Spurzilla
03-11-2007, 07:31 AM
Nets: Frankly, team is losing control
Sunday, March 11, 2007
BY DAVE D'ALESSANDRO
Star-Ledger Staff
NJ.com (http://www.nj.com/nets/ledger/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/1173595577276570.xml&coll=1)
SAN ANTONIO -- They're not only losing games now, they're also losing their tempers, their professional decorum, and a measure of respect that the league's referees might have had for them.
Perhaps it was only a matter of time before the Nets erupted in an adolescent fit of pique over the long, futile exertion that has become their season, but when your coach and point guard spend the night taking turns tossing colorful metaphors at the officiating crew, it's getting near the time to put the balls away.
The Nets lost their fifth straight game last night -- an indignity matched only by the fact that they have fallen behind the Knicks in the Eastern Conference standings -- but Jason Kidd and Lawrence Frank weren't around to see some of it, as both were shown the door in the third quarter of their 93-77 defeat against the rampaging Spurs at the AT&T Center.
And while both said they didn't get their money's worth, that was irrelevant. The more pertinent fact is that they now feel like everyone's ganging up on them -- even officials Tony Brothers and Ken Mauer -- and that they are delusional enough to think that they deserve the same respect that, say, the three-time champion Spurs might get in their own building.
"Obviously," said Frank, "we didn't see eye-to-eye with the officials."
One hopes that was the case, or he had better start working on his people skills.
"I don't have any history with any official," Kidd said. "I thought I had a good argument but unfortunately he felt otherwise."
Actually, the Nets had five somewhat related arguments in the last 4:23 of the third period -- all of them converted by Michael Finley at the foul line, which turned an interesting game into a 16-point rout.
The Nets were in the game seven minutes into the third quarter, trailing 52-44, when Kidd challenged Tim Duncan (17 points, 13 boards) by going hard to the rim with a lefty scoop that missed badly. As Kidd crash landed, Frank jumped up and followed Brothers up the sideline as the teams jogged back in transition. Brothers heard one of the magic words and slapped Frank with his first technical.
"We never blame the game on referees, and you just feel like you want to have the benefit of a foul," said Frank, whose team took only 13 free throws to the Spurs' 30. "There's always going to be a difference of opinion, and that was obviously the case."
After Finley converted the first freebie, the Nets forced a turnover, but Kidd wasn't satisfied. He brought up the previous play to Brothers, who slapped Kidd with his first technical at 4:17. Finley converted to make a 54-44 game.
"The thing I don't understand is why Jason doesn't get the respect like other superstar players in the league," Boki Nachbar said. "It doesn't surprise me to see that he's frustrated. ...I'm not saying every time he drives he has to get a foul call. But if it's a 50-50 situation, and it happens three or four times in a row and he doesn't get one call? That's not fair."
The dialogue continued, this time from a distance. As Kidd prepared to inbound, Brothers -- from halfcourt -- picked up another snarky remark from the Nets point guard and ran him out of the game.
"I was down the court," Kidd said. "(Brothers) wanted to make the call and he made it. He was the star tonight."
Frank rushed toward Brothers in protest, and the ref admonished him to back off as another Finley foul shot made it 55-44.
Marcus Williams took over for Kidd, and rallied his team to within 57-50, but the game got away, so Frank plotted his own exit strategy. But first, the Spurs scored on three straight trips, the last one a Fabricio Oberto putback in which he shoved Mikki Moore with 2.5 seconds left. Moore claims he didn't say a word to Brothers, but the ref was eavesdropping on his conversation with Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. That was Tech No. 4.
"I went over to talk to Pop, I said, 'How much y'all paying him tonight?'" Moore said. "Hey, I didn't cuss (Brothers). And I wasn't talking to him. I was talking to Pop. So I gave him respect."
He also gave Finley another free throw, which stretched the Spurs' lead to 65-52. The buzzer sounded, and Frank was still fuming as he assembled his assistant coaches. Something he said got crew chief Mauer's ear, and Mauer told Frank to get out of the Alamo.
"I didn't cuss or anything like that," Frank said. "I was a little surprised to get thrown out. It was about how the game was going. He obviously took exception to it and threw me out."
The Nets basically shut up and started playing after that, with Bill Cartwright taking over the hot seat. A brief rally got the deficit to seven, before a Duncan stickback and a Manu Ginobili 3 rebuild the Spurs' lead back to double digits.
Dave D'Alessandro may be reached at [email protected]
© 2007 The Star Ledger
© 2007 NJ.com All Rights Reserved.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
BY DAVE D'ALESSANDRO
Star-Ledger Staff
NJ.com (http://www.nj.com/nets/ledger/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/1173595577276570.xml&coll=1)
SAN ANTONIO -- They're not only losing games now, they're also losing their tempers, their professional decorum, and a measure of respect that the league's referees might have had for them.
Perhaps it was only a matter of time before the Nets erupted in an adolescent fit of pique over the long, futile exertion that has become their season, but when your coach and point guard spend the night taking turns tossing colorful metaphors at the officiating crew, it's getting near the time to put the balls away.
The Nets lost their fifth straight game last night -- an indignity matched only by the fact that they have fallen behind the Knicks in the Eastern Conference standings -- but Jason Kidd and Lawrence Frank weren't around to see some of it, as both were shown the door in the third quarter of their 93-77 defeat against the rampaging Spurs at the AT&T Center.
And while both said they didn't get their money's worth, that was irrelevant. The more pertinent fact is that they now feel like everyone's ganging up on them -- even officials Tony Brothers and Ken Mauer -- and that they are delusional enough to think that they deserve the same respect that, say, the three-time champion Spurs might get in their own building.
"Obviously," said Frank, "we didn't see eye-to-eye with the officials."
One hopes that was the case, or he had better start working on his people skills.
"I don't have any history with any official," Kidd said. "I thought I had a good argument but unfortunately he felt otherwise."
Actually, the Nets had five somewhat related arguments in the last 4:23 of the third period -- all of them converted by Michael Finley at the foul line, which turned an interesting game into a 16-point rout.
The Nets were in the game seven minutes into the third quarter, trailing 52-44, when Kidd challenged Tim Duncan (17 points, 13 boards) by going hard to the rim with a lefty scoop that missed badly. As Kidd crash landed, Frank jumped up and followed Brothers up the sideline as the teams jogged back in transition. Brothers heard one of the magic words and slapped Frank with his first technical.
"We never blame the game on referees, and you just feel like you want to have the benefit of a foul," said Frank, whose team took only 13 free throws to the Spurs' 30. "There's always going to be a difference of opinion, and that was obviously the case."
After Finley converted the first freebie, the Nets forced a turnover, but Kidd wasn't satisfied. He brought up the previous play to Brothers, who slapped Kidd with his first technical at 4:17. Finley converted to make a 54-44 game.
"The thing I don't understand is why Jason doesn't get the respect like other superstar players in the league," Boki Nachbar said. "It doesn't surprise me to see that he's frustrated. ...I'm not saying every time he drives he has to get a foul call. But if it's a 50-50 situation, and it happens three or four times in a row and he doesn't get one call? That's not fair."
The dialogue continued, this time from a distance. As Kidd prepared to inbound, Brothers -- from halfcourt -- picked up another snarky remark from the Nets point guard and ran him out of the game.
"I was down the court," Kidd said. "(Brothers) wanted to make the call and he made it. He was the star tonight."
Frank rushed toward Brothers in protest, and the ref admonished him to back off as another Finley foul shot made it 55-44.
Marcus Williams took over for Kidd, and rallied his team to within 57-50, but the game got away, so Frank plotted his own exit strategy. But first, the Spurs scored on three straight trips, the last one a Fabricio Oberto putback in which he shoved Mikki Moore with 2.5 seconds left. Moore claims he didn't say a word to Brothers, but the ref was eavesdropping on his conversation with Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. That was Tech No. 4.
"I went over to talk to Pop, I said, 'How much y'all paying him tonight?'" Moore said. "Hey, I didn't cuss (Brothers). And I wasn't talking to him. I was talking to Pop. So I gave him respect."
He also gave Finley another free throw, which stretched the Spurs' lead to 65-52. The buzzer sounded, and Frank was still fuming as he assembled his assistant coaches. Something he said got crew chief Mauer's ear, and Mauer told Frank to get out of the Alamo.
"I didn't cuss or anything like that," Frank said. "I was a little surprised to get thrown out. It was about how the game was going. He obviously took exception to it and threw me out."
The Nets basically shut up and started playing after that, with Bill Cartwright taking over the hot seat. A brief rally got the deficit to seven, before a Duncan stickback and a Manu Ginobili 3 rebuild the Spurs' lead back to double digits.
Dave D'Alessandro may be reached at [email protected]
© 2007 The Star Ledger
© 2007 NJ.com All Rights Reserved.