FanPost

Hoiberg Cries Foul as IT Carries the C's


Jimmy Butler had more free throw attempts than the entire Celtics' roster. Let that settle in for a minute. Settled? Great. Now let this settle in: the Bull's coach, Fred Hoiberg, complained about the officiating. Confused? Join the club.

In a game where Jimmy Butler scored 19 of his team-high 33 points at the charity stripe, and Isaiah Thomas got saddled with 4 fouls early into the 3rd quarter, it was the Bulls' coach, not the Celtics', who had a problem with how the refs called the game.

Hoiberg's complaint? Thomas is discontinuing his dribble, and carrying the ball. Carrying, you know, the same thing that pretty much every NBA player does almost every time they touch the ball. The same thing that Dwanye Wade has done for the past decade.

Needless to say, Hoiberg's complaint seems like sour grapes. Credit to IT for absolutely dominating when the C's needed him the most. Thomas was on the bench with 4 fouls when the Bulls went on a monster run in the 3rd quarter, erasing the Celtics one time 20-point lead to take a 2-point lead, for only the briefest of moments. Stevens called on the king of the fourth to work his magic a little bit earlier than normal, as Thomas squashed the Bulls momentum, and lead the Celtics to a win, knotting the series at two a piece.

Thomas was a staggering +17 in the game, compared to a -4 for Butler, and it was IT's signature game thus far in his early playoff career. Had Thomas not come back into the game when he did, and gone on an ungodly tear, scoring or assisting on the next 16 Celtics points, the Bulls could very easily be holding a 3-1 series lead. Unfortunately for Hoiberg and the Bulls, he did. Which may explain why Hoiberg was so frustrated with Thomas. But instead of giving the man his due, and figuring out how better defend him, Hoiberg went for the lowest hanging fruit, in an apparent effort to either get some calls in game 5, or to pump his life into his team. If the refs call a carrying violation on IT in game 5, shame on the refs.

Bottom line is, this pisses me off as a Celtics fan. The Celtics, and specifically IT, never get respect from anyone. Would Hoiberg have made that comment if Lebron James was carrying the ball? I sincerely doubt it. Hoiberg must think that the only way that the generously listed 5'9" Isaiah Thomas can shred his team like parmamesan cheese is by cheating. And as a Boston sports fan, I've had enough of other teams attacking us for cheating. Hoiberg needs to keep his mouth shut, and focus on the things he can control: namely, trying to solve the riddle known as IT. A riddle that has thus far in the NBA season, to be solved.

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