Sports Hustle

Man, I thought that Avery Johnson was a nice guy. He did some very uncharacteristic things in this suspensions situation, calling out the officials in a very Mike D'Antoni/Mark Cuban move. Link

All I can say is that I'd hate to be Miami on Sunday. The Mavericks are pissed off, and they won't go quietly. This might be the best thing to happen to the series.

quote:

Originally posted by 088nd All I can say is that I'd hate to be Miami on Sunday. The Mavericks are pissed off, and they won't go quietly. This might be the best thing to happen to the series.

You know buddy, the first time I saw this post, I kind of laughed. Well, because I saw this after Game 5 where Miami won and became the first team in NBA Finals history to win the middle three games (since they started that routine in the 80's).

Anyway, the Heat can win the Championship tonight in Dallas and the Mavs have Jerry Stackhouse back, Mark Cuban got fined for $250,000 by the league (that's a helluva lot of money), and Dirk Nowitzki needs to step up. Badly. I was thinking about this the other day, if Miami wins, then the Finals MVP would have to be Dwyane Wade. Weird with Shaq winning a title and him not getting the MVP but say Dallas does win the next two games, who would be the MVP then? Nowitzki has been alright and so has Howard so maybe Jason Terry? That's would be screwed up, going from the Atlanta Hawks to the Finals MVP. But I'm just talking.

Oh and also, the Carolina Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup last night in 7 games.
Peace.

quote:

Originally posted by 088nd f*** THE NBA AND f*** THEIR OFFICIATING.

You know, I was wondering how you would react to last night's game and well, I wasn't expecting this.

Look, you can throw around all the conspiracy theories you want about the NBA (and I'm a die hard fan, so I know a crap load about crackpot theories involving the NBA. I can tell you stories...) but when it its all said and done, the Miami Heat beat Dallas in pretty much a six game sweep and the are the NBA Champions...

...although, the process of the notion that Jason Williams, Alonzo Mourning, Gary Payton, and Antoine Walker being champions is going to take a while.

Has the officiating sucked hard during the playoffs? Hell yes. But guess what, every time around this year, the officiating always sucks hard and yeah it did cost Dallas some critical calls but losing the game is on their part (Although, that Josh Howard timeout thing - CHRIS WEBBER!!! - was bulls*** and so was that phantom foul on Wade from him to win the game w/free throws.)

And no offense to my boy 088nd, but its not like Dirk Nowitzki was going buckwild like Dallas needed him to during the Finals. He had decent numbers in his respect but he wasn't killin' it like he was against Memphis, San Antonio, and especially Phoenix (Game 5, 50 points). Anyway, even if Dallas won I still would have giving the Finals MVP to Dwyane Wade. And that would have been cool to see, the first time since 1969 when the loser of the Finals still won the Finals MVP (Jerry West).

Don't get me wrong, I'm not all for Miami and Dallas did get screwed when it came to the officiating (you can make a good case about that but in all honesty, it wouldn't that good of an argument). But most of the games they lost, except Game 4, Dallas had the opportunity to win those games.

So congrats to the Miami Heat, who I had idea flippin' idea that they would even get the Finals let alone win it. Well, good thing because the alternative would have been another San Antonio/Detroit rematch. And who the hell wants to see that?
Peace.

Yeah, I realize that it wasn't the officiating that lost them the championship. I really think it was a mental combination of the loss of Game 3 and the way the officiating played into the favor of Miami that absolutely wiped out their confidence. They became a jump shooting team, and tried to find a scapegoat for their lack of aggressiveness, and they put them in a situation where people will be doubting them more for the next 5 years. In the end, it was all about execution. Sure, officiating stopped a little bit of their flow. In the first and second quarter, whenever Dallas went on a run, Wade would get phantom calls and that slowed down the game. I mean, did you see Wade take the jump shot in the first quarter, lose his footing and fall down while landing, and have a foul called on Howard? Or the time a blocking foul was assessed to Harris that should have been a charge? But I digress. Instead of moving on, I think these bad calls got in their head. In the first quarter they absolutely dominated the Heat until that makeup foul was called. After that, they turned into jump shooters, and in a pressure game like this was, jump shooting isn't something you want to rely on (unless you're the Suns). I'm really sad about the fact that the Mavs couldn't even make this a competitive series, and I hope that they'll be back in the Finals next year. I mean, all the great dynasties have lost their first Finals, why am I to think that Dallas will be any different? With more experience, the next time Dallas gets to the Finals, I say they have a 95% chance to win it. Congratulations to the Heat, even though it's probably considered a felony in some nations to give Jason Williams and Antoine Walker championship rings.

And for a good article (that I think is 100% true):http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/060620

quote:

I'm really sad about the fact that the Mavs couldn't even make this a competitive series

I don't think that's true at all, my man. Like I said before, except for Game 4, Dallas had the opportunity to win every game and were right there in the end. But yeah, I agree that the phantom calls reached an all-time high not only in this series but throughout this year's playoffs as well.

quote:

even though it's probably considered a felony in some nations to give Jason Williams and Antoine Walker championship rings.

Agreed, and you forgot Alonzo Mourning, who I CANNOT stand.

quote:

And for a good article (that I think is 100% true):http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/sto...=simmons/060620

I'll read it but the "good article" statement is in my book a contridiction, only because its from ESPN.
EDIT: A good article all around, a tad bias, it is from ESPN after all, but the writer did make some interesting points about the series and the playoffs in general. And some of the best points involving Gary Payton.

quote:

If Miami wins the title, the new NBA slogan may be: "Free throws! They're FAN-tastic!"

quote:

as we head into Game 6 of the WWE, er, the NBA Finals ...

That's pretty damn funny.

quote:

Actual quote from my mom last week: "What about that Wayne Dwayne?"

Brilliant, and yeah, Dwyane Wade's name is funny like that. Also biggest shocker involving D-Wade; the guy has a son. That blew me away.

quote:

do you know anything about Jerry Stackhouse? He's one of the toughest dudes in the league -- if you made a list of "Players whose sister you wouldn't want to accidentally sleep with," he'd be right up there.

Too true and a very good point. Along with Ron Artest, the New York Knicks and Portland Trail Blazers, and Rasheed Wallace.
Peace.

quote:

Originally posted by Nine XXVI Agreed, and you forgot Alonzo Mourning, who I CANNOT stand.

Dude, ABC is always right. I mean, he had a kidney transplant, and inspired people. He OBVIOUSLY deserves it, right? Such a heartwarmer...

quote:

Originally posted by 088nd quote: Originally posted by Nine XXVI Agreed, and you forgot Alonzo Mourning, who I CANNOT stand. Dude, ABC is always right. I mean, he had a kidney transplant, and inspired people. He OBVIOUSLY deserves it, right? Such a heartwarmer...

It would be, if ABC and ESPN weren't to damn busy shoving that tired out story down our throats for around five years now. And also, because he acts like such a jackass.

Anyway, even though this realistic happened like a month ago, the NYK just had to make it official: Larry Brown out, Isiah Thomas in. Hell, sorry for you guys in New York and just when you thought it couldn't get any worse.

Oh, and the US Soceer team lost to Ghana. Not "Ghana win" huh? Well, I have a good friend from Ghana so that's cool and also, the US team sucked anyway.
Peace.

quote:

Originally posted by Nine XXVI Anyway, even though this realistic happened like a month ago, the NYK just had to make it official: Larry Brown out, Isiah Thomas in. Hell, sorry for you guys in New York and just when you thought it couldn't get any worse.

I feel bad for Knicks fans. Their team might not even win 20 next year. Word is going around Dallas, too, that Marquis Daniels and Van Horn probably aren't going to be around next year. Jason Terry, hopefully, stays with us.

quote:

Originally posted by 088nd quote: Originally posted by Nine XXVI Anyway, even though this realistic happened like a month ago, the NYK just had to make it official: Larry Brown out, Isiah Thomas in. Hell, sorry for you guys in New York and just when you thought it couldn't get any worse. I feel bad for Knicks fans. Their team might not even win 20 next year.

If that happens, then Isiah Thomas will be screwed like Larry Brown. Knicks owner is throwin' down the gauntlet and is giving Thomas an ultimatium.

Also, the nominees for the ESPYs were released recently. This is what they got for the nominees for Best NBA Player:

- Kobe Bryant
- LeBron James
- Steve Nash
- Dirk Nowitzki
- Dwyane Wade

Replace Wade with Chauncey Billups and that's pretty much the MVP race. If you want, you can check out the rest of the ESPY's here. Also, the NBA Draft is this Wednesday. I'm so damn excited! Go Rockets!
Peace.

Why even bother, you know Wade is going to win it. Or LeBron. There's really no contest.

Go Deutschland! Winning in the penalty kicks, kick ass!

I went to a Mavs summer league showcase tonight. They played the Nigerian national basketball team. The best part about it was that it showed off the Mavs' draft pick, Maurice Ager. Let me tell you, this kid is a stud. He played really good basketball, had great ball handling, quickness, and driving ability. He even was a good shooter, sinking two NBA-Range 3's in a row. I'm really excited to see how he will shape up with the Mavs next year.

I'm still a little too emotional right now to properly report the event that just took place right now so if others want to post something about it before me go right ahead.
I'll post something more in depth later about the retirement.

Well now you have something more to be depressed about. In addition to Yzerman leaving the Red Wings, Ben Wallace left the Pistons for the Chicago Bulls.

Yzerman retired after 22 seasons with the Red Wings due mainly to the knee issue. That I can understand and respect.

This however is simply wacked. He has little or no chance of winning a title there so why would he leave Detroit? It makes no sence.

No Germany!

ITALIA! ITALIA! Beloved Italia!

And they beat the Prussians. It doesn't get any better than that.

Bah, oh well, the Italians are going to get crushed by the French in the Final.

quote:

Originally posted by 088nd Bah, oh well, the Italians are going to get crushed by the French in the Final.

Doubtful. First, the French have to beat the Portugese (which, admittedly, is indeed likely). But second, I really can't see anyone scoring on Italia this Cup when you combine great team defense with the best goalkeeper in the world (Buffon).