2006 Western Conference Semifinals - Spurs vs. Mavs

Whether I like, dislike or hate the Mavs has nothing to do with my ability to watch a game. By your logic, no one on either side ever has a right to complain about officiating because they're biased.

 

sour grapes from Barkely ....i thought these guys were supposed to be impartial

 

i hope the winner of this series gets a bunch of SAM I AM in their grill!

 

I will say this...once in overtime, Dallas just kicked it into another gear and SA couldn't match. But it should have never gone to overtime.

 

could there possibly be a worse ending to this season then the freaking mavs winning a championship? i can only hope detroit puts them away. dirk is such a clown, he's moved up to stockton/malone status for me.

i totally dislike the spurs but watching the mavs' little b****es jumping around like they won a freaking championship is a joke.

 

I really wish that we had Terry, Harris and Howard on my team. I would not mind a TMac + pick + filler trade for these guys.

Harris is just a sophomore and he is already incredible. Next season he will become the most unguardable 1 (for dribble penetration at least) in the league.

 

Also, in case you missed it, I gave the Mavs all sorts of props in Game 2 when the rest of this board was going nuts over the officiating. Funny how I didn't get credit for that.

I don't want to divert the thread, and I don't want to make it seem as if I don't respect the Mavs. They've played much better than I thought they would. But, this is two games in a row where the officials have taken the game out of the players' hands at the end of regulation instead of letting the players make the plays to decide it. Despite that, I'll admit the Mavs have played and adjusted very well. But I'd like to see one of these games decided by one of the teams making plays instead of ticky tack fouls sending automatic shooters to the line.

 

It's speaks volumes that Dirk is not a go to franchise player and his numbers are the result of him relying on his teammates to play well so he can feed off of them. The softest 30 points scored are the ones by him.

And Dallas fans are the biggest whiners.

 

Anyway, a couple of non-officiating takes:

1.) The Mavs are scary these next few years. They've been an incredibly different team since Harris came in Game 2 and became another aggressive perimeter defender that attacks the basket without making mistakes. He's only in his second year and still developing. I'm not sure how many of you have noticed, but the Spurs have sagged 5 or so feet off him when he has the ball at the top of the key... they respect his penetration that much. If he further develops his jumper to make them pay for playing off him like that (he was a very good shooter in college), he'll be even better. The Mavs core is all young, and they're only going to improve as Harris develops. Scary.

2.) This series isn't over. The Spurs arguably could've and should've won both games in Dallas with most of Dallas' perimeter players playing the best they've played all season. They take care of home court, and all they've got to do is take one game in Dallas (look how close they were these last two) and it's a winner-take-all game 7 in San Antonio. They've got a shot, and as bad as the officiating has been, they've had shots the last two games too.

 

I have said it again and again that Dirk is not a true franchise player unless he develops a post game. His post moves are even much worse than those of KG's, even if KG really does not have any signature moves in the post.

But again, Dallas has such incredible role players, or even star players (Harris will be an all star in the next two years) around him. They will be a contenders for years to come.

 

Mavs played a hell of a game tonight. I can't take that away from them. Still, watching this series has clarified what I want from this postseason. Clippers going deep would be nice, but basically, I'm ABD -- anyone but Dallas. Don't like Flopitzki. Don't like Oaf Dampier. Don't like Thug Howard. Don't like Mosquito Harris. Don't like Must-Have-Ball Stackhouse. Don't even like Terry's knee socks. Mark Cuban? Put a spit through him, he'll feed a family of six for weeks. I'll take anyone -- Phoenix, Detroit, Miami, even Spurs over these weasels. Yes, it's hate. But like the song says, it feels so right, it can't be wrong. No championships for you, Dirk. For you, only those highlights of you fainting and moaning, selling your manhood for another two free throws. Sell it all, Dirk. For nothing.

 

Man the one time the Spurs get screwed by the refs and i can't enjoy it because Dallas is benefitting

 

Free Big Macs for everyone! Cheryl Miller immediately bowls over Cuban, knocks aside a wide-eyed Nowitzki, scarfs down three and goes into shock. Refs award Dirk a posthumous shooting foul to be awarded against any Spur of Nowitzki's choice in Game 5, at a time and place of his choosing. Hearing this, Ginobili explodes off the bench right into Nowitzki's rear end, falls face first into Eva Longoria's lap which trips up a team of paramedics furiously rushing to attend to Cheryl, hoping to get her to treatment in time, oh, if only in time before rushing back home to catch Avery Johnson wheening on the late night highlights.

 

I see a suspension comin'. But i think that was huge of Bowen, also ironic.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap;_ylt=ArVCib.EWuawPUMeSyTuX468vLYF?gid=2006051506

 

Tony Parker had a great 1st quarter. He tried to do way too much in the 4th quarter and OT after Emmanuelle fouled out. If he had passed more (missed way too many screen and pops), the Spurs might have won in the regulation.

 

My sentiments exactly... there's not a team in the playoffs right now I wouldn't pull for to beat the Mavs. But it looks as if the Spurs are done unless they find something miraculous they've yet to use in any of the prior games.

 

It's not as bad as it seems. They're pretty much gonna win game 5. The only iffy game is game 6. If they get that one, then, they'll win the series for sure.

And, I would most definitely root for the Mavs over the Pistons. That team has a bunch of arrogant pricks. The way they were trashing the Cavs after game 4, you would have thought they had won.

 

Some of those shady calls in the 4th quarter reminded me of our series last year.

The strangest one was when Parker threw up a shot that didnt hit the rim. The refs come together and talk about it, and come to the decision that it's the spurs ball. It was clearly the wrong call, and it looked like the spurs were finally going to get a questionable call in their favor. As soon as the ball was inbounded, one of the refs calls an offensive foul on Duncan, an obvious make-up call. How do you come together, discuss the play, agree on a call, and then call a make-up call?

It's almost as if one ref disagreed with the other two, and then just tried to fix the mistake on his own. I can't say I've ever seen anything like it. A little bit later, they call another very weak offensive foul on Duncan, reminiscent of the random 4th quarter moving screens we had to endure in the toyota center last year. (anyone notice how the mavs are basically living off moving screens this year after Cuban raised such a stink about it last year? of course, the spurs are doing it too.)

And then on Manu's foul out. Terry pumpfakes, gets to an open spot, pumpfakes again, jumps backwards into the defender, and throws the ball into the air. I don't care if it's technically a foul; if a guy passes up an open shot and jumps backwards into the defender, then I say play on. I still remember when Yao got called for an offensive foul this year for leaning forward to draw contact when both hands were on the ball.

I also have another comment about the Detroit game, which I guess relates to the favorable officiating the mavs seem to get in the playoffs. How come a 7 foot Andersen Varajan can successfully draw charges in the playoffs, yet Yao couldn't do it once last year against the mavs? Barkley even said that they were real charges, but a 7 footer shouldn't draw charges. Now all of a sudden some scrub can get the call against the juggernaut Pistons? I've also seen big Z get the call. I'm getting so sick of the inconsistencies in this sport. The stupid refs still can't throw a proper jump ball, and they just let guys steal the freakin tap every time.

 

Spurs can still pull this out. Losing Manu hurt in the end. Why was Horry not in the game at the end? He is Mr. Big Shot.