Best thing that could happen is the media focusing on the Gundy-Cuban-Stern feud and not on the Rockets losing three straight.
i'm prob one of the biggest JVG supporters, but.... you can't go public say there's a conspiracy and accuse the NBA of something without expecting an investigation by the NBA and Stern. he had to know what he was getting himself into. and now he's paying the price. JVG, give up the source.
Behind the scene: who control the game? Behind the scene: who control the game? I heard something from the Chinese: They said, there's a hugh gamble market behind the game. Let me ask you a question. If a company open a bet to see who will get into the second round after the game 2 between Rox and Mavs, how will you take the bet? Of course, I will buy Rox win. But, what if they lose? Somebody will take the advantage. I think the ass hole David Stern knows this. Then, he use his power to control the game and get his ****ing damn money away. JVG's 100k is just a piece of cake.
dude, Stern is full of $hit coaches don't fall under that same rules as players (they are on management's side) considering that Stern can't even get a CBA signed right now, AND his Eastern Conferance finalists caused in worse sports riot this side of a soccar game... he need to shut his pie hole
If Jeff gives up the source, then Stern should fire the refs who were involved in the incident. I don't think it will happen. If Stern threatens suspensions and banning and the like, Van Gundy may threaten to publicize the evidence. Stern doesn't want that.
No way in hell is $100K and possibly a lifetime ban appropriate for what JVG said. Stern is such smug dictator. He acts as judge, jury and executioner.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs2005/columns/story?columnist=stein_marc&id=2051994 Stern backs Van Gundy into a corner Stein By Marc Stein ESPN.com Archive Related Video: Mavs hold off Rockets and take a 3-2 lead ESPN Motion DALLAS -- Yao Ming's initial response to the record fine assessed to his coach was to offer to pay half of it. If only this tale, our first major flap of these playoffs, had such a tidy solution. Turns out that it's not going to be terribly easy to make Jeff Van Gundy's troubles vanish, and that has nothing to do with the 3-2 deficit that suddenly confronts Van Gundy's Houston Rockets in their first-round series against Dallas. Van Gundy is looking at a serious quandary even if the Rockets win the next two games, and even if they win 12 more after that. For starters, league rules prevent Yao from legally paying one cent of the $100,000 punishment assessed Monday to Van Gundy. The fine stems from Van Gundy's statements Sunday night that he was recently told by an unnamed referee that playoff refs are "looking harder at Yao" because of complaints to the league office from Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. Then there's the scary part. On top of the six figures that will be subtracted from a future paycheck, Van Gundy faces further sanctions from the man in charge of the rulebook as soon as Houston's season ends. NBA commissioner David Stern, coincidentally making a scheduled stop in Dallas on the same day he levied the steepest fine on a coach in league history, made it clear that the docked pay is just "an intermediate step." The league's investigation into Van Gundy's comments will resume as soon as the Rockets' season ends. "I just want to announce that it's not over," Stern said. Uh-oh. Apprised of the depth of Stern's dismay after the loss, Van Gundy said: "It is what it is. I'll let everyone evaluate it, what I said. And if it's that bad, I guess it's up to [Stern] and [NBA vice president of basketball operations Stu Jackson] to determine. I don't see anything wrong with what I said … [Stern] obviously differs." Stern also called Van Gundy the first NBA "perpetrator" he could ever remember who did not cooperate with a league investigation, and he likewise put no boundaries on the next round of penalties Van Gundy could face if he doesn't answer the league's questions. Long-term suspension? Something longer? "I don't want to restrict any options that I have," Stern said. So … So much for the notion that a Rockets victory -- or at least Yao getting to the fourth quarter without foul trouble -- could make Van Gundy's expensive outburst worth it. Houston wound up getting only half of that recipe. Yao was effective and even forceful in Game 5, throwing down a follow dunk with particular vigor in the final minute of regulation as the Rockets came within another Tracy McGrady triple of forcing overtime. Yao made it to the final buzzer with only four fouls and would have been the Rockets' hero if not for his six misses in 16 attempts at the line, spoiling a 30-point outburst. The game details, though, are fairly irrelevant in terms of Van Gundy Gate. The mess wouldn't have been worth this much trouble even if the Rockets had won. Knowing Stern, and knowing how livid he is at what Le Commish described as coach manipulation of referees through the media hitting "a new low," Yao's boss is likely facing one of three outcomes. 1. Van Gundy reveals the name of the referee who allegedly told him of a league directive to its playoff referees to be stricter when assessing Yao's movements. In that case, Van Gundy would probably avoid further punishment … but might cost his source his day job as an NBA ref. 2. Van Gundy tells league officials that he made up the story. If that's what's happened, or if that's simply what Van Gundy admits to, bet on him getting hit with a suspension of some severity to start next season. Stern dropped enough hints Monday to suggest that he isn't going to stop at a hefty fine if Van Gundy concocted (or says he concocted) the tale. 3. Van Gundy maintains his refusal to tell Stern's investigators anything. He joked before Monday's tipoff that he "felt like I was in Watergate or something" when pressed to reveal his sources, but you can surmise that the penalty stemming from this scenario wouldn't generate much laughter from the Rockets. In this What Next Series, predictions haven't been good. Dallas' 103-100 triumph in Game 5 marked the first time that the home team has won. So we'll pass on predicting which of those three courses Van Gundy is apt to follow. Here's what we do know for sure: • All teams complain to the league about the way games are officiated, not just Cuban's Mavs. Especially in the playoffs. • Cuban's chief complaint to the league is that Yao is guilty of moving screens. Screen-setting, moving or otherwise, is not what has saddled Yao with crippling foul trouble in three of the five games so far. So Van Gundy's accusations don't line up with what really bothers him -- his belief that Yao is "not refereed appropriately." He attributes that in this series to Cuban "calling and calling" the league, but that has actually been a season-long complaint from the Rockets. • Yao was legitimately touched by Van Gundy trying to stand up for him and was sincere when he said: "Coach did everything he could. Now we've got to do something for him." Problem is, only Van Gundy can extricate himself now from this spill of Texas crude. Marc Stein is the senior NBA writer for ESPN.com. To e-mail him, click here. Also, click here to send a question for possible use on ESPNEWS.
I hope David Stern has the guts to show up to Houston on Thursday. Man, I hope the Rockets win because I want to see David Stern just keep on avoiding Houston games!
Yao should boycott too. It won't happen but I wish someone would drop Stern down a few notches from his pedestal.
If JVG is banned from NBA for life, do the Rockets still need to pay the rest of his contract? The poor bloke is shortening his life by coaching in the NBA. And you all want Phil Jackson, don't you?
No, we don't want Phil Jackson, not at all. JVG could become the coach of Chinese National Team, and make it so much better. It would be a wonderful sight to see JVG leads CNT to beat the US team in 2008, with Houston supporting them. What a scene it would be.
damn. i knew what he sad was pretty big, but d stern is going WAY overboard. plenty of people have pulled out not just the bad officiating thing, but essentially accused the league of favoring big market teams or star players. while this is the opposite case, jvg only took it a step further by throwing the source thing in there. huge suspensions for comments during a heated series? come on. it's certainly fairly obvious yao gets reffed differently; though, so it's not as if he's not telling the truth. maybe edc will get to see phil after all.
No win situation for Stern. The idiot has actually backed himself into a corner with his ill-advised comments. Scenario A: Van Gundy's story is corroborated by an official: Unbelievable embarassment for the NBA. They can claim it wasn't part of an elaborate conspiracy, he was acting on his own, etc but it will be ugly publicity Scenario B: He follows through with his threats to ban/suspend and solidifies his reputation as a power-hungry egomaniac. Proving Van Gundy lied, absent an admission from Van Gundy, will be unbelievably difficult. It could also lead to an ugly lawsuit by Van Gundy against the NBA if he is banned and the NBA fails to prove cause, not to mention he will completely alienate the fan base of the 4th or 5th largest city in America. Stern needs to learn his freakin role. As fans we pay to see great players play a great game, not to see power hungry nazis persecute those who dare to speak out against blatant injustices in the league.
So, rather than take a look at a possible problem with the way refereeing is done, Stern would rather "kill the messenger" is it were and try to make sure no one would DARE risk criticizing the league by making it prohibitively costly, both in money and possibly games. Yeah, that's some real forward thinking, Stern. Hey David, I'll go ahead and say it. The Emperor has no clothes, and the games are being called by guys who would seem to be more comfortable calling a rec league game at Fonde. Pull your head out of the sand and fix it before you alienate everyone who lives outside of LA, NY, and whatever team Shaq happens to play for.
