So Could We Have A Little Less Whining About The Officiating Tonight?

Complaints over the foul disparity in Sunday's Game 2: Justifiable, or the last refuge of a team that's destined to lose anyway? The Celtics shot 38 free throws to the Lakers' 12, which has caused much wailing and gnashing of teeth in LA, and prompted Ray Ratto of CBS Sportsline and the San Francisco Chronicle to dig out the last time a difference that large occurred in an NBA Finals game. And it was quite a while ago.

I give you this from the bottom of my spleen: The last time there was a free throw disparity as large as Sunday's in an NBA Finals was Game 6 of the 1967 series between your Warriors and the Philadelphia 76ers. Philly, 64 free throws (41 made) to 29 for the Rick Barrys (22 made). Sixers win by three on the road.

So what does all this mean? Well firstly, the Warriors haven't given a crap about defense in their entire existence. As for the current Lakers, I actually did not see Game 2. But it always strikes me as odd that basketball players at every level seem to think that they're entitled by God to the same amount of fouls as their opponent.

Having coached at the high school level, I saw this all the time. I remember a particular sequence where one of my players drove baseline (no, it wasn't Tom Brady), went up for a reverse layin, and the guy "guarding" him was called for a foul. Their coach starts screaming, "It was all ball!" You're really not supposed to talk to the other coach during a game, but between free throws I said loudly enough for him to hear: "If you'd teach your players to cut off the baseline, dumbshit, it wouldn't be an issue."

Lakers Complain Refs Are Tying Their Hands By Calling So Many Fouls On Them [The Press-Enterprise]