The non-call happened on a possible game-winning 3-pointer as time ran out yesterday. From AP-
The NBA admitted officials were wrong when they didn’t call an intentional foul the Dallas Mavericks were trying to commit before Denver’s Carmelo Anthony made a game-winning 3-pointer Saturday.
Dallas had a two-point lead and a foul to give when Denver inbounded the ball with less than 8 seconds left. Antoine Wright was clearly trying to foul Anthony, and bumped him twice.
But the whistle never blew and Anthony swished a 3-pointer from in front of the Dallas bench with a second left that gave the Nuggets a 106-105 victory and a 3-0 series lead.
“At the end of the Dallas-Denver game this evening, the officials missed an intentional foul committed by Antoine Wright on Carmelo Anthony, just prior to Anthony’s three-point basket,” Joel Litvin, NBA president of league and basketball operations, said in a statement issued by the league about two hours after the game.
In the aftermath of the Tim Donaghy scandal, the NBA has taken to admitting to when referees blow a call. Remember Donaghy accused two other referees of fixing a 2002 playoff game.
Honestly, the NBA if it wanted to totally come clean, would have a do over from where the foul took place. A game with much at stake was altered by what happened. Yes such an action is unprecedented, but then it would truly show the NBA isn’t fixing games like Donaghy accused them of doing.
Here is a You tube video of shot in question.
It is pretty clear to me that Wright fouled Anthony, not once but twice.
What was the reaction of the outspoken owner of the Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban?
“It’s a shame the game had to come down to this, but that’s the way it goes in the NBA sometimes,” Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said in an e-mail to The Associated Press after the league’s statement.
In light of how the league fines anyone who criticizes officials, even when justified, Cuban’s public self control is not unexpected. Privately I bet he threw a fit.
Every company of any size has had a problem(s) that its CEO and stakeholders have lost sleep over. Its the law of big numbers. If enough things go on, something is going to go wrong.
Products get recalled or are tampered with. There are workplace disasters. There is corruption. No industry is immune. Churches, consumer products, law enforcement, cars, planes, trains and plenty more. No profession is immune. From the CEO who misrepresents corporate numbers or events at the expense of shareholders, to the doorman who tips himself from the cover charge at the expense of the club owner, people of every profession make bad decisions.
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As bad as the allegations facing the NBA today are, its also an opportunity to face every allegation that has ever been directed towards the NBA and its officials and pre empt them from ever occuring in the future.
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The NBA took a hit today. Behind that hit is a catalyst and opportunity for significant change that could make the NBA stronger than it ever has been. Its a chance to proactively put in place people, processes and transparency that will forever silence those who will question the NBA’s integrity.
I have complete confidence that David Stern and Adam Silver will do just that and the NBA and our officiating will be all the stronger for it.
Let us hope. I’m at best a casual fan of the NBA. Still, the integrity of the league and, indeed, American professional sports, is important. If the NBA can figure out how to get better quality control over its refs, the other leagues can learn from them and improve, too.
Dallas Mavericks honcho Mark Cuban shares way too much information about his colonoscopy. His message is well taken, though:
Bottomline is that your life just might depend on getting tested for colon cancer. There is absolutely nothing to be afraid of. Its truly easy and breezy. Do it.
The Dallas Mavericks with the No. 1 pick in the 2007 NBA draft? If Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy had his way, that could happen.
Van Gundy wants to open up the NBA draft lottery to all 30 NBA teams in an effort to keep teams from losing intentionally to hopefully secure the No. 1 pick. “I think every team should have an equal chance at winning the lottery, from the best team all the way down,” Van Gundy told The Houston Chronicle. “I don’t want to accuse anyone of anything. I would say to take away any possible conflict of interest, everyone should have an equal chance at the top pick all the way down. That way there would be absolutely no question by anybody about anything. If it’s better for the game, they should do it. I never quite understood why losing is rewarded, other than [for] parity.”
According to The Chronicle, Van Gundy presented his proposal to the NBA, but wasn’t taken seriously.
Ya think? Saying “I never quite understood why losing is rewarded, other than [for] parity” is like saying, “I never understood why people bother to breathe, other than the living.”
Indeed, the NBA is the only league with a lottery than a pure inverse order of finish draft. Until a few years ago, every team had a chance to get the top player, although it was weighted. Still, it resulted in the best teams occasionally getting ridiculously high picks.
Brian Windhorst of the Akron-Beacon Journal, probably the most knowledgeable writer in the country about Lebron James, has an excellent article on ESPN discussing Lebron’s sudden resurgence over the past month. In the article, he questions what exactly it was that ’set Lebron off’:
So then perhaps there was a column that proved to be the final straw. Maybe it was a private call from Wade or another peer. Maybe James’ bed at a posh Beverly Hills hotel was particularly comfortable. Whatever it was, something cracked Feb. 15 in Los Angeles.
I think it was none of those. On February 14th, the night before that game, I called up my brother. “I think that tonight was the best thing that could have happened to the Cavs”, I remember saying. The Cavs had just lost 99-98 to the Jazz – in Utah – on a terrible non-call at the last second when Sasha Pavlovic was clearly fouled at midcourt as he was running down the court to take what would have been the game-winning shot. They were furious, and had no problems stating as much to anyone who would listen.
The Jazz game was important for the Cavs, who seemed to only put effort into games against top-tier Western Conference teams for a while. This was a chance to beat yet another top Western team in their own arena – and it was stolen from them. Suddenly, the Cavs had something to prove… and this was compounded by tough losses to both the Bulls and Heat a week later. But the Cavs then went out to Dallas, and not only hung with the best team in the NBA on their own court, but had the game come down to the final seconds – only to watch Lebron miss two straight shots that could have tied the game. Again, I spoke to my brother, and once again, we agreed: This has the potential to be, combined with that Jazz loss, the spark that really lights the Cavs up for the rest of the year.
The Cavs went on to win their next eight games, and were surely looking ahead to tonight’s rematch against the Mavericks when they blew a 10-point lead to the lowly Bobcats before eventually losing in overtime last night. During those eight games, they took out a measure of revenge against the Pistons, beating them in Auburn Hills, and defeating Utah at home during Carlos Boozer’s return to Cleveland – while Lebron played absolutely incredible basketball.
Tonight, the Cavs have another chance to beat the Mavs and show that they truly are legitimate championship contenders. This is a huge game – for the Cavs as a team and for Lebron as their superstar. Tonight, we’ll finally see what the Cavs are really made of. A win tonight will put the Pistons and Heat on notice, not to mention the Mavericks, that Lebron wasn’t kidding when he said this is the year the Cavs go for the NBA championship.
A win tonight will show that when the Cavs are playing with some fire under them, they may be the best team in the NBA.
The Mavericks are the only NBA team to use a free throw shooting coach. Gary Boren, an investment banker from Dallas, has helped, with a nod to deceased hoops coach Denny Price, the Mavs maintain a steady success rate at the free throw line. This year, the Mavericks are shooting close to 80 percent from the line.
I thought this quote was telling.
“What’s amazing is, these guys have seen miles of film running up and down the court and the coaches are yelling at them, but not one in a hundred has been filmed standing still shooting a free throw,” Boren said.
I can attest to this as a college player whose coach would fast forward the videotape through the free throw sequences.
We make fun of all of the Mavericks assistant coaches but in this case you cannot argue with the results.
Poor Bob Hill. The Seattle Supersonics coach draws up a game plan that tries to contain Dirk, force Jason Terry into situations where is uncomfortable and hope that the Sonics could take advantage of Josh Howard’s absence from the team only to get beat by a bench warmer who had only played 27 minutes the entire month of January. I wonder if Austin Croshere, who clocked in nearly 24 minutes against Seattle on Tuesday night, was even mentioned in the pregame meetings.
Croshere, who normally doesn’t get off the bench enough to score more than a basket or maybe some free throws, scored a career high 34 points in an incredible display of scoring prowess. In his first seven minutes of play Croshere scored 11 points. According to the Fort Worth Star Telegram, Croshere went on to have the second highest points-to-minute ratio in Mavericks history.
The great debate is not who will win the Super Bowl, whether McGwire and Rose belong in the Hall of Fame, or if Beckham will awaken soccer in the U.S. The great debate is who has the better team? Mavs or Suns. I do not have the time or statistical juggling ability to determine objectively, so I will let you check the experts and their power (rankings.) What exactly makes these rankings powerful? Anyways, here is what the experts are saying.
Jan Hubbard observes the travesty of the Mavericks lack of attention in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.
Part of the explanation for a lack of Mavericks Mania is because of the Cowboys. Almost a week after they were eliminated by Seattle, they still dominate sports coverage, particularly the air waves.
“I was listening to the radio [on Wednesday],” said WFAA/Ch. 8 sports anchor Dale Hansen, “and there was a long debate on whether Tony Romo is going to be that good. My God. It’s January, and we’re talking about next season?”
Hansen, however, admits to playing into the obsession with the Cowboys.
“This Mavericks team, I believe, is the best sports team in this city since the 1993 Cowboys,” he said, while watching the Dallas-Portland game from the hockey press box. “This is the best group of guys, and they are exciting to watch. But if Bill Parcells leaves tomorrow, or Tony Romo gets traded, there will not be a word about the Mavericks Sunday night on [Dale Hansen's] Sports Special. That’s the reality of Texas.”
This is what I have to put up with and I am not just complaining because I want more column inches or more late night highlights. This upsets me because the Mavericks are a special team. I mean, special enough to be placed on the list of other special teams like the 2004 Red Sox, the 2006 Boise State football team, and the 2004 Detroit Pistons team. I have no clue if the Mavericks will win the NBA title but I do know that I have never seen a team like this. Winning games they have no business winning (like the last two games), star play from a player whose legacy will carry into the next two decades (Dirk), a coach who somehow makes his team believe that every NBA game is a NCAA Tournament win-or-go home contest, and young players who balance style, pride, and bravado with real effort, hard work, and homework (Terry and Howard). Why should it take a championship for this team to get the appreciation it deserves?
According to the Fort Worth Star Telegram, Mavericks coach Avery Johnson used deception to throw Spurs star Tim Duncan off his game last Friday night in a 90-85 Mavericks win.
In the fourth quarter, the Mavericks bench would yell “Double” “Double” every time Duncan would get the ball but they would never double team the All-Star. The idea was to get Duncan thinking a double team was coming and slow down his movement with the ball or make him more likely to pass to another player. The tactic seemed to work. The Spurs only scored 16 points in the fourth period. Maybe the Mavericks should not cover him next game and yell “Single” “Single” instead. Here is a list of other words that can be yelled at Spurs’ players.
In homage to Brent Barry’s father’s free throw shooting style the bench could yell “Granny” “Granny” whenever Barry gets the ball.
In the playoffs, when Robert Horry is shooting a three the Mavericks need to yell “Preseason” “Preseason”
