Okay, I kind of regret saying what I did last night, about how I wanted the Magic to win either Game 3 or Game 4... I feel bad. If the Lakers had won tonight (and they very well could have if the Lakers had played like themselves in the fourth), it would have been a great game regardless of the victor. Of course, the series would still be boring, but the game itself would have been fantastic.

There are really only two things I want to talk about tonight. I won't be flaming Kobe incessantly as I'm sure a lot of others will be doing tonight because without Kobe, the Lakers would definitely not even have had the chance to be where they were in the fourth – the man dominated the first quarter with 17 points for goodness sake!

What I want to talk about though is what happened in the fourth quarter. Not the missed free throws by Kobe – which definitely hurt – but instead what happened near the end of the game, when it looked like momentum was just about to switch in the Lakers' favor (the play ended almost like the graphic to the left, but the graphic is from earlier in the fourth, and Mickael and Dwight are much too close).

33 seconds left in the third game of the NBA finals, Lakers only down by two points: 102-104. Kobe's got the ball. Almost 20 seconds left on the shot clock. Guarded by Mickael with Dwight drifting over. Pau comes to help Kobe, Fish is open not too far away, and Ariza is wide open in the corner. I don't know if it was Kobe's plan, but when he split that double team, it really looked like he was trying to go for the two-for-one. But even if he wasn't going for the two-for-one, why rush the play, Kobe?

What ended up happening was Dwight got his hand on the ball (remember, this play is not portrayed by the graphic above) and Kobe kept running. Kobe and Pau both somehow almost got the ball back, but they both fumbled it. Mickael ended up retrieving the possession and Kobe was forced to foul.

It's pretty much what ended it for the Lakers. We all thought that missed free throw by Kobe with 59 seconds left was the thing that did it for the Lakers, but it turns out it was that play. It was their chance to come back. If Kobe hadn't rushed the play and the Lakers got a decent shot off, it could have been tied at 104 – if not up one – and the Magic would have the final possession. Magic had already went pretty dry up to that point, so it could've easily ended in favor of the Lakers. Either way though, that play was without a doubt the back breaker, and it's unfortunate that if a few Lakers (ahem) could just make their free throws, they would not even have been in that situation.

Now the second thing I wanted to touch upon is about fouls in general. I've wanted to have this rant for a while now, but couldn't quite find the best time, until now.

Sometimes the refs call fouls and sometimes they don't. But nowhere in the rule book does it say anything along the lines of "the items that will determine if we, the refs, swallow our whistles is: one, if you are a star player or two, if you are a player who has earned the call / no call due to your play during the game." But while it's not written like that, why do refs continually practice it? Because referees in the NBA are the worst.

Former players, like present ABC play-by-play announcer Mark Jackson, constantly says things like "He deserved that foul," "don't let the refs bail you out" "the refs shouldn't call that foul, this series is for all the marbles." I hate that. Seriously, Mark, shut the hell up. By you saying that, you're brainwashing everyone else to think that the what the refs are doing – judging when they should or should not call fouls and whom they should call fouls against – is okay. It's not okay.

If a foul happens at the end of a quarter, it must be called. If it's a tight game and someone should get an and-one call, call it. Whether a star player commits a foul or whether he's the one getting fouled, both situations should be handled with exact same outcome, a foul!

I've always wanted to say this to a ref: Get that [you know what] out our of your mouth and start blowing the whistle instead.

The better you are at basketball shouldn't determine how many calls you get, those aren't the rules and people like Jackson shouldn't promote such behavior to be continued. Stern should seriously consider starting over. Start the whole damn referee system over. It's so flawed it's astounding. I don't know how many times I've seen in games when a call is not called when the ref is staring right in front of the play, or a whistle is blown a few seconds after a shot because the ref wanted to see whether the shot goes in or not. Call the foul. If a foul happens, you have to call it, end of story. I get that there exists a difference difference between small fouls and big fouls, but the big fouls are the ones that are ignored most of the time. So refs, call those freaking fouls, is that too much to ask? For you guys to follow the rules? Damn.

I don't really feel like doing a play of the game tonight. I'm too mad. Not at the game or anything, the game was very entertaining. I'm mad instead by how childish NBA refs act. It's pathetic. Besides, the play I was going to show was that play I analyzed in the beginning, nothing new and amazing. If the Lakers had won, I said to myself I would create a little video showing all the times Kobe faked a shot and got sent to the line (was that fun or what!). But instead, for the first time of these playoffs, I will not show a play of the game, nor a video at all. Maybe that will motivate the Lakers to win Game 4, eh? Oh, and this means I'll have to keep my beard for a few more days. That'll be fun. And a big day for birthdays today, Johnny Depp, Natalie Portman, Michael J. Fox and Aaron Sorkin were all born today (wasn't Andrew Rome born today too?) So happy birthday to all of you. And Tim Floyd, what gives? You had us all freaking out thinking you were leaving for Arizona during the school year and now you ditch us over summer? Means you're guilty. Not cool man, not cool. Alright, until next time everyone, take care. see u.