A couple of points... 1) Van Gundy said in the post game interview, when asked about the Finley out of bounds steal on Jon Barry: "Ben said there's no way he was out of bounds...he's a great ref...maybe there was a mistake, but I don't know..." 2) Ben Salvatore designated a "2 pointer" on the final shot of the game by McGrady. I KNOW IT WAS A 2 POINTER, but he was on the baseline on the opposite side of the floor and somehow confidentally made that call? Give me a break! Tracy's foot was just BARELY on the line. NO way a ref should/could confidentally make that call in a crucial situation like that from so far away. Obviously he was either guessing, or there's something VERY fishy going on here.
Its just pathetic. I know I'll repeat the same things that many of you have said, but also like you, I have to vent: When someone is out of bounds, HE CANT COME BACK IN AND KNOCK THE BALL AWAY!!! Result- 2 Mavs points. When Tracy McGrady is palying solid defense of Dirk, you dont have to call a foul just because he drives to the hoop!! Result: 2 Mavs points. When Dirk slaps Yao across the wrist on a basket or slaps him in the face, GIVE HIM A FOUL!!!!! Just bacause its late in the game does not mean a team is going to foul- we had Finley trapped, using the same play we used to force a trun over against SA in December. RESULT: 1 Maverick point. Yes, we missed free throws, but with those 5 points given to the Mavs taken away, we win the game 100-98. On the Van Gundy situation, he had to do it. I was darn proud of him for speaking up and saying the obvious. Stern is obviously PO'd because the league got called out, but know hes saying he may not continue in the league? Are you serious???? Im guessing if Van Gundy even hints that Finley was out of bounds he get fined and ejected for the rest of the serious. This is pathetic- the Mavs are hard enough, but its been 8 on 5 the last three games.
There's a difference between bad officiating and biased officiating. Bad officiating means the officials, acting in good faith, missed some calls. Human error, cannot be helped. I can live with that. Biased officiating is a result of malicious intent. Guess which type of officiating took place in game 5?
Dude...the guy on the radio sounds like Les Alexander...and interestingly enough, he suggested: "If I were the Rockets' owner, I'd rip up Van Gundy's contract, give him a two year extension, and a million dollar raise." Keep an eye out for it lol.
sorry about that but the refs didnt lose this game for us, we lost it by missing free throws. what the refs did do is take away any chance we could have had to win/tie despite the miscues at the line
I am regularly the voice of reason when it comes to stuff like this. I am almost always the one who says that, on balance, officiating is generally decent across the board. But, this series has been horrendous. Tonight was one of the worst displays EVER. I have to wonder if the league is sending a message about the type of criticism Van Gundy is giving. It is one thing to come from an owner like Cuban who is clearly outspoken and who can't really be silenced because he is an owner and has tons of cash. But, a coach? That's borderline sacrelige in the NBA. I dunno. That was some of the worst officiating I've ever seen and I've been watching the NBA since 1978.
It's not just tonight we've been screwed the whole series, we don't complain in game 1 or game 2 because we won both.
What about the play where Dirk runs through Padgett while Padgett is shooting the 3 from the top. Shot hits air and the whistle..........................................isn't there...............again. Total bologna. It is so obvious that the league is wanting to see Dirk gunning and Yao sitting. I think Van Gundy may have them over a barrel now. I wouldn't doubt if this is big news this offseason with behind the closed doors deal making done between him and Stern to clean up some of this garbage. I don't believe that Van Gundy would come out with something like that without pretty solid evidence. I think when he is forced to show it to Stern, he will use it to clean up all the garbage with the officials. Otherwise, Stern runs the risk of everything getting leaked out that is the truth about how the refs let Cuban pressure them into making and not making certain calls. I wouldn't be surprised of Van Gundy has to serve some sort of suspension but next year I would look for different officiating that is more fair to Yao. The league will look like they are right because they bury the truth by making concessions to Van Gundy regarding the officiating in exchange for him to shut his trap about what happened.
Just watched the Finley shuffle on tape a couple of times, and one thing I noticed was that none of the Rockets players, neither those on the court nor on the bench, even noticed that Finley did anything wrong. They all seemed to be shell shocked and instead couldn't believe that they lost the ball. If only they had noticed and immediately pointed it out maybe the refs might have changed the call. Jeff Van Gundy was the only one that noticed right away that Finley came from out of bounds. As soon as Finley knocked the ball away, Jeff goes running and screaming to the nearest ref pointing it out, screaming. But his was a lone voice among a sea of silent dumbfounded Rocket red jerseys. Man that sucked.
Yeah, he basically throw the ball right to stackhouse, it happened twice on the two jump balls. And the 4th foul ( offensive foul called on Yao was very weak as well.)
How does that change anything? If the Rockets players did realize his feet were out of bounds and complained to the refs along with JVG after that play, do you think the refs change the call? No Same results...
In reference to the Finley out of bounds steal: Kenny Smith: "Sometimes when you play with effort, things go your way. He was out of bounds but the refs can't see that because the effort was there..." Charles: "What the Hell did you just say?" Me: "Thank you, Charles!"
Yes, I think there's more of a chance they change the call if the Rox players point it out immediately. Doesn't ahppen all the time, but it does happen. For instance, even in tonight's game, when the ball went off of Yao's legs when he was lying on the sideline during a scramble for the ball, at first the refs ruled the ball off of a Mav and awarded the ball to us. But the Mavs immediately protested, causing the refs to have a meeting, and they corrected the call. Damn, this sucked.
When i heard this i was about to beat him up...i mean what kind of freaking logic is that...so based on that assumption..Yao should have no fouls called on him for all of his efforts....they should go our way ...right NOPE...stupidest thing i have ever heard.
