How is the protest for the Finals against the Heat coming along? That Finals series and their Round 1 exit against the warriors after securing the best regular season in the lague were 2 of the best poetic justices I have witnessed on a basketball court.
No, there's a big difference. Cuban goes to the media again and again on these matters. He's a perfect example of how if something doesn't go your way, cry about it and use excuses instead of accepting being beaten fair-and-square (for the most part). I don't condone us always complaining about the refs, either, but that's another matter. Don't kid yourself- most of the people here have as much in common with Mark Cuban as they do Les Alexander. Just because an owner decides to jump up and down in the stands and make a spectacle of himself doesn't make him any more of a fan than Mickey Arison, Jerry Buss, or any other of the NBA owners. You want a great example of good owner? The Maloofs. They watched the Kings games and jumped up and down like any other fan, they helped make Arco Arena one of the premier ones in the league, yet when their teams were screwed over, it was "no comment" or an occasional jab through the media. They were smart enough to know that it wasn't about them, it was about the team. They didn't win the big one, either, but I still have a hell of a lot more respect for them than MC Turquoise. I'll tell you what he does, though- he makes him team into a bunch of complainers and whiners, and I think what he does might even be counter-productive- if I were an NBA referee, I wouldn't go out of my way to help him in any way, shape, or form. No one wants to be held up to public ridicule, and even though every coach and GM complains about the referees at some point, Cuban makes it an art form in something that is just that- an art and not an exact science. I'm one of the few who doesn't think the refereeing is that big of a deal. Sure, they miss calls, and in the case of playoff games or end-of-the-game decisions, there should be reviews and such, but Lord, a large segment of NBA fans have turned into a bunch of pansies when it comes to officiating. And as someone else mentioned, Cuban is not doing this for the good of basketball- he's doing this for the good of the Mavericks. I can think of numerous instances when the referees have made biased calls in favor of the Mavericks- for several instances, I've checked Mr. Cuban's blog- and NOT ONCE has he ever protested a decision in favor of his team, even if a rule was broken. So, this is not about Cuban being altruistic- this is about him doing it blatantly for his team, and it trickles down to his teams, as well. That's why I thank the Lord he is not our team's owner- playoffs are all well and good, but the Mavs have only been close to the championship once, and they've failed miserably in almost every other playoff series since "Cubes" took over. It's because he creates an atmosphere that is not conducive to performing under pressure- I honestly believe this is a key factor in their downfalls, unlike the Spurs, who have been trained very effectively in how to handle pressure situations. The day the Mavericks win the title with him as the owner, I'll be the first to stand up and applaud for doing something that worked that year. But until then, he's just an average owner with a mediocre ability to judge talent who should leave personnel decisions to people who know better. But he won't, he can't help himself and that's why the Mavs will never be a true threat in the Western Conference or the NBA.
It is sad that Cuban's whining actually works... It changed the way the Rox-Mavs playoff series was officiated. So he is complaining because that strategy has been successful in the past. I hope the NBA has noticed this. A good lesson would be, yes you are right, we reviewed the game and will give Jason Kidd a one game suspension. That way he will realize he cannot cry his way to influencing the officials.
I have to say the refs considering the circumstances were fair--above average accuracy as well. They conferred and tried to get calls right. They were a cohesive group unlike other referee teams.
By fair I mean, they could have called 2 Ts on Kidd and ejected him. But they gave him one and the coach one. They kind of screwed us by giving Andersen one as I thought he was just a victim, but at least we got an extra T out of it. The other fair decision was to give Dampier the flagrant as Dallas wanted but also give Dampier a tech for swinging his elbows. Brooks foul was a common playoff play, so the flagrant was a favor to Dallas.
Nice contradiction. There is no such thing as being "fair and square" if it's fair and square "for the most part." How you can qualify that the game was fair when you admit it wasn't is beyond ludicrous. And of course he was doing this protest for his team. It's his job to care about the team he owns. I really don't understand how anyone can badmouth him because he is protesting what he believes were "unfair" calls that eventually led to his team's loss. I don't think much will come of it but the problem was that these were bad calls, not necessarily unfair. Just really bad calls. You can't blame the Mavs fans or their owner for being extremely upset. The refs were indeed wrong with the clear path foul. More time should have been added. And the review over Dampier, while in the Rockets' favor, was, by rule, an illegal review.
Your talking about a few free throws the Refs and NBA have 7 trys to get this right. You will win if you have the power to control the refs.
If Cuban was smart he would drop the protest because the biggest fault in the game was jsut giving Jason Kidd a freaking technical for that attempt to ram David Andersen and is no different than someone throwing a punch in my opinion. Ridiculous, and the referees even reviewed it and only called a technical. Referees absolutely are ruining the game. Horrible.
They did not call a tech on Kidd for that play. It was the confrontation afterwards that he got the tech. And it was a double tech with Anderson.
