Reply With Quote
It's not the Heat, It's the stupidity
good line.
Mavericks have to get back to playing, not pouting
June 19, 2006
By Chris Bernucca
SportsTicker Pro Basketball Editor
DALLAS (Ticker) - After one of many disappointing playoff losses to the archrival New York Knicks in the 1990s, Miami Heat center Alonzo Mourning explained how he would handle the heartbreak.
"Adversity introduces a man to himself," Mourning said.
ADVERTISEMENT
If that adage is true, then the Dallas Mavericks must have met a whole new set of teammates during their wasted week in Miami as their team character has undergone a schizophrenic transformation from responsible to reprehensible.
And if the Mavericks continue to find excuses instead of answers, the best season in franchise history will end with one of the worst collapses in NBA annals.
The Mavericks - who clearly developed a newfound mental toughness to their team this season - began unraveling late Tuesday night with their collapse at the end of Game Three, assuring a long series instead of a short one.
The downward spiral continued through the week with hotel changes, a suspension and pleas for fairness that sounded somewhat immature. And it culminated with a meltdown in Game Five on Sunday night that was dripping with so much bitterness that it rivaled Miami's moist air.
In other words, it's not the Heat. It's the stupidity.
The complaints emanating from the Mavericks sounded like a day-care center. Owner Mark Cuban was glaring at NBA commissioner David Stern after questionable calls. Coach Avery Johnson was engaging in verbal battles with referees and writers.
Forward Josh Howard - who made one of the biggest strategic mistakes in some time - had to be separated from a reporter after threatening him. And forward Dirk Nowitzki threw the ball into the stands after the Mavericks had given away another golden opportunity to take control of the series and found themselves on elimination's doorstep.
"More than anything, it's frustration," Nowitzki said. "I'm an emotional player out there, and I don't think it was anything bad."
Right. Except for the fact that Nowitzki and the rest of the Mavericks have shown the Heat that they allow their emotions to get the best of them at the worst possible times.
Where once there was poise, there is now panic. Focus has been replaced by fear. And it is hard to believe Johnson when he says, "We're a team that's tough-minded."
Howard endured one of the most forgettable games in Finals history, one that almost required a dose of Prozac to correct. He began aggressively and maintained it through a hamstring twinge, entering the fourth quarter with 23 points.
And then the budding star disappeared. Over the last 17 minutes, he scored as many baskets as suspended teammate Jerry Stackhouse, who was back at the team's hotel in distant Fort Lauderdale. Howard also missed as many free throws as he made, bricking his last two after having drained his first nine.
Those came with 54 seconds left in overtime and the Mavericks leading by one. They still held a one-point lead after Nowitzki, who has been struggling with his shot, made a rainbow over Shaquille O'Neal with 9.1 seconds left, exhibiting some of the mental makeup Johnson has been talking about.
However, it vanished as quickly as it appeared. The Mavericks allowed Heat guard Dwyane Wade to dribble 60 feet between four defenders and get to the rim, where he drew a soft foul with 1.9 seconds to go.
In all, Wade was 21-of-25 from the line, the exact same numbers as the Mavericks. The only difference was Wade attacked the rim while the Mavericks attacked referees and reporters.
Asked afterward about Wade's total free throws, Johnson reversed the conversation and asked a reporter who has covered the team all season what he thought, doing so five times.
The uneasy exchange ended with the reporter asking a new question and Johnson snapping, "Don't stutter!" The coach later attempted to apologize to the reporter.
"He got to the line 25 times," said Dallas guard Devin Harris, who was unable to slow down Wade at any point. "We got three guys smothering him and yet he can still get fouled. It just amazes me."
Even more amazing was the ensuing miscommunication among the Mavericks. After Wade made the first free throw to tie the game, Johnson signaled to his players that he wanted to use his last timeout after the second free throw to advance the ball to halfcourt.
However, Howard requested a timeout right away, a huge mistake that ruined any chance of a last-second shot better than a desperation heave.
"It was clear that we said we were going to call it on the second free throw," Harris said. "I don't know what the dilemma was and why they gave it to us after the first one."
Perhaps because a statement from the referees after the game said Howard actually signaled for a timeout not once, but twice. When that was relayed to Howard, he became angry with the reporter's line of questioning and barked, "Get the (expletive) out of my face!" before being led away by a media relations representative.
Nowitzki had the gumption to suggest that the officials should have cautioned the Mavericks instead of expecting them to know the rules.
"I think that the referee, he needed to wait a little bit, and obviously they should know that we don't want to waste our timeout," he said.
This may be a minor point lost in the din of whining and complaints, but players usually are required to have a general grasp of the rules of the game they play.
And if there was a lack of cooperation on the part of the referees, could you blame them? Had they had turned on their hotel room TV at any time Saturday night, they would have seen Johnson filibustering on the discrepancy of both the number and severity of the foul calls throughout the series.
Since winning the first two games at home, the Mavericks have been knocked off stride by a number of factors - real or imagined - that do not faze teams with mental toughness. The allures of South Beach, an unfavorable league ruling and a perceived tilted whistle should not present much of a challenge to a team that claims to be serious about winning a le.
Instead of advancing low-level conspiracy theories and displaying an unhealthy paranoia, Johnson and his players should be using the many things they did well in Game Five as a foundation for the rest of the series, which will be on their home floor.
Coming off a 24-point loss, playing without one of their best scorers and watching their top player struggle again, the Mavericks still built a double-digit lead and nearly nursed it all the way home in a hostile environment. They regained the rebounding edge and made big positive plays to take the lead in the waning seconds of the fourth quarter and overtime.
"I don't know if anybody could respond in this game even the way we responded," Johnson said, which had an air of truth to it.
For the second time in the postseason, the Mavericks will be playing an elimination game Tuesday night. They can continue their current frame of mind, which almost certainly will make them the third team in NBA history to blow a 2-0 lead in the Finals.
Or they can find a way to restore the relatively new mental toughness they have displayed on occasion, as they did on the home court of the defending champion San Antonio Spurs in Game Seven of the Western Conference semifinals.
It's not the Heat, It's the stupidity
good line.
"We're a team that's tough-minded."
BS. Mavs are still a bunch of pussies that can easily get shook.
It's hard to do that after all this bull calls. Also Howard didn't call a timeout to the official. He was asking Avery if they should call a timeout. The refs ed up.
Mavs and their fans deserve each other.
The bar isn't set too high, just don't be pussies like your owner or fans.
Dude wake up. These same refs you're ripping now are the reason your team is even playing in June. After Games 3 and 4 vs the Spurs, no Mavs fan is allowed to about refs ever without losing all credibility. Your postseason should have ended about 12 or 13 games ago.
How many times did Mav Fan lecture this forum about not "whining" about foul calls and other decisions by the refs?
Nice article. I don't understand what the Mavs problem is. The San Antonio series should be giving them great confidence and poise right about now. They were up 3-1 in that series, then managed to lose two straight games, one of which on their own HC (which by the way, Mavs fan ed contained just as many questionable calls as the Miami game), and they still managed to win in OT on the road in a game 7 at one of the toughest buildings to win.
How can they be unraveling right now after going through all that? If that series didn't teach the Mavs anything, I don't know what will. They have it in them to come back and win two straight against this team. Avery just needs to figure out a way to slow down Wade in the 4th quarter and get better production from Dirk throughout 4 quarters. Now I think it's too late. They gave the Heat way too much confidence allowing them to come back and win 3 straight and they allowed Wade to grow his confidence and swagger as well.
Heat in 7.
Heat in 7.
No way. If the Mavs win tonight, then the Mavs win in 7. They will regain any lost confidence, and Miami will collapse under the pressure of a hungry Mavs team in Game 7.
Either Heat win tonight, or Mavs win in 7.
howard called timeout twice. the refs were merely doing what he asked.
^Nah, Mavs won't have an answer for DWade in the 4th quarter of a Game 7...refs will let him get to the FT line time and time again
Wow...you're still going on about this BS???
^Nah, Mavs won't have an answer for DWade in the 4th quarter of a Game 7...refs will let him get to the FT line time and time again
If only Dirk would do the same, the Mavs wouldn't be in this position.
The problem is after game 2 everyone in Big D was talking sweep. The Mavs organization and city of Dallas even announced plans for the victory parade. *After game two*.I don't understand what the Mavs problem is.
When you've already made your parade plans and picked out your ring design, and then the other team has the audacity not to accomodate you, this downward spiral of the Mavs is the end result.
Yes, but like I said in my post, didn't they practically do the same thing in the Spurs series, when the Mavs got up 3-1? They thought they had it in the bag, and ended up losing two straight. Nonetheless they still managed to win a Game 7 in OT on the road against the defending Champs. You would think that series would give them confidence and that they'd learn from mistakes made in that series. Once a softy always a softy I guess.
Damn, I really hate Miami though
And, damnit AHF, you always quote pieces of posts without the poster's name and I always have to go back up and re-read my post to see if it was my quote or not! Quote properly, damnit!
There, I quoted you, happy?Yes, but like I said in my post, didn't they practically do the same thing in the Spurs series, when the Mavs got up 3-1? They thought they had it in the bag, and ended up losing two straight. Nonetheless they still managed to win a Game 7 in OT on the road against the defending Champs. You would think that series would give them confidence and that they'd learn from mistakes made in that series. Once a softy always a softy I guess.
Damn, I really hate Miami though
In all seriousness though, there's a difference between the press and what not saying that it's over (Spurs series), and your own front office issuing a press release in conjunction with the city of Dallas detailing victory parade plans after game 2.
Plus, at that time Wade hadn't done jack, and since then all of a sudden they can't even stop the guy when they triple team him, and Dirk's not getting 25 FTs a night on his jumper like he did in the SA series. Then you top it off with them thinking that the refs should automatically know that they wanted to save that last timeout to move the ball up court instead of trying to ice Wade at the line, and having the audacity not to change their call to accomodate them, and you get the Great Panic of 2006.
^Be real. There were quite a few questionable calls in Game 5 against the Mavs, I can see them being mad abou it (though perhaps not to the same degree that they are taking it). Spurs got pretty mad too after some games in their series, didn't Bruce Bowen also scream something right at Stern's face after Game 4 when Dirk got the same ticky-tack foul called that Wade got which also won them the game?
Anyways, they need to do what the Spurs did and get over it and use their anger as motivation. Bad refereeing is clearly worse than ever in the NBA this season, but players and teams just have to play through it. Mavs still had plenty of opportunities to win the game despite those calls (as did the Spurs when it happened to them). So Mavs need to take solace in that fact and move on. The game is on their HC and they managed to win in OT in SA...surely they can beat Miami twice (hopefully).
Exaggerate much?
6
7
24
15
4
8
16
11.4 per game...close to 25 though
Richard Justice: Columnist
June 19, 2006, 10:37PM
Forget refs; Mavs should target Wade
By RICHARD JUSTICE
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle
DALLAS — I've watched video of the call that decided Game 5 of the NBA Finals at least a dozen times and still haven't seen anything that looked like a foul.
If three camera angles and slow-motion replay don't show it, the referees shouldn't have called it.
As if the Dallas Mavericks needed another reason to feel victimized. Oh those poor Mavericks. Robbed again.
Here's a suggestion: Shut up and play. Just this once, stop focusing on issues you can't control and worry about those you can. Like the four-point lead you blew in the final 2:25 of regulation. Like the three foul shots you missed in overtime. Like the bungled timeout call.
Stop turning every loss into a morality play. No one, least of all the veteran referees that worked Game 5, is out to get Mark Cuban.
Cuban whistle crisis
Do they find Cuban annoying? Sure they do. He spends a large part of the game screaming at them. Who wouldn't be annoyed?
He's fascinating and brilliant. He has resurrected the deadest franchise in pro sports. He's also a brat.
(He didn't criticize the refs in his Monday blog entry, but did offer this bit of insight: "I like to curse. I like to curse because I enjoy how it gets everyone in an uproar.")
Are they punishing the brat's team? Of course not.
Yes, the referees blew a critical call. Well, maybe.
On ABC, Hubie Brown said Dwyane Wade was fouled twice on the play in question. I didn't see what Hubie saw. Josh Howard and Dirk Nowitzki reached for Wade, but neither appeared to touch him.
No matter. Referees are human. They miss plenty of 'em.
They blew one at the end of regulation in Game 7 of the Mavericks-Spurs series, too. Tim Duncan got hammered. No whistle blew.
There was no outrage from the Mavericks that night. They advanced. End of story.
There was no outrage from the Spurs, either. That's life.
This series has been too good to use as a platform to reopen a tired debate on officiating, instant replay and other side issues.
Put aside distractions
Bad calls have been part of these playoffs just like they were part of the NFL playoffs. Refs blew a critical one at the end of the Colts-Steelers game. They made some in the Super Bowl, too.
Such is life. Take it up at the league meetings. Tell off David Stern behind closed doors. If you go public with it, you're giving your players a reason to focus on something other than the task at hand.
Complaining gives players an alibi for failure. It plants seeds of doubt in their minds.
This is a time to circle the wagons and to tell the world that the other stuff doesn't matter, that we'll overcome the Heat, the refs and anyone else who gets in our way. That's exactly how the Heat coped with those two deflating losses in Dallas.
"We just went back to work," Wade said.
Maybe that's because the Heat have a veteran coach in Pat Riley. He's not about to let the world see him sweat.
At least the Mavericks can get back on the floor tonight for Game 6. They don't need an extra day to dwell on Sunday's 101-100 overtime loss.
They didn't need more opportunities to complain about how unfairly they've been treated. They need to clear their minds and focus on what's ahead.
Mavs have blown lead
If Miami wins, the Mavericks will be haunted through the summer. They were up 2-0 and had a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter of Game 3.
During a timeout, Riley wrote out a simple message for his players: "season."
The Heat have played more aggressively and more intelligently than the Mavericks since then. Wade has elevated his game the way Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson elevated theirs at critical moments. He's having one of those magical runs that remind us why we love this stuff.
Now after five games, there'll be no more surprises. The Mavericks know how they can win the series. They had a nice plan for Game 5. It came down to the final possession of overtime. That's how it's supposed to be when two good teams are playing for a championship.
If they take the same plan, the same execution and the same performances into Game 6, they'll win. The Mavericks to win Game 7 for $1,000, Alex.
The Heat threw hard pressure at Nowitzki, surrounding him with two and three defenders every time he touches the ball. Miami has figured out he's a terrific scorer but not a great passer on the move.
The Mavericks countered that strategy nicely in Game 5. They spread the floor enough to give Jason Terry and Howard room to work. Those two were so good Nowitzki got some chances, too.
Riley can take one weapon away from the Mavericks, maybe two, but he can't take all three. Dallas was supposed to win this series because it had more players. It still does.
Slowing Wade is the other priority. The Mavericks must keep double- and triple-team defensive pressure on him and hope for the best.
Riley depends on Wade
The Mavs harassed Wade into some misses Sunday, but with the game on the line, he took over, scoring 17 of his 43 points in the fourth quarter. After the final play of overtime, Riley was asked who his second option was.
"We didn't have a second option," he said.
If Wade really has become Jordan, the Heat will win. He averaged 40 points per game during the three contests in South Florida.
He was so good it's hard to remember how overwhelmed he looked during those two defeats in Dallas. All the Mavericks can do is hope he slows down.
Jordan never lost in the NBA Finals, and maybe Wade won't either. If the Mavericks lose, it'll be because of him, not the referees.
If the Mavs needed more inspiration, this is it. Just harrass Wade. All night. No easy buckets, make him work early, and maybe, just maybe, by the 4th quarter he won't turn into Superman.
^Making Wade work at the defensive end would also help. Devin Harris has been MIA at the offensive end in this series, as has Griffin when he's been given time to play also.
Mavs will put it all together tonight. Points in the paint, their jumpers will fall, their defense will harrass. ( i'll wear black just in case)
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
