Was anyone else laughing? It was just this idiot and his accomplice Horry. But he doesn't count. Nothing funny was going. I wasn't laughing at home, nobody else on the Spurs bench was laughing. The truth is Duncan was only laughing at Crawford and all this stuff about the ball never lies. But we got the last laugh, so that's all that matters. I hate the Spurs. And what are you, a bandwagon Spurs fan? You do know that's a lot worse. Mavs are at least entertaining. I can watch whatever damn team I choose. Whenever I have both the Rockets & Mavs on, my eyes are always tuned onto the TV that show the Mavs. It's just natural to pay more attention to where the excitement is... I've pretty much seen every NBA player laugh or smile before. If it's in good fun, then I have no problems. Imaging him laughing like this on the bench. I wouldn't dare T him up. But then we have this douchebag I don't care what he's laughing at...but he just has that face with that goofy expression. You can just tell he's up to no good. I don't have that pic where he's clapping and rocking back & forth like a baby after the missed free throw from his technical. But after that scene I lost all respect whatever little respect left I had for this guy. The first time was during Yao's rookie season. Duncan fell to floor and Yao tried to help him up. Duncan wouldn't let Yao even touch him... I'm glad he lost the game.
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Crawford f'ed it up. He WILL be punished. You just won't read/hear about it b/c ref punishments are not made public. I think Crawford is one of the best refs in the league, and I hope he refs our playoff games. But I also hope he takes some more anger mgmt or somethin cause he was clearly wrong to call a T for someone talking behind his back..
So any player who has a goofy expression on their face should be subject to ejection? So if you don't find something funny, players shouldn't even be allowed to laugh or have a goofy expression, else they should be thrown off the floor? That's frightening. Look, I'm glad the Spurs lost the game. No doubt this helps the Rockets. But it's a very dangerous precedent, and I don't want Joey Crawford anywhere near a game involving a team I like in the near future. It's clear he's far too hot-headed (at least right now) to have the level of detachment and objectivity a playoff official needs to have.
it has to be something between him and duncan plus crawford has too much pride. u know how many calls he has over turned which originally correct to begin with.
Cat, you gotta stop arguing with this guy. He's not even trying to make sense. You're getting tinmanned.
Robert Horry was doing the exact same thing sitting beside Tim Duncan on the bench. Why didn't Joey Crawford T up Robert Horry too? It's in the video...Horry and Duncan were laughing with each other.
sorry it took so long to respond... i was indeed mistaken... i was talking about the Lakers game last night, Kelly was referring to Lakers/Clippers... it appears Kobe throws one of these tantrums per game, sometimes he gets away with it, but the refs appear to be clamping down...
someone said earlier it seems like the mavs get all the calls and just have a force field around them or something, but according to espn they commit 22.4 fouls per game and their opponents get called for 22.1. not exactly convincing evidence.
He was T'd because Crawford thought he was showing him up and mocking him by laughing at calls on the bench. If Rasheed Wallace doesnt say a word to a ref but gives him the evil eye for 10 seconds, he hasnt said anything to the guy but is showing him up. Like they say, the majority of communication is non-verbal. Duncan's body language and antics were pretty obviously intended to mock Crawford. When he didnt stop, he was basically daring him to toss him and we al know Crawford does have a short hook. Duncan himself admitted after the game that he was indeed laughing at the calls. If you want to discuss what other boards are saying, find me one non-Spurs fan who doesnt rate Duncan among the very top whiners in the NBA. Even the Stein article talks about how Duncan is universally regarded as one of the game's biggest complainers. He did it in the International Games as well when he failed to step up and play well. He whines as much if not moreso than Karl Malone in his heyday. He just does it in different (condescending) ways, but the intent is the same. Sure, each game is different and you shouldnt have a long memory as a ref, but you can't tell me if you were officiating a game and there was one guy who just repeatedly moaned and whined on every call that you would be beyond letting it get to you and have a shorter leash with the guy. I think that's the larger point here. Just look at Crawford's comments when he talked about how Duncan was complaining all game. Didnt Dennis Rodman get questionable T's because of his reputation? Same with Rasheed. Once you have a rep, refs will scrutinize you. The solution isn't to get rid of Crawford, but to crack down on players who think it's their birthright to get every call. That's why Stern put in the no complaining rules this offseason.
"Duncan does have a well-chronicled rep as one of the league's most frequent complainers to referees and had to have said more to Crawford over the course of the afternoon than he claims" -From the Marc Stein article. -Reducing Duncan to no more than the average NBA player level of whining is simply ignorance. It's clear to anyone outside of San Antonio city limits that he is one of the whiniest players in the NBA. If you're objective of course.
Well, it's pointless to even try to argue with anyone who would be so simple minded as to actually believe that an ejection for laughing is actually justifiable under any circumstance. It's like trying to teach Latin to a monkey. Perhaps possible, but ultimately a waste of time. Meanwhile, Chris Sheridan with an interesting little blurb in today's Dime. Essentially says there's a high likelihood that Crawford will be suspended for the playoffs -- he reportedly received a serious warning about "dire consequences" from David Stern following the incident in the 2003 playoffs in which he issued 4 techs in 10 minutes and ejected both Don Nelson and Del Harris from the game. Says Stern was furious about Crawford becoming the story of the game and warned him never to let it happen again.
Had it been the Rockets on TV and the shot was missed, I sure as hell would be laughing. And LOL at "accomplice" Horry. Their crime you ask? Laughing!?! Ok so you go from, "I hate Spurs" to "Mavs are more entertaining than Rox". You sir, are on the wrong BBS. Good for you if you enjoy the oh-so-thrilling, almost automatic wins against 95% of the league. I prefer a little more flavor in my basketball, you know, a little something called heart.
Referees are getting out of control and Crawford is the worst. He needs to be fined heavily and suspended for a decent period of time to send a message. Referees are getting a big head and are thinking they're above the game and more important then players. If Stern really cares about the game and not his ego he will fix this immediately.
Sorry redefined, laughing on the bench doesn't = getting ejected. As for Crawford being your favorite ref, nobody cares about referees. If you're a good referee we shouldn't even KNOW your name.
The only fair thing is to suspend Crawford for the playoffs. Permanently ending his career would be even better. You guys who are defending Crawford's actions need to have your head examined. Kobe would be ejected from every single Lakers game if such a hair trigger was applied equally. Refs who insist on becoming part of the show must be removed from the show.
what's wrong with that? this is NBA. you don't let your opponents help you up. nor do you help your opponents up. I think Yao has learned that. and Yao's rookie season, an unproven rookie as he was, why should duncan go out of his way to show him "respect"?
