Perfectly said. When did the NBA become such a b****fest? I will probably always remember a comment Mike Scossia said last year in the ALCS after that whole A.J. Pierzynski fiasco the umps botched. He said the team didn't play well enough to overcome those calls. Did he blame the officals? No. He acted like a man and took responsibility for the loss. The Mavs got a taste of their own medicine last night; they've been on the benefitting side of questionable calls before; You can't always have it your way (unless your Burger King). Avery needs to stop ASSUMING the refs and the players knew they wanted a timeout after the 2nd free throw. It doesn't matter if you've been through that hundreds of times before. Pull your player to the side and verbally tell him exactly what you want to do. Make it clear. This is the NBA Finals, don't take anything for granted. Wildly giving a timeout signal to a 2nd year player whose probably stressed, flustered and emotionally drained expecting him to know exactly at that moment the signal's assumed intent is probably not the best course of action. Cuban needs to stop complaining about every call that doesn't go the team's way, when nary a word is uttered when they benefit from such calls. Stop sitting behind the player's bench acting like an assistant coach, stop running onto the court, stop posting in blogs about your complaints. You may be a hardcore fan whose trying to motivate his players (which is great), but you're an owner first. And as an owner you have to set an example for your teamates to follow. And right now, they are following your lead acting like whiney b****es every time a call doesn't go there way. Josh Howard needs to act like a man and own up to his actions The whole damn NBA nation saw it on live tv, then on replays time and time again, that he called timeout then walked toward the bench. Maybe you were confused; If so MAYBE you should have run over to your coach and asked for clarification before you gave the signal to the refs. The Mavs, the players, the coaches, the personnel, need to stop placing blame everywhere but with themselves, because they truly do only have themselves to blame. Period. The game was lost by one point. If a couple of missed free throws were made down the stretch; an extra defensive stop made; perhaps a sooner adjustment on Wade, they might have won. So act like men, act like PROFESSIONAL BASKEBALL PLAYERS, take responsibility for the loss and move on.
I hear Dirk Nowitski was the first person to ever express frustration like that after losing an NBA Finals game.
I hear he went pee pee and left the seat up too. Come on, that is one weak-a$$ display of frustration.
<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ysAH1c8nMrA"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ysAH1c8nMrA" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350"></embed></object> Nice dropkick Dirk.
LOL! I f*cking love the quote from Josh Howard about how "I didn't call timeout. I just did this [signals T with hands.]" It just keeps getting better! You moron. You were caught on live national television not only calling for time but then walking off towards the bench. Own up to it. There's not a man in the entire league I would rather have that happen to after the sh*t he pulled on Yao two years ago.
i complain about the refs, no doubt, but you're the crown prince of it. i remember the lakers years, we were on the same side then, and you were much crazier than i was. if the lakers had just shot 49 free throws to the kings or twolves 25, i know you'd have something to say other than it was a well called game. and does anyone know what "positive position" is? is that defined in the rule book anywhere.
I challenge you to name more than three or four games from the Lakers years where I said the officials blew the game. You guys took a couple of games in which I said the officiating was horrible, and have since exaggerated that into me doing it all the time, and that's just not accurate. I can deal with bad officiating as long as it's consistent across the board. It hasn't always been that way, but right now, the Mavs are victims of the same ticky-tack calls that went in their favor in earlier playoff games. It sucks, and I hope the NBA makes a change by next season. But they are being consistent, and I don't see that the Mavs have that much to be upset about because they probably wouldn't be here in the first place without that style of officiating.
ESPN 103.3 in Dallas is hilariously funny today... If you like to hear complaining from homers claiming to not be homers.
The Mavericks are in serious trouble. I thought they would win the series. I still think they are the overall better team. However, they have let D.Wade take over the series; he has made it his personal superstar coming out party. Momentum is with the Heat, and DWade could go crazy on Tuesday and close it out. I don't think they can stop him. Personally AJ better come up with some kind of "switching triple team" on Wade, and I am not even sure what that is.
Good post. There is no absolute fairness in sports. Dallas has been on the benifical side of dubious calls numerous times, didnt hear them complain about it then. Bad calls always happen and they eventually even out. If you want to win championship, play and act like a champ. I see bunch sore losers mocking reporters, kicking stuff, cursing like 6 year olds, no make it 3 year olds. The series is not over yet. If Avery is the coach of the year as he was voted to be, he should've been saying "yeah we miscommuncated, happens, this will motivate us to win the next two at home, which even makes better" instead of moaning and biatching. If Dirk is the leader he supposed to be, he should have been gathering the team together after the loss and encouraging them, he should have been comforting Josh Howard and let him know it's ok instead of kicking stuff like a kid. In a way I feel bad for Josh Howard, yes he made mistake, but his teammates and coaches are whole bunch of wusses and make it a lot worse. To me, it's not about those calls anymore. It's about the character of this Dallas team.
The bad news: Heat has 3:2 lead The good news: Next two games are in Dallas. The best news: When was the last time Heat had a win in Dallas?
What's bizarre is how they have taken on the character of their owner. How often does that happen in sports? The character of the coach and maybe the GM, sure, but of the owner? It's strange, but in my opinion, that's what we're seeing here. And of course Dirkie should have been trying to pump up his fellow teammates' spirits, or something. You know, the leadership thing. Not act like a kid who's had his ball taken away by the school bully. And Avery should have been polite for 5 minutes to his own beat writer. Truly bizarre.
