NBA 2005/06

[Neal]

Ball or not, an ejection was not warranted.

Well, he wasn't ejected from the game ... which supports even stronger the fact that he shouldn't have been suspended.  Like I said in my previous post, the league is getting a bit soft.
As for tonight's game, it's a must-win for Miami ... but their level of intensity in the first half made it look like no one bothered to tell them that.  If they want a chance to win this thing, they MUST go back to Dallas up 3-2.  They need to pick it up in the second half.

[Rob]

It's a must win for both teams.

Whoever wins this almost always gets the championship.


Hopefully Miami's streak of not being able to win when trailing at the break holds true.

But something tells me it won't...

[Neal]

This series has been too good to not have at least one overtime game, right?
Even if Miami doesn't win this game, it's been a great one to watch.

[Rob]

Well that sucked. 

At least the Mavs put up a fight.  I still think they'll be okay going back home.  But this is why I hate the 2-3-2 format, at this point in time, the team who didn't earn home court has had more home games than the team that did earn it, and obviously home court is huge.



Breaking news:  The game ended 10 minutes ago, but Wade just went to the line to shoot 2 yet again.   

[Matt]

I think it's high time we put all that "sweep" talk to rest, fellas.

[Rob]

Well if Miami wins later this week, it's kind of like a sweep for them isn't it?   

[Neal]

Best player in the game .....



It's a shame that a game that good had to end with a bone-headed mistake by a great young player who played a terrific game.
I still don't think the Heat can win in Dallas, but at least they now have two chances to do it.  The pressure is now on Dallas.
And Rob ... I appreciate the joke about Wade's foul shooting.  Still, Dallas primarily shoots jumpers, and Miami consistently attacks the rim (especially Wade).  There should be no surprise that the Heat shoot more foul shots.  Also, Dallas went with the chicken-**** hack-a-Shaq strategy tonight, and though it worked, it also put the Heat in the penalty faster.  When Wade knows that his team is in the penalty, he attacks even more and gets to the line.  Intentionally fouling Shaq may have actually backfired a bit tonight.

[Rob]

Whether Wade is amazing or not, the bottom line is that the Heat went to the line 49 times to the Mavs' 25:

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/basketball/nba/golden_state_warriors/14851696.htm

Certainly no Stackhouse was a factor, but in the end, and throughout the 53 minutes, this was a contest decided by whistles from the NBA's trio of officials.

Those whistles did not favor the Mavs, certainly with just under two seconds remaining in overtime when Dwyane Wade drove to the bucket, missed the shot, yet got the whistle.

Was it a foul? Not one that should have been called, for sure. It was ticky-tack at best on a Dirk Nowitzki swipe.

Mavs got hosed - on Stackhouse, on a several of those foul calls, and arguably on the Howard time-out. 

[Brian]

It's a shame that a game that good had to end with a bone-headed mistake by a great young player who played a terrific game.
I still don't think the Heat can win in Dallas, but at least they now have two chances to do it.  The pressure is now on Dallas.
And Rob ... I appreciate the joke about Wade's foul shooting.  Still, Dallas primarily shoots jumpers, and Miami consistently attacks the rim (especially Wade).  There should be no surprise that the Heat shoot more foul shots.  Also, Dallas went with the chicken-**** hack-a-Shaq strategy tonight, and though it worked, it also put the Heat in the penalty faster.  When Wade knows that his team is in the penalty, he attacks even more and gets to the line.  Intentionally fouling Shaq may have actually backfired a bit tonight.

I agree with the point about the difference in free throw shooting.  You can see that Dallas (especially the past few games) has really just become a jump shooting team, while Miami (particularly with Wade and Shaq) are taking it to the rim quite consistently.  Its smart on Wade's part to exploit that, especially when you're shooting 21 for 24 or whatever on freethrows.  Although I'm probably in the minority, I'm happy to see Miami win - and happy to see a good, competitive series.  I wouldn't be surprised in the least if it went 7 games now, and what more can we as fans ask for?

Also, regarding Stackhouse's suspension - yeah, that was an over-reaction.  However, there was no way he was going for the ball on that foul.  He shoved Shaq out of frustration, plain and simple.  He didn't warrant a suspension, but he wasn't making a good foul trying to strip the ball either.  Although some of the calls in the last couple games have been unfortunate (or "controversial" to some), I don't like the fact that is all we're hearing from Dallas' camp.  I miss the days where some players or teams (not all), would just say "that was the call, they won the game" type of comments - where now so many players and coaches (and not just Dallas, but most) will whine about how they got screwed.  Seeing the footage this morning of Nowitzki throwing down exercise equipment, kicking basketballs, etc. disappoints me - its his teammate who made (or didn't) the timeout call, it was he (Nowitzki) who, along with Howard, missed freethrows that could have iced games.  Don't blame Dwyane Wade for sinking two free throws to win it.  What's he supposed to do, tell the refs "no, don't put me on the line, it wasn't a hard enough foul" .  Regardless, I'm really enjoying these finals - both teams have been playing good throughout the playoffs, and its been a great matchup to watch.  I'd rather have this than Detroit-San Antonio any day .

[Brian]

You know, one thing with foul calls in general in the playoffs - I just don't like:  I was listening to ESPN commentators (and others) discuss the game(s) and hearing lines like "you just swallow the whistle and let them play in situations like this" or "Wade earned that call with his drives the whole night".  Although I'm glad that Heat won, I think both of these comments are kind of silly.  I know it doesn't exist much anymore, but how about the refs just call the game fair throughout.  I've always disliked the "its the playoffs so let them beat the hell out of each other" mentality.  Lord knows those Knicks-Pacers 70-60 games back in the 90s represented some of the worst basketball we've seen.  Just call it fair - a foul is a foul.  If you are hit when you're shooting/driving/etc., its a foul.  I don't care if you end up in the front row, or if its just a bump - it should be called regardless.  If they stuck to the rules and called a good game, there wouldn't be any issues.

[Dressel Rebel]

This series demonstrates the vast anti-German conspiracy that has been showcased by NBA officials over the past few years.  The officials concocted a plot against Dirk Nowitzki before the Finals even began, and became angry when they could not alter the results of games 1 and 2, and are now coming full throttle at the Mavs in the closing minutes of each game to ensure that the Heat win.  I also suspect that Pat Riley has bribed at least one official. 

[Morgbug]

Just call it fair - a foul is a foul.  If you are hit when you're shooting/driving/etc., its a foul.  I don't care if you end up in the front row, or if its just a bump - it should be called regardless.  If they stuck to the rules and called a good game, there wouldn't be any issues.

I think they threw that option out the window a long time ago Brian, about the same time they decided that a little travelling was good for the game.  As talented as these guys are, this ceased be as much basketball as it was entertainment a long time ago.  With that comes the inevitable what's a foul, what's not a foul.  I see so many hand checks, push offs, arm wrap arounds to get by it's laughable.  Basketball was at one point a non-contact sport - incidental contact was allowed, but otherwise it was a foul.  In the 1970's Dwayne Wade would have been fouled 5-6 times on the way to the hoop in the dying seconds, last night it's a questionable call that he was fouled once?  Yeah, I agree, they were ticky-tacky, but it's still illegal contact.  Did Dallas get ticky-tacked as much as well?  Yup, sure did, but when you make the line blurry, lots of stuff gets missed, last night it favored Miami.  You take that crap out of the game and it's cleaner and less controversial, but I suppose it's also less entertaining. 

I also suspect that Pat Riley has bribed at least one official.

I was sure I saw him counting bills from a billfold last night close to the end of regulation, but I was surfing for porn at the same time, so I was sort of distracted

[Brian]

You're exactly right Brent - perfectly worded.  The line has been blurred, so there are "technically" fouls throughout the game - and when you leave that grey area, the calls will be controversial, especially depending on who you're going for or not going for.  Its too bad really, these are the most talented basketball players in the world - we should be able to hold them to that higher standard of officiating/rules.

[Roton7]

I'm a little on the fence about this...

One of my favorite current players is Dwyane Wade. And since the Heat would have stunk without him, shouldn't I be happy about all this? But as I said before, I hate Shaq. So shouldn't I be mad? I'm so confused...

[Neal]

This series demonstrates the vast anti-German conspiracy that has been showcased by NBA officials over the past few years.  The officials concocted a plot against Dirk Nowitzki before the Finals even began, and became angry when they could not alter the results of games 1 and 2, and are now coming full throttle at the Mavs in the closing minutes of each game to ensure that the Heat win. 

Hahaha ... that's awesome.  The league must not be ready to be dominated by a German player.




Then again ... we do have a reigning two-time MVP who is white and Canadian.
 

Back to the fouls ... do I think that Wade was fouled on that last play?  Yes ... but I think that he got hit worse by Harris, who basically cut out one of his legs.  The foul should've been called, but probably not on Diggler.
Dallas has no one to blame but themselves for the foul-shooting disparity.  When you employ the hack-a-Shaq strategy, it can sometimes backfire.  Yes, you put Shaq and his putrid shooting percentage on the line, but you also put the Heat in the penalty.  When Wade knows that the other team is in the penalty, he attacks.  You really have no choice but to foul him.  If you lay off him, he hits jumpers in your face, like he did at the end of the third quarter/beginning of the fourth quarter.  And though it may be hard to believe, there were some ****** calls on both sides of the ball.  Haslem didn't really earn six personals last night, and the one that sent him out of the game was a phantom call.  I do hate when a game comes down to the officials, though.  It lessens the outcome, and partially negates the brilliant performances some of these players put on.
You'll see a different scenario in Game 6.  Cuban will whine enough from now until then, and it always seems that the refs favor the home team a bit.  Miami will have to play the game of their lives if they expect to get out of this series with a championship.