mav fan on Dallas sports radio this morning is full of win

[Whisky Dog]

"Danny Crawford is Stern's right hand hit man"

"mavs outplayed the Spurs but lost only because of officiating"

"Spurs got all the calls"

etc
etc
etc

It's pure entertainment. Obviously mav player and fan alike don't like it when a game is officiated to let the teams play physical ball. mav is finesse

To the host's credit, after hearing all this he said "You people are crazy. How about this... How about the Spurs just played better ball for 2 games". Amen.

[dbestpro]

Fans will always after a loss and try to find some reason other than their own team's play. In my mind as long as their is not a big free throw disparity and no bad crunch time calls then it was a good game, but that is a fan view.

The real difference between the Mavs and Spurs is how they deal with the refs. All teams get the shaft at one point or another by the offcials. The Spurs won their rings by learning to play through the calls. Pop also would not allow the officials to be an excuse when the team simply could have played better. The belief being that you can always play better.

The Mavs over the years continue to find fault with the officials (Cuban driven) and never held themselves accountable for the fact that they could have played better. It is a great lesson for any team in sports. It is a lesson that the Mavs, for some reason, still have not learned.

[Cry Havoc]

If the Mavs had even a SIMILAR paint scoring margin vs the Spurs this series, they might have some business calling the officials out.

As it is, they've only been shooting jumpshots. Since when is that the way to get to the free throw line?

[Crookshanks]

Fans will always after a loss and try to find some reason other than their own team's play. In my mind as long as their is not a big free throw disparity and no bad crunch time calls then it was a good game, but that is a fan view.

The real difference between the Mavs and Spurs is how they deal with the refs. All teams get the shaft at one point or another by the offcials. The Spurs won their rings by learning to play through the calls. Pop also would not allow the officials to be an excuse when the team simply could have played better. The belief being that you can always play better.

The Mavs over the years continue to find fault with the officials (Cuban driven) and never held themselves accountable for the fact that they could have played better. It is a great lesson for any team in sports. It is a lesson that the Mavs, for some reason, still have not learned.

Excellent post! Coach Pop has never allowed his players to blame the refs and he's never taken that low road. The Spurs have had the league apologize publicly for a blown call (the no-call on Barry against the Lakers) and still Coach Pop will say the team should've played harder and not been in a position where one blown call would cost them the game.

Conversely - Mark Cuban has been a huge whiner, and it sets the tone for the Coach and the players. He never holds the Coach or players responsible for their poor performance. That en lement mentality makes a team weak and unable to play through adversity. Hence - the Mavs are known as chokers.