Can we reconsider Larry Brown's Hall of Fame induction?

The Celtics Pistons double overtime game was outstanding. I should be writing about Ricky Davis's continued improvement or how refreshing it was to see both teams play with so much enthusiasm. But that wouldn't be me; I'm thinking about the officiating and Larry Brown.

I won't dwell on the refs since I've already done that a lot except I'll ask two questions: Did you know a team can be called for defensive three seconds even when the offensive team hasn't had the ball for three seconds yet? Did you also know that instead of just hand-checking by holding a guys jersey, now you can hand-check by placing your hand on the forehead of your opponent? Rip Hamilton knew that.

Back to Larry Brown. I actually remember his Hall of Fame speech because he made a big deal about how his fellow inductees had such respect for the game and more of today's players need that. I agreed with him, but after last night it seems Brown is guilty of telling people to "do as I say, not as I do."

Brown was simply working the refs, but there should be a limit to this if someone respects the game. One aspect of Detroit's strong defense is to aggressively push, grab, and hinder people moving without the ball. It's basically the same thing Daly's Pistons and Riley' s Knicks did. These fouls should be strictly called, but when you have coaches like the ones I mentioned working (actually let's call it bullying) the refs, more and more is allowed. As a result, the game becomes virtually unwatchable.

I understand they're just trying to win, but does it make it okay to just try to win when it means you're ruining the game in the process? This is where I'm connecting Brown's pleas for respect and his actions as a coach.

His behavior towards the officiating last night was disgraceful. He actually got called for a technical in overtime, which I never remember seeing. I usually blame the officials when a coach or player gets a technical. I want to know what it actually was that made the person so irate. So what was it that got Brown so upset? Maybe it was that his team only shot 45 free throws.