Will he get over it? I thought for a while that he was going to burst into tears. I love it. Go Heat!
J Howard made a mistake. But the guy played a good game overall. There was only 1 second left anyway. How much could a timeout have helped? But I am sure the Mavs crybabies will blame the loss on the poor kid.
Some thoughts, 1 It is so obvious the Mavs are a better team it's not funny. They really missed Stack tonight because Marquis Daniels was empty. Their chemistry comes in spurts but it didn't last long enough for them to win games 3 or 5. 2 Wade: I told my son after the game was over he was seeing greatness at it's best. I told him the way Wade took over the game with 17 4th quarter points and multiple clutch shots was worthy of MJ, Bird, Magic or any other NBA legend. (Note: I'm not saying he's MJ, but this game was worthy of MJ). It's hard to believe Wade is only in his 3rd year. 3 Dirk: Once again missed a late clutch FT, but he made up for it. Too bad his shot is off. The Mavs could sure use another 26/21 game from him. It is abundantly clear Wade is better, but I won't hold this against Dirk because that is no shame. 4 Josh Howard: By the way he missed them (both were short) those two FTs were clear choke jobs. Too bad for him. If the Mavs lose the series, I will equate his timeout mistake to Nick "The Brick" Anderson. For a player to make this mistake with 2 seconds left in OT of a tied game in the NBA Finals ranks up there near the top brainlock jobs of all time. I wonder if he can recover. 5 Shaq: His FT shooting is disgraceful and the Heat are very lucky they won both of the close games. Before Cuban complains about the foul discrepancy, he may want to remember their 3 centers had 15 total fouls plus other Mav players were used to "Hack a Shaq". 6 I still think the Mavs can win this series. If home cooking makes them to their capabilities, they will plow the Heat down in game 6 and probably take game 7. The Mavs are the type of team that can't stand prosperity and nothing comes easy for them.
Oh definitely it would've helped their chances if they got to inbound it in the half court line. There's been plenty of game winning shots happen in less time than 1.9 seconds. But 1.9 seconds cross court pass? Very unlikely..
The timeout could have been huge. Instead of having Devin Harris jack up a running 40 footer, they would have taken the ball out at 1/2 court and gotten off a decent shot. Yes Howard played a very good game but that mistake ended any chance of them winning after Wade made the 2nd FT.
This isn't a Wade call or some conspiracy about how the NBA hates Mark Cuban. NBA officials have been calling those ticky-tack, incidental plays as fouls late in games this entire postseason. Game 3, Dallas/SA... Duncan is fouled out of the game on almost an identical play. He plays straight up defense, hands in the air... but Dirk brushes against Duncan's leg (on contact he effectively initiated) and fell down, giving Dallas two free throws that were the winning margin and fouling Duncan out of the game. It was almost identical leg contact to the foul Dirk committed against Wade tonight. Game 4, Dallas/SA. San Antonio is up 2 in the final seconds. Dirk and Bowen are both battling for position (minimal contact) and there's no evidence that either player is doing more than the other in that contact. Nevertheless, the refs blow the whistle on Bowen, send Dirk to the line for two FTs to win the game and the Mavs win in overtime. No, I don't like refs calling incidental contact like that as a foul to decide a close game in the final seconds. But, it IS consistent with how the NBA has officiated these playoffs. It's not like it's out of the ordinary. Also, Dallas fans have no room to complain. If the officials didn't make those ticky-tack calls late in games, they wouldn't be playing in this series to begin with.
Yeah, probably streamers, right? Boy, the Mavericks are certainly a bunch of sore losers. I really do believe now the team is a reflection of their owner- whiny babies who have to "cheap-shot" players like Finley and O'Neal. If I was Avery, I would sit my team down and tell them that the large majority of what they're doing is due to themselves. I would also sit down with owner boy and tell him, "you know, maybe if you didn't make your complaints against the officials so public, maybe you might get the benefit of the doubt down the stretch." Sorry, but San Antonio does it the right way- did you hear them complain at all about the officiating last year? The last time I heard this much whining about the officiating was from Sacramento- very similar type of team as the Mavs, with a superstar that just misses the mark.
Did you hear him embarass that reporter who was simply asking him to comment on whether or not he questioned the last call against Wade? He was saying "You explain it to everybody... you do it... I'm waaaaaaaiting.... don't stutter." The guy didn't say anything... he simply just wanted Avery to comment on it. Pretty unprofessional of AJ.
Does anybody have like a video clip or picture of Josh Howard calling that timeout? Sounds like a good photoshop edit if you ask me.
Avery Johnson gets kind of crazy in press conferences after losses. He was the same way last year against Houston.
Now, Cuban is cussing at reporters asking him a simple question about home court advantage in Dallas. From Cuban and Avery on down to Dirk and the large majority of the players, the Dallas Mavericks are the biggest joke in the NBA. Anybody who plays basketball knows about the 4-point rule regarding the end of close games. As long as you keep a team at 4 points or under, you can expect to win. When it gets to 3 points or less, anything can happen. Again, they're an embarrassment to the NBA. I have every "final" Finals game on tape from 1981 to 2005, but I'm telling you, if the Mavericks win it, I refuse to tape the game- no one in the past 26 years has deserved to win a title less than the Mavericks.
injuries and lack of depth? ---------------- on the webber-esque call by josh howard, i think avery deserves at least half of the blame. if you watched the game you could see avery on the sidelines emphatically making the timeout signal with his hands. we know now after the fact that he was actually signalling to his team (i.e. howard, who was looking at the bench) for a timeout AFTER the second free throw, which explains why he kept holding up two fingers when subsequently arguing with the refs ("i meant, timeout after the SECOND free throw, joey!") aj should have recognized from the two missed free throws that howard had already wet his pants, and should not have risked any chance of misinterpretation of orders, and should not have relied on what little judgment howard had left at that point, at such a critical point in the game. i.e. he should have called howard, or whoever, over to him to give instructions face to face. especially if the person receiving the orders was howard, who was no doubt shook from the pressure (it busts pipes).
nothing would make me happier then the mavs losing this series on conspiracy. they deserve it for they way they play and the way they whine and b****. watching this game reminds me of what a joke the nba has become. 24 free throws for dwayne wade? ouch. whatever though, as long as dallas keeps losing i'll be ok with whatever they want to call. the refs need to go though, i'll take nick's idea of using college refs over these clowns.
does anybody have a tape of dirk? "Grr...i kick exercize bikes like a pansy when the stadium throw streamers in the air and the hit me. they hurt as much as the fouls that shouldve been called for me"
