What's Wrong With the NBA Today??

[RunawaySlave]

6'10" Anderson Varejao takes a CHARGE from 5'9" (at best)
Nate Robinson and the ref gives it to him.....Ref should've
called a foul on the big man on GP for not swatting that shit
back in Nate's face

Too many times in the NBA, defense gets penalized for good
plays like blocks and the like, while bullshit defense like flops
gets rewarded. Too many times

[RunawaySlave]

http://graphics.jsonline.com/graphics/sports/brew/img/jul02/24game070902.jpg


Dirk ain't shit!!!
Dirk ain't shit!!!
Dirk ain't shit!!!
Dirk ain't shit!!!!


My new chant

[ODUB]

Man I've been saying this shit for a while now. I can't stand watching 6'10 kats like a Jason Collins from the Nets taking charges and shit. Where are the fierce warriors of today? The kats that aren't going to bitch to the ref about every fucking play being a foul. I peep Dirk get fouled by T.Thomas and he wanted to get all hyped up about a hard foul, wtf is that all about. It's a foul, you're awarded 6 of those mothafukas a game, so If you happen to hit the floor as i closeline you, get up, shoot your free throws, and be happy I didn't decide to kick you while you were on the floor. I blame Vlade Floppin Divac. lol.. peace.

[RunawaySlave]

lol

Dirk has to get more BULLSHIT fouls called in his favor,
than any other jump shooter in history

lol at this cat getting DUNKED ON and then complaining
for a foul....BLOCK A SHOT you bitch assed biyatch!!

One time RAJA BELL posted Dirk up and scored....Raja
Bell!!!

The biggest bitch in the history of the NBA :lol:

[Clever]

I actually like Dirk's game. He toughened up alot since he first came into the league. Hes pretty durable for a Euro.

[Havoc]

*gets eraser and goes up to the board*

*writes new title of thread*
What's Wrong with Dirk Nowitzki Today??





*I agree with the author of this thread.

[ODUB]

One time RAJA BELL posted Dirk up and scored....Raja
Bell!!!



:smh: :smh: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :smh: :smh:

[RunawaySlave]

I don't like Dirk Nitwitski but I wouldn't limit HIS game
to what is wrong with the NBA. I think the real problem
is that all the networks broadcasting games seem to be
hyping Dirk as the MVP of the league!! On just about
every venue available to me in NYC, they have tabbed
either Dirk Nitwitski or Steve Nash as the MVP this season

Judging from the responses in this thread, it's clear to me
that I am no the only one who sees the fallacy in this
man's game. Yet, so-called basketball EXPERTS see him
as the most valuable?? Did they even notice that the
Mavericks lost to the ATLANTA HAWKS when Josh Howard
was sidelined with his injury??

Do they notice that whenever Nash goes out, the Suns
proceed to open up big leads on damn near whoever
they are playing?? And that when Nash comes back in
the game, the leads almost always diasppear?? What
games are they watching??

This goes for ALL commentators too. No one is exempt
they ALL seem to be programmed to say certain shit and
NEVER make any real commentary on what is actually going
on. They see actual events in a vacuum. For example, not
understanding how a fight might break out. Do grown men
just ERUPT in fits of rage?? Or is it not something that
develops over the course of a few different plays?? I know
in Dirk's case, his fit of rage came from his OWN INEPTITUDE
rather than any incident from someone else. From not
doing his job as the BIG MAN (7'1" is big right??) and having
smaller players making HIM look rather small in comparison

that would make me mad too. Especially if I was that tall
and getting housed like that. :angry:

[cranrab]

What do you think is the biggest contributing factor in the drop-off in the number of great teams in the last 5-7 years? In my opinion, the best five teams in the early '90s would easily defeat the best teams from 2000 and beyond. If you agree, why is there such a considerable difference in talent level?
— Rob

I heartily agree with your premise for the following reasons: Because of the increasingly active market in free-agency, more and more teams are overhauling their rosters from season to season than ever before. This means a diminished on- and off-court rapport between the players, and between the players and the coaches. Also, the recent influx of young players, who haven't yet mastered the basics of the game, has likewise lowered the bar for everybody. Plus, coaches oftentimes have to dumb down their game plans to accommodate the undeveloped basketball IQs that these youngsters bring into the NBA. Most importantly, too many inept men are being put into positions of power (president of basketball operations, general manager, etc.) with few legitimate credentials besides their all-star names and their ability to schmooze and sell themselves. It's no accident that knowledgeable guys like Joe Dumars and R. C. Buford have been able to assemble (and maintain) mini-dynasties.

[dentskins]

...Yet, so-called basketball EXPERTS see him
as the most..... :angry:now my memory is clearing some... :smh: you were never MUCH of a Bill Walton fan either, right? :puke:

Right on point, Bro!

[RunawaySlave]

This is why I don't limit what's wrong with the NBA to just 7 ft euro
pussies in the paint. In my opinion, today's NBA action was a DISGRACE
These cats need to be ashamed of themselves. Looking at the scores
around the league, look at how many able bodied players decided to
take the last game off....

In fact, many of them took the last WEEK off. If I was a ticket holder,
I would take a TORCH to something and throw it on the fucking court
for the lack of respect shown to faithful TICKET BUYING fans by these
players.

All these babies talk about "playing ball is their job". Well, try to take
the fucking day off like that and you aren't sick....See don't the foreman
clock your ass out and you get no pay. I say the mutha fukkas who
took this extra time off should FORFEIT their pay for that one game. I
mean LOSE it, not donate it to charity or anything, LOSE their pay. Just
like the average guy would if he came to "work" late and decided he was
just gonna chill and not even come into the office but just watch the
rest of his co-workers "work"


fucking babies. I got a whole laundry list of pussified cats who get no
respect anymore

[xfactor]

All these babies talk about "playing ball is their job". Well, try to take
the fucking day off like that and you aren't sick....See don't the foreman
clock your ass out and you get no pay. I say the mutha fukkas who
took this extra time off should FORFEIT their pay for that one game. I
mean LOSE it, not donate it to charity or anything, LOSE their pay. Just
like the average guy would if he came to "work" late and decided he was
just gonna chill and not even come into the office but just watch the
rest of his co-workers "work"


fucking babies. I got a whole laundry list of pussified cats who get no
respect anymore

If Im not mistaking, dont most, if not all, corporate employees get paid vacation? At the discretion of the man in charge (owner or CEO), if he allows for players to take a game off and still get paid, let them. Especially if they are getting ready for the playoffs because you best believe it'll be some angry faces if a marquee player gets hurt in a 'meaningless' game. I would be disappointed more with guys that were playing the final game trying to pad their stats. :smh:

[RunawaySlave]

If Im not mistaking, dont most, if not all, corporate employees get paid vacation? At the discretion of the man in charge (owner or CEO), if he allows for players to take a game off and still get paid, let them. Especially if they are getting ready for the playoffs because you best believe it'll be some angry faces if a marquee player gets hurt in a 'meaningless' game. I would be disappointed more with guys that were playing the final game trying to pad their stats. :smh:


First of all, most of these guys are on vacation from now until
their training camp starts around September or so. So they DO
get a paid vacation from their so-called "job" already. The players
who are fortunate enough to make the playoffs (for additional
income btw), their "vacations" start when they are eliminated
sometime around May or so. That's 12-14 WEEKS (not days)
vacation for a "job" that work at for less than 3 hours a day
for about two-thirds of a year. But I ain't mad at em for that
That's the life so be it....

Now as for this "meaningless game" thing. To the fan paying
exorbitant prices and traveling hundreds miles to watch these
guys in god knows whatever weather and conditions there is
NO SUCH THING as a "meaningless" game. Maybe to the hard
core follower of a sports franchise it may be "meaningless", but
to that person paying 1000 a year for seasons' tickets the game
has some very serious meaning. If one of these finely tuned
athletes was to get injured in the last game, I am SURE most
fans could live with themselves. No one is saying go out there
and kill yourselves. I actually liked the free play of the last few
games. Just not the fact that the so-called "stars" felt the need
to sit out, whether they were injured or not, or whether they had
playoff implications or not

These guys are shitting on fans and that's alright with you??

[RunawaySlave]

If you want to watch NBA action anywhere, it is going to cost you
Due to the high prices, most fans can't even afford to go to a regular
season game. Yet, when you are finally able to secure a ticket, you
go to the game and here's these HEALTHY individuals, whom because
they make ridiculous amounts of money, the price of that elusive ticket
is costing the average taxpayer a full days wages (when you factor in
traveling costs, parking and eating a fucking hotdog and soda, which
ALL increases in price when the team signs a Grant Hill or a Tracy
McGrady to a 60 million PLUS contract).

If I was a fan at a game, I would end up getting thrown out. Luckily,
I just watch the games on my exorbitantly expensive cable system
So I can't throw anything at them from home


Next time somebody wants to shit on fans, I'm calling for a fucking riot
or a wildcat strike of the team. Something

[cranrab]

more damn rule changes....

NBA announces six rules changes
/ Associated Press
Posted: 1 day ago

NEW YORK (AP) - National Basketball Association head coaches will be able to directly call timeouts next season, one of six rules changes announced Wednesday following the Board of Governors meetings.

Under the current rules, coaches can only call timeouts if play has been stopped because a player is bleeding.
The other big change will give teams two free throws plus the ball after a clear-path foul, instead of one shot.

The other minor changes included:

-If a player is hurt after a Flagrant Foul 1 penalty and can't continue, his coach, instead of the opposing coach, picks a player on the floor to take the shots. The injured player then can't return to the game.

-Free substitution will be allowed during all 20-second timeouts, instead of only the ones during the last 2 minutes or regulation or during overtime.

-If a player not appearing on the active list enters a game, he will be disqualified at the first deal ball and his team will receive a technical foul.

-Players on the free throw line can't extend their arms in front of an opponent until the shooter has released the ball. Also, a player not in a lane space must stand behind the 3-point line and above the free throw line extended until the ball is shot.

[RunawaySlave]

They need to change the technical foul fine to something significant. Five hundred dollars is a joke to a man making a million dollars. Make it a game's pay instead. Prorate it for each player, so a player making the minimum will receive the lowest and Shaq or KG will receive the highest.

The suspension system is cool, but reduce it from 16 techs to 5. Then watch how respectful players become...

The reason why players shit on the game so much is because they are taking it for granted. Brothers need a better appreciation for professional basketball.
Pretty soon, they will become an endangered species just like Major League baseball

[lightningrodbob76]

They need to change the technical foul fine to something significant. Five hundred dollars is a joke to a man making a million dollars. Make it a game's pay instead. Prorate it for each player, so a player making the minimum will receive the lowest and Shaq or KG will receive the highest.

The suspension system is cool, but reduce it from 16 techs to 5. Then watch how respectful players become...

The reason why players shit on the game so much is because they are taking it for granted. Brothers need a better appreciation for professional basketball.
Pretty soon, they will become an endangered species just like Major League baseball

I agree about prorating the fines. The majority of players in the NBA don't make the average. Either they have those huge bloated contracts afforded the marquee players or they're making the league minimum. When you hear the average salary is around $2-$3 million it's misleading. How many players are actually making the average salary?

Reducing the amount of technical fouls that lead to a suspension will make the league even more touchy feely than it is. It's already obvious that the superstars get more than the benefit of the doubt from the refs. The pros don't play defense as it is. This just gives them more incentive to play even less defense.

As fars cleaning up the game and players respecting the game goes... There needs to be more done to keep players in college for at least 3 years. The maturity level of those entering the league would increase. Trying to solve the problem with techs and fines is just a band-aid. Stopping the problem before they even get to the league is easier.

[cranrab]

There needs to be more done to keep players in college for at least 3 years. The maturity level of those entering the league would increase.

[looking for the smiley doing a standing ovation]

[cranrab]

They need to change the technical foul fine to something significant. Five hundred dollars is a joke to a man making a million dollars. Make it a game's pay instead. Prorate it for each player, so a player making the minimum will receive the lowest and Shaq or KG will receive the highest.

The suspension system is cool, but reduce it from 16 techs to 5. Then watch how respectful players become...

good ideas, but i'd never entrust the integrity of the game to the officials... officials carry grudges, are rarely impartial, and play favorites.

most of them are grimey little napoleons looking to impose their will on the game instead of letting the players play...

people always want to talk about nba games being fixed and point fingers at the players, but they should be taking a longer look at the officials...

in short, i'm cool with the IDEA of what you wrote, but i'd never vote YES on it because i couldn't trust the people blowing the whistle...

http://www.referee.com/sampleArticles/2001/SampleArticle0101/interviews/crawford/images/Crawford.jpg

Joe Crawford
Former NBA referee

•The four-year IRS investigation

•Waiting for sentencing

•Maintaining integrity

•Hope for the future

“The only time in the four-year process that I felt good is when I was reffing. Other than that, it was constantly on my mind.”

As of presstime, 10 current or former NBA referees have been charged with filing false income tax returns. All have either resigned their positions or are on leave pending the outcome of their investigations. Former NBA referee Joe Crawford, who pleaded guilty in July to filing false income tax returns, will face sentencing Oct. 2. In this exclusive interview, Crawford discusses how the four-year investigation has taken its toll on him.

Referee: How did you first hear about the investigation?
Crawford: The revenue agents actually knocked on my door at home. They wanted to talk to me about the plane ticket situation. They wanted to know about different specifics of what I did with the airline moneys as an NBA employee for the years 1989-93. They asked if they could talk to me and I let them in. We sat down and discussed the airline situation and what I did — specifics. It was totally out of the blue. When you are not a criminal you don’t expect something like that. I let them in, started talking and made some monumental mistakes.
Referee: What kind of mistakes?
Crawford: I just should have said, “See you later,” and gone and got an attorney. Instead, we started talking about specifics and they used that stuff against me later. I made the mistake of making money on my airline tickets and not putting it on my W2. That’s the case in a nutshell.
Referee: What happened next?
Crawford: They started investigating and they subpoena everything you have. They can do whatever they want to do. They checked everything that I ever had — every bank, every checking account. I never thought it was a crime.
Referee: When did the realization that this was criminal hit you?
Crawford: At the end of the investigation they deem whether the case is civil, which means you can just go in and pay your money, or they deem it criminal. They deemed what I did criminal on the basis that I submitted receipts to my employer. I should have just made the money, put it on my W2 and gone about my business. Did I think it was criminal? No. If I thought it was criminal, I would never in a million years have done that to my family and myself.
Referee: Why did you do it?
Crawford: In our collective bargaining agreement, it reads that we can make money on our plane tickets. I made the mistake of not putting it on my W2. If the government deems me to be a criminal — and I’ve already pleaded guilty to the charges — then so be it. I’ve already paid around $90,000 in legal fees. If I would have taken it to court to fight them, I would have paid another $150,000 in legal fees. If I lost the case, the $150,000 is out the window and I would go to prison. It’s like rolling the dice. I have two kids that I still have to educate. I want to take that $150,000 and educate those kids. I would rather bet my money on (NBA commissioner) David Stern than go to court.
Referee: What do you mean?
Crawford: I’m hoping David Stern shows compassion to me and my fellow officials, and I’m hoping he allows us the opportunity to referee again.
Referee: What was going through your mind through the course of the investigation?
Crawford: I was in a constant state of — I don’t know how the hell to say it — I guess the word is fear. The only time in the four-year process that I felt good is when I was reffing. Other than that, it was constantly on my mind. I went to bed with it on my mind, I woke up with it on my mind. It took them two years to notify me whether my case was criminal or civil. Then it took them another two years to decide what they were going to do. The process was absurd. It was long, tedious; it worked on my mind. It worked on my family’s mind. To be real honest with you, I’m glad it’s over. I shouldn’t say it’s over. That’s probably the wrong thing. It’s over the day I walk back on the floor. If I never referee again, it will not be over. I will die with that on my head. I now have this next hurdle, October 2, when I have to go in front of the judge, which is going to be a very difficult day. I just have to hope that my employer brings me back.
___Refereeing is my life and I’ve wanted to do it ever since I was 13 years old. When you get something like that taken away from you, it hurts. It was a mistake and I don’t think I am a criminal. I know what kind of person I am and most of the people in the league know what kind of person I am. I’m banking on the commissioner giving us our jobs back.
Referee: What was your reaction when you found out they were going to pursue it criminally?
Crawford: That was one of the worst days of my life. The next-worst day of my life was the day that I actually had to plead. My family was in the courtroom. That was bad. The third-worst day is coming October 2. Hopefully there will be good results from that. I have cooperated and I pleaded guilty and I told them I am not going to pursue it anymore. I’m just hoping the judge shows mercy on me. He’s getting letters and things like that from different people in the community saying what type of guy I am. I hope it works to my advantage. After that, I hope the commissioner gives us our jobs back. I have ups and downs. Every day is different. I just try to keep myself occupied, but it’s that dull pain that’s there all the time. I know that day is coming. It has been this way for four years. Like I said, it’s not going to be over until I walk on the floor and I hope that happens.
Referee: What if it doesn’t, Joe?
Crawford: What if it doesn’t? (pause) Then I am going to have to live with this for the rest of my life. I’m going to have to get a job and I’m going to have to go on with my life. It’s not going to be what I want, because I want to be on the floor. It’s tough for me to envision not being a part of refereeing because it has been a part of my life since I was born. It’s very difficult.
Referee: How has the scandal affected your personal life? What kind of impact has it had on your family and friends?
Crawford: They are very upset. I didn’t steal from a bank and I didn’t steal from the needy. The people I stole from were my wife and kids. That’s what upsets me more than anything. I put them through this. I put them through the mental torture and the financial burden of this and that to me is the toughest part.
___I have had some people who don’t know what to say to me. It’s like you have cancer and they don’t know what to say to you, but most of the people in the community, my family, friends and relatives have been phenomenal. I have gotten more than 200 letters, phone calls, all kinds of things from family and friends and it is amazing the compassion that people have when you go through something like this. It really is amazing. You’ve just got to fight through it. That’s all you can do.
Referee: Can a person be a convicted felon and still have the integrity to be a good referee?
Crawford: Absolutely. There are different types of convicted felons. You are not talking about a child molester here or a murderer; it’s absurd. I wish I could have just paid the money back. I’d pay whatever they want, but the government doesn’t work that way. I had to accept the system the way it is and I had to go about my business. I have to hope that the judge shows compassion and gives me a light sentence and I have to hope David Stern gives me my job back. That’s really it in a nutshell.
___I am not going to worry about what fans think because if their team is losing and I just made a call against them, they call me every name in the book as it is, so they might as well add one to it. I have enough integrity that I don’t worry about stuff like that. Did I make a mistake and not put those dollars on my W2? Yes. I have already admitted that. I have admitted it in a court of law. But I am not a cheating referee. David Stern knows that and the coaches and players in this league know it. I am the same person. The IRS knocked on my door one day and now four years later I’m the convicted felon, but I’m the same person, the same guy. I am not going to do anything to jeopardize the integrity of the game. I would never do that in a million years.
Referee: Do you think the scandal has jeopardized the general perception of the integrity of all officials?
Crawford: A moron would think that, but most morons think we cheat anyway, that we cheat for the home team, that we cheat for the superstar. That’s all bulls---. It has always been bulls---. In every clinic I go to I say, “You have to stop listening to broadcasters; you have to stop listening to all that s---. We do not cheat.” Many aren’t going to believe it. They think we cheat anyway. That’s from the beginning of time.
Referee: Was the tax situation ever a topic of conversation with the other referees in the lockerroom?
Crawford: No. Maybe at lunch or something like that, but business was business. You’d say, “Listen, we are not talking about that s---” in the room because the game is the game. In our crew through those four years, I can’t remember a time that we actually did talk about it. I am not saying that we didn’t talk about it at lunch, but I can’t remember a time we talked about it in the dressing room.
Referee: Did it affect your officiating?
Crawford: Some of our younger guys have been affected because I may have been too preoccupied. Maybe I didn’t give those younger referees some information after a game. Something may have happened in a game and I saw it and said, “I want to talk about that after the game.” But you get in the lockerroom and all of a sudden that freaking head of yours goes right back to that IRS thing. You get back to the hotel and you’re watching the game tape and your head is on that freaking case. In normal situations you’re talking refereeing and you’re thinking refereeing 24 hours a day. Some of the younger guys have suffered because I may not have been able to help them with a certain play. It really p----- me off.
Referee: Did it ever enter your head during a ballgame?
Crawford: I worked so freaking hard at that aspect of just going out on the freaking floor and saying, “Joe, work the (damn) game. Joe, work the (damn) game. Joe, work the (damn) game.” That’s what I kept saying to myself. Can I honestly say that it didn’t enter my head? No I can’t.
Referee: Were you as good a referee the last four years as you were before that?
Crawford: Yes. It made me concentrate better. I kept saying to myself, “The game, the game, the game.” In those four years I could have been in a little better shape. I always like to ride the bike the day of the game and then work the game but I was getting away from that. Hopefully when I get back, I will be able to get back into the swing of things.
Referee: Did you know going into the NBA Finals last season that those were going to be your last games?
Crawford: Yes.
Referee: What were you thinking during those games?
Crawford: I worked game two and game five. It was almost like I was saying, “Boy, I hope there’s a seventh game,” because I think I had a crack at the seventh game. With me, it’s like the season’s over a week and I want to work again. That’s my problem. This is extremely difficult for me. For me to miss any time is extremely difficult.
Referee: What was going through your mind as you walked off the court after game five?
Crawford: I’m thinking, “I hope David Stern is a compassionate guy.” I’d start wondering, “Is it the last time I’m going to be at this hotel?” All the weird little stuff. Putting on my shoes … just weird stuff that I never thought I’d think about until I got to my late 50s when I was going to think about hanging them up. It wasn’t a great feeling, to be real honest with you. I was angry. I go through different things. I am angry at myself for being a moron. I have never been one to point fingers, I’m the one that did it. If I screw up a play, I screwed the play up. It wasn’t my partner’s fault. I am angry at myself. I am not angry at anybody else; I am not angry at the government; I am not angry at the lawyer; I am not angry at the judge. I’m angry at myself. I did it and it’s a mistake that I made, a big mistake. I just hope that it can be rectified.

[RunawaySlave]

good ideas, but i'd never entrust the integrity of the game to the officials... officials carry grudges, are rarely impartial, and play favorites.

most of them are grimey little napoleons looking to impose their will on the game instead of letting the players play...

people always want to talk about nba games being fixed and point fingers at the players, but they should be taking a longer look at the officials...

in short, i'm cool with the IDEA of what you wrote, but i'd never vote YES on it because i couldn't trust the people blowing the whistle...





I'm not gonna entrust the integrity of anything to an official
I don't even have to read the article to know how shady them
guys are. Or how you have to kiss their ass to get a call. That
right there shows how crooked they are. There is almost NO
objectivity when it comes to referees..

They talk about anticipating a call. How the fuck can you tell
what a person is gonna do?? You NEVER know what a person
is thinking no matter how long you've done the job

Anyway, don't you remember my 5 referee plan?? I've been
on them for years now to add more refs (like in baseball)
Each ref is responsible for only one portion of the floor. Refs
on the baselines never go past halfcourt. That way they are
always in front of the play on fast breaks and don't have to
rely on "anticipating" fouls from 30 feet away. One of the main
places where they completely botch a call is on the fast break.
Mainly because they are not fast enough to keep up with the
action. Some of those refs are VERRRRY old and cannot keep
pace. They are waaaay behind the action. That's why they have
to call something that "looks like a foul" because oft times, there
are so far behind, they cannot see for sure


My plan, for those that don't remember: One ref under each basket
at ALL times. The furthest this ref goes is the 3-pt line. A ref is on
each sideline at ALL times. So there are refs surrounding the court
in a box and one main ref at midcourt at all times. They make so many
horrendous calls on sideline plays. My way, a ref is always on the sideline
thus will not have to do the guesswork, they so often do

It's time for the NBA to take all this guesswork out of the game. Three
refs can only form a triangle around the court. Not good enough
MLB and the NFL have the right idea

[Diamels]

As fars cleaning up the game and players respecting the game goes... There needs to be more done to keep players in college for at least 3 years. The maturity level of those entering the league would increase. Trying to solve the problem with techs and fines is just a band-aid. Stopping the problem before they even get to the league is easier.I always said that eliminating the Rookie salary cap would go a long way to cutting down kids going early. A lot of these GMs are trying to get the next Kobe, KG, or Tmac and the way the Rookie scale is if you guess wrong it is of little or no consequence (first contracts are less than some of the upper echelon players contracts for one year). As long as the Rookie pay scale is what it is you will keep seeing GMs gambling in the emerging markets (Underclassmen and Euros) Go back to the Free market system of the past, it may have been more trouble but you ended up with a better product.

[cranrab]

http://www.referee.com/sampleArticles/2001/SampleArticle0101/interviews/crawford/images/Crawford.jpg

I pleaded guilty and I told them I am not going to pursue it anymore. I’m just hoping the judge shows mercy on me.The IRS knocked on my door one day and now four years later I’m the convicted felon, but I’m the same person, the same guy.

but this referee, now bald, just ejected udonis haslem with 2 technical fouls.

BTW, fuck mike tirico and his on-air histrionics following the ejection.

[RunawaySlave]

Do ya think Udonis Haslem would like my plan???
If there was a ref on the baseline like I said, he would
have had a better vantage point and U wouldn't have
thrown his mouthpiece for such a shitty non-call
:lol:

[Sleepy Floyd]

Do ya think Udonis Haslem would like my plan???
If there was a ref on the baseline like I said, he would
have had a better vantage point and U wouldn't have
thrown his mouthpiece for such a shitty non-call
:lol:

Haslem deserves to gets to get punched sqaure in the mouth for his immature, unprofessional behavior. Not a good look.

[RunawaySlave]

Haslem deserves to gets to get punched sqaure in the mouth for his immature, unprofessional behavior. Not a good look.


That's not the point....the point is, if a ref was in decent position to make a
call, brotha U would not have even had to have thrown his temper tantrum
(which was funny as hell to me)

and what's up with the obviously BLIND announcers talking about
"he threw his gum or something". It's no wonder they never see shit. Have
you EVER watched a Heat game?? Only the truly stupid don't remember that
Udonis always uses a mouthpiece

[Diamels]

Vince Carter is 5-19 at half! He may want to do like one of my old coaches would like to tell us and "put his gun in his holster."

[RunawaySlave]

It's always been tough to be a Nets fan, but the toughest part
of it these days is having to root for the same team that Jay-Z
is rooting for....him AND Beyonce

you just know he ain't have nothing to do with my Nets until it
became FASHIONABLE...You know how I hate phonies

[cranrab]

It's always been tough to be a Nets fan, but the toughest part
of it these days is having to root for the same team that Jay-Z
is rooting for....him AND Beyonce

you just know he ain't have nothing to do with my Nets until it
became FASHIONABLE...You know how I hate phonies

nets got jobbed today by the ref who called a PF with .9 seconds in regulation... jobbed, but not robbed, because RJ missed his buzzer beater...

in the suns game, the refs hit diaw with 2 PFs in Q1... so in came garbage player leandro barbosa :puke: ... suns still up by 10 going into Q2...

[RunawaySlave]

We deserve to lose today. Why??
Because we did not get a rebound
when we needed it the most. Jermaine
O'Neal showed us just what a BIG man
is supposed to do in the 4th quarter....
CONTROL the paint. Eleven points in the
4th.......NONE on jump shots

And the man who did not box the shooter
(Croshere) in a crucial possession, is
Nenad Krstic, the man who DID grab AJ's
jersey when he was driving to the hoop

A ticky-tack foul?? Absolutely, but a foul
nonetheless. If refs were on point, that call
would get made all the time

We will never win with such a lame front
line. Our best big man is 39 year old Cliff
Robinson

Our next best big man is Vince Carter. Our
leading rebounder is our PG

[cranrab]

6'10" Anderson Varejao takes a CHARGE from 5'9" (at best)
Nate Robinson

you must love that andrew bogut just tried to take a charge on tony delk then... :D

[Sleepy Floyd]

That's not the point....the point is, if a ref was in decent position to make a
call, brotha U would not have even had to have thrown his temper tantrum
(which was funny as hell to me)

and what's up with the obviously BLIND announcers talking about
"he threw his gum or something". It's no wonder they never see shit. Have
you EVER watched a Heat game?? Only the truly stupid don't remember that
Udonis always uses a mouthpiece


Ummm......no, thats NOT the point. It doesnt matter if the ref made the worst, most obviously wrong call in the world, we don't need ignit' fools like 'brotha U' a fool and showin his ass on National TV.

:lol: at you trying to make a distinction bewtween gum and a mouth piece.
Both would have been equally STUPID

[RunawaySlave]

Ummm......no, thats NOT the point.
:lol: at you trying to make a distinction bewtween gum and a mouth piece.
Both would have been equally STUPID


Ummmm, who quoted whom first here??
You made a statement about MY statement
How you gonna tell me what the point of
MY statement is???


Also, you don't know that I agree with Haslem's
tantrum. I did find it funny, but I NEVER said I
agreed with it....

And I gotta LOL at you for taking up for these
announcers. You must be a big Taurico fan or
something

You know what's stupid?? The thought that a
man would be chewing GUM with a mouthpiece
in his mouth. Think about it, then think about
the announcer's well informed statement


The hypocrisy of so many fans never ceases to
amaze. Wouldn't surprise me one bit if you condone
the actions of a Ron Artest though.

[cranrab]

i'm still wondering how a convicted felon has a job officiating nba games, much less the nba playoffs...

pat riley made this observation, which took the words out of my mouth:

"I was always wondering, when the ball was going that way ... why (Crawford) wasn't looking down the floor," Riley said. "I'll leave that to you. ... It's just a very unfortunate thing for us right now."

on top of that, udonis haslem's EJECTION was straight BULLSHIT. udonis haslem was overly demonstrative and MAY HAVE shown up an official, but did he curse him? NO. did he make contact with him? NO. did udonis haslem deserve a technical foul? YES. shit, i've seen players throw the BALL at the referee and not get suspended. suspension my ass.

to make things more ridiculous, ron artest got suspended the SAME AMOUNT OF TIME for giving tobe ginobili a forearm? how the hell that make ANY kind of sense?

[RunawaySlave]

you must love that andrew bogut just tried to take a charge on tony delk then... :D


See what I'm saying?? Big men flopping all over the place
I can understand a big man trying to take a charge on the
perimeter if a little man goes around him or something,
but when a little man is going to the hoop, a big needs to
be a big

I blame the big men, but I blame the officiating as well. Like
I said earlier, too often, they will penalize a player for making
a very good defensive play, simply because they are not used
to seeing them make those plays and they anticipate fouls

In the last Knick game, Crawford blocks a Planninic outside
shot where he times the shot perfectly, but the ref blows his
whistle (from about 20 feet away)...

The ref embarrassingly calls "inadvertent whistle" and takes
away the foul he was about to call. This was in the last game
of the season. If that had been say, the 44th game, and it was
a significant one with alot of eyes on it, he would have made a
foul call just to save face, then afterwards made another BS
call, or what the announcers refer to as a "makeup call" to
offset it.....

But two wrongs NEVER make a right. You can never offset fuckups
Once you establish a precedent, you must stick with it to remain
consistent.....if these grwon men would just confess to making a
MISTAKE, we could move on. But they are far too small to do that
(must be BGOL members :rolleyes: )

[RunawaySlave]

on top of that, udonis haslem's EJECTION was straight BULLSHIT. udonis haslem was overly demonstrative and MAY HAVE shown up an official, but did he curse him? NO. did he make contact with him? NO. did udonis haslem deserve a technical foul? YES. shit, i've seen players throw the BALL at the referee and not get suspended. suspension my ass.

to make things more ridiculous, ron artest got suspended the SAME AMOUNT OF TIME for giving tobe ginobili a forearm? how the hell that make ANY kind of sense?


Good points. It was a tantrum. It was wrong (albeit funny)
But the reaction by the ref was driven purely by ego. I do
think Artest deserved a suspension though. Not SINGLY for
the Ginobli hit (fuck him), but Artest was throwing bow at
everybody throughtout the game. He was just doing it in a
very slick manner

I hate players like that.

[Sleepy Floyd]

[QUOTE=RunawaySlave]Ummmm, who quoted whom first here??
You made a statement about MY statement
How you gonna tell me what the point of
MY statement is???

I dont remember who said what, its not imortant.

You know what's stupid?? The thought that a
man would be chewing GUM with a mouthpiece
in his mouth. Think about it, then think about
the announcer's well informed statement

Whether or not that he threw gum, mouth piece, tobacco, a chewed up piece of bread.....IRRELEVANT......that has no bearing on the situation. That fools action is what needs to be addressed, not WHAT was thrown, and the fact that the announcers got it wrong. UNIMPORTANT! :angry:

The hypocrisy of so many fans never ceases to
amaze. Wouldn't surprise me one bit if you condone
the actions of a Ron Artest though

I usually co-sign most of Ron Rons on court actions. :dance:

[cranrab]

so fans can call coach jordan racial names and only receive a warning?

no ejection for the fan?

[SpiritualPorn]

Lebron just stunk up the place.

Is he starting to beleive his own hype?

The Kings had a tremendous effort. That is the luckiest three I have seen in a while.

Tonight should be good.

[RunawaySlave]

Kings with Artest get waxed, buffed and simonized
Kings w/o Artest take the defending champs into OT

:hmm:

[cranrab]

but this referee, now bald, just ejected udonis haslem with 2 technical fouls.

hmmm... my favorite bald headed convicted felon:

1) didn't call the charge on tobe in Q4, resulting in a score

2) didn't call the looseball foul on kwame brown in Q4, resulting in a score

oh well... i am on record as saying i thought the fakers could win 1...

congrats to the fakers for taking home court advantage from the suns...

is anyone left out there saying the phoenix suns are loaded?

leandro barbosa? brazilian garbage

boris diaw? euro trash

shawn marion? fantastic during the regular season, but EXACTLY like last year's playoffs, he disappeared...

and tim thomas, a SF is the playing C for the suns?

finally, is there any question that the fakers is REALLY lamar odom's team?

[RunawaySlave]

Soon as I saw TIM THOMAS in the starting lineup, I knew the Suns
were toast. Don't care if he hits 20 for 20, he will find a way to lose
for you

[RunawaySlave]

Must retract the statement made earlier this season about Iverson
being the "flop king". Without a doubt, the flop KING of the NBA is
Sam Cassell (AI still up there though)....you blow too hard on this
guy and he's going down....

The shit he brings to the game is yet one more reason why the NBA
is so hard up for people to watch. Enough of this, "best supporting
actor" shit. Play some fucking ball or get thrown out the league.....

By no means does that exonerate the refs...Until they finally
implement my 5 ref plan, I suggest FINES for REFEREES who make
more than 1 or 2 fuck up calls per week. STIFF fines too

[cranrab]

Must retract the statement made earlier this season about Iverson
being the "flop king". Without a doubt, the flop KING of the NBA is
Sam Cassell (AI still up there though)....you blow too hard on this
guy and he's going down....

The shit he brings to the game is yet one more reason why the NBA
is so hard up for people to watch. Enough of this, "best supporting
actor" shit. Play some fucking ball or get thrown out the league

gotta make a couple comments about the nuggets v. clippers game 3

1st, elton brand didn't play a heady game tonight... 2 blown transition plays stick out in my mind... the 1st was a travel in a 1 on 1 situation with 5'5" earl boykins... :smh: the 2nd was the blown transition play where he went 1 on 2 against marcus camby...

2nd, everybody points to the veteran leadership that sam cassell brings to the clippers... i call bullshit... i say sam cassell is a positive addition to the clippers, and does bring some good things to the table, but TONIGHT FOR EXAMPLE, he didn't bring ANY leadership down the stretch... remember the 1 on 3 3 pointer sam cassell took after stealing the inbounds pass? a MATURE player would've held the ball and tried to capitalize on the TO (it was only a 2 possession game at that point).

aside from elton brand, the clippers have NO rebounding... on top of that, who is their hustle man for looseballs? eduardo najera was there for the nuggets, but the clippers don't have that guy...

the clippers need to get rid of all of the worthless euros too...

forgot to add two cents on coach dunleavy too... why isn't he capitalizing on the mismatch of shaun livingston being defended by earl boykins? or trying to post sam cassell on andre miller?

[RunawaySlave]

I don't disagree with you about Sudden Sam. But I believe he has
been consistent throughout the years and tonite is exactly how he
has always played. Nothing special at all.

Not a very smart player, but he is a wily veteran who will definitely
take advantage of slow witted players, like most of these high school
to NBA players out here today...Put dummies out there and Sam will
take advantage of them.

But as you saw tonite....when no one is buying his bullshit, he will
LASH OUT and actually hurt his team instead of helping them. But
it is all an act with him and that's why I believe the game doesn't
need players like that.....Guys who fake shit are ruining the game


As for the Clips, I think losing Kaman hurt them immensely tonite
especially after Brand fouled out. At least he will put a body on a
man driving to the hoop. Denver has absolutely NOTHING on it's
front line. They have to struggle for every single point....They have
to struggle to get a decent shot on every single possession.
Any squad who depends on GREG BUCKNER (!!!!) for it's outside
game is done before they start. But when Brand fouled out,
suddenly the shots started coming alot easier

On another note....is there any SOFTER of an offensive center than
Cotton Camby?? Only time I ever see him go up strong is on a
putback rebound.....Otherwise his offense is soft as melted butter

Hammer (sometimes) on defense....wet noodle on offense

[Makkonnen]

Soon as I saw TIM THOMAS in the starting lineup, I knew the Suns
were toast. Don't care if he hits 20 for 20, he will find a way to lose
for you
they wouldnt have won game one without his 20 and 12 i think it was - that wack villanova faggot was doing that stupid ass hand waving in front of the face 50 cent bullshit after hitting 3's in game one :puke:



yo cranrab there's bad officiating in all the games- i saw tim duncan launch abdurrahim into space via a kung fu kick to the back on a rebound and the ref was having a ball not doing shit - shit was so blatant the announcer mentioned it then said abdur rahim had to be stronger and shouldnt let shit like that effect him blocking out for a rebound :lol: that shit had me rollin


yo on the kmart suspension - kendall gill in last month's maxim called Karl an asshole and said Karl lied to the media saying Gill was arguing with him for more minutes and mentioned how Karl would always fuck with his burn like play him the whole first half then bench him the 2nd without a word - not play him at all the first half when he was a starter then put him in 5 minutes in the 3rd then pull him again and not say shit- said ray allen hated his guts too :lol: thought that shit was funny considering the kmart situation

[SpiritualPorn]

they wouldnt have won game one without his 20 and 12 i think it was - that wack villanova faggot was doing that stupid ass hand waving in front of the face 50 cent bullshit after hitting 3's in game one :puke:



yo cranrab there's bad officiating in all the games- i saw tim duncan launch abdurrahim into space via a kung fu kick to the back on a rebound and the ref was having a ball not doing shit - shit was so blatant the announcer mentioned it then said abdur rahim had to be stronger and shouldnt let shit like that effect him blocking out for a rebound :lol: that shit had me rollin


yo on the kmart suspension - kendall gill in last month's maxim called Karl an asshole and said Karl lied to the media saying Gill was arguing with him for more minutes and mentioned how Karl would always fuck with his burn like play him the whole first half then bench him the 2nd without a word - not play him at all the first half when he was a starter then put him in 5 minutes in the 3rd then pull him again and not say shit- said ray allen hated his guts too :lol: thought that shit was funny considering the kmart situation

Good info

That was some Larry Brown shit he pulled to deflect blame from himself if they lost.
A guy wants to play hurt and he's a problem? I don't think thats the full story.

Its a power thing with Karl. Had the best team in the West for years and always found a way to lose.

[Dolemite]

Good info

That was some Larry Brown shit he pulled to deflect blame from himself if they lost.
A guy wants to play hurt and he's a problem? I don't think thats the full story.

Its a power thing with Karl. Had the best team in the West for years and always found a way to lose.
I don't respect Karl at all. Good coaches win with average teams and Karl managed only to lose with pretty good teams. For some reason when I look at Karl he seems resigned to losing. Imagine if he had the Pistons, I think he'd tank them too.

[RunawaySlave]

Don't forget y'all. Coach Karl is also the coach of the previous
Olympic squad that lost too. And he had just as much talent
as any


On another note....did anyone see the Wizard/Cavs game??
On Cleveland's last two possessions, Lebron took both shots
and BOTH times committed obvious infractions that the refs
COMPLETELY ignored....

Ain't even gonna go into the broadcasters....Ima just say that
it sounded kind of scripted to me. The refs ignored the walks
and Taurico ignored them as well. Going the opposite route
and PRAISING James for the two buckets

Taurico's broadcasting career is just getting started and he is
already annoying as hell....sounding like the black Marv Albert.

[cranrab]

On another note....did anyone see the Wizard/Cavs game??
On Cleveland's last two possessions, Lebron took both shots
and BOTH times committed obvious infractions that the refs
COMPLETELY ignored.

i watched that game, and lebron james' final score was RIDICULOUS... all i can do is :smh: when i think how all 3 officials missed the walk...

it's INCONCEIVABLE... :puke:

[Dolemite]

i watched that game, and lebron james' final score was RIDICULOUS... all i can do is :smh: when i think how all 3 officials missed the walk...

it's INCONCEIVABLE... :puke:
they didnt call popeye jones standing in the semi circle jumping up and bumping lebron chest to chest either

on another note - he scored the game winning shot- didnt seem to scared to me either- he dropped 41

and how about the larry hughes drop to the floor leaving arenas wide open to brick the game winner

:smh:

was mike brown in the coach of the year running? he is a very young dude doin his thing

[cranrab]

i'm cool with this, because james posey gave a bullshit cheap shot... i'm all for physical battles and MEN's basketball, but running down a player and giving him a body block is straight bullshit... didn't even try to disguise the foul with a swipe at the ball...

Heat's Posey suspended for one game

April 28, 2006

NEW YORK (AP) -- Miami forward James Posey was suspended for one game without pay by the NBA on Friday for knocking down Chicago's Kirk Hinrich on a break Thursday night in the Heat's 109-90 playoff loss to the Bulls.

Posey, called for a flagrant foul two and ejected with 3:15 left in the game, will miss Game 4 of the Eastern Conference series Sunday.

Miami leads the best-of-seven series 2-1.

[xfactor]

they didnt call popeye jones standing in the semi circle jumping up and bumping lebron chest to chest either

on another note - he scored the game winning shot- didnt seem to scared to me either- he dropped 41

and how about the larry hughes drop to the floor leaving arenas wide open to brick the game winner

:smh:

was mike brown in the coach of the year running? he is a very young dude doin his thing

That is true. Despite LeBron's obvious travel, he was fouled on the play, which wasnt hard enough because he still made the shot.

I'm interested to see how the Wizards bounce back because it is no way they should be losing this series to the Cavaliers.

[Dolemite]

That is true. Despite LeBron's obvious travel, he was fouled on the play, which wasnt hard enough because he still made the shot.

I'm interested to see how the Wizards bounce back because it is no way they should be losing this series to the Cavaliers.
i didnt know this but big bron has the league season record for 3pt shots + foul plays with 79
at 6'9 270 he can do that shit all night

he's the same fuckin size as mario williams the #1 nfl draft pick :smh: sick

[Dolemite]

oh yeah i left out the obligatory popeye jones ugly freak joke - im surprised he didnt scare james out the paint -

[RunawaySlave]

Damn, I'm glad I'm not the only one who saw Lebron walk on that last play
Thought I was going blind or losing my mind or something....But on the play
BEFORE that, Lebron went up for a shot, someone hit the ball, and Lebron
caught the ball in the air, then went back up for a shot wthout dropping the
ball first...

At the very least, that is a JUMP BALL, but the ref swallowed his whistle and
allowed the basket. It's really a travel, or what we used to call "Up and down"
When you jump into the air that is considered to be TWO STEPS and landing
is considered to be two more....if you jump in the air and land with the ball
that is FOUR steps

With rules that like, it's no wonder the man is so confident.....If I KNEW they
weren't ever gonna call me for any ball handling infractions, I would have the
worlds' greatest handle

[cranrab]

Baylor Named Top Executive in NBA.com GM Survey



Elgin Baylor
NBA general managers picked Los Angeles Clippers’ Vice President of Basketball Operations Elgin Baylor to win the Executive of the Year Award, according to respondents of the 2006 NBA.com GM Awards Survey. The results of the survey will be posted daily on NBA.com.

Baylor made several moves that were instrumental in the Clippers reaching their first postseason in nine seasons. Baylor acquired point guard Sam Cassell and a top-10 protected first round pick from Minnesota , nine days after signing free agent shooting guard Cuttino Mobley. Baylor also re-signed center Zeljko Rebraca and signed veteran free agents Walter McCarty and Vin Baker. A year after signing Quinton Ross as a free agent in Europe, Baylor went back overseas prior to the 2005-06 season to sign free agent forward James Singleton. Baylor’s acquisitions led the Clippers to the eighth best record in the NBA this season at 47-35, a 10 victory improvement over their 2004-05 record of 37-45.

Although the Clippers were firmly entrenched in the postseason hunt in mid February, Baylor felt he needed to add a shooter to stretch opposing defenses and acquired Vladimir Radmanovic from Seattle, who has added another dimension to the Clippers attack. Baylor’s acquisitions led the Clippers the eighth best record in the NBA this season at 47-35, a 10 victory improvement over the 2004-05 record of 37-45.

In the exclusive survey, Baylor received eight first-place votes, 4 second-place votes and six third-place votes for a total of 58 points. Five points were awarded for first-place votes, three for second-place and one for third-place. Finishing second to Baylor was Bryan Colangelo of the Toronto Raptors (34 points) while Donnie Nelson of the Dallas Mavericks (20 points) finished third.

adding those euros deads that shit for me...

Additional results of the 2006 NBA.com GM Awards Survey include:


Ben Wallace, Detroit Pistons - Defensive Player of the Year again?
Mike Miller, Memphis Grizzlies - Sixth Man Award
Boris Diaw, Phoenix Suns - Most Improved Player Award WTF do GMs really know?
Avery Johnson, Dallas Mavericks - Coach of the Year

The official results for the 2006 NBA Awards, including Most Valuable Player, Rookie of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Sixth Man Award, Most Improved Player, and Coach of the Year will be announced by the NBA in the coming weeks. In the meantime, fans can visit NBA.com to preview the results of the NBA.com GM Awards Survey.

[SpiritualPorn]

i watched that game, and lebron james' final score was RIDICULOUS... all i can do is :smh: when i think how all 3 officials missed the walk...

it's INCONCEIVABLE... :puke:


These are the probably the same refs that call back the Seattle touchdown in the superbowl.

That shit was soooooooooo fuckin obvious I watched the replays to make sure it was THAT obvious. Turico is selling the game. He gets checks from ESPN and The NBA.

:smh: :smh: :smh:

[cranrab]

just NOW jermaine o'neal is figuring out that the MENTAL aspect of the game is more important than the physical?

damn.

how many years young buck been in the league now? :smh:

[RunawaySlave]

If I gotta listen to that damn Heineken commercial with that
ANNOYING ass, "Skank Like Me" song again, I am going to
throw something at the TV set.

Proof positive that hoes should be seen and not heard :smh:

[cranrab]

WASHINGTON (AP) -- As far as the Washington Wizards are concerned, LeBron James' first NBA playoff game-winning shot came with an assist -- from the officials.

And, Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said Saturday, what he thinks should have been a traveling call is part of a pattern of James getting protection from referees. He said that's the type of help Washington's own All-Star, Gilbert Arenas, isn't receiving in the first-round Eastern Conference series that Cleveland leads 2-1.

"I'm not going to get fined for saying what's obvious. Everybody sees it," Jordan said after practice ahead of Sunday's Game 4 against the Cavaliers.

"I want to give all the credit to Cleveland, (coach) Mike Brown and his staff and their players, but the truth is the truth. I want our players to understand that we did a lot of things to win the game, and because a travel wasn't called, you don't win the game."

James finished off his franchise playoff-record 41-point performance Friday night by banking in a 4-footer with 5.7 seconds left after moving past Antonio Daniels and drawing contact from Michael Ruffin.
That shot provided the final margin as Cleveland beat Washington 97-96 to reclaim home-court advantage in the best-of-seven series.

"Officials are human, and they see a great move by a great player ... or they see a hop-through move that's a travel, and they say, 'That's a great move by a great player, and it's an exciting move. It's a great finish. We'll let it go.' That's how I look at it," Jordan said.

"Clearly," he continued, "Gil doesn't get the calls that LeBron gets."

Arenas, who missed an open 3-pointer after James' shot, said all he could think about after the game was what he felt James got away with.

"You look at the game tape, you actually see the travel, and then he came down and then he threw the ball up," Arenas said. "That's how they've got to beat us. We feel we're not going to get beat straight up."

Not surprisingly, James said he didn't take too many steps on the play. Asked about it Saturday, he analyzed what happened with the same matter-of-fact demeanor that's made him a superstar at the ripe old age of 21.

"It was a basic up-and-under move ... all big men do in this league. Not too many guards or forwards. That's why a lot of people think I travel," James said.

"I've not seen the play yet, but it doesn't come down to one play," he added. "The game is not won or lost on one play."

Told of Jordan's comments about the officiating, Brown smiled and pulled out a stat sheet.

Then the first-year coach began rattling off various comparisons, noting that Arenas and James have taken the same number of free throws in the series (35), that the Cavaliers have been whistled for nine more fouls than the Wizards, and that Washington has taken 20 more free throws so far.

"Eddie's doing what he needs to do as a coach, by trying to draw attention to LeBron because of the success that LeBron has had so far," Brown said.

Then he wondered aloud whether Ruffin should have been called for a foul on that key play.

And he wondered whether Arenas got a favorable ruling when James was called for a blocking foul on the point guard's three-point play that put the hosts ahead 96-95 with 23.4 seconds left.

"Sometimes you get calls, sometimes you don't," Brown said. "They're both great players."

Jordan's complaint is not a new one, of course.

For years, coaches of teams that faced certain stars -- Michael Jordan comes to mind -- have griped about special treatment from the refs, particularly in the playoffs.

"If the Pat Rileys and the (Gregg) Popoviches and ... the Phil Jacksons and the Larry Browns can say what I'm saying, then that's what I'm saying," Jordan said. "I'm going to stand up for my team."

[RunawaySlave]

"Clearly," he continued, "Gil doesn't get the calls that LeBron gets."


NO one should "get" calls. That's the point for this entire thread
The shit needs to be called ONE way....forever. Whether it's Michael
Jordan or Chuck Nevitt....Whether it's 1.2 seconds to go in the 4th
quarter of the 7th game of the NBA finals or 100 minutes to go in
the first quarter of the first summer league game. No special calls
for certain players. Escpecially Europeans. And STOP letting white
players (and Sam Cassell) get away with using their OFF HAND as
a shield. Nash does that shit in his sleep



And once and for all, could we PLEASE do away with this "Makeup
Call" bullshit?? That has caused more problems than it has helped

Enough of the acting. Ban flopping. Charges are good, but FLOPS
should result in the DEFENSIVE player getting called for a foul. IMO
a flop is just as detrimental as a flagrant foul

And for god's sake, implement my 5 ref plan asap!!! Refs are highly
infallible, and as Cran just shown, also highly suspicious people with
low morals and no character

[cranrab]

win or lose, when this series is over, people need to take a LONG look at boris diaw and leandro barbosa...

because BOTH of their game 4 defensive performances are SHIT.

they are BOTH lost, and i'm not exaggerating when i say HALF the fakers points scored so far are due to their lack of defensive execution...

they've BOTH hesitated on PLANNED help situations... :smh:

foreigners have caught up? my ass...

EDIT: forgot to add... euro and brazilian are 3-10 FGAs combined... :puke:

[cranrab]

if i have to watch another one of shawn marion's chest pass jump shots :puke: , i'm gonna have to start rooting for the fakers to eliminate the suns to spare me the agony...

is there a single player in the league with a WORSE looking jump shot than shawn marion?

:smh:

[cranrab]

i'm surprised nobody else commented on this already, but it had to be mentioned.

reggie evans walked up behind chris kaman DURING LIVE PLAY and reached between kaman's legs to give him a REACH AROUND! :puke: :confused:... WTF? did evans go to the dennis rodman brokeback rebounding school?

needless to say, kaman surrendered rebounding position, and after the play, retaliated against evans by shoving him to the floor, picking up a flagrant foul 1 in the process...

[cranrab]

fans don't know shit. neither do announcers.

what was coach d'antoni's BRILLIANT defensive ploy regarding defending pick/roll in the 2nd half?

i anticipate the crickets will be chirping.

[RunawaySlave]

About Diaw, I believe he would probably be a better defender
if he played one SET position instead of sliding him between
five positions like that. That shit has GOT to be sort of confusing
for the guy. It would be for anyone. Barbosa is one thing, but
Diaw might be guarding Odom on one play, Brown on the next
then Smush Parker on the next. Hard to get into any kind of
rhythm defensively (yes defense DOES require rhythm), if you're
not sure who you will be guarding from one possession to the
next one

We all KNOW he's not a center, but the Suns got away with it
with alot of support from MARION playing the PF role. Who can
do alot of things a PF is SUPPOSED to do, but posting up is not
part of his game. He is a slasher, pure and simple. If you have to
DEPEND on his offense, your team is in trouble. And while he will
rebound and defend like a demon, a bigger man will probably
wear him down over the course of a series

Both of these guys are far too small to hold the paint down in a
seven game series. Just imagine if they do get by the Lakers...
What will they do when facing Tim Duncan or the Pistons frontline
or Shaq and Zo if they are getting manhandled by KWAME BROWN
like this??


Without a CENTER, Phoenix is doomed. And there's nothing anyone
can do about it....all the schemes in the world won't replace the
big man in the middle

[RunawaySlave]

The Clips are exploiting Earl Boykins very badly
Denver's lack of a SG is embarrassing. Why did
they let Leonard go without a decent substitute?

Denver just missed the broad side of a barn, damn


btw, who is that calling the LA/Denver game for TNT??
I kind of like that duo

[RunawaySlave]

Damn, anybody notice that L.A.'s lead went from around 23 to 14
in less than 2 minutes....soon as they put Sam in the game that is

[cranrab]

The Clips are exploiting Earl Boykins very badly
Denver's lack of a SG is embarrassing. Why did
they let Leonard go without a decent substitute?

that was a disappointment... but post injury, many felt that voshon lenard had lost a step AND had lost some touch to his shot... we discussed that earlier on this forum... denver was looking to revamp their team towards a more mobile squad, taking advantage of youth and quickness.

it was great to see voshon lenard get another chance with portland, but when you go there, it's like the boneyard...

who is that calling the LA/Denver game for TNT??
I kind of like that duo

i'm surprised... that's your boy coach jeff van gundy... :D

BTW, did anybody notice adult video star ruby renegade (20 years old) sitting with fakers owner jerry buss in his box yesterday? next to dave winfield?

[cranrab]

If I gotta listen to that damn Heineken commercial with that
ANNOYING ass, "Skank Like Me" song again, I am going to
throw something at the TV set.

if i gotta listen to that horrible 'fort minor' music intro shit anymore, i'm gonna :puke:

white people shouldn't be allowed to commission musical talent for those spots...

eminem?

black eyed peas?

fort minor?

:puke:

[RunawaySlave]

That was Van Blundy?? I'm not surprised....the grind it out posse
always talk a good game. Hubie Brown talks all this shit, about
Lebron, Kobe and guys like that, but he has never coached anything
but robots


Was the other guy Bob Weiss?? I heard him ask about playing for
the Buffalo Braves and I KNOW he wasn't talking about Van Dummy

[cranrab]

Damn, anybody notice that L.A.'s lead went from around 23 to 14
in less than 2 minutes....soon as they put Sam in the game that is

yeah, he felt like he JUST HAD to start shooting again... :smh:

[RunawaySlave]

BTW, did anybody notice adult video star ruby renegade (20 years old) sitting with fakers owner jerry buss in his box yesterday? next to dave winfield?


I thought that was Dyan Cannon...She looked just as old, damn :eek:

[cranrab]

I thought that was Dyan Cannon...She looked just as old, damn :eek:

LOL. :lol:

no, dyan cannon is the blonde fossil sitting next to earvin johnson courtside.

ruby renegade was the 20 year old brunette sitting between jerry buss and dave winfield sitting in the luxury box.

[cranrab]

Was the other guy Bob Weiss?? I heard him ask about playing for the Buffalo Braves and I KNOW he wasn't talking about Van Dummy

i didn't hear that question... the announcer was matt devlin, right?

you know, the buffalo braves have turned out some name coaches...

bob mcadoo
matt goukas
bob weiss
adrian dantley

to name a few...

[RunawaySlave]

Just got finished watching the second half of the Suns/Lakers game
(missed it all on Sunday), and I must say that despite the lackluster
defense of Barbosa and Diaw, the Suns should have won this game
in regulation. AND WOULD HAVE if James Jones had made a shot he
damn sure should have made....

Say what you want about Diaw, but he put a pass right on the money
with 0.7 seconds on the clock. However, Mr. Jones was too concerned
about FLOPPING and missed a fucking CHIP SHOT......

That game should've been over right there

Oh yeah, looked to me like Mr. MVP did NOT have a very good final
2 minutes of regulation against Mr. Parker. In fact, I would say Smush
smushed his ass


good game though

[SpiritualPorn]

BTW, did anybody notice adult video star ruby renegade (20 years old) sitting with fakers owner jerry buss in his box yesterday? next to dave winfield?


I used to date this stripper\fitness chick that used to have Randy Phund drop 2-3000.00 on her in a night.

And Dave "Robin Givens Mom with Herpes" Winfield? Whats he up to?

[cranrab]

Diaw named NBA's most improved player
/ Associated Press
Posted: 19 hours ago

PHOENIX (AP) - Boris Diaw went from being a throw-in as part of the Joe Johnson trade to winner of the NBA's most improved player award.

The Phoenix Suns' versatile Frenchman was a landslide choice with 80 first-place votes in balloting by 124 sports writers and sportscasters. He received 489 overall points, compared with 22 first-place votes and 283 points for runner-up David West of New Orleans.

this is odd, because last year, pre-injury david west was a MONSTER rebounder and slight scorer. this season, post-injury david west was a better scorer and slight rebounder. guess we know where the emphasis lies in public importance.

With the Suns down 3-1 in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Los Angeles Lakers, and coming off a 99-98 overtime loss on Sunday, Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni joked that "at least we get to do something fun today" as he presented the award at a news conference Monday.

"I always say it's a team sport, not an individual sport," Diaw said. "You try to get better, not only for yourself, but the principal goal is to get better to be able to help your team. I'm really happy because that's what I found when I came here."

Johnson, an important part of the Suns' 62-win team in the 2004-05 season, asked to be traded to Atlanta, and the Suns complied. They received Diaw and two future first-round draft picks.

The 6-foot-8 Diaw, a 2003 first-round draft pick (21st overall), averaged 4.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists while shooting 44 percent in 66 games for the Hawks last season.

Inserted into the front line for the small, fast-paced Suns, and improving his mid-range jumper in the process, Diaw averaged 13.3 points, 6.9 rebounds and 6.2 assists this season, shooting 53 percent. He played in 81 games, 70 as a starter.

"I've been improving in a lot of different areas," Diaw said. "That's why I'm happy to get this award right now because the only thing that scares me in basketball is to stop improving, stop getting better. I always want to get better. Because I'm a versatile player, I have to work on all parts of my game."

He joined LeBron James and Jason Kidd as the only players to average at least six rebounds and six assists per game this season. Diaw had four triple-doubles, including consecutive ones on April 14 and 16.

"My pride is my creativity, to be able to make plays for my teammates," Diaw said. "That's why I've been fitting pretty well in this system because that's what we try to do. We've got a bunch of shooters, and I just try to set them up."

D'Antoni said Diaw still has much room for improvement, especially on his jump shot. He said Diaw can be a devastating player if he develops a consistent 3-point shot. Other than that, all the natural ability is there, the coach said.

"The guy can become a great shooter," D'Antoni said. "He has a nice technique. The rest of it, you know what, his instincts are unbelievable. Other than just experience and just trusting himself, he doesn't need to learn anything. ... One of the reasons he got the most improved is he played. His skills were seen this year, let's put it that way."

[cranrab]

this gripe is with TNT, not the NBA...

they can't schedule their coverage for SHIT!

the fakers v. suns series has been 'joined already in progress' AT LEAST 3 times already in 5 games...

sorry ass TNT!

:angry:

[Makkonnen]

this gripe is with TNT, not the NBA...

they can't schedule their coverage for SHIT!

the fakers v. suns series has been 'joined already in progress' AT LEAST 3 times already in 5 games...

sorry ass TNT!

:angry:
abc does the same shit- and they do with fuckin football games to- i lost count of how many punts these assholes clipped for commercials. The same as TNT and freethrows after timeouts :smh: espns game producers suck ass

[xfactor]

In here watching the Cavaliers/Wizards game... Anyone just see LeBron bulldoze Jared Jefferies and the refs overrule the original call?

I think LeBron is the MVP this season but to only be in the league 3 years, hell to even be in the league, this guy BITCHES to the referees all game long. Will someone please tell him the stfu and play. :smh:

[cranrab]

In here watching the Cavaliers/Wizards game... Anyone just see LeBron bulldoze Jared Jefferies and the refs overrule the original call?

anybody watching ronald murray dissecting the wizards D?

holy hell.

[cranrab]

that's your boy coach jeff van gundy

coach van gundy just asked why bob mcadoo wasn't in the hall of fame...

deja vu, eh makk/dolemite?

bob mcadoo was inducted into the hall of fame in 2000 with isiah thomas...

anybody watching this wizards v. cavaliers game? in OT cavs 117 wiz 116

[Dolemite]

coach van gundy just asked why bob mcadoo wasn't in the hall of fame...

deja vu, eh makk/dolemite?

bob mcadoo was inducted into the hall of fame in 2000 with isiah thomas...

anybody watching this wizards v. cavaliers game? in OT cavs 117 wiz 116
yup lol someone said that shit before too and i looked up his record but not the hall of fame site and didnt see it and I started wylin out :lol:

[SpiritualPorn]

coach van gundy just asked why bob mcadoo wasn't in the hall of fame...

deja vu, eh makk/dolemite?

bob mcadoo was inducted into the hall of fame in 2000 with isiah thomas...

anybody watching this wizards v. cavaliers game? in OT cavs 117 wiz 116

no D-Fense

no D-Fense

Lebron winnig it with a layup????? WTF


No timeout?

Cran, is Eddie Jordan a bad coach? Whats the deal?

[cranrab]

Cran, is Eddie Jordan a bad coach? Whats the deal?

if you want to talk Xs and Os about that last score, it has more to do with brendan haywood not focusing and less to do with coach jordan...

i'm not comfortable calling out a head coach based on a single game, but there are definitely things that could've been done differently.

here's what coach jordan thought:

HEAD COACH EDDIE JORDAN
(On the game-winning field goal by LeBron James)
“He makes a great play. We wanted to try to stop him without fouling. Fouling is not the answer. I think he made something out of nothing, which great players do. He had the catch deep in the corner and pivot and go by one guy along the baseline, another guy on the baseline, and make a reverse layup. A lot of normal guys miss that.”
(On not having two best defenders on the court for the last play)
“Yeah, you don’t have that matchup, those assignments to kind of keep up with his speed and cut his angle off. You can sit here and say we could have done that, could have done this. We put Brendan (Haywood) on the ball. We had a big on the ball to kind of disrupt the pass. W didn’t want to switch while the ball was out of bounds. We just wanted to stay and trail and stay into people. He makes a great play.”

(On the number of defensive schemes the Wizards have against James)
“We doubled on him, we switched on him, we got difference matchups with Caron (Butler) and Jared (Jeffries), our best matchups on him. We doubled him, we showed double, we faked doubles, we switched. I don’t know, that’s all I know of. Unless you want to run another guy at him, 3 guys. That’s what happened in the first game, we loaded up on him, and he found other guys cutting to the basket, wide open shooters. He was helping his teammates and eventually he’s going to help himself after they score.”

(On Flip Murray replacing James with 4 fouls in the 3rd quarter and his effect)
“I thought we got a lead real quickly, then Flip did score some baskets, pull ups, pretty much like he did the last game of the regular season. He stepped up and made some things happen for them. That’s why they won 50 games. They have people they can go to.”

(Opening Statement)
“Obviously, a very tough loss for us. A great player made a great move. It was a terrific battle, terrific game and I hope we match that same type of energy and same type of execution coming back home. And, hopefully, we can get back here on Sunday.”

gil on how the last play broke down defensively:

(On the Wizards defense on the last play)
“I hit both free throws and I told everybody to calm down in the huddle, it’s not over, there’s three seconds left. We’ve been in this situation before where we lost game winners. We put Brendan (Haywood) on the ball and told him to cut off that corner pass. Larry (Hughes) made a great fake to the three-point line and the center bit for it. LeBron got it and made an athletic move. They cut it out one side and I was the only person on the back side. Six-eight, six-three (heights), he jumped, I couldn’t block it.”

jared jeffries on how the last play broke down defensively:

(On LeBron James’ game-winning shot)
It was a tough shot that he hit. In basketball terminology, the ball can’t go to the corner. We have to figure out a way to take away that corner and make the ball go out on the court where he is coming away from the basket and not having his momentum going towards the rim

caron butler on how the last play broke down defensively:

(On this being Washington’s game to take)
We felt comfortable about our chances. We were real confident down the stretch. We should have done a better job on the out-of-bounds play and trying to push him back towards center court. LeBron caught the ball on the baseline and made a heckuva move maneuvering around two defenders and was able to get the shot off in time.

[cranrab]

i didn't wanna start a whole new thread for this topic, but has anyone noticed that ben gordon has a "tell"? telegraphs his jump shot?

ben gordon stands HYPER erect (almost leaning at a slight angle BACKWARD) when he decides to take a shot...

[RunawaySlave]

I don't think Eddie Jordan or Ben Gordon are part of the problem
with the NBA today, lol

But yeah, I noticed that about Gordon's jumper. Hell, he can tell all he
wants as long as he's making them. He isn't exactly a PG, ain't
exactly a 2. So he's gotta make do any way he can. Especially with
that backcourt mate. I think you could put Gordon next to a big
PG who can't shoot, but can guard other big guards, and it would
make a very nice backcourt

As for Jordan, he has years of experience, but he is still relatively
new as a HEAD coach of an NBA team

The Wizards are lacking toughness....They miss Etan Thomas more
than they think. That would be my only knock on Jordan. He never
played Thomas enough and Haywood too much

Although I would take either of them over ANY faggity stiff shooting
jumpers from 20 feet away

[xfactor]

i didn't wanna start a whole new thread for this topic, but has anyone noticed that ben gordon has a "tell"? telegraphs his jump shot?

ben gordon stands HYPER erect (almost leaning at a slight angle BACKWARD) when he decides to take a shot...

Gordon's been like that since college... Telegrahping his jumper. He's just got an unorthodox shooting motion. Weird type of habit to have. But I guess nobody felt the need to correct it.

But its still not worse than Shawn Marions shot. I dont even see how he makes shots with that release. :smh:

SL,

Whats wrong with a big man shooting 20 footers all game? And posting people up from the 3 point line? ;)

[cranrab]

i don't care if you've been a player, ball boy, coach, equipment manager, water boy, towel boy or stat keeper...

i want your opinion on this subject if you've been involved in TEAM sports.

a friend of mine who has been an on-air television sports anchor for major networks in orlando and chicago sent me some video and the question i am asking you here.

we all have heard about, read, or watched the raja bell foul on tobe in game 5. what is curious about that play is the REACTION OF THE FAKERS PLAYERS ON THE COURT.

who immediately stepped to raja bell afterwards?

[crickets chirping]

here is the question:

"what does that tell you about how his teammates feel about tobe?"

while some of you prepare your answers, here are some game 6 quotes:

LAKERS HEAD COACH PHIL JACKSON: “It was a great game. Both teams shot exceptionally well and played a lot of offensive basketball. But that is there style and we need to do a lot better job of playing our style on Saturday

LAKERS FORWARD LUKE WALTON (10 PTS, 5 REBS): “We had opportunities. All we had to do is grab the rebound at the end. Obviously there was more than that, but that is how close it was. We know we can beat this team and we need to get back to doing what we did early in the series when we were successful.”

LAKERS FORWARD LAMAR ODOM (22 PTS, 11 REBS, 9 ASTS): “This is a tough loss for me. I lost track of Marion when the ball got to the middle and us up by three. I just let him go. I should have let Nash go but he got some penetration and I went to help, he kicked it out, Marion got the offensive rebound… he kicked it to [Tim] Thomas and he hit the three.

“We played this game well enough to win it but we came up short. I guess you could call this a mental lapse. Now we have to come out in Game Seven and make it up… We can win in Phoenix. We just have to go in there and play our game. This happens in sports.”

[TimRock]

i don't care if you've been a player, ball boy, coach, equipment manager, water boy, towel boy or stat keeper...

i want your opinion on this subject if you've been involved in TEAM sports.

a friend of mine who has been an on-air television sports anchor for major networks in orlando and chicago sent me some video and the question i am asking you here.

we all have heard about, read, or watched the raja bell foul on tobe in game 5. what is curious about that play is the REACTION OF THE FAKERS PLAYERS ON THE COURT.

who immediately stepped to raja bell afterwards?

[crickets chirping]

here is the question:

"what does that tell you about how his teammates feel about tobe?"

while some of you prepare your answers, here are some game 6 quotes:

LAKERS HEAD COACH PHIL JACKSON: “It was a great game. Both teams shot exceptionally well and played a lot of offensive basketball. But that is there style and we need to do a lot better job of playing our style on Saturday

LAKERS FORWARD LUKE WALTON (10 PTS, 5 REBS): “We had opportunities. All we had to do is grab the rebound at the end. Obviously there was more than that, but that is how close it was. We know we can beat this team and we need to get back to doing what we did early in the series when we were successful.”

LAKERS FORWARD LAMAR ODOM (22 PTS, 11 REBS, 9 ASTS): “This is a tough loss for me. I lost track of Marion when the ball got to the middle and us up by three. I just let him go. I should have let Nash go but he got some penetration and I went to help, he kicked it out, Marion got the offensive rebound… he kicked it to [Tim] Thomas and he hit the three.

“We played this game well enough to win it but we came up short. I guess you could call this a mental lapse. Now we have to come out in Game Seven and make it up… We can win in Phoenix. We just have to go in there and play our game. This happens in sports.”

Just a quick question, does your whole life revolve around what Kobe is doing or isnt doing? Why do you see the need to make such a big deal about Kobe? Not starting an argument, just curious.

[RunawaySlave]

Hold on.....there are ENOUGH threads about Kobe Bryant. This
will NOT become one of them. Ask that question somewhere else
Use Kobe as an example of what is right, or what is wrong about
the NBA....But I'll be damned if this is gonna become just another
Kobe thread....enough of them shits already. Dude is just a
microcosm on the problem. Which started YEARS before he came
on the scene

Just do a fucking Kobe search and ask that shit elsewhere please

thank you

[TimRock]

Hold on.....there are ENOUGH threads about Kobe Bryant. This
will NOT become one of them. Ask that question somewhere else
Use Kobe as an example of what is right, or what is wrong about
the NBA....But I'll be damned if this is gonna become just another
Kobe thread....enough of them shits already. Dude is just a
microcosm on the problem. Which started YEARS before he came
on the scene

Just do a fucking Kobe search and ask that shit elsewhere please

thank you

Thats the point i'm trying to make. Every basketball thread always turns into a Kobe thread. As if he's the only player in the NBA.

[RunawaySlave]

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=yspsctnhdln>Nuggets, Vandeweghe have been down this road before</TD></TR><TR><TD height=7><SPACER height="1" width="1" type="block"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>By ARNIE STAPLETON, AP Sports Writer
May 6, 2006




DENVER (AP) -- Kiki Vandeweghe was one of the most popular and productive players for the Denver Nuggets in the early 1980s. Yet, it wasn't until he left town that the team became a true contender.

The same scenario might be playing out now.

Vandeweghe learned Friday what he had suspected for some time: team owner Stan Kroenke wants somebody else steering the franchise loaded with equal parts talent and trouble.





Vandeweghe began his 13-year NBA playing career in Denver in 1980 after leading UCLA to the national championship game. He averaged 23.3 points in four seasons in Denver, but the Nuggets didn't become a real threat until 1985 after he was sent to Portland for Fat Lever, Calvin Natt and Wayne Cooper in the biggest trade in franchise history.
Oddly, it may take Vandeweghe's leaving again for the Nuggets to reach their potential this time around.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Vandeweghe reshaped the Nuggets and returned them to respectability after taking over as general manager on Aug. 9, 2001. Speculation about his future ran rampant this season as Kroenke stayed silent regarding an extension.



The 47-year-old Vandeweghe met with Kroenke on Friday, four days after the Nuggets bowed out of the playoffs in the first round for the third straight season.

"After meeting with Kiki today, we agreed his contract will not be extended. We appreciate the time he spent with the Nuggets and wish him good luck as he seeks out his next challenge," Kroenke said in a statement. "We remain focused on attaining our goal of establishing a team that consistently competes at the highest levels and will make every effort to achieve that goal."

Kroenke didn't say if he had anyone in mind to replace Vandeweghe.

Vandeweghe didn't answer a phone call from The Associated Press on Friday, but in a statement released by the team, he said: "I am truly grateful to Mr. Kroenke for the opportunity he gave me and for everything I have learned from this experience. I am excited about moving in a new direction."

Although there's no real urgency to get someone in place because the Nuggets don't own a first-round selection in the June 28 draft, there are many issues confronting the club this offseason.

Star Carmelo Anthony is eligible for a contract extension of some $80 million and there's the question of what to do with fiery forward Kenyon Martin, who was suspended in the playoffs for insubordination.

Martin is still due more than $70 million on his contract, which runs through 2011. Coach George Karl also issued a plea this week for more shooters after the

Nuggets' dismal performance in the playoffs, although his wish list didn't stop there.

How about four?" he said. "Can we get a big man who can make a shot? Can we get a true shooter on a 3-point line? Maybe a scorer and a shooter? A penetrator?"


Denver was expected to jump into the elite echelon of the Western Conference this season but injuries and inconsistencies did them in. Although the Nuggets won their first division title in 18 seasons, they were bounced from the playoffs in five games by the Los Angeles Clippers.

Other than his selection of Anthony in 2003 and the draft-day deal for Brazilian forward Nene in '02, Vandeweghe's draft record was dismal. Fans never forgave him for bypassing Amare Stoudemire, the eventual rookie of the year, for forward Nikoloz Tskitishvili in 2002.

Still, Vandeweghe was so adept at dumping salary and luring free agents that he reshaped the Nuggets from a perennial lottery team to one that won its first division title since 1988 despite a slew of noteworthy injuries.

After clearing salary cap space, he got Nene and Marcus Camby in a draft-day deal from the New York Knicks in 2002. Anthony's selection with the third pick the following year helped the Nuggets improve their win total by 26 and, stunningly, they reached the playoffs for the first time since 1995.

Vandeweghe, however, wanted to fire coach Jeff Bzdelik after the 2003-04 season, but Kroenke balked.

Vandeweghe acquired Martin that summer from the New Jersey Nets for three first-round draft picks, the deal that was probably his eventual undoing. Bzdelik was fired after a slow start in 2004-05 and interim coach Michael Cooper went 4-10 before Kroenke brought in Karl, who led Denver to the playoffs.

This season began with high expectations but Nene went down in the opener with a torn knee ligament that sidelined him all season, and the team never found a rhythm on the court or chemistry in the locker room, winning but a single game in the playoffs for the third straight year.

Vandeweghe, whose contract was set to expire Aug. 1, was the first to pay the price.



Updated on Saturday, May 6, 2006 3:40 am EDT



So long Kiki

[Dolemite]

i don't care if you've been a player, ball boy, coach, equipment manager, water boy, towel boy or stat keeper...

i want your opinion on this subject if you've been involved in TEAM sports.

a friend of mine who has been an on-air television sports anchor for major networks in orlando and chicago sent me some video and the question i am asking you here.

we all have heard about, read, or watched the raja bell foul on tobe in game 5. what is curious about that play is the REACTION OF THE FAKERS PLAYERS ON THE COURT.

who immediately stepped to raja bell afterwards?

[crickets chirping]

here is the question:

"what does that tell you about how his teammates feel about tobe?"

while some of you prepare your answers, here are some game 6 quotes:

LAKERS HEAD COACH PHIL JACKSON: “It was a great game. Both teams shot exceptionally well and played a lot of offensive basketball. But that is there style and we need to do a lot better job of playing our style on Saturday

LAKERS FORWARD LUKE WALTON (10 PTS, 5 REBS): “We had opportunities. All we had to do is grab the rebound at the end. Obviously there was more than that, but that is how close it was. We know we can beat this team and we need to get back to doing what we did early in the series when we were successful.”

LAKERS FORWARD LAMAR ODOM (22 PTS, 11 REBS, 9 ASTS): “This is a tough loss for me. I lost track of Marion when the ball got to the middle and us up by three. I just let him go. I should have let Nash go but he got some penetration and I went to help, he kicked it out, Marion got the offensive rebound… he kicked it to [Tim] Thomas and he hit the three.

“We played this game well enough to win it but we came up short. I guess you could call this a mental lapse. Now we have to come out in Game Seven and make it up… We can win in Phoenix. We just have to go in there and play our game. This happens in sports.”
I'll apply the thread title to your question. Far too many teams are stacked with bitches with no enforcers or dudes with enough heart to flip on someone. The 4 best teams in the league- Detroit, Dallas, San Antonio, Miami all have at least one or more dudes who will try to beat your ass if you fuck with them or their teammates.

Thats part of being a team. Caring enough about even a guy you personally hate to stand up for him because he's on your side and you won't go for that kind of bullshit. I've never seen a team that is weak in cohesiveness win anything.


cranrab- I know for a fact you are really John Singleton and Toby fucked your ex :D you dream about Kobe dont you? :smh: cmon bruh you're starting to diminish your image with this shit

[RunawaySlave]

I'll apply the thread title to your question. Far too many teams are stacked with bitches with no enforcers or dudes with enough heart to flip on someone. The 4 best teams in the league- Detroit, Dallas, San Antonio, Miami all have at least one or more dudes who will try to beat your ass if you fuck with them or their teammates.

Thats part of being a team. Caring enough about even a guy you personally hate to stand up for him because he's on your side and you won't go for that kind of bullshit. I've never seen a team that is weak in cohesiveness win anything


Well said. Looking forward to the counter argument on this one
Although I disagree about Dallas. They have no enforcers. Unless
you're counting Jerry Stackhouse or Avery Johnson or somebody...
Dampier will foul you hard, but that's because he's more of a doofus
than an enforcer and we know Nitwitski is a straight up biyatch

[cranrab]

Thats part of being a team. Caring enough about even a guy you personally hate to stand up for him because he's on your side and you won't go for that kind of bullshit. I've never seen a team that is weak in cohesiveness win anything.

i took the time to post this (about 45 seconds) because for people who have been involved in TEAM sports, that sort of thing JUMPS out at you...

it speaks VOLUMES about TEAM health and where players heads are at...

what you stated above is mostly CORRECT... you don't need to be a roughneck enforcer (a la charles oakley or rick mahorn) to defend a teammate... think avery johnson, kevin johnson or john stockton jumping in the mix...

i'd think that BASKETBALL fans in general and fakers fans specifically would be concerned that NOBODY stepped up to challenge raja bell after the foul...

for those that thought this post was about tobe, YOU'RE WRONG. it's about THE FAKERS state of mind regarding tobe in game 5... and why that lack of support may have caused what we saw in game 6...

and :lol: @ makk/dolemite... don't insult me with that john singleton bit... i would've never made 'higher learning' or 'four brothers'... :D

[cranrab]

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=yspsctnhdln>Nuggets, Vandeweghe have been down this road before</TD></TR><TR><TD height=7><SPACER height="1" width="1" type="block"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>By ARNIE STAPLETON, AP Sports Writer
May 6, 2006




DENVER (AP) -- Kiki Vandeweghe was one of the most popular and productive players for the Denver Nuggets in the early 1980s. Yet, it wasn't until he left town that the team became a true contender.

The same scenario might be playing out now.

Vandeweghe learned Friday what he had suspected for some time: team owner Stan Kroenke wants somebody else steering the franchise loaded with equal parts talent and trouble.





Vandeweghe began his 13-year NBA playing career in Denver in 1980 after leading UCLA to the national championship game. He averaged 23.3 points in four seasons in Denver, but the Nuggets didn't become a real threat until 1985 after he was sent to Portland for Fat Lever, Calvin Natt and Wayne Cooper in the biggest trade in franchise history.
Oddly, it may take Vandeweghe's leaving again for the Nuggets to reach their potential this time around.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Vandeweghe reshaped the Nuggets and returned them to respectability after taking over as general manager on Aug. 9, 2001. Speculation about his future ran rampant this season as Kroenke stayed silent regarding an extension.



The 47-year-old Vandeweghe met with Kroenke on Friday, four days after the Nuggets bowed out of the playoffs in the first round for the third straight season.

"After meeting with Kiki today, we agreed his contract will not be extended. We appreciate the time he spent with the Nuggets and wish him good luck as he seeks out his next challenge," Kroenke said in a statement. "We remain focused on attaining our goal of establishing a team that consistently competes at the highest levels and will make every effort to achieve that goal."

Kroenke didn't say if he had anyone in mind to replace Vandeweghe.

Vandeweghe didn't answer a phone call from The Associated Press on Friday, but in a statement released by the team, he said: "I am truly grateful to Mr. Kroenke for the opportunity he gave me and for everything I have learned from this experience. I am excited about moving in a new direction."

Although there's no real urgency to get someone in place because the Nuggets don't own a first-round selection in the June 28 draft, there are many issues confronting the club this offseason.

Star Carmelo Anthony is eligible for a contract extension of some $80 million and there's the question of what to do with fiery forward Kenyon Martin, who was suspended in the playoffs for insubordination.

Martin is still due more than $70 million on his contract, which runs through 2011. Coach George Karl also issued a plea this week for more shooters after the

Nuggets' dismal performance in the playoffs, although his wish list didn't stop there.

How about four?" he said. "Can we get a big man who can make a shot? Can we get a true shooter on a 3-point line? Maybe a scorer and a shooter? A penetrator?"


Denver was expected to jump into the elite echelon of the Western Conference this season but injuries and inconsistencies did them in. Although the Nuggets won their first division title in 18 seasons, they were bounced from the playoffs in five games by the Los Angeles Clippers.

Other than his selection of Anthony in 2003 and the draft-day deal for Brazilian forward Nene in '02, Vandeweghe's draft record was dismal. Fans never forgave him for bypassing Amare Stoudemire, the eventual rookie of the year, for forward Nikoloz Tskitishvili in 2002.

Still, Vandeweghe was so adept at dumping salary and luring free agents that he reshaped the Nuggets from a perennial lottery team to one that won its first division title since 1988 despite a slew of noteworthy injuries.

After clearing salary cap space, he got Nene and Marcus Camby in a draft-day deal from the New York Knicks in 2002. Anthony's selection with the third pick the following year helped the Nuggets improve their win total by 26 and, stunningly, they reached the playoffs for the first time since 1995.

Vandeweghe, however, wanted to fire coach Jeff Bzdelik after the 2003-04 season, but Kroenke balked.

Vandeweghe acquired Martin that summer from the New Jersey Nets for three first-round draft picks, the deal that was probably his eventual undoing. Bzdelik was fired after a slow start in 2004-05 and interim coach Michael Cooper went 4-10 before Kroenke brought in Karl, who led Denver to the playoffs.

This season began with high expectations but Nene went down in the opener with a torn knee ligament that sidelined him all season, and the team never found a rhythm on the court or chemistry in the locker room, winning but a single game in the playoffs for the third straight year.

Vandeweghe, whose contract was set to expire Aug. 1, was the first to pay the price.



Updated on Saturday, May 6, 2006 3:40 am EDT



i thought coach karl would be first to go...

the nuggets have a lot of engineering to do in the off-season... i'm surprised/disappointed that coach karl spouted off so freely about what the nuggets' needs are...

while coach karl's remarks about needing perimeter shooters is true enough, his other comments basically indict other players for a supposed lack of talent, and that's wrong... :(

[xfactor]

i don't care if you've been a player, ball boy, coach, equipment manager, water boy, towel boy or stat keeper...

i want your opinion on this subject if you've been involved in TEAM sports.

a friend of mine who has been an on-air television sports anchor for major networks in orlando and chicago sent me some video and the question i am asking you here.

we all have heard about, read, or watched the raja bell foul on tobe in game 5. what is curious about that play is the REACTION OF THE FAKERS PLAYERS ON THE COURT.

who immediately stepped to raja bell afterwards?

[crickets chirping]

here is the question:

"what does that tell you about how his teammates feel about tobe?"



It tells you that his teammates have little to no respect for him. Proving that people (BGOL dimwits) should watch the actions of Wobe's teammates and not the words they say in the media. I can remember back to highschool and college where it would definitely get heated if guys were talking shit, sticking their elbow or knee out just a little further on screens, dealing with intoxicated fans, etc but if someone crossed the line, someone would definitely step in. I've seen more COACHES react to things more physically than the Lakers players after Bell treated Wobe like a rag doll.

You should always stick up for your teammates when going against the opposition. I'm surprised that nobody came over and knocked Bell on his ass. I'm also surprised that no one brought this question up sooner because although I missed the game, that was the first thing I noticed on the highlights. Even a soft euro like Boris Diaw came to the aid of his teammate when Puke Walton fouled TT out of the air in Game 3.

In Wobe's defense however, in the NBA, especially with the prep to pro generation, a lot of players only care about themselves. However that still doesnt mean they wont step in when they see something happen. I'd like to see another member of the Lakers get hit or take a hard foul in Game 7 and see how the teammates react as opposed to how they did when Bryant got intentionally dropped.

:smh: @ people wondering why the opposition doesnt respect Wobe when his own team doesnt.

[RunawaySlave]

while coach karl's remarks about needing perimeter shooters is true enough, his other comments basically indict other players for a supposed lack of talent, and that's wrong... :(


"Can we get a big man who can make a shot?


I thought this was a very telling statement against both Kenyon Martin
AND Marcus Camby. More against Camby though because Martin didn't
even play

They have no outside shooter to free up a downlow presence, and no
downlow presence to free up the outside shooters

They just work around Carmelo...which is the way Kiki set it up...which
is why I think they didn't renew his contract

[RunawaySlave]

:smh: @ people wondering why the opposition doesnt respect Wobe when his own team doesnt.


Again, I am not trying to make this another Kobe/Tobe
thread. I'd rather leave personal remarks like this OUT
of this thread


thanks


and to anyone else...I much rather have a intelligent
discussion about the NBA....make jokes and have fun
but leave these clowns :lol: :dance:
and their sentimentalities OUT of thread please. It's
like having an intelligent discussion with a 10 year old
(if you know what I mean)

[cranrab]

How about four?" he said. "Can we get a big man who can make a shot? Can we get a true shooter on a 3-point line? Maybe a scorer and a shooter? A penetrator?"

agreed.

marcus camby brings the nuggets rebounding and shot blocking, but his FG% is oddly low for a big man (46%)... he must be one of those perimeter jump shot shooting big men you like so much... :D

i'd still keep marcus camby though, because in the end, i'd still want a shot blocker and rebounder... if he could stay healthy, that is...

current problems with kenyon martin aside, i think it was a huge mistake to try and make kenyon martin a scorer... i don't believe the skill sets exist... slasher, finisher, rebounder, active team defender YES, but featured scorer? NO.

denver isn't alone in their problems... the league has a dearth of quality big men who are talented scorers from the pivot... kiki vandeweghe could've done much worse in putting together a squad on paper...

marcus camby
kenyon martin
carmelo anthony
SG? (say goodbye, voshon lenard)
andre miller

oh well, let's see what they can produce when they go back to the drawing board AGAIN... it's no wonder they're a little impatient out there... they haven't seen 50 wins in 18 seasons, or advanced to the western conference finals in mroe than 20 seasons...

[Dolemite]

Well said. Looking forward to the counter argument on this one
Although I disagree about Dallas. They have no enforcers. Unless
you're counting Jerry Stackhouse or Avery Johnson or somebody...
Dampier will foul you hard, but that's because he's more of a doofus
than an enforcer and we know Nitwitski is a straight up biyatch


The only one on dallas that im sure of is Stack like you mentioned- he will punch a mufucka in the face :lol:
nowitzki is a gay nazi but im not sure if daniels or howard are suckers , I dont think so

If someone did something intentionally to hurt a dude on dallas' team stack would fuck them or someone else up on another play im pretty sure unless it was a situation where they were already winning




i took the time to post this (about 45 seconds) because for people who have been involved in TEAM sports, that sort of thing JUMPS out at you...

it speaks VOLUMES about TEAM health and where players heads are at...

what you stated above is mostly CORRECT... you don't need to be a roughneck enforcer (a la charles oakley or rick mahorn) to defend a teammate... think avery johnson, kevin johnson or john stockton jumping in the mix...

i'd think that BASKETBALL fans in general and fakers fans specifically would be concerned that NOBODY stepped up to challenge raja bell after the foul...

for those that thought this post was about tobe, YOU'RE WRONG. it's about THE FAKERS state of mind regarding tobe in game 5... and why that lack of support may have caused what we saw in game 6...

You brought the muthafucka up AGAIN just like you did NOW AGAIN :lol:
:smh: anyway I think that team doesnt hate Toby I just think they are a bunch of samaki walker type kool aid niggas with more skill aka bitches

Who does anyone consider tough on that whole team? Jim Jackson? Aaron McKie? shit Andrew Bynum is the toughest mufucka on that whole squad. No one else would bam it on shaq and come down court and hit him with a bow to the chest :lol:

Charkles Oakley and Anthony Mason didnt fight every game but they were tough strong physical players and the lakers have none of that.










and @ makk/dolemite... don't insult me with that john singleton bit... i would've never made 'higher learning' or 'four brothers'...



:lol: your ex is fuckin tyler perry now so chill on toby bean :D

[RunawaySlave]

SG? (say goodbye, voshon lenard)


This is the move that really hurt Kiki. Getting a 6'5" guy
who can stick a 20 footer and defend is not as hard as
he made it out to be......

Especially since it led to their downfall LAST year as well
He did a job good, but he never did address that need.
He has TWO seasons to find that player....Hell, he could've
tried getting KERRY KITTLES or somebody like that. Instead
he went with Buckner :confused: and The Kobe Stopper :confused: :confused: at SG

[RunawaySlave]

Tonight, in the third quarter of the SA/Dallas game, did anyone
notice the ref anticipate a call and end up messing up the whole
rhythm of the game at the time??

I'm telling y'all. They need to do something about this. The ref
blows his whistle and it sets off a whole chain of unecessary
events. And dumbass Reggie Miller is anticipating the exact
same call....Ridiculous moment

[TimRock]

Tonight, in the third quarter of the SA/Dallas game, did anyone
notice the ref anticipate a call and end up messing up the whole
rhythm of the game at the time??

I'm telling y'all. They need to do something about this. The ref
blows his whistle and it sets off a whole chain of unecessary
events. And dumbass Reggie Miller is anticipating the exact
same call....Ridiculous moment


Yeah, I saw this. There should have been no jump ball. It should have gone right back to SA. But they got a break when they won the tip and got a fresh 24 seconds. Was Manu even paying attention to where Duncan was at?

[xfactor]

:smh: @ the disgraceful defense played to start this game

Between Emmanuel Flopnobili and Fibricio Flopberto, the Spurs have enough players to start their own hollywood production :smh:

[cranrab]

Q4 of game 3 mavericks v. spurs IS A FARCE.

the officiating has been SO terrible i am having a difficult time watching it...

:puke:

mark cuban wrote this before the playoffs:

How to improve NBA Playoff Officiating

Note:This was written BEFORE the playoffs started. It wasnt posted till after I had presented this to the league. I stand corrected on the lack of 4 games in a night. There have been. THat doesnt change the validity of the concept. Rather than using the playoffs as an opportunity to promote officials, it should be where only the very best officials work.

I have also turned off comments because as I feared, they end up being off topic.

Here is the post:

Refs miss calls. Its part of the game. Better refs that approach the game objectively miss fewer calls.

During the regular season new refs will come into the league and as might be expected, there will be ups and downs that come with new officials.

The playoffs are different. THe playoffs are where teams and the NBA itself earn their money. Its where team profits are made, its where TV ratings are made and when TV ratings are good, the league makes more money.

In other words, the playoffs are our money product. As with every business, the best people should be on the job with the money products. Thats not the way the NBA does it when it comes to officials.

In the first round, the NBA reduces the number of officials elgible to officiate games from about 60 to 33 (give or take a couple). The first question is how did they arrive at that number ? I dont know, but I can calculate how many officials are actually needed.

In the first round, there 4 series in each conference or 8 series in total.

But the thing about the first round is that the games are spread out. There rarely if ever are 4 games in a single night. ( it hasnt happened since i have been here). The most I have seen is 3 games in a night. 3 games in a night is 9 officials.

But when you look at the schedule further, you realize that because of time zones and TV needs, you never get more than 2 games in the same time zone. Which means that its not unreasonable to ask officials to work games on back to back nights in the first round of the playoffs. THey can travel to the next assigned game in the same or at worst adjoining time zone. Because of the spread out schedule, its unlikely they would work back to backs more than twice in the first round.

So in the first round alone, the number of officials that should be assigned could be as few as 9, plus 3 alternates.

Would the officiating improve if the top 12 officials worked the games instead of the top 33 or so. There is absolutely no question about it.

Would it strain the officials more to possibly work a back to back ? Yes. So pay them a bigger bonus for being selected for the playoffs. Its certainly no more a strain on the officals than it is the players and we have no problem asking players to work back to back.

The numbers get better for the 2nd round. 4 series. 2 games in a day. Sometimes 1 game in a day. Thats 6 officials plus alternates. If the league was absolutely convinced we have 12 finals quality officials, then use 12

But the NBA has a huge problem. It doesnt view the playoffs as a place where the very best of the best of officials go to work. It views the playoffs as part of a reward system for officials. YOu get promoted to the playoffs. Its not unusual to see an official work a single playoff game in the first round . In fact, if the info i have is correct, there are officials who havent even been promoted to full time crew cheif who get playoff assignments. How crazy is that ?

Thats also a huge, huge, huge business mistake. The playoffs are our most important, most visible product. They should never be used as a stepping stone for promotion.

Instead, the NBA should rank its officials, seed them if you will. Top 12 get playoff assignments. Thats it. If an official does a great job and rises to the top 12, he or she gets the reward. If not, not.

Giving less qualified officials an opportunity to officiate playoff games as a reward gives the official a nice attaboy, but it risks the quality of our product.

It makes absolutely no sense to do it the way it is currently done. If the league wants the best officiating in every game, only use the best officials. Anything less cheats us all.

[RunawaySlave]

Forget all that....the final 8 minutes of this game is EXACTLY
what I am referring to when I complain about the NBA

I hope everybody is watching this. Watching while this man
SEVEN FOOT ONE INCH TALL flops and gets foul after foul
called in his favor...This man has at least EIGHT FREE throws
in the past 5 minutes that are complete and utter bullshit

And to show you how important they believe that euro to
be over any and ALL African ball players, they have deliberately
fouled out TIM DUNCAN. Watch the replay and you will see
Duncan with his hands IN THE AIR and BACKPEDDLING while
Dirk is falling down (without contact), but they are willing to
call a foul on the best player in the NBA

I'm done with this game...this shit is PHONY!!!!
As bad or worse than "professional" wrestling

[RunawaySlave]

Oh yeah, let me add that this goes way deeper than just officiating
If you are listening to the COMMENTATORS, they are telling us that
these are GOOD CALLS. They are NOT on the court. This thing is
systematic. They are NOT telling us the truth. They are not blind...
they are not stupid....they are doing this for a reason

When a so-called respected basketball man like Hubie Brown says
it's a "good call", you know something foul is going on here.....

pro wrestling

[cranrab]

maybe you shouldn't have given $136M to some euros... :smh:

Utah Jazz suffering huge financial shortfall
/ Associated Press
Posted: 21 hours ago

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - On the last day of regular NBA play last month, the Utah Jazz reached a break-even record for the season.

Financially, however, they're not even close. The team was more than $10 million in the red, according to owner Larry Miller. And losses for the last two seasons combined approach $25 million, Miller said.
"We're losing a lot of money. Huge numbers," Miller said of the team he has owned for 21 seasons. "Blow-your-mind numbers."

Miller says the losses are painful, but concedes, they're self-inflicted pain.

During the summer of 2004, Miller authorized a quarter-billion dollars in long-term contracts to Jazz players, including $86 million to Andrei Kirilenko, $68 million to Carlos Boozer and $50 million to Mehmet Okur.

That doubled the team's payroll, but Miller hopes those players will eventually put the team in championship contention.

"Being competitive on the floor is important to us, and we believe we are headed in the right direction," Miller said. "You have to be smart about it, and I think we have been. This (loss), it's an eight-digit number. ... But it's something we were prepared for."

[RunawaySlave]

I KNEW this mufukka wasn't hurt





<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=yspsctnhdln>Dirk Nowitzki: (Ankle) Expects to Play Monday Night</TD></TR><TR><TD height=7><SPACER height="1" width="1" type="block"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>RotoWire.com Staff - RotoWire.com

Monday, May 15, 2006

Update: Nowitzki (ankle) expects to play Monday night in Game 4 of the Western Conference playoff series between Dallas and San Antonio, the Dallas Morning News reports.

Recommendation: Nowitzki didn't practice Sunday because of the injury, but plans on being there for his team on Monday. "It's pretty stiff," Nowitzki said. "I rolled it pretty good, and I got up every two hours to ice it. It's got a little swelling, and it's nothing I haven't seen before."



Updated on Monday, May 15, 2006 12:42 pm EDT


</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>




If you saw that last "foul" called when Dirk fell and they called the
phantom shit on Duncan (his 6th foul), you would swear that Dirk
was going on the IR list from the way he was writhed in pain. They
even called a TO for this punk...

Bunch of bullshit. It was all an act. Just like "Pro wrestling". Instead
of the MVP, they should give that bitch an Oscar....the NBA has gone
Hollywood

[cranrab]

[size=4]If you saw that last "foul" called when Dirk fell and they called the
phantom shit on Duncan (his 6th foul), you would swear that Dirk
was going on the IR list from the way he was writhed in pain. They
even called a TO for this punk...

Bunch of bullshit. It was all an act. Just like "Pro wrestling". Instead
of the MVP, they should give that bitch an Oscar....the NBA has gone
Hollywood

that ENTIRE Q4 was horseshit... i swear AT LEAST HALF the calls that have gone against TD and shaquille o'neal during this year's playoffs are PURE CRAP.

[cranrab]

ok, if you watched cavaliers v. pistons game 4, please feel free to respond.

in Q4, detroit ball, mike evans goes for an offensive rebound and knocks it out of bounds. BUT ON THE WAY OUT OF BOUNDS IT HIT LEBRON JAMES' HAND. the officials missed that? or ignored that? cavaliers ball. game over.

the officials made the game-clinching call with 2.3 seconds left, and the cavaliers went on to win...

did anybody else find that curious? revolting?

or did my eyes deceive me?

[RunawaySlave]

Two words.....
professional wrestling




Forgive me for getting carried away before. I actually forgot that
I have wriiten off these playoffs YEARS ago as phony and scripted
and the outcomes have already been decided

I really only tune into the games during the regular season just so
I can get periods when the action is real, like when Michael Finley
buffed that shit in Nitwitski's FACE!!! Or when Tim Duncan showed
just what a TRUE big man is supposed to do

It's moments like that, that will keep me coming back

[TimRock]

ok, if you watched cavaliers v. pistons game 4, please feel free to respond.

in Q4, detroit ball, mike evans goes for an offensive rebound and knocks it out of bounds. BUT ON THE WAY OUT OF BOUNDS IT HIT LEBRON JAMES' HAND. the officials missed that? or ignored that? cavaliers ball. game over.

the officials made the game-clinching call with 2.3 seconds left, and the cavaliers went on to win...

did anybody else find that curious? revolting?

or did my eyes deceive me?

I saw this. What happened to reviewing plays at the end of games like that, especially on those types of calls. Leborn = Jordan. :smh:

[cranrab]

from coach phil jackson:

"in the 1960s and '70s, players asked: "where do i fit in? how can i help this team win?" now they ask: "how do i get what i want?" given this selfish mind-set, it is remarkable, actually, that teams play with any cohesiveness. i can't help but believe that for both the players and the fans, the purity of this wonderful game has been compromised in the process, perhaps for good." :(

"fans, spoiled by the magic johnson-led showtime squads from the 1980s, have been condidtioned to prefer entertainment, a [t]obe slash to the hoop over a shaq turnaround in the lane. they don't appreciate the degree of difficulty in a gary patyon left-handed layup from twelve feet away or a karl malone fallaway. they only appreciate [t]obe's degree of difficulty." :(

[cranrab]

Mavs can only point fingers at themselves
Charley Rosen / Special to FOXSports.com
Posted: 4 days ago

It's easy for Mark Cuban, Avery Johnson, many of the players, as well as the legions of unhappy Mavericks fans to blame the refs for the disappointing conclusion to the championship series. Too easy.

In truth, the players must bear most of the blame. For missing too many makeable shots. For losing their concentration when the pressure increased. And for taking too much for granted.

This last point was most evident at the end of Game 3, when the Mavs expected the Heat to fold when their deficit reached double digits in the closing minutes. Dallas was so shaken when Miami mounted its furious comeback that the Mavs never really recovered.

The Mavs' ultimate failure revealed a collective lack of trust in each other and also in their coaches. The side effect was an unwillingness to believe in the inevitability of their common mission. Character flaws, more than talent deficiency, led to the Mavs' downfall.

Johnson must also share the blame. His biggest failing was to not make a total commitment to get the ball out of Dwyane Wade's hands. (Unlike what Riley did to Dirk Nowitzki.) The Mavs should have doubled Wade every time he touched the ball. Shaq's point total in clutch situations can always be limited by sending him to the charity stripe. And Dallas should have forced (and dared) the likes of Antoine Walker, James Posey, Udonis Haslem and Jason Williams to take all of the clutch shots and win (or, most likely, lose) the series on their own.

Riley took the risk of betting the whole enchilada on stifling Nowitzki. But Johnson didn't have the grit to follow suit against Wade.

There's no question that the refs were another major factor in the outcome, but certain fundamental truths have to be accepted — the most important being that too many NBA refs are unexceptional practitioners of their art. In fact, their collective ineptitude is the primary reason why the NBA had adopted so many rule changes.


The charge/block arc under each basket was installed simply because the refs were incapable of making the correct calls when shooters and defenders collided down there. How ridiculous is it that a quarter-inch difference between where a defender's sneaker is relative to the line spells the differentiation between a charge or a block? How ridiculous is it that a referee must focus on a floor-marking instead of the respective positions and vectors of the players involved in order to make his call? And why is the line there? To make a difficult call easy for the refs.
Hey, if they can't make the right decision without a line, then they're in the wrong profession to begin with.


Similarly, the refs' inability to execute adequate tosses in jump-ball situations is why only the opening quarter is thusly begun. As it stands, approximately half of the tosses are somewhat lopsided and favor one team or the other.

The Heat focused on making Dirk Nowitzki's life difficult ... and that's why the Mavs couldn't make that 2-0 series lead hold up. (David J. Phillip / Getty Images)


Also, the outlawing of various previously accepted defensive tactics (such as hand-checking, and all the alligator wrestling that used to be the norm in pivot play) were instituted to create more scoring, yes, but also to simplify the resulting calls. All because the refs can't distinguish between advantageous and incidental contact.

It used to be that only the top officials got to work conference finals and championship series. Not any more. These days, incompetents like Joe DeRosa and Duke Callahan get to toot their tooters in the finals.

As far as Josh Howard's fatal timeout at the end of Game 5 is concerned, the truth is in the eye of the partisan. DeRosa reported that Howard twice signaled for the timeout, while Howard claims that he was only making a T-square gesture to assure Johnson that he understood his instructions. Even if Howard is correct, he must bear the same onus as does the inattentive spectator who accidentally raises his hand during an active auction.

If the refs were too cowardly to tag Jerry Stackhouse with the category 2 flagrant foul that he deserved in Game 4, Stu Jackson rectified their omission by banishing Stackhouse from Game 5. And had they taken a more dispassionate look at the foul, the Mavs would have lowered the heat of their vehement protests and moved on.So, aside from the players' psychological weaknesses, and Johnson's inexperience, the Mavs lost because they became too distracted by the referees' mistakes.

For sure, standing up for your guys is both admirable and necessary. And, unfortunately, whining is another necessary and acceptable reaction to questionable calls. In fact, it was Riley himself who first made his displeasure with officials' calls a matter of public record back when the Heat and the Bulls used to annually meet in passionate and memorable postseason encounters during the 1990s. (Interestingly enough, when Phil Jackson responded to Riley's out-in-the-open criticisms, Riley claimed that Jackson had instigated the entire process and even called PJ a crybaby.)

Unfortunately, players, coaches, general managers, and even owners whine about what they deem to be bass-ackwards calls only because their protestations actually work. Blame the NBA powers that be for creating this particular monster.

However, there's a huge difference between whining and screaming. A difference ignored by Cuban and Johnson.

So, then, the Mavs lost because they thought that, after winning their first two home games, the ride to the promised land was a chauffeur-driven cruise. They lost because too many of their players didn't believe in anything other than themselves. And they lost because the increasing pressure caused them to pop their respective corks, on-court and off.

As a result, the Mavs' organization will either learn their lessons and move on to bigger and better things. Or else they'll be stuck in the same rut of denial and finger-pointing for the foreseeable future.

George Santayana could have been talking about the Mavs' future when he wrote, "Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

[ronmch20]

http://graphics.jsonline.com/graphics/sports/brew/img/jul02/24game070902.jpg


Dirk ain't shit!!!
Dirk ain't shit!!!
Dirk ain't shit!!!
Dirk ain't shit!!!!


My new chant
BUT DIRK IS RICH! DIRK IS RICH! DIRK IS RICH! DIRK IS RICH!

[SpiritualPorn]

Kings with Artest get waxed, buffed and simonized
Kings w/o Artest take the defending champs into OT

:hmm:

Reading back on this thread I now know

BGOL knows sports bettr than ESPN

Everyone here had Dallas picked out as a whining team with on e theg ...Crackhouse

Dirk was pegged as soft

The officials were attacked as one sided

BGOL= Best coverage of sports

[Hollywood2001]

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: *gets eraser and goes up to the board*

*writes new title of thread*
What's Wrong with Dirk Nowitzki Today??





*I agree with the author of this thread.

[Ricky715]

6'10" Anderson Varejao takes a CHARGE from 5'9" (at best)
Nate Robinson and the ref gives it to him.....Ref should've
called a foul on the big man on GP for not swatting that shit
back in Nate's face

Too many times in the NBA, defense gets penalized for good
plays like blocks and the like, while bullshit defense like flops
gets rewarded. Too many times

The true problem is the same in baseball they play to many game that don't mean shit. So when the playoffs began a lot of player turn up lame and cannot play.

[RunawaySlave]

The true problem is the same in baseball they play to many game that don't mean shit. So when the playoffs began a lot of player turn up lame and cannot play.

The amount of games played todayu is the exact amount played
10 years ago. Even 20 years ago. Was never a problem in those
days

[RunawaySlave]

Mavs can only point fingers at themselves
Charley Rosen / Special to FOXSports.com
Posted: 4 days ago

It's easy for Mark Cuban, Avery Johnson, many of the players, as well as the legions of unhappy Mavericks fans to blame the refs for the disappointing conclusion to the championship series. Too easy.

In truth, the players must bear most of the blame


I read this entire article, yet I did not read one sentence
that was critical of Nitwitski.

The Mavs lost because they got dominated in the paint.
The so-called MVP was nowhere to be found...Period

It wasn't Josh fault, or Avery's fault, or Diop's fault. EVERY
one else did what they have done all season. Except one
man

[tp2001]

Hey RS, stop picking on Jerk Nowitz....I mean Dirk Nowitzki ;-)

[RunawaySlave]

Hey RS, stop picking on Jerk Nowitz....I mean Dirk Nowitzki ;-)


hahaha

Spiritual Porn, calling Jerk "soft" is like calling Bill Gates "rich"
That boy so soft, he makes Twaan look like Ben Wallace. He
makes Keith Van Homosexual look like Bill Laimbeer

That boy soft as melted ice cream. He wins the title of the
new "Mr. Softee"

Yet, every announcer talks about his 7'1" ass like he is the
best thing out there. I call bullshit

[RunawaySlave]

I repeat



Dirk ain't shit!!!
Dirk ain't shit!!!
Dirk ain't shit!!!
Dirk ain't shit!!!!

[peedog]

The Officials!

PD

[jms]

Dirk is bitchmade like the team's owner. The league should've took back Dirk's MVP award. This guy exposed him & had Cuban believing he cheated for having "inside information."
"Cheers Bitches"
http://i42.tinypic.com/12305za.jpg

[RunawaySlave]

wow....what memories


why did I bump this thread?? Because I am watching the Jazz/Suns
game and I wanted to make a remark about Steve Nash. So I did a
search for him and this thread pops up

anyway about Nash....he has to be the ONLY PG in history that has
his own offensive line...watch him closely, those cats setting the
"screens" are moving so much they look more like pulling guards
than power forwards.

[ShotzSho]

THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE NBA FOOLS....

ITS BETTER THAN EVER. HAVE YOU BEEN WATCHING????? PICK A GAME.... WARRIORS VS CLIPPERS or BOBCATS VS LAKERS or HAWKS vs BOSTON or DALLAS vs SPURS.

THE GOOD TEAMS ARE TOO MUCH FUN TO WATCH!!!! THATS GREAT MANAGING......

[RunawaySlave]

good ideas, but i'd never entrust the integrity of the game to the officials... officials carry grudges, are rarely impartial, and play favorites.

most of them are grimey little napoleons looking to impose their will on the game instead of letting the players play...

people always want to talk about nba games being fixed and point fingers at the players, but they should be taking a longer look at the officials...

in short, i'm cool with the IDEA of what you wrote, but i'd never vote YES on it because i couldn't trust the people blowing the whistle...


Damn, you nailed that shit man

[cranrab]

Damn, you nailed that shit man

as always.

:D