A Classic Dirk Moment

Bonus

Historical Contrast

In crunch time of the 2011 NBA Finals games, Dirk (Nowitzky) Daggerheimer stepped up his game while Jester (Lebron) James shrunk from the pressure.

Within the last five minutes of 2011 NBA Finals games when the game was within five points these are the two players stats:

Daggerheimer

26 points

8-13 FG

9-9 FT

+18 (Team)

Jester James

ZERO points

0-7 FG

0-0 FT

-16 (Pawns)

Source: The Disney Sports Network

Heading into the Lakers series, Charles Barkley called it best, stating that Dirk Nowitzky is the best closer in teh game right now.

As for Lebron James (and even Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh), well late in Game 6, coming out of a timeout and the Heat's championship hopes essentially on the line, they came out and executed a play for Mario Chalmers. That pretty much says it all.

Picture: LBJ can't mock nearly as well as he can choke.

The Big Three are champs!

What? Did you think we meant D-Lame, Jester James and the RuPaul of Big Men? No, we are talking about Dirk Daggerheimer, The Jet and The Kidd.

Picture: (Left to right) Jason Kidd, Dirk Nowitzky, Jason Terry

WWE FInals Game 3: How the company men do it!

It is no secret that David Stern uses 'company men' to interficiate basketball games and get the results that he wants. In Game 3 of the WWE Basketball Finals, his company men conveniently overlooked Haslem blocking Dirk like a linebacker while Chris Bosh sank what would be the game winning shot.

But before it even gets to the end of the game, the company men keep it close by making up fouls. In this play Wade flops on a rebound that he never had any chance of getting and the refs not only take away the possession from the Mavs, but they give Wade two free throws.

Announcer Jeff Van Gundy discusses Wade fooling the ref. But there was no fooling the ref. The ref called what he wanted to call. Wade just gave him the excuse he needed.

Goons! Hired goons! That's all NBA refs are. 

Bonus shout-out: Van Gundy and fellow announcer Mark Jackson have constantly criticized the officiating throughout WWE Basketball Finals game. And then at one point in Game 4, they agreed that the NBA refs are the best refs in the world.

Really? Is that your version of Heil Stern? The man on the street would be a better ref and you know it! At least bad officiation goes both ways. Stern's agenda is ruining the game and you know it. Don't just kiss ass after the fact because you're sipping more than your fair share of the gravy a-holes.

Have they ever watched an international basketball game? The refs call the game right. Flops are not rewarded. Charges are charges. Blocks are blocks. Moving screens are moving screens. Stop pretending like officiating is an amazingly difficult task. It's not (at least for a significant portion of the population). 

If  WWE Basketball wanted to fix the reffing deficiencies they would. But that is not how the WWE Basketball Leauge works. Heaven forbid a real basketball game breaks out. 

Stern desperately tries to avoid the wrong teams getting the glory (and the lower ratings). In the 2005 Finals between the San Antonio Spurs and Detroit Pistons, the two most fundamentally sound teams in league history squared off. Even Tim Duncan's nickname was 'The Big Fundamental.' 


However, that series was one of the worst rated series in the post-Jordan era. That meant less money for Stern. Sometimes even Stern's company men cannot prevent the undesirable match-ups from occurring. But they will be ever vigilant in favoring the higher rated teams. The entire world knows that.

Congress should step in and make the NBA and the referees independent of each other. That may never happen. But in the meantime we don't need Van Gundy and Jackson giving us the good news and bad news Young Guns 2 style.


What's the bad news? There's only sh*t for commentary.


What's the good news? There's plenty of it!

'No respect!' for Jason Terry (and Jason Kidd)

Perhaps Jason Terry is the Rodney Dangerfield of the NBA. He has been putting up numbers for years and where is the respect?

Even after he made the biggest shots of the pivotal Game 5, including the game clinching three in Lebron James eye; Michael Wilbon mentioned that the series was short on star power as there were only three (potential) Hall Of Famers in the series.

Wilbon was assuredly referring to the three drawing stars of the series, Lebron James, Dwyane Wade and Dirk Nowitzky. But Jason Kidd is undoubtedly a first ballot Hall of Famer. And more interestingly, what about Jason Terry? Is he not a future Hall Of Famer? One has to wonder.

But first, let us consider the Jason Kidd omission. He makes most people's top five or ten lists for all-time best point guards. He gets mentioned in the same breath as John Stockton and Magic Johnson. Certainly, Wilbon simply forgot that Kidd was a part of the series (as he's not that stupid). 

It is a somewhat understandable error. By his own admission, J Kidd is not the 'ferrari' he used to be. Nonetheless, it  is a glaring omission. After all, Kidd is still a team leader and a crucial component of the Mavs success on both sides of the court.

But the more compelling question is is Jason Terry a future Hall Of Famer? He has never been named to an all-star team. Could a man that has never been named an all-star be a Hall of Famer? It is a realistic proposition. He has had all-star types of seasons, averaging more than 19 in three seasons.

But it is his consistency combined with longevity that is compelling argument. He has averaged 16.2 ppg and scored a total of  15,537 points and he is closing in on 20,000 points.

Twenty thousand points is basically basketball's version of baseball's 3,000 hits. The unwritten rule in baseball is that any player that reaches 3,000 hits will go into the Hall Of Fame. In basketball, no player that has reached 20,000 points has been denied Hall of Fame status. 

Terry is 34 and certainly he is nearing the twilight of his career. But if he continues to play at a high (but practical) level for four more season he can reach 20,000 points. Certainly he seems to keep in great condition and avoid injuries. So it certainly can happen.

And when it is all said and done, Terry will be remembered as Robin to Dirk Nowitzky's Batman. One would have to wonder if Dirk reaches two NBA Finals (and potentially wins one NBA Finals) without Terry.

Terry may not be a super super hero, but he is relevant in the scope of great success. Certainly he gets overlooked though (as Wilbon has shown). 

Terry's that rare great player that does not go to all-star games (Manu Ginobili was in that boat for a long time). He might not get his due until he is giving a speech in Springfield!

Picture: Will 'The Jett' (Jason Terry) land in the Basketball Hall Of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts?

2011 WWE Basktetball Finals: The numbers do lie, Points in the taint

Through four games of the 2011 WWE Basketball Finals, the Dallas Mavericks have shot 21 more free throws than the Miami Heat. The Phil Jackson approach to such numbers would be to think that the Mavericks are getting the benefits of the calls. That would be a fallacious approach to the matter (as was generally the case in Phil's history). Not all teams were created equal.

Let us consider why the Mavs should get to the free throw line more often than the Heat.

The Mavs size advantage

The Dallas Mavericks have three seven footers (Dirk Nowitzky, Tyson Chandler, Brendan Haywood) who offensively perform on the low post. The Miami Heat have none. The closest thing they have to a low post presence is Chris Bosh, who is really a high post player and has no intention of consistently bodying up the Dallas bigs. For that matter, he has no intention of rough housing with anybody's bigs. Shaq knew what he was saying when he called Bosh the Rupaul of Big Men (Oh and special shout-out to the RealGM.com a-hole mods  who thought it was cool to censor any and all conversation on that matter).

It's also noteworthy that the Heat would much rather see Haywood (the league's worst free throw shooter) on the line rather than shooting chippies. They will foul him on purpose and if the refs conveniently miss the call, all the better.

Mavs are ready for the James and Wade drives (and they do not need to foul)

It is true that Miami Heat stars Lebron James and Dwyane Wade can consistently use their quickness to get into the lane. But when it happens, the Dallas defense is geared to have helpers prevent easy lay-ups and dunks by those players. Of course that will leave somebody open, but let's face facts, the Miami role players are not inspiring fear in anybody. 

The strategy is clearly to force the role players to make open shots or force James and Wade into bad shots. It's a solid strategy, but some of it is negated when interficials look for any excuse to turn a non-foul into a foul.

How often in this series have you seen Wade and James get easy driving non fast break lay-ups and dunks? You could probably count them on one hand.

There is just rarely a need to foul James and Wade. That fact is reflected in Game 1. In that game James and Wade shot a combined 7 free throws. 

When David Stern inserted his Company Man Dream Team of Joey Crawford, Ken Mauer and Ed Malloy for Game 2, they called enough pretend fouls to put Wade himself on the line 12 times. The Heat went to the line 24 times that game to the Mavs 21.

Mavs have more players that frequently get to the rim

Besides James and Wade, who gets to the rim for Miami? That's right, nobody! On the Mavs side you have Dirk, Chandler, Haywood, Marion, Barea and even Terry. Even a player like Kidd is going to penetrate the lane more consistently then any third player on the Heat. 

Essentially, foul shots are the result of getting to the basket and the other team not wanting to give up an easy basket. In a fairly officiated game it is unlikely that the Mavericks would have less than a ten free throw surplus.

***

It is all about Points In The Taint

During last year's WWE Basketball Finals between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers it was obvious just how many ways that the interficials could decipher the outcome. Shots Heard had to make up a term to describe it. That term was and is 'points in the taint.'

The Lakers won the points in the taint battle and their series clinching play was even a points in the taint play (Gasol landing/traveling before making his series clinching shot).

Back in the days of yore, teams that won the points in the paint match-up usually won the game. In today's NBA, teams like the Miami Heat (who have no low post presence) win games and series by winning the points in the taint battle.

Points in the taint comes in many fashions. It can come by the interficials allowing the Heat to bang against the Mavs on one end and calling touch fouls on the Mavs at the other end. That is actually the best way for the interficials to have an impact on the game. The cumulative effect of calling a game in that manner can turn a 20 point blow-out by the Mavs into a 4 point win for the Heat. This is a very under-rated tactic. And the best part for the interficials, is that there is no signature play that points towards unfairness or corruption.

Missed calls count too. At one point in Game 2, Wade dunked an offensive rebound into the hoop while it was easily over the cylinder.

Last but not least - more and more officials are using technical fouls to deflate a team's morale. On two occasions, the interficials have hit Mavs coach Rick Carlisle with a bogus technical foul. Both times, the refs made a bad call that was civilly objected by Carlisle. Yet, the interficials added insult to insult by t'ing him up. During the first such instance, announcer Jeff Van Gundy said he monitored the entire interaction and found absolutely no wrong doing (including cussing) by Carlisle.

In the previous three five game series, the Miami Heat out shot their opponents from the free throw line by about 50 free throws per series. Given how 'soft' the Miami Heat really are, that's a mind boggling stat.

The discrepancy was so profound that before the series even began, James and Wade were bragging about the touch fouls on drives being a part of their team's model for success. As a fan that watches that type of crap unfold, I'm sickened. It's like a victim having to hear his assaulter brag about the crime after the fact. And yes, the state of NBA officiating is a crime to the senses (and likely a real crime that has yet to go prosecuted).

Make no mistake. The Mavs have a free throw surplus, but the Heat are winning points in the taint. With each of the last (potential) three games being so much more critical we can only expect the points in the taint advantage to be more profound.

If the Mavs play their A game like they did against the Lakers, they willl win the series regardless of points in the taint. The same concept held true for the Celtics when they played the Heat. They were the better team on paper. But a tired team playing their C game lost that series in 5.

If the Mavs play their C game like they have been, they will lose this series. 

If the Mavs play their B game, anything can happen, assuming the Heat don't bring their A game. But so-so jump shooting teams rarely bring their A-game. And the Heat's A game is only an A if good shooting is combined with good defense that leads to fast break points. That is a rare combination for the Miami Heat who are essentially a two and a half man team.

Either way, expect points in the taint to have a major impact on the conclusion of this series.

Picture 1: Eric Spoelstra and Dwyane Wade tell Joey Crawford how he can be a better interficial. Seriously, why do the officials insist on conferencing with the 'stars?' It's to make sure they are content and have reached their star call quota.

Picture 2: How often do we see it? Wade goes in for a lay-up free and clear, grazes against a finger and a ref blows his whistle for the and one. Sickening!

Picture 3: You won't catch Crawford sharing intimate looks with the 'mid market' team's players like he does with Dwyane Wade.