To the Credit of Pistons Fans

by Steve Weinman on May 31, 2008 1:17 AM EDT in NBA Articles

As many around here may be aware by now, I really try to make as much of an effort as possible not to get too wrapped up in the officiating of basketball games, particularly those involving the Celtics. It's my belief that officiating is often an "eye of the beholder" issue and that for every call fans on one side talk about going the wrong way, there is likely to be one about which fans on the other side are saying the same. I really believe it all balances out (or comes close) in the long run.

But last night's Bennett Salvatore call on Paul Pierce for an offensive foul on what absolutely had to be a foul on Rip Hamilton to set up a four-point play for the Celtics was finally too much for me. But in the interest of checking that 'other side' of things, I figured I'd take a look at that one through the eyes of Pistons fans, and I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw.

A cursory glance at the game thread on Matt Watson's wonderful Detroit Bad Boys blog told me all I needed to know. With no intention of stepping on FLCeltsFan's 'other side' turf, here's a quick look:

WHOA. An offensive foul on Pierce? That has been called about once in the last 10 years.
Did they just call that on Pierce? This is fixed.

Wow, that was a hilariously awful call. That should’ve been a 4 point play.
Nevermind! That was a great call!
OH MY LORD ARE YOU KIDDING ME!

WOW that was close! LOL
I want Detroit to win and all but c’mon. Keep the game legit.
I have no idea what to make of what’s happening right now. Some help would be appreciated.
One bad call does not make a fixed game, but what a bad, bad call!
The officiating is bad. I mean, that Pierce 3 is the symptom of a deep problem in the NBA.

Yep, I'll stick by my original assessment: awful call by Salvatore. In the meantime, a shout-out to Detroit fans for what was really game-long objectivity about the refereeing. They spent most of the third quarter discussing their collective feeling that the Celts were getting the short end of the stick even before the Pierce call was made. Surprising and refreshing to see that.

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Comments

I’ve only seen that call about a dozen times this whole season and all were completely visible in terms of the player jumping into the opposition and forcing the contact. I don’t know why the refs are so hesitant to call that type of foul.

Interestingly enough Billups was the only player I’ve seen called for that multiple times this season. Maybe Kobe Bryant also.

Anyways, Pierce’s one was a bad call. While it wasn’t an offensive foul it wasn’t a Pistons foul either. Pierce travelled on the play. He moved both feet. It should have been Pistons ball anyway.

by Who on May 31, 2008 1:59 AM EDT reply actions

I’ve only seen that call about a dozen times this whole season and all were completely visible in terms of the player jumping into the opposition and forcing the contact.

*Which Pierce’s wasn’t so I have no idea what the refs were thinking there.

by Who on May 31, 2008 2:01 AM EDT reply actions