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Good. The media asks the stupidest fucking questions sometimes. I mean really, do they have to answer how good they felt after a loss like that? Holy shit.
Good. The media asks the stupidest fucking questions sometimes. I mean really, do they have to answer how good they felt after a loss like that? Holy shit.
His commentary about this on blogmaverick.com is awesome:
Damn straight!Last night in the locker room after we lost in overtime to the heat. I was asked by reporters to answer some questions. I told them i would if they asked good questions and didnt ask the same cliche’d questions they had asked after other games. It was interesting how quiet everyone got.
then someone asked “Is this your worst loss ever” . What the fuck kind of question is that ? Is this for a VH1 special ? “Worst Losses Ever ?” If it was, then maybe it was a decent question. Otherwise, how do you answer that question…
Let me think. Well we have never been to the finals before, and this is our most recent finals lost. The 3rd in a row. So that could make it the Mavs worst ever. There was a baseball game I played in where I hit the ball into the gap and some guy made a diving catch to end the game instead of me driving in the winning runs and winning the tournament. I cried in the dugout after that one. There have been some tough rugby losses. Am I supposed to get this reporter a thought out answer and catalog my past, or a catalog answer like “this was a tough one… yadda yadda, that sounds like every other answer ever given to this type of question after a lost game.
The reality is that it would be a waste of both of our time if i gave him the “this was a tough one” answer, and a waste of my time to really think about it. Particularly given there were 10 other reporters wanting to ask questions and we had a bus to catch
So I told the reporter to “Ask me a real fucking question”
Apparently some folks have taken exception to me cursing in my response. Well in this case, the reporter was using my time, we were in a locker room and I was trying to provide a response that had no value to me, but could only help him. If he doesnt think enough of either of our time to invest the brainpower and minutes it takes to come up with something different than has been asked a thousand times.
Fuck em.
Holy shit that is awesome.
Cuban rules.
There is no justice in this world if the Mavs don't pull this off.
If I hear one Heatfan bitch about the officiating I'm going to borrow Pharaoh's flame thrower and I'm off to Florida.
They deserve every bit of what they are about to get.
(p.s. I wouldn't be surprised if Cuban got some sort of record breaking fine by Stern/NBA, I'm talking $500,000 or more.)
Find a new slant.
lol nice cuban...nice...
Cuban is the shit.
I'd get on my knees for this guy.
Well, here it is $250K...Originally Posted by Glenn
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playof...ory?id=2491783
Cuban says he didn't yell at Stern after Game 5
ESPN.com news services
DALLAS -- Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has been fined $250,000 for several acts of misconduct following Game 5 of the NBA Finals, the league said Tuesday.
When time ran out in Game 5, Cuban ran onto the court to vent at official Joe DeRosa, then stared down and screamed toward Stern and a group of league officials, from the court, then the stands.
In his blog on Tuesday, the Dallas Mavericks owner responded to a column in the Miami Herald that described this post-Game 5 scene: "Cuban then turned to Stern and other NBA officials who were seated at the scorer's table and was overheard to shout venomously in the jubilant din, '[Bleep] you! [Bleep] you! Your league is rigged!' "
Cuban wrote that instead of yelling at Stern, he didn't say a word to the commissioner. Cuban also adamantly affirmed that he believes game outcomes are determined on the court, not in the league office.
"The games are not rigged," Cuban wrote. "That's a complete insult to the players on the court and the incredible amount of effort they put into preparing for and playing the games. All 82 regular-season and postseason games.
"The NBA couldn't rig the games if it wanted to. And it doesn't want to. It's that simple."
That sounds more like the owner Stern would like to hear. He said Tuesday that he believes Cuban's more vitriolic outbursts are "not healthy for either him or the game."
"I don't think he is crazy. I think he is smart. I think his recent loss of self control is not planned and not calculated, and I think if he could, he would like to have some of it back," Stern said in an interview on San Francisco radio station KNBR. "Because at bottom, I really do believe it distracts the players and that can't be good. It sets a bad tone.
"He is very smart, he has to take credit and should be given credit for putting together a great team and giving his fans the entertainment experience in that building which is terrific. But at times I think he loses control and that is not healthy for either him or the game."
Cuban was irate over what he considered a series of officiating breakdowns at the end of Dallas' 101-100 overtime loss to the Miami Heat on Sunday night. The loss left the Mavericks trailing the series 3-2 and facing elimination going into Game 6 in Dallas on Tuesday night.
Cuban, for his part, disputed that any of his postgame verbiage was directed at Stern.
"Apparently The Miami Herald is reporting I screamed at the NBA commissioner after the game the other night," Cuban wrote Tuesday. "Didn't happen. Didn't say a word to the man. Not a single word. And that was absolutely by intention."
"Apparently this 'reporter' [writer Greg Cote] has written he has several 'sources.' Well they must be the same sources the tabloids use to find two-headed babys and aliens, because it didn't happen."
Stern told ESPN Radio 760 in West Palm Beach, Fla., that he and Cuban did not talk after the game.
"Mark has a way of looking over in the direction of wherever I happen to be sitting if the occasion of calls or game action he doesn't particularly like," Stern said. "But that would not make him the first owner to do that. I did not speak to him at the end of the game."
Cuban wore a Jerry Stackhouse jersey Sunday in Miami in support of the forward, suspended for a hard foul in Game 4.
A half-hour after Game 5, Cuban was still boiling during a testy interview with reporters.
He wrote a blog entry Monday explaining why he used profanity during a response to a question about whether this was the worst loss he'd endured.
"The reality is that it would be a waste of both of our time if I gave him the 'This was a tough one' answer, and a waste of my time to really think about it, particularly given there were 10 other reporters wanting to ask questions and we had a bus to catch," Cuban wrote.
His mind-set is perhaps better explained in a posting left a few minutes before titled, "Right is its own defense."
Cuban wrote about applying that catchphrase -- which he picked up from an old T-shirt -- to a business venture he's pursuing. He added that the slogan applies to the way he runs the Mavericks.
"I'm going to do what I think is right. Period end of story," he wrote. "You may not like that I want the officiating in the NBA to get better. I think it's the right thing to do."
NBA executives often praise Cuban for his passion, work ethic and high standards, even toward officiating.
It's his approach they're not always fond of, which is why he's been fined more than $1.45 million since buying the team in January 2000. That includes a $450,000 tab this postseason.
Still, Stern told ESPN Radio 760 that he wouldn't have a problem handing the championship trophy to Cuban if the Mavericks win the title.
"I've been doing this for a long time and I have a very good relationship with the Dallas franchise," Stern said. "I was there when it was formed. I was just visiting with Donald Carter who is a shareholder and the initial owner and is still an owner. I visited with Ross Perot Jr. who is still an investor and sold the majority to Mark [Cuban] and I spend time with Mark as well. Franchises in their own way belong to cities, in any event, and I would be very happy to award a trophy to either the good city of Miami, or the good city of Dallas."
Asked Monday night in an interview on Dallas television station WFAA if he would consider selling the team if he didn't see some of the league changes he wants, Cuban snapped his fingers and said "In a heartbeat. Yeah, if they drive me that crazy, in a heartbeat."
"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and not seeing any different results. If they don't want to make things better, then what am I here for?"
Cuban practically turned getting fined into an art form after going from an owner of season tickets to owning the Mavericks.
One comment about him not hiring the league's head of officiating to manage a Dairy Queen landed Cuban as a manager for a day; he also donned pinstripes and officiated a Harlem Globetrotters game.
As his team improved, there were fewer stunts. He remained a visible, vocal critic, though, enough for some to suggest that his team ends up not getting the benefit of the doubt from officials.
Mavs supporters have brought that up again in the wake of three players getting suspended this postseason, with Stackhouse the most recent.
Dallas had a chance to win without its top reserve, leading by 11 points early and by four late in the fourth quarter. Miami ended up winning on a pair of free throws by Dwyane Wade with 1.9 seconds left in overtime.
Cuban had several gripes about the play that sent Wade to the line, starting with Wade not being whistled for a collision that left Dallas' Jason Terry on the floor.
"I guess that's not a call," Cuban said. "I guess that's not a foul."
An assistant coach later showed Cuban that Wade appeared to commit a backcourt violation before the contact with Terry. It's hard to tell on replays because of the giant championship trophy logo at midcourt.
"My understanding from the rule book is, if you are going to catch the ball in the backcourt, you have to be in the backcourt to catch it," Cuban said.
But the NBA pointed out Monday that there was no violation on the play, citing a rule that allows a player to go into the backcourt to receive an inbound pass during the last two minutes of the fourth quarter or any overtime period.
Between Wade's free throws, Dallas was charged its final timeout. The Mavs insist they were only talking about calling it after Wade's second foul shot so they could set up a final play and move the ball to the frontcourt.
"Josh Howard goes to Joe DeRosa and not only once, but twice asks for a timeout," crew chief Joey Crawford told a pool reporter. "Forced to call it, simple as that."
Something else Mavericks followers are quick to note: Wade alone took 25 free throws, the same number as the entire Dallas team. The Heat took a total of 49 free throws.
"I don't know," Cuban said of the discrepancy. "I guess they got fouled more."
Find a new slant.
Game 6 tonight. Do or die for the Mavs.
The way the first two games of the NBA finals went, many thought the series might not even get back to Dallas. Dwyane Wade made sure it did.
Now it's time for Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavericks to respond, playing what they hope is just the first of two straight games in which they will try to deny Wade and the Heat their first NBA championship.
"We can smell it," Wade said. "Dallas plays well at home but we are a confident bunch so we'll see what happens."
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Following three straight wins in Miami as Wade averaged 40.3 points, the Heat head back to Dallas with a 3-2 series lead. Games 1 and 2 in Dallas saw the Mavericks hold Wade to an average of 26.5 points as they won both contests by double digits.
"He's the best right now, that's all you can say," Shaquille O'Neal said. "He's the best."
Wade took over Game 5 when it mattered most, scoring 17 of his 43 points in the fourth quarter and hitting the decisive free throws with 1.9 seconds left in overtime to give the Heat a 101-100 victory on Sunday.
Dallas couldn't advance the ball to halfcourt for its final shot because Josh Howard called a timeout after Wade's first free throw, though the Mavs claim they were calling for the timeout after the second foul shot. The Mavs, particularly owner Mark Cuban, also felt Wade committed a backcourt violation and pushed off Jason Terry on his drive to the basket that led to the winning free throws.
"This is going to leave a bitter taste in everyone's mouth," Howard said. "We're going to come out and play hard in Game 6 and Game 7."
Maybe the calls will start going the Mavs' way in Dallas, where the free throws were distributed more evenly through the first two games. Miami got more foul shots in each of the last three games, shooting a total of 41 more.
While Dallas was 21-of-25 on free throws in Game 5, the Heat went 32-for-49 as O'Neal had another awful night at the foul line with a 2-for-12 performance. Considering he was a combined 2-of-16 in Games 1 and 2, it's possible the Mavs could again employ the Hack-a-Shaq routine used in the fourth quarter Sunday.
Nowitzki got to the free-throw line a series-low five times in Game 5 and was limited to 20 points, though he did hit critical jumpers late in regulation and overtime. The 7-foot German was held to 16 points and shot 2-of-14 from the field in Game 4 as the Mavs were blown out 98-74.
Thanks partly to the tough defense of Udonis Haslem, Nowitzki has been held below his postseason scoring average, down to 26.9 points, in all but one game of this series.
"We know we can beat this team. We showed it in Game 1 and Game 2," Nowitzki said. "This (Game 5) is a tough one to swallow for a night."
Besides playing at home, Dallas has the benefit of getting top reserve Jerry Stackhouse back in action. Stackhouse, averaging 13.8 points in the playoffs, was suspended for Sunday's game for his hard foul on O'Neal in Game 4.
O'Neal, despite having a fairly unimpressive series while Wade has shined, is one win away from his fourth NBA title and making good on the promise he made when he first came to Miami that the team would have a victory parade down Biscayne Boulevard.
"I told the guys that the job is not done yet," O'Neal said. "We've still got to go to a hostile arena in Dallas and take care of business. And we look forward to doing it."
Mavericks coach Avery Johnson, meanwhile, will be making some adjustments, maybe none more important than finding a way to slow down Wade.
Howard had a solid Game 5 with 25 points and 10 rebounds, but has been unable to limit Wade's penetration. Having second-year guard Devin Harris cover Miami's budding superstar hasn't worked much better.
"We're going home, and I know our fans are going to be really crazy," Johnson said. "We play pretty good basketball at home. We've got home-court advantage. So we know we have to play well and win Game 6. There's no tomorrow, and I like that 'no tomorrow' feeling for our team."
Game 7, if necessary, will be Thursday.
HOW THEY GOT HERE: Heat - 2nd seed, Eastern Conference; beat Chicago Bulls 4-2, first round; beat New Jersey Nets 4-1, semifinals; beat Detroit Pistons 4-2, finals. Mavericks - 4th seed, Western Conference; beat Memphis Grizzlies 4-0, first round; beat San Antonio Spurs 4-3, semifinals; beat Phoenix Suns 4-2, finals.
PROBABLE STARTERS: Heat - F Antoine Walker, F Haslem, C O'Neal, G Jason Williams, G Wade. Mavericks - F Howard, F Nowitzki, C DeSagana Diop, G Harris, G Terry.
PLAYOFF TEAM LEADERS: Heat - Wade, 28.1 ppg and 5.8 apg; O'Neal, 9.7 rpg. Mavericks - Nowitzki, 26.9 ppg and 11.5 rpg; Terry, 3.7 apg.
I wonder how much Bill Davidson got fined when he swore at the 2004 Pistons parade.
regards to the over and back
Associated Press - After reviewing a tape of the controversial ending of game five of the NBA Finals, the NBA ruled out the suggestion that the inbounds pass to Dwyane Wade may have been a backcourt violation.
According to Rule 4, Section VI, which deals with frontcourt/backcourt.
Replays showed that Wade leaped near midcourt to catch the ball in the air, landing with possession in the backcourt.
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