being swayed by the crowd, or the refs taking themselves too seriously or letting their pride get in the way. I think all of that happened last nite, particularly with the laughable flagrant on JO, and the 2nd tech on Pierce (and lack of flagrant on Wade).

Nah, I'm not sold on this. I just chalk up last night's officiating to the officials knowing that there could be a scuffle between the two teams at any time and calling a soft game because of it. How else do you explain the fact that Wade got a technical for what he did? Whatever happens in the series, you should expect the refs calling a soft game because of that fact.

I've never heard stories about Pierce the way you do with Wade. If anything, I'll buy that Pierce is a bit of a punk on the court, but I don't see many people questioning him off the court of late.

See my last post.

As for what Wade did - no it was not simply physical. He literally left his feet and launched himself into Pierce and then stared him down. Wade's that punk who can't handle a tough pick, so he thought he'd take a cheap shot to send a message.

Wade handles tough picks and getting mugged so badly while going up for a layup that he falls on his back and often comes up hurt all the time. Wade doesn't like Pierce and Pierce doesn't like Wade. Wade saw him attempting to set a pick and decided to send a physical message. He got T'd up and caused Pierce to open his big mouth, resulting in an ejection. To me, that was a smart and physical play by Wade against a rival. Like I said, I'd defend it if it were the other way around.

Wade is lucky Perk isn't around anymore - b/c he's a guy who can set a hard pick and wouldn't put up with a soft 2 guard who got fed up running around picks and tried to run through one.

LOL, well I can't see Wade trying to run through Perkins. That man's a beast. Maybe LeBron, but not Wade.

[BradyManny]

Originally Posted by KontradictioN

As for Pierce, one of my cousins up in Boston used to work as an equipment boy for the Celtics and had a lot of contact with the players. On top of telling me that KG seemed to be a racist, he said that Paul Pierce acted like an absolute douche to many of the equipment guys. He also said that he witnessed a Celts fan approach Pierce about an autograph and said that Pierce just walked past him (bumping shoulders along the way) and pretended like he didn't even notice him. Said Pierce had a ***** eating grin on his face. Then, there's also incidents like this which can't be just dismissed as hearsay...

I'll buy it - for some of the other Boston sports teams (Sox, B's) I have a couple acquaintances with access to the players/teams on a comparable level. The overriding thing I've learned from them is that most professional athletes are d-bags.

To be honest, while I don't know anyone who works within the Patriots, I do know some people who have had dealings with various Patriot players - and I have to say, of all the Boston teams, by far they seem to have quality people who are stand-up people even when the cameras are off.

[BradyManny]

Originally Posted by KontradictioN

You're a little late. I bought the Stern conspiracy theories when Tim Donaghy started talking.

To me, the disturbing thing is that Donaghy's accomplice (Foster) is still in the league. What does that say about Stern? Very sketchy. The evidence against Foster was just overwhelming as far as I'm concerned.

Wade handles tough picks and getting mugged so badly while going up for a layup that he falls on his back and often comes up hurt all the time. Wade doesn't like Pierce and Pierce doesn't like Wade. Wade saw him attempting to set a pick and decided to send a physical message. He got T'd up and caused Pierce to open his big mouth, resulting in an ejection. To me, that was a smart and physical play by Wade against a rival. Like I said, I'd defend it if it were the other way around.

Fair enough - and if KG pulled this and got a Heat star out of the game, and I wouldn't put it past him, I'd probably be cheering the end result.

[ausbacker]

Originally Posted by KontradictioN

I can admit that the officiating was slanted in favor of the home team, as it often is. But let's not pretend that it was "massive".

I stopped reading after this. Nothing massive about having your best player sent off in the middle of a comeback without reasonable cause eh Kontra.