Remember Christmas… when the Celtics lost to the New York Knicks by two points?
Remember how the referees called SIX technical fouls, thanks in no small part to Mr. Happy Whistle Joey Crawford?
Well… guess what? The league says Joey was a little overzealous.
Rivers added that two of the three technical fouls assessed the Celtics during Sunday’s loss to the Knicks were rescinded. Though Rivers said he didn’t know which two were nullified, it is believed that the two fourth quarter techs called on Sasha Pavlovic and Jermaine O’Neal were amnestied.
Two techs. Two free points. Two point loss.
Vent away in the comments.
I wrote back in 2009 that the league should create the Joey Crawford rule. So allow me to just quote myself:
So how about we create the Joey Crawford rule? Let's start counting up how many technical fouls get rescinded… and if a ref hits a certain threshold, then he gets suspended too? Why shouldn't the NBA keep its refs' emotions in check too?
It's nice that the league will rescind a tech so they don't go against the player's total. Sheed and Perk each have 4 already… so anything that will avoid those guys missing time is great. But the technical foul can change the game, too. The techs on Perk and Doc came at a critical time. They stop the flow of the game. They can throw a player off for the next trip down the floor… or even get him ejected.
Or, how about another idea I had after rescinded techs last season:
I've said it before… and I'll say it again…. NBA refs need to be fined for rescinded flagrants. They need to know that flagrant fouls are potentially game-changing calls… and they need to be handed out appropriately. There is no excuse for a critical call to be rescinded after the fact when it could have been the difference between winning and losing.
The bottom line: The league NEEDS to fix this problem. The two free points for the Knicks that they shouldn't have had in what ended up being a two point loss is absolutely inexcusable.
Technicals change the flow of the game. They stop momentum for one team. They create momentum for another. They rattle players and coaches when they are horribly unwarranted. And when you have one tech, you can't even bang in the post with someone for fear of the stupid "double-tech" that could now get you tossed.
Joey Crawford's quick trigger has gone too far. It went too far two years ago. And it's been going too far long before that. Enough is enough.
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