2006 NBA Finals

[nicknc33]

I almost wonder if they were 'shut up' in their earpieces. When they realized it was Dirk, not Harris, who was charged with the foul... they sort of scoffed at it with a chuckle... but quieted down after that.

I agree. There is no way they can't see there wasn't a foul. Makes you wonder. And what a shame it is to end the game in such a way.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

6/19/06

HEAT 101 MAVERICKS 100, OT

Wade propels Heat to 3-2 series lead

Monday, June 19, 2006


FROM WIRE REPORTS

<!--PHOTOS--><TABLE class=phototableright align=right border=0><!-- begin large ad code --><TBODY><TR><TD><TABLE align=center><TBODY></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>


MIAMI — The carnival of a cruise that has been the Miami Heat season said goodbye to its home port last night for the final time as the NBA Finals sailed off to Dallas for Tuesday’s Game 6 and the rest of the series.
And thanks to 43 points and two free throws with 1.9 seconds left from Dwyane Wade, it swung in favor of the Heat in a 101-100 overtime victory over the Dallas Mavericks. The win gives Miami a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series. The Heat can win the first championship in franchise history with one more win.
Jason Terry’s 35 points topped the Mavericks.
Wade had 17 of his 39 points in the fourth quarter, including two on a short jumper off the glass with 2.8 seconds left that pulled the Heat into a 93-93 tie at the end of regulation. Erick Dampier’s dunk with 10.1 seconds left had given Dallas a two-point lead, but Wade coolly drove, pulled up and scored to knot the score for the Heat, which trailed by nine points earlier in the second half.
Terry had 33 points in regulation for Dallas but misfired on a jumper as three Miami defenders swarmed at him at the buzzer.
Wade made 19 free throws in regulation, tying an NBA Finals record. But his superstar teammate, Shaquille O’Neal, continued his epic struggles from the foul line. O’Neal was 2 for 12 from the line, misfiring on 3 of 4 attempts when the Mavericks went to the Hack-a-Shaq scheme in the final quarter.
But ultimately, it didn’t cost the Heat — at least, not in regulation.
O’Neal had 16 points for the Heat, and James Posey scored 10.
Josh Howard had 25 points and Dirk Nowitzki 20 for Dallas, which blew a four-point lead over the final 3 1 /2 minutes of regulation.
Miami was aiming to join the 2004 Detroit Pistons as the only teams to win the middle three home games since the NBA began utilizing the 2-3-2 format for the finals in 1985.
The series now returns to Dallas. If necessary, a winnertake-all Game 7 will be Thursday night.
Terry and Howard teamed to carry the Dallas on a big second-quarter run and give the Mavericks a 51-43 lead at halftime.
Terry and Howard each had 19 points at intermission, combining to make 14 of their 23 shots for the Mavericks — who lost Games 3 and 4 of the Finals but were aiming to head home with a 3-2 lead in the series.
And they had every Dallas point in a 21-6 run over a 5 1 /2-minute stretch late in the second quarter, one that turned a four-point deficit into an 11-point lead in the final minute before the break.
Dallas shot 50 percent in the half, while Miami shot 37 percent — with Wade particularly struggling. Wade led Miami with 13 points, doing so on only 3-of-13 shooting. Wade’s first-half totals included a dunk with 6:56 left in the second quarter — on a play in which he stumbled out-ofbounds after missing a jumper and drawing some contact, inadvertently tackling referee Bennett Salvatore.

Dispatch

6/19/06

NBA FINALS NOTEBOOK
Former coach Van Gundy still part of Heat’s mind-set
Monday, June 19, 2006
Tim Reynolds
ASSOCIATED PRESS
<!--PHOTOS--><TABLE class=phototableright align=right border=0><!-- begin large ad code --><TBODY><TR><TD><TABLE align=center><TBODY><TR><TD align=middle>

</IMG> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=cutline width=200>Heat fan Darius Halbert dances with Kristin Clarke outside the American Airlines Arena before to the start of Game 5 of the NBA Finals against the Mavericks in Miami. </TD></TR><TR><TD align=middle>

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


MIAMI — Heat guard Dwyane Wade hasn’t spoken much with former coach Stan Van Gundy lately.
But that doesn’t mean Van Gundy is far from Wade’s thoughts.
Wade still speaks with great respect for Van Gundy, who resigned in December citing personal and family reasons. Van Gundy coached Wade and Udonis Haslem for two-plus seasons, since they were rookies in Miami for the 2003-04 season.
"I don’t talk to Coach, but of course he’s a part of it," Wade said yesterday. "He’s part of my development, part of Udonis’ development, a big part of this whole organization. So as we win, he wins, and I’m sure as we lose, he loses. He feels the same way, so coach Van Gundy will always be a big part of what goes on in Miami."
Van Gundy hasn’t appeared at a Heat game since his resignation; he’s still under contract with the organization and respectfully declined an offer from owner Micky Arison to attend the Finals.
Pat Riley, who resigned and promoted Van Gundy to coach before the 2003-04 season, then replaced his former top assistant this season, said Van Gundy "absolutely" remains an important part of the Heat operation.
Van Gundy has scouted Heat playoff opponents on television, then sends the team a report.
"He e-mails me," Riley said. "We’re constantly in touch. ... I look forward to his e-mails. They’re really in-depth. Stan is a great basketball mind."
Van Gundy was a consultant for St. Thomas University’s recent search for men’s and women’s basketball coaches and, at a hiring announcement at that school last week, declined to speak in specifics about the Heat’s season.
"It’s just not something that’s for me to talk about," Van Gundy said. "I’m basically a fan."
Although he isn’t in the arena in person, he’s certainly aware of what’s going on in this series.
"I’ve got every minute tuned in at home," Van Gundy said. No guarantees
When a best-of-seven series is tied, the team that prevails in Game 5 usually wins the series. Since the NBA went to a 2-3-2 format for its championship series in 1985, there have been seven previous instances when the first four games split. The Game 5 winner won the championship five times.. — San Antonio did it in 2003 and 2005, Chicago did it in 1992 and 1997 and the Los Angeles Lakers in 1985.

 

[OH10]

I'd say the foul call was right even though they got the wrong guy. The timeout call was right too. Josh "C-Webb" Howard should have known better. It was more obvious that he called a timeout when he sat on the courtside and looked like he just accidentally shot his dog.

But the rest of the game was officiated horribly. Wade got every call. Terry and Dirk got rarely a call. Home-court officiating in the NBA is fucking terrible.

 

[Captain Hindsight]

What's a shame about the call is that there was barely any time left in the game, and it was a very "ticky-tacky" call.

I see what a lot of you are saying about biased/poor officiating, and I agree with it to some extent. It's very well known that officiating has always favored/benefited "star" players, such as a Dwyane Wade. It also doesn't help the matter that it's the biggest game of the NBA Finals, yet, either.

The NBA is very disappointing, on the other hand. Stern would be doing the NBA and its fans a huge favor, by stepping down, after the season. With a new crop of stars in the NBA, it would be near catastrophic (for the NBA, and its fans, I guess) to see Stern mess things up.

 

[scarletandgrey]

I agree that a lot of the calls were questionable, but the calls were both ways for both teams. It's a shame though that the NBA is played manor. It is something that they should address very soon. But as far as I care it worked out in favor of my BpCash especially if the Heat can finish off Dallas tommorow night...

 

[nicknc33]

I'd say the foul call was right even though they got the wrong guy. The timeout call was right too. Josh "C-Webb" Howard should have known better. It was more obvious that he called a timeout when he sat on the courtside and looked like he just accidentally shot his dog.

But the rest of the game was officiated horribly. Wade got every call. Terry and Dirk got rarely a call. Home-court officiating in the NBA is fucking terrible.

Nice picture, it looks to me that he does have a hold of his arm there so I suppose the right call was made.

 

[crazybuckfan40]

The right call was not made. The refs need to hide the whistle in their pockets in the last 5 seconds of the game unless there is a blatant foul and that was not it.

I don't care if I was a Heat fan I would be happy with the win, but I would feel ashamed to win that way.

The main problem is the refs are just too dang old, and the I hate the new rule that they put in, that any contact to a player on his way to the hole is a foul. I wish there was a no blood no foul rule.:tongue2:

In a way it was kinda like the LBJ non travel call in the Wizards series, but that was a tough call to see live in game speed. I felt in a way that they should of called it, but I like the fact that the refs kept the whistle out of their mouth.

 

[OH10]

The right call was not made. The refs need to hide the whistle in their pockets in the last 5 seconds of the game unless there is a blatant foul and that was not it.

I don't care if I was a Heat fan I would be happy with the win, but I would feel ashamed to win that way.

The main problem is the refs are just too dang old, and the I hate the new rule that they put in, that any contact to a player on his way to the hole is a foul. I wish there was a no blood no foul rule.:tongue2:

In a way it was kinda like the LBJ non travel call in the Wizards series, but that was a tough call to see live in game speed. I felt in a way that they should of called it, but I like the fact that the refs kept the whistle out of their mouth.

I believe the right call was made. A defender can't just grab the shooting arm of a player going to the basket. It is a foul plain as day, and you have to call it.

This is a dangerous forum to make the analogy, but would you say that Terry Porter should have kept his hanky in his pocket?

 

[nicknc33]

The right call was not made. The refs need to hide the whistle in their pockets in the last 5 seconds of the game unless there is a blatant foul and that was not it.

I don't care if I was a Heat fan I would be happy with the win, but I would feel ashamed to win that way.

The main problem is the refs are just too dang old, and the I hate the new rule that they put in, that any contact to a player on his way to the hole is a foul. I wish there was a no blood no foul rule.:tongue2:

In a way it was kinda like the LBJ non travel call in the Wizards series, but that was a tough call to see live in game speed. I felt in a way that they should of called it, but I like the fact that the refs kept the whistle out of their mouth.

I agree that they call way too many ticky tack fouls now but IMO, as the picture shows, Wade was fouled.

 

[SanAntonioBuck]

The NBA is very disappointing, on the other hand. Stern would be doing the NBA and its fans a huge favor, by stepping down, after the season. With a new crop of stars in the NBA, it would be near catastrophic (for the NBA, and its fans, I guess) to see Stern mess things up.

David Stern, will most likely get his precious game 7, tomorrow night the Mavs' will get all the calls. Will Mark Cuban ever shut up?

 

[crazybuckfan40]

I believe the right call was made. A defender can't just grab the shooting arm of a player going to the basket. It is a foul plain as day, and you have to call it.

This is a dangerous forum to make the analogy, but would you say that Terry Porter should have kept his hanky in his pocket?

Even if you say that Harris hit him, the right call was not made, b/c they called it on Dirk. But if you watch it live there was not enough contact to call the foul there. Was there a little contact yes, but enough for a game deciding free throw, IMO he was out of control and got bailed out by screaming, as you can see and a ticky tack foul. There is no way that is the right call. There has been worse contact than that in a game that hasnt been called, he was still able to get the ball up to the rim, actually high off the glass, so I do not believe there was enough contact for the foul to be called.

It was blatant as all the pictures have shown and the the real call in that game was the one that would of won the game in regulation that claerly showed the hold.

I have another question, for those that might have watched it on the highlights, but was there an over and back on Wade as cuban has been claiming there was.

Edit: Found video of Wade's backcourt violation which was cleary back court, b/c he establishes him self in the front court and leaves his feet into the backcourt, meaning that is should of been a backcourt violation, but once again IMO that is one where the whistle should stay out of the mouth of the official b/c of the time and situation of the game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qDdzUxj4

I also found another picture which clearly shows that the contact was not enough for a foul call IMO.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

6/20/06

NBA FINALS
Wade’s stellar play draws comparisons to Jordan

Heat’s rising star excels when spotlight’s glare hits him

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Tom D’Angelo
THE PALM BEACH POST

<!--PHOTOS--><TABLE class=phototableright align=right border=0><!-- begin large ad code --><TBODY><TR><TD><TABLE align=center><TBODY><TR><TD align=middle>

</IMG> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=credit width=200>LYNNE SLADKY ASSOCIATED PRESS </TD></TR><TR><TD class=cutline width=200>Guard Dwyane Wade was a one-man wrecking crew for the Heat in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. </TD></TR><TR><TD align=middle>

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


MIAMI — Let the comparisons begin.
Until now, any mention of Dwyane Wade and Michael Jordan in the same sentence was still with a bit of reservation.
But now, after Wade’s scintillating 43-point performance in Miami’s 101-100 Game 5 overtime win Sunday, his tying bank shot at the end of regulation and winning free throw in overtime, the two names are being linked more seriously.
Even Scottie Pippen, who was to Jordan what Shaquille O’Neal has become to Wade, admitted the comparisons "are valid" after Sunday’s game.
"He took over all facets of the game," Heat forward Antoine Walker said, "kind of how Michael Jordan did it back in ’91 and ’92 when he really dominated the Finals."
Wade scored 17 points in the fourth quarter and four more in overtime to push the Heat to within one win of its first NBA title. Miami, though, must win in Dallas, either tonight’s Game 6 or Thursday’s Game 7, if necessary.
Wade has been every bit Jordan’s equal in his first Finals. Wade is averaging 34.4 points in the first five games. Jordan averaged 31.2 in his first Finals, a five-game victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in 1991. Wade is averaging almost a rebound more (7.4 to 6.6), although Jordan had a wide edge in assists (11.4 to 3.6). But Jordan did not get to the free-throw line nearly as much, averaging 6.6 attempts to Wade’s 12.6.
"They put the ball in my hands, so they expect a lot out of me," Wade said late Sunday. "So I have to come through for coach Riley and the coaches and my teammates who put the ball in my hand, who say, ‘Hey, Dwyane, go to work.’ "
Wade’s circuitous drives and splitting of double- and tripleteams is doing more than breaking down the Mavericks’ defense and getting them in foul trouble. He has causing the team — from owner Mark Cuban to coach Avery Johnson and the players — to waste time and energy worrying about the officiating.
The Mavericks complained vehemently about Wade shooting as many free throws (25) as their entire team took Sunday. But Wade takes the ball to the rim as much as the entire Dallas team, especially in Game 5 when Mavericks guard Jerry Stackhouse was serving a onegame suspension for a flagrant foul against O’Neal in Game 4.
"That’s his personality as a player, and it was in college, and it is now and probably forever will be," Heat coach Pat Riley said of Wade. "He’s very, very smart when (opponents) are in the penalty. … He’s not going to accept anything else but go to the basket. So he gets fouled a lot on the floor, and guys are bumping and banging on him and he gets to the line."
Wade does more to frustrate an opponent than anybody in basketball. Who else had more to do with Cuban’s verbal assault on the officials after Game 5 and Dirk Nowitzki’s physical assault on the basketball, an exercise bicycle and furniture on the way to the Mavericks’ locker room?
Remind you of anybody else in, say, the past 20 years?
And of Dallas’ four misses from the line, one came with 1:26 remaining in regulation by Nowitzki and three (two by Josh Howard and one by Erick Dampier) were in overtime.
Wade? He was 9 of 9 in the fourth quarter and overtime, including the tying and winning free throws with 1.9 seconds to play in overtime.
Again, remind you of anybody?
"He’s the best right now, and that’s all you can say," O’Neal said. "He’s the best."
Wade and the Heat are not through. Miami has not won in Dallas in four years but must win one in the next three days. And Wade has not been nearly as unstoppable in the Mavs’ American Airlines Center, averaging 25.5 points on 38.6 shooting in the two games in Dallas as opposed to 40.4 points on 49.4 shooting in the Heat’s American Airlines Arena.
"We didn’t play any good games in Dallas," Wade said. "When you go on the road and you don’t play good games, then you turn the ball over, it’s hard to win. But we took our losses and came back home and got better. "For us to win everything, we have to win one in Dallas. We’ve got a challenge ahead of us."

Dispatch

6/20/06

NBA FINALS NOTEBOOK

Mavs still angry, but happy to have home-court edge

Tuesday, June 20, 2006


ASSOCIATED PRESS

<!--PHOTOS--><TABLE class=phototableright align=right border=0><!-- begin large ad code --><TBODY><TR><TD><TABLE align=center><TBODY><TR><TD align=middle>

</IMG> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=credit width=200>LYNNE SLADKY ASSOCIATED PRESS </TD></TR><TR><TD class=cutline width=200>Mavericks owner Mark Cuban might be fined by the NBA for his actions after Game 5. </TD></TR><TR><TD align=middle>

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


Going into Game 5 of the NBA Finals, the Dallas Mavericks talked about playing with "controlled anger."
Considering the way they lost that game Sunday, and the fact that they’re now facing elimination, you can pretty much drop the controlled part for Game 6 against the Miami Heat tonight.
"I think the whole team is (ticked) off," coach Avery Johnson said following a workout yesterday. "We should be ready to go."
The cushy 2-0 series lead the Mavericks had when they were last in Dallas is a distant memory following three straight losses in Miami.
The Mavs have matched their longest losing streak of the season at the worst possible time. The bright side, they say, is that they "only" have to win two games at home to still have the parade that was planned last week.
Guard Jason Terry told his teammates that if they can’t win two games in a row at home, they don’t deserve to be champions.
"That’s what you worked all season long for was homecourt advantage," Terry said. "You got what you asked for. Now let’s take advantage. … We’re just happy to be back at home and ready to really go out and prove to the world that we’re a much better team than we showed in Miami."
Dallas is 8-2 at home this postseason, losing to Phoenix and San Antonio. The Mavericks no longer have that margin of error after letting two games slip through their grasp in Florida.
They blew a 13-point lead midway through the fourth quarter of Game 3. Then, riled up by Johnson’s rant against their "vacation mentality" and the suspension of Jerry Stackhouse, the Mavericks reverted to form for most of Game 5.
They led by 11 and were still up by four in the late going, but wound up losing 101-100 in overtime. Dwyane Wade continued to be a one-man wrecking ball for Miami, scoring 43 points, with the final two coming on free throws with 1.9 seconds left.
Mavs owner Mark Cuban questioned various aspects of the officiating on the play that sent Wade to the line, and players — especially Dirk Nowitzki — lost control of their anger as they left the court. Yesterday, Nowitzki received the standard $5,000 fine for kicking the ball into the stands.
Upset over several calls that went against the Mavs in the closing seconds, Cuban ran onto the court to vent at official Joe DeRosa, then stared down and screamed toward commissioner David Stern and a group of league officials, from the court, then the stands.
The NBA said yesterday that it is reviewing Cuban’s actions.
This series already is the first under the 2-3-2 format, which began in 1985, that has seen the home team win the first five games. Should the Mavericks stretch it to six, about 1,000 fans will be in for a treat — Cuban is arranging for 500 pairs of tickets to Game 7 to be given away.
First, though, the Mavericks have to win Game 6.
Dallas could use a big game from Nowitzki. His average of 21.6 points is well below his season and postseason figures. While part of it has been good defense by Udonis Haslem and James Posey, Johnson said Nowitzki can do more to help himself.
Another bonus should be the return of Stackhouse, who has the minor benefit of fresh legs. He hasn’t played since Thursday.
Close , but …

If the Mavericks don’t rally and win this NBA title, they’ll have plenty of close losses to lament over the summer.
Two of Dallas’ three losses in this series came by a combined three points, with Miami winning Game 3 98-96 and Game 5 101-100.
Dallas is 1-5 in games decided by three points or fewer in the playoffs and 13-3 when the deciding margin is four points or more.
Avery’s fan

Johnson has a new fan: Heat center Alonzo Mourning.
The Miami veteran has had nothing but high praise for the Dallas coach during this series, saying that he’s impressed with the way Johnson has taken the once-run-and-gun Mavs and turned them into a more complete, defense-first team.
Mourning jumped to Johnson’s defense after Game 5 when the Mavs — inadvertently — called a timeout with 1.9 seconds left after Wade shot one free throw. Had the Mavs waited until the second freethrow was made, they could have advanced the ball to midcourt. "You guys are so quick to judge this man," Mourning said. "No one in here has ever coached a professional team. This man has done an incredible job. Was that a mistake he made? Yes, it probably was. ... But he has done an incredible job with that team."

 

[NFBuck]

Dallas = J.O.B.B.E.D.
It's fairly obvious the NBA is looking to strap its future on the shoulders of Wade and LeBron, so its much more beneficial for Miami to win this series. The officiating has been pretty bad all year (particularly in the playoffs IMO), but it's bordering on parody now.

 

[scarletngrey11]

Dallas = J.O.B.B.E.D.
It's fairly obvious the NBA is looking to strap its future on the shoulders of Wade and LeBron, so its much more beneficial for Miami to win this series. The officiating has been pretty bad all year (particularly in the playoffs IMO), but it's bordering on parody now.

I agree, I dont know how one can even take the NBA seriously anymore.

Wade shot as many free throws as the entire Mavericks team. Nowitzki gets elbowed/grabbed/knocked down every time he comes into the paint, but there is rarely a foul call. If Nowitzki got the calls that Wade recieved, then he wouldve shot 40 free throws.

The Stackhouse suspension also was bull.

The bottomline is this: If you make a huge foul call in the last seconds of a HUGE NBA Finals game, there should be no doubt by anyone that it was indeed a foul. People fail to realize that at the beginning of that play, Wade steamrolled his defender so hard that he went flying out of bounds.

I feel bad for Jordan, being compared to a player that flops around even worse that Iverson and Arenas combined.

 

[OH10]

The bottomline is this: If you make a huge foul call in the last seconds of a HUGE NBA Finals game, there should be no doubt by anyone that it was indeed a foul.

Again, in the National Title game of 2002, as we are all aware, Terry Porter threw a flag that I still to this day believe was gutsy and correct. If an official is certain that a foul was committed, they have a duty to call it regardless of the time of game. Otherwise, you're stuck in a situation where coaches are telling their players to foul in clutch situations.

I agree that the Mavs got jobbed throughout the game... just not on the foul play.


EDIT: I also agree with the above article that Wade reminds me of Jordan. I know, I know. What a dangerous and unfair comparison. But for those that watched the fourth quarter on Sunday, did Wade not look like Jordan?