Tossing batting practice…while seriously wondering just how many I could score on the Knicks "defense"…

Well, that loss sucked last night. I hate the Lakers, but hopefully the good news is that Danny Ainge will realize he’s got to go out and get another big man; preferably at the expense of Big Baby Davis

I will admit to being far removed from the C’s on a daily basis now and only see a handful of games, but he’s just not doing it for me. He’s like a fatter Tony Allen, anytime they do anything good, you jump out of your chair in a mix of excitement and shock.
Not what you want out of your backup power forward.

The fears we all had about Doc last year were realized last night, not his best night on the sidelines with the rotation and such. I also wish Ray and Rondo had talked him out of the plays he drew up at the end of regulation and overtime.

I will say that the C’s didn’t lose because of the officials, but all three of them should be donating a game check to the Red Auerbach foundation for that effort last night. I know he’s never been known for his defense, but how does Pau Gasol only commit one foul in 46 minutes? He grabbed 14 rebounds too, so it’s not like he wasn’t doing anything at the defensive end.
The Celtics front line committed 18 fouls on the game, the Lakers 11, and the Lakers starters combined for six fouls, four of them coming from Odom.
Specific calls are always tough to point to and blame (except for one, see below) but the numbers as a whole at the end don’t lie, even free throw disparity can sometimes, but only Derek Fisher getting more touchy feely than Eddy Curry with his male personal assistant make the total foul numbers even.

(Thanks Jon, I was looking for the right comparison, that’s why you get the big bucks)

I felt even better this morning about the curious officiating when even Bob Ryan came out and asked, what the hell those three guys were doing on the floor for that game.
While I hate the way the NFL sometimes comes out and says, “oops, we screwed up” a few days later with seemingly no repercussions, at least they acknowledge human error. I wish all sports would allow officials to speak, or at least come out and say something to the effect of what the NFL does.
All four of the leagues have their own channels now, you could easily fill a half hour of television dissecting questionable calls.
Then there’d even be a forum to compliment correct calls.

Whoever called KG’s final foul, I’d like to have his finances investigated to determine if he likes to visit casinos, horse tracks, or legitimate Italian Businessman’s social clubs in his spare time. Because Gasol whacked KG twice to knock the ball loose, ok so that call was missed, but to call that ticky tack loose ball foul, well that raises a few eyebrows in a post Tim Donaghy world.

Should I be happy that Andrew Bynum is out 8-12 weeks, or disappointed he isn’t out 8-12 months?

Kurt Rambis without glasses just doesn’t look right, he should be the anti-spokesman for laser eye surgery.

I am disappointed with the crowd tonight too, they were not in playoff form. Loud at times but not nearly enough.
I guess when Chris Evans (???????) and one of the guys from New Edition are your celebrities TNT shows midgame, well that just tells you how unimportant this game really is in the long run.

Cleveland worries me….a lot. Especially now that it has been determined that Lebron can do no wrong; I’d like to think homecourt advantage isn’t that important and that the Celtics can find a way, but the evidence I garnered from my 11th grade science project tells me different.
The NBA had the highest percentage of homecourt wins of the four major sports. I’m not worried about having to go to LA, because we all know real LA fan(s?) will get shut out and thus the noise level won’t be as startling.

Mad props to Lebron for the triple double the other night, but honestly why do people compare MSG to the Boston Garden and the Forum? What exactly has made it the world’s most famous arena? Their greatest moment is a crippled guy limping on the floor burying two jumpers and calling it a day, and that happened 35 years ago. I’d argue even the old Chicago Stadium has more NBA history than MSG, at least for the home team.

Back this weekend with other weekly observations and hopefully positive analysis on a win over the Spurs.