2011 Playoffs: (1) Bulls vs. (8) Pacers

[Andrew]

Indeed, this one is looking a bit precarious at the moment.

[benji]

Refs are pretty bad at their jobs.

[Andrew]

Lucky escape. I'm not filled with confidence for Games 3 and 4, hopefully they can get it together by then.

[Stress Fracture]

Korver should not be left wide open in crunch time! Indy should know that.

[[Q]]

Refs are pretty bad at their jobs.

yeah i'd say so: a phantom offensive foul by Hibbert and then a blatant no-call on a Boozer two hand shove on Foster on the other end proved to be a big difference (this shit is seriously rigged. david stern is in the shadows somewhere with an evil laugh). this coming right after the Garnett trip on Toney Douglas and the Ibaka tip through the net

[benji]

Do not ascribe to malice that which can be ascribed to incompetence.

That said: I don't know why the league denies the possibility of refs being caught up in the emotion of the home crowd or favoring a team/player.

And with that said: If you were serious in rigging things you'd do it like wrestling, so you have the Pacers win a game or two in Chicago forcing the MVP into proving himself and then he leads his team back and justifies the MVP in game seven after being awarded it in front of his loyal fans. All while remaining humble as he is. Humble, always.

And with even more said: A fun new site, http://refcalls.com/

Snark aside, I'm somewhat "fine" with the Hibbert call though I think that was a crap call, but the push which was either Boozer or Noah and no one ever wanted to show us the replay so we could see it, is one I really need to see tape on before I could accept it as a non-push considering how Foster fell.

I also can't believe the MVP and his fans thought his blatant foul on Price was somehow not one, and that Price flopped or something. The MVP hit him square in the wrist.

[[Q]]

what you call incompetence i see as possible "coaching" by stern & co. before the game/series

[benji]

phpBB [video]

Let me add this.

I think it's far more likely that a particular ref prefers the Bulls/Lakers/Celtics/Knicks or Rose/Kobe/Wade/LeBron than there is a top-down ordering from Stern. That's too much conspiracy.

Instead, the idea that a ref sees that Foster/Boozer/Noah thing, sees the violation and calls it, and THEN sides with his favorite team, the Bulls, and then the brotherhood of the refs backs up the decision because that's what you do rather than split the refs or override the errors every single time makes far far more sense than Stern saying "DON'T LET THE PACERS WIN A GAME!" Especially since there's zero drama in a Bulls sweep, if you have the power to turn a single game you have the power to turn the series and more games = more drama and more revenue.

I could easily see refs hating lots of calls per game, but giving in to the senior or closest ref out of professional reasons. They are unionized after all, they aren't going to rock the boat and lose their jobs over crappy calls.

You don't go after other people for being incompetent or corrupt assholes in your union, you keep quiet.

[Andrew]

If the league were truly rigged - and competent enough not to let any concrete evidence about the truth of the sport leaking out - then surely they'd do a better job year-to-year and we wouldn't have anti-climactic series or Finals matchups such as Cavs/Spurs in 2007 (even with a player like LeBron involved).

As for Rose fouling Price on the three, can't see how anyone could dispute that or call it a bad call. Just a bad foul by Rose, fortunately they had a five point lead at the time and it didn't end up costing them the game.

[George7]

That win fulled me with concerns about the next games in Indiana. I believe that if the team keeps playing like this on defense,it will be needed more than Rose's heroics to win the game. Focus is somehow lost on the start of the game,allowing Indiana in both contests to take the lead. This must be fixed by Thibbs before it's too late,as on a next round Bulls are going to have more problems than in this occasion...

[Andrew]

Another poor shooting night but the Bulls scrape by to go up 3-0. Looks like they have a decent chance of wrapping this one up in four or five, in which case I sure hope they can sort themselves out in time for the Magic or Hawks.

[Killer Crossover aka OG]

It was a very tight game It smells after sweep

[[Q]]

despite being up 3-0, does anyone else think the bulls are struggling to win these games because they aren't simply blowing out the pacers in every game & should've lost game 1?

[Andrew]

I'd say it has more to do with shooting below 40% in the last two games.

[shadowgrin]

Give the Pacers some credit Q for giving the Bulls a hard time.

[Lean]

I fear for the Bulls in the coming games.

[benji]

Pacers have figured them out, and lured them into taking things easy. That's when they strike. They're like a skilled mongoose.

Kobe has much to fear in the Finals.

[[Q]]

Give the Pacers some credit Q for giving the Bulls a hard time.

well that's what i'm doing. i think the pacers have played very well, and deserve more credit than they've gotten so far

[shadowgrin]

does anyone else think the bulls are struggling to win these games because they aren't simply blowing out the pacers in every game

I thought you were implying the Pacers suck because you expected them to be blown out by the Bulls in every game.

[[Q]]

i thought a lot of people thought that was gonna happen, like it was gonna be a sweep or something. but i thought the pacers have the size to match up with the buls and thought it would be a lot closer

[puttincomputers]

It flew under the radar. The Pacers finished the season 20-18 after the coaching change. This translates into a better 82 game record than the 76ers!

[shadowgrin]

fuck you puttin. [/Sixers fan]

[puttincomputers]

Granted the sixers should have had a better record if Iggy would have been healthy all year.

[Stress Fracture]

I bet Pacers would win Game 4. Definitely.

[Martti.]

There are more Bulls fans in Indiana then Pacers fans, the crowd was louder when Rose pulled a behind-the-back move then when Hansbrough dunked it. The announcer said it's about 50-50, feels more like 70-30 in favor of the Bulls.