In the Boston Celtics’ last two games; they’ve been outscored 61-36 in the fourth quarter, which is very odd. In addition, over the course of the two mind-boggling contests, they’ve turned the ball over 35 times and had 54 fouls called against them. New Orleans (21) and Philadelphia (16) combined to have the whistle blown against them an intriguing 37 times. Boy, the National Basketball Association does not want to promote defense at all. I guess P.J. Brown-like blocks and breakaway windmill dunks off of a Rondo steal don’t sell tickets.

New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul made a habit out of using Boston players as a cushion for his elaborate uncontrolled skirmishes towards the hoop. But the savvy third-year “veteran” only had five fouls called against him. Can someone please explain?

However, the Celtics had no reason to lose the Crescent City clash. They were ahead by an astonishing 15 points at one time. Unfortunately for the green wearing warriors, the game of football was allowed to seep into the contest by the whistle-blowing maniacs. Who’s counting? But I saw New Orleans “phenom” Bonzi Wells shoulder thrust the Celtics’ big men at least 10 times.

What have we come to when the best basketball team in the league doesn’t get respected by the officials? What have we come to when a future Hall of Famer like Kevin Garnett gets repeatedly hacked and the officials blink with astonishment at his imposing stature and miss the foul? Absolute chaos!

The 76ers! The Philadelphia 76ers went on a 19-0 run to beat the C’s. You think the Celts were afraid to play defense because of foul trouble? I sure do! Philadelphia forward Andre Iguodala was allowed to score 10 consecutive points during the ref-enhanced run. When is the last time you’ve seen anyone in the game do that against the Celtics?

I’m not disappointed by the Celtics at all. They have done so much this year and will likely continue their romp across the league. But I don’t want to sit here and watch the zebras steal the show. The fans of this team aren’t paying monumental prices to listen to whistles blow and embellished calls be thrown around like confetti. This is the NBA folks, a league that should let their million dollar inhabitants battle till the end and win with talent.

Defense wins championships in professional sports. There should be a call for this in the game. NBA commissioner David Stern should make it a point that the ridiculous love-tap calls cease. If this league wants the best team to win, let defense roam free. What I’ve seen over the last two games has just been horrible. The teams that don’t know how to play are getting rewarded for an underperforming and inadequate style.

I know the C’s played a major role in what happened, but come on! Who goes on a 19-0 run against one of the best defenses ever?

The loss to Philadelphia was very dangerous however, you should never let a team like that beat you, especially if you’ll probably see them in the future. I don’t know, I’m a fan, I love to rant.

Till next time, thanks for listening. Hopefully next time I type this column, I’ll be chanting D-FENSE and glorifying the refs for letting the guys play.

I doubt it.

One Response to “What? Are You Kidding?”

1. Joe Says:
   March 26th, 2008 at 8:39 am

   Didn’t the Refs actually give the assist to Iggy on one play? Iggy swatted a pass right into the ref’s leg and then picked it up and sprinted for the slam…

   Sixers play some good D and rebound the ball. They are not a team that anyone should want come playoff time. They will make the old guys work.

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