I get the feeling that the refs aren’t exactly throwing the series into any particular team’s favor, but instead are fixing it so that the home team always wins. This is so the series goes for 6, 7 games. Why?

$$$.

To get the most possible stinkin' money they can get. Oh, and the Lakers were aggressive. They had more points in the paint than the Celtics. How many times did I see the Lakers go aggressively to the hoop, with no calls? While on the other end, Boston got those calls. If game 2 had Lakers fans in the crowd, they would have started a riot because of the ridiculous and biased calls. With just a few trips to the charity strike, the Lakers truly would have won both of these first two games. It was still very close even being called the way it was. The Lakers will win all 3 at home, then the NBA will most likely let Boston get another ridiculous ref-assisted win in game 6, then game 7 comes. Who will they let win in game 7? Will it be different than the previous Boston games because now the winner gets the trophy? Will it be called more “fair”? I don’t know, but it’s really frustrating watching this type of “basketball” when earlier we got to watch the real stuff, with only a handfull of bad calls/no-calls per game. Not so many no-calls that it makes it impossible for the away team to make any ground.

Zen is about mastering flow. The desire to win is important. That desire is what motives one to train, play hard and hone one's skills to perfection. But desire without discipline is wasted energy. In a gunfight, the guy who wins is not the guy who fires first or the guy who shoots with the most hatred in his eyes. The guy who wins is the guy who has the patience and poise to aim and shoot straight when bullets are flying all around him.

The Kobe I see against the Celtics is different from the Kobe I saw in the Western Conference playoffs. The Kobe who systematically dissected the Spurs, Jazz and Nuggets had the right combination of intensity and patience. He remained focused on the game -- on the gaps in the defense on each possession, on the weaknesses he could exploit and on where to move the basketball. Winning followed naturally. This Kobe is too emotional. Who can blame him? He is so close to what he has wanted for so long, and the closer he gets or the more he is denied (whether by the Celtics defense or by poor officiating or by the poor play by his teammates), the more badly he wants it. He will furiously charge through hell to win. That's why we love him. But he needs to be careful that he does not let his desire for a ring affect his poise.

Fundamentally, the whole team (and we Lakers fans) just need to chill. The Lakers did not get to the finals by accident. They have learned and grown throughout the season and the playoffs. They have the skills to play championship basketball. They just need to execute. They need to trust their coach, trust the triangle, trust each other and play with confidence, intensity and intelligence. It's like showing up for a final exam. No amount of desire for an A will guarantee an A. It's too late to talk about how you should have studied. You either know the subject or you don't -- and in the Lakers' case, they do. The more energy you spend wishing for a good grade or questioning the fairness of the exam or being distracted by how quickly the guy next to you is answering the questions, the less energy you are spending conquering the exam.

In the end, the Lakers could still lose. The Celtics could be the better team. The Celtics could be lucky. The world outside of Los Angeles could conspire to stack the odds against the Lakers. That's okay. We still love our team. What would be unacceptable is for our team to lose its focus and beat itself.

Nine Rings should start coaching
you can't count on the refs to even things out

With regards to Lamar Odom's T' Shirt it is a misnomer.

Just like the myopic Celtics produce a chant of Beat LA which is also a misnomer because LA is not a basketball team. The same case with Odom's T'Shirt, Boston Sucks U since 1946, the Celtics team is not a school nor a City.

Why not go directly attack the name of the team?

Celtics sucks
Celtic fans are suckers
Celtics Cheats
Celtics r' Wimps
Celtics and leprechauns' brains are one and the same

for the poster who said i was a fake laker fan...

the Lakers were soft. i'm just as angry you are about the 0-2 deficit and the whole bad calls situation... hopefully a full night's rest cleared your mind and finally accepted the fact that the Lakers DID NOT HIT BACK WHEN THE CELTICS PUNCHED THEM IN THE MOUTH. the only physical series that we went through prior to this was with Utah and compared to how the Celtics are manhandling us... i'd say that series was a nice game of patty cakes. again... if the Lakers hadn't figured out by this time that they need to TAKE this f***in title from the Celtics then they might as well pack for their vacations already.

Greetings, Lakersville!

Regarding the trolls:

We, Lakers fans, come to this meeting place for the right reasons - to share our support and passion with others of a like mind and similar passion. We visit this place in SUPPORT of something - for better or worse, victory or defeat, our presence here is positive. And we can consider each other to be friends.

Now, consider the type of person that knowingly visits a meeting place for no other reason than to seek animosity. What kind of person is it, that craves enemies, that foments hatred? Nothing positive to say = no friends at home. These Boston people that are posting here (and the one little bugger from Phoenix...damn you, Butler!) are angry, bitter, tiny little people. They no longer seek the company of friends, because their poor attitudes, as evidenced by their poor sportsmanship, preclude their being able to make any friends. Their only satisfaction in life comes from attempting to belittle others.

Stand with me. Deny them any satisfaction. Regardless of whatever drivel they post, DO NOT RESPOND! No matter how negative or hurtful they try to be to their fellow basketball fans...and fellow Americans, for that matter...do not sink to their level. We're here because we love something. They're here because of jealosy, hatred, and plain old mean-spirits. Win or lose, WE ARE BETTER THAN THAT!

STARVE THE F-ING TROLLS!
Lakers in 6

Respectfully, Karyanr

The Lakers need to come out of the gates with a solid defensive intensity. The baskets will come, but they've got to limit Boston's opportunities. At the beginning of yesterday's game, the Lakers had active hands. They were deflecting shots, getting steals, and scoring on the other end. The whistles broke up that rhythm, but the Lakers need to maintain that intensity regardless of the men in stripes. If the whole damn team has to foul out, let's see it. I want to see Boston earn every damn basket tomorrow night.

Lakers in six. Four the hard way.

Go Lake Show!

There is no problem with the Lakers team.

THE REAL PROBLEM IS DAVID STERN AND HIS THREE BLIND MICE CREW!!

It is silly to be crybabies over the refs. A good point has been made: who got the calls and benefit of a doubt during the Spurs series?

I disagree with all this talk about the Lakers driving to the basket. All I saw was jump shooting for 3 periods.

The Lakers can win if they play defense and switch better man to man. They must make the extra pass. Rebound!! Yes, they must also shoot better.

Powe wouldn't have been to the foul line if he was shooting 28 footers. He had five dunks. That is how you get to the line. Time for the Lakers to do the same.

If they play great the refs can't stop them.

Surprised that Odom shirt is getting so much attention.

I actually ordered mine from undefeateds website on friday. It's a pretty sweet shirt and it sends the message clear "Boston Sucks". Heres to Lamar and the Lakers. Lets take care of home court tomorrow fellas.

GO LAKERS

It's mind boggling to hear all the critics and doubters now. Adversity makes cowards out of the weak of heart - sounds like there are alot of weak of heart "fans" out there. Nothing substantial has happened yet, we lost the first game by 10 on the road, the second one by 6. The Celts and all of their fans know that no lead is safe, and that every time they lace em up with us, it's going to be a long night. I never bought in to the media made hype that we were hands down the favorites in this series. Remember, they have Allen, Garnett and Pierce. They won 66 games for crying out loud. Having said that, we will play better at home - count on it. This thing is far from over. I'm flying to town on Wednesday to see game four - after which it will be 2-2 and anybody's series. Suck it up people - this is what playoff basketball is all about.

I've been consumed all day with the Conspiracy Theory. Before you write me off and say Rick's gone over the edge, stay with me a moment. Add it all up, and it's all too perfect:

It all started at 5:30 pm PDT with ABC's pre-game show. Everything from this point on is as perfect as a WWE scripted event. In fact, Vince McMahon is probably envious of what David Stern, ABC/ESPN, the NBA and its refs appear to have pulled off on Sunday.

The pre-game show featured the Paul Pierce crumble on the floor, the carry-off into the locker room, and the resurrection and healing as if he'd been to Lourdes. The guest was Celtics legend Bill Russell, part of his interview with Kevin Garnett, and plenty of footage of Boston's championship runs. The only time devoted to the Lakers was about 45 seconds of Kobe walking the streets of Boston.

The game coverage starts featuring more of Pierce. Within minutes, both Kobe and VladRad have two fouls. There were so many foul calls against the Lakers, I began to wonder whether PJ would have enough guys in uniform to finish the game.

Then the promos start for the halftime piece on Leon Powe. Who? We found out pretty quickly when the guy started lighting up the scoreboard like a Christmas tree, and as PJ pointed out, ended up with more shots from the free-throw line than the entire Laker team. By the way, this is a guy who averages like 4 points a game.

The halftime piece on Powe was so syrupy, it could even rip the heart out of a Lakers die-hard.

The Laker doom-and-gloom continued until late in the 4th, when the Lakers -- who had been down 24 points -- suddenly were allowed to go on a run that brought them within 2 points, before Boston sealed the deal. What drama! How wonderful for the ratings. Yes, it's about the ratings and all the money ABC/ESPN will make if the series goes seven games.

The opening game drew 9.5 million viewers and earned ABC a 3.7 adults 18-49 rating, the best showing for an opening game since 2004, according to Nielsen Media Research. Total viewers were up 54 percent over last year’s Game 1 and the 18-49 demo rating was up 28 percent The entire game telecast averaged 13.4 million viewers. Game 2 netted almost 9 million viewers, according to preliminary Nielsen data, averaging a 3.5 rating in the 18-49 demo.* O joy, O joy. Think what Stern can charge the networks when its time to renew their NBA contract.

So, you think the series might go seven games with those kind of numbers? Ha hah! And does Stern get to resurrect the pitiful Celtics franchise in the process?
You bet! Oh, there's so much money at stake here, the U.S. Mint is working overtime.

Sure, it's only a theory. It is chock full of facts. And assumptions that can't be proved. But the evidence is powerful. No series of random coincidences could line up this perfectly. ABC/ESPN's pre-conceived storyline dovetailed with what followed in a way that almost never happens in real life. Don't worry about Arlen Specter calling Senate hearings to investigate. He's the guy that came up with the single bullet theory.

[*Nielsen data culled from MediaWeek.com and TVWeek.com.]

i don't think the lakers are hated near as much as the laker fans are. obnoxious bunch of blowhards for the most part,though there are a few good ones.

I believe it Rick F.

By the way to those that are saying we weren't the aggressor, please check your facts. Guess who shot more from the paint? More from the key? Less from 3?

Oh yeah, that's us. We were aggressive, we were also ROBBED.

The game was FIXED!

Who was the athletic trainer who treated Paul Pierce in the dressing room? I want his name and I want him on the Lakers Team. Let's send Gary Vitti and Luke Walton over to the Celtics!!!

Just think, if we had that Celtic trainer on our team, Andrew Bynum will be playing in this series!!

The bad calls by refs don't directly affect the ball going in the basket. So, if the Lakers aren't dropping their shots......OMG, the Lakers are conspiring to extend their series to 7 games ! ! ! And here all this time I thought they just wanted to win the championship asap and go on vacation. My bad.

Go LAKERS ! ! ! ! !

Doc Rivers is the biggest POS coach ever. He said that the Celtics deserved more calls in game 2. He said refs stopped calling fouls. Wow... this guy is a class act. I always hated this guy and I always will . The funny thing is that some of the ESPN analyst actually think this guy is a good coach.

Simply put: Season is on the line on Tuesday.

Nothing else matters. Win game 3 & continue to breathe.

Colorado loves the Lakers!

Aloha Everyone,

I said this after the 1st game and I will say it again. I am not going to worry unless we lose one at Staples. We didnt win one in Utah until the 3rd try. And we didnt look very good at times against the Spurs. And as we all saw in the 4th quarter, when the pressure is turned on these Celtics can be rattled. We win at home and then go back to Boston for our 3rd try there. And with the pressure on, KG and Ray Allen both fold. KG missed nine straight in crunch time in the 1st game and was not factor during our run in game 2. We are far from dead yet.

MH

"Now, consider the type of person that knowingly visits a meeting place for no other reason than to seek animosity. What kind of person is it, that craves enemies, that foments hatred?

It could be a Sacramento Kings of basketball fan on a Laker blog, yes?

You don't like the officiating? Well let me ask you, how do they fit? (Probably a little small for you) How does it feel to walk in my shoes (for a game at least) during a championship series? Let me tell you something; there's nothing you can do about it. The media loves them more than they love you (as difficult as that is to imagine) and as long as your team continues to pussy-foot on the floor, the refs are going to let the Celtics have their way. Count on it. At least lose with respectability and stop bending over. You must overcome insuperable odds.

I hear all the whining, excuse making, bet hedging (just wait till Andrew gets back!!!), from Laker fans and you'd think I'd be a happy boy.

I'm not. I'm mad as hell. Beginning months ago when the officiating scandal "officially" broke, I urged, rather pleaded with all NBA fans not to let it go. I did so right here on this board. It was determined (as I predicted back then) that the referee in question was an "isolated incident", as if to infer that the rest of the NBA officiating operation (and all of the big money influences driving it) were otherwise was just fine.

Today, NBA officiating problems are as rampant and pervasive as they ever were. As Laker fans, they happen to be affecting you negatively this time around. (You know what they say about going and coming). It's possible that the best team will unfairly be denied the championship in 2008. This is not the first time this has happened (I know about such things), nor (given today's societal norms), will it be the last.

ALL NBA players and fans should come together and seize the opportunity; take the reigns and set unflinching across-the-board examples; DEMAND what is good and right, not only about officiating, but other things as well. Laker Tom could be the new President. (He roots for a bunch of effeminates, but hey, no one's perfect) Send a letter to the Commish now, and keep them coming until it is right. Just imagine, in less time than it will take you to slam me, you could write at least 3 notes to David. Society and our political leaders; maybe we can show them the way.

Sonnybelfast

Rick,

I sympathize with your argument and you have many valid points, but I just can't believe there is an actual conspiracy. I do believe there are biases and in many cases strong biases that are well-known. But to conspire, there is just too much risk with the NBA market. It couldn't be kept quiet. Refs would make more money than the players for that to be pulled off and kept quiet. In the very least, Donaghy would have blurted something.

Regardless, I know there are biases and I know Stern wants this to go 7 games for obvious reasons. How do you do that without conspiring? Well, how about you assign "homer" refs to the less talented team at their place and less influencable refs to the more talented team at their place. This is why we got the 182 year old Bavetta and crew for Game 1 and De"Lame"y and crew for Game 2. I read an article once that rated refs and their "homerisms" through statistical analysis and those two refs were up at the top for homer refs. Javie and Joey Crawford were near the bottom of the list as "uninfluencable" toward the home crowd.

So guess which crews we will get in LA.

Yeah, you can count on it.

Woops

Forgot to credit KARYANR who so eloquently does "consider the type of person that knowingly visits a meeting place for no other reason than to seek animosity".

Sonnybelfast

Rick F. and other bloggers,

You forgot to mention that one of last night's refs had ties to the mafia as an informant, and yet has been with the NBA as a ref for over 20 years. Here's a guy that has no fear of mafia retaliation. I wonder why?

We know that one ref has already been exposed as fixing NBA games. We know that another ref threatened to "beat up" Tim Duncan last year. We know that powerful sports figures, like Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley, are heavily involved in gambling. There has to be something to consider here.

People like Exhelodrvr are very gullible and never think outside of the box. These are the types of people who are easily led by authority figures. Bush fooled the world with his WMD contentions and all the evil things happening in Iraq, and yet it was all discovered to be untrue. The result, thousands of people dead. I'm sure there were millions of Americans, like EX, who bought into it hook, line, and sinker, simply because someone of authority told them to.

Personally, I don't go through this world being so weak of mind as to think everyone is an angel and everything is a rose garden. Every major sports industry has been tainted with corruption at one time or the other; whether it be steroids, betting, cheating, illegal recruiting, paid off judging (I think of the Olympics, especially). Whatever. It's not like corruption is immune from organized sports.

We also know that the NBA survives off of revenue, and Stern is hired by the owners to keep the revenue flowing. The NBA isn't football, in that it isn't in the top echelon of popular sporting events (NFL, MLB, NASCAR, and NCAA all beat it in ratings). Last year, the NBA lost money in ratings, which means powerful men with millions of dollars got very nervous.

There's documented evidence that organized crime figure threatened the woman from Denver that accused Kobe. Why? Kobe playing b-ball is influential economically, and rich powerful men don't like people screwing with their means of making money.

Stern's job is to make money, not to play the game. So I'm certain he'll do whatever he needs to do to make the money, including direct his officials to officiate a certain way.

A case in point of this was the beginning of last season, when Stern was trying to "clean up" the NBA. He had his refs call any single infraction that may constitute a player's challenge to authority, even if it was slight. Players were hit with technicals during the first few weeks with stuff they never would have been hit with if Stern hadn't directed the refs to help him clean up the NBA. So, you can't say that Stern doesn't influence the refs; that is part of his job.

It's not like only us bloggers are complaining about the refs. Talk radio, TV sports channels, the internet, the coaches, everyone noticed the favoratism the Celtics received. So there has to be something there.

People like EX would just shrug this off and say everything is peaching king. Most of us see that something is terribly wrong and needs to be addressed.

You'd be surprised what lurks in the hearts of men, especially when money and power are involved. Is the NBA dirty, you make that call yourself.

But please don't portray yourselves as being so easily fooled and weak of mind as to think something amiss couldn't occur, especially with all the evidence that is present.

Oh yeah bandwagon Boston fans!!!! Remember this....Pierce, Garnett, and Allen are perennial losers!!!! I wouldn't be too confident just yet. See how these chumps will perform when this series gets tighter. Enjoy your 10 seconds of glory. Things will change quickly and you'll see why these guys have never won anything before...and please tell Pierce not to cry on national TV after they blow this series. We all know how fragile he is....

I actually agree with Sonny on a couple of points, one being to bombard the comish with mail requests. Does anybody have a link where we can do this?

A couple of points I would make:

Why don't the refs have to face the media and answer for their mistakes or their judgments? Coaches and players are required to do this, so why not? Why are they being protected for their incompetence?

Refs should be fined for blatantly poor calls and this should be made public. Each team of that particular game should be able to have input on this process.

As one of the Fox Sports writers wrote today, the three best rated refs for the playoffs should officiate the Finals EVERY GAME! How simple that would be and it makes sooooo much sense. It would make it easier for the players, coaches, and the officials themselves. It would be so much more consistent and fair.