....and no this isn't a recycled topic of this years WCF. Apparently this time the refs screwed his Yugo team. http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/sports/bk/bkn/1556114 Aug. 31, 2002, 12:23AM Divac rubs Worlds wrong way By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle INDIANAPOLIS -- Vlade Divac never promised to beat Spain. He was certain Yugoslavia could beat the United States, the presumably unbeatable World Championships favorite, and announced his plans to shock the basketball world. He said nothing about Friday's meeting with Spain. But there he was, chained to the bench by fouls and churning through a slow boil. The defending champion and likely challenger to the United States was in trouble, and all the singing, dancing, shouting and drum-beating from the Yugoslav crowd could not change it. Across town at Conseco Fieldhouse, Divac's Kings teammate, Hedo Turkoglu of Turkey, had made no promises about beating anyone, but certainly could not have seen a loss to Brazil coming anymore than anyone else could have predicted Thursday's upset loss to Puerto Rico. Long before the United States had to mount a second-half comeback to beat Germany 104-87, the tournament had been knocked on its ear by a pair of stunning shots at the buzzer, two upsets (Spain over Yugoslavia 71-69 and Brazil over Turkey 88-86), a near rumble in one game and an angry, apparently politically charged shouting match between Divac, a Serbian, and a group of fans carrying a Croat flag. And all that was before New Zealand launched into its bizarre pre-game Haka dance, which looks like a spastic cross between A Chorus Line and the Icky Shuffle. The day started to build momentum when Yugoslavia, a 50-point winner Thursday, fell behind by 19 in the first half, before mounting its comeback in the RCA Dome. Yugoslavia scored the first 10 points of the second half and first six of the fourth quarter, finally taking the lead with 7:44 left on a Divac follow. But Spain quickly recovered. Divac immediately fouled out. Wizards draft pick Juan Carlos Navarro hit a pair of 3-pointers, and with 45 seconds left, Yugoslavia trailed by two. At Conseco, all but the last two points of a lead Turkey had built to 16 was gone with 67 seconds remaining. Turkoglu and former Rockets first-round pick Mirsad Turkcan each had 22 points, and a rebound went off Brazil, giving Turkey a chance to expand its lead in the last minute. Then suddenly Turkcan ran to the Brazilian bench and began screaming at a Brazilian player and veteran NBA official Ed Rush. With the ball going out off Brazil, Turkcan had seen a Brazilian reserve poke the ball back in play and apparently get away with it. The Brazilians shoved Turkcan away from their turf where he was shoved again. Rush slapped Brazil with two technicals and Turkcan with one to gain some semblance of peace. Back in the Dome, the Grizzlies' Pau Gasol, the NBA Rookie of the Year, moved in for the kill. With Spain still leading by two with 27.7 seconds left and having scored 25 points, Gasol was fouled and sent to the line. But he missed both attempts. Yugoslavia worked the clock. The Kings' Peja Stojakovic, coming back from a sprained ankle, had played just 24 minutes, scoring 16 points. Divac, who had just two points, had fouled out. Yugoslavia put the ball in the hands of Dejan Bodiroga, who got free just 11 feet out. With 1.1 seconds remaining, his shot rattled around and out, and Spain took the tournament's biggest upset. With Spanish players and fans still dancing and hugging, Turkey had its chance to clinch a win. But like Gasol minutes earlier and a few miles up the road, Kerem Tunceri missed both attempts with 15.6 seconds left. Brazil isolated Marcelo Machado on Turkcan. Machado ran the clock down to his last possible chance before launching his shot just before the buzzer and just beyond Turkcan's reach 22-feet from the basket. It swished, giving Machado a 30-point afternoon and Brazil the win. By then, Divac had come out of the Yugoslav locker room for a television interview. While he waited, however, he heard the taunts of a group of fans leaning over the railing, and he and the television reporter angrily exchanged fire. "They wanted to be on TV, that's all," Divac said later, choosing not to translate what he heard or said. "I told them to behave well. A game is where people come to get negative energy out." But Divac had not entirely composed himself. Asked merely how he felt about representing his country, Divac proceeded to criticize the day's officiating and FIBA as a whole. "They're going backward," Divac said. "In the NBA, those referees would be suspended for their lifetime. You never know what they're going to call. "Those guys refereeing tonight were just ridiculous to both sides. I'm talking both teams. FIBA deserves that. They don't do anything to improve. They're going backward. I'm not enjoying playing. It's ridiculous. "I made a decision to play, not to play for FIBA. If it was by my feelings, I would not be here. But they asked me, so I'm here." He might be around for a title game against the United States. But after the day ended with the United States surviving rather than dominating, nothing about either team seemed certain. Return --------------------------------------------------- It will be ok Vlade, just calm down. Go outside with Peja and smoke a cigarette and you will feel much better
I think Vlade has taken the position of my least favorite NBA player. He needs to shut his trap and just play basketball. He talked it up how his Kings were better than the Lakers. He talked it up about how Yugo could beat the US. Just shut up and prove it Vlade!
It's good that it's "NBA players" that are fu</u>cking spoiled and snotty during international play and not Americans...
Vlade does have a propensity to whine and complain about calls, no doubt about that (if you ask Vlade how many fouls he's truly guilty of, he'd probably say none). But if you've seen some of these World Championship games on TNT or ESPN 2, you can see that the refereeing is indeed very suspect. BTW, Vlade wasn't the only one complaining about game 6 of the WCF. The officiating in that game caused an uproar by many.
He did prove it. The Kings beat the Lakers in six. Didn't you watch the playoffs? Cat=One of the most reasonable people I've seen on this board, and not just regarding the WCF, either.
you cam say b**** here?Oh yeah! anyway. Divac needs to realize his skill are decreaseing with his age. He's gonna be worse than hakeem watch.
Although I think Vlade would exhibit more class with less whining, the officiating at the World Championships has had a very wide latitude. Surely ya'all have seen the strange charges, 24 second shot clock violations and goal tending calls? Hey, if Shaq were playing we may even have seen some charging calls when rocks into the defensive player to clear space. The Worlds' officials just aren't buying into everyones press clippings or pets moves...eh, Vlade?
I agree. However I am just tired of The Cat blaming every Laker win the last 2-3 years on the refs. Or blaming every Spurs loss on the refs.
Exaggeration. During the regular season and playoffs, before the Kings series, I think I criticized the referees four or five times in Lakers games out of about 90. Also, I consistently gave the Lakers credit (and the Spurs disrespect, for that matter) when the Spurs would fall apart and stop executing in the fourth quarter. The Spurs just didn't have the perimeter creators to beat the Lakers, officials or no officials. The only series in the last three years I thought was decided by the officials was the Kings last season. I do generally think that the referees are biased towards the Lakers in many games, but I don't attribute LA's success to that. The only time I've seriously seen it determine a series was in the Kings series this year.
You disrespectful Fu#k Feigan, suppose they can burn the American flag before their next game and report that in the New Zealand media is acceptable. At least find out what it is and about before commenting in to it, have some respect for other races, it is actually a traditionally war dance!!!!!!!
