12/21/24
May 22, 2006
New sheriff in town.: Two OT's. Five games decided by five points or less. Two games decided by one point. Mavericks win the series. One for the ages.
posted by Ufez Jones to basketball at 10:26 PM - 33 comments
Sorry, that hanging "One" was meant to be "One for the ages". Fantastic series.
posted by Ufez Jones at 10:55 PM on May 22, 2006
It's too bad San Antonio-Dallas isn't the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry that Mark Cuban's trying to wish into existence. This series would really have been one to remember forever then, but I suspect this one only matters to those of us who follow these teams. As someone who's still bitter over Steve Kerr dropping a bunch of threes to send the Mavs home in 2003, I'm glad that Diop gave the Spurs fans a similar experience tonight. Tim Duncan couldn't get anything going on OT on that guy. I didn't think the Mavs were ever running away with this one, even when they had 16- and 20-point leads. The Spurs ran a lot better than I thought they would -- I figured they had to slow the pace down to have any chance at all.
posted by rcade at 11:09 PM on May 22, 2006
another poorly officiated game. That foul call on Devin Harris before the ball was even thrown in was a ridiculous attempt by the ref to become a factor in this game. Does that ref expect anyone to believe that contact down low during the setting of a pick has not occured 500 times without a whistle blowing this series alone!! Calls like that late in a game reek of meddling by ...........??? I dont know...... I love seeing Finley's number called late..... I saw him miss too many clutch shots as a Mavericks fan. Pop dropped the ball by structuring that play around Finley. I think Pop wanted Finley to put the final nail in the Mavs coffin so bad that it clouded his judgement....
posted by gdaddydog at 11:10 PM on May 22, 2006
what do you expect with Dick Bavetta... He's the Eliot Ness enforcer of superstardom. Apparently, guarding Duncan is a foul. Standing in front of your opponent and holding up your hands is a punishable offense. As The association points out no matter how the calls go, the spurs are whiney whiney whiney.
posted by markovitch at 01:51 AM on May 23, 2006
I'm just glad we won't have a boooooooring Pistons-Spurs final...maybe now someone will score some points...probably wishful thinking though I'm afraid, with the way the NBA grinds it out when it really matters...Ooooooh, for the days of 130-125 in the fun-fun 1980s.
posted by donnnnychris at 02:39 AM on May 23, 2006
I didnt watch the actual game, but I saw the highlights on ESPN. By the looks of it, I missed out on a great game. Too bad Dallas won though, I think that the Pistons would have more problems with them.
posted by redsoxrgay at 05:28 AM on May 23, 2006
Tim Duncan never commits a foul.
posted by corpse at 07:01 AM on May 23, 2006
When you Mav fans have three championships hanging from the rafters, than you can talk your smack. Untill then, let's see what happens in the next two rounds.
posted by mustang71 at 07:58 AM on May 23, 2006
This series would really have been one to remember forever then, but I suspect this one only matters to those of us who follow these teams. It was a good series for some of us who could care less about those teams! I kinda wanted Dallas to win because I think Nowitzki might be one of the nicest guys on the planet. Did anyone see him get Punk'd? Anyway, I really don't like how the Spurs play with all the flopping and whining. Untill then, let's see what happens in the next two rounds. That's a terrible argument. No matter what happens in the next two rounds, the Spurs were still eliminated by the Mavs!
posted by bperk at 08:00 AM on May 23, 2006
Two dozen users will make similar predicitions in the next week, comfortable in the knowledge no one will call them on it.
posted by yerfatma at 08:18 AM on May 23, 2006
there's not a player in the NBA that commits a foul. every player on every team pisses and moans about foul calls, not just the spurs. i said my piece on the officiating after game 5 so i won't dwell on it again. i will say, however, that all the credit should go to avery johnson. dirk is good but not great, diop got schooled more often than not by duncan (throughout the series), devin harris can't shoot.......you get the idea. but they played great together by virtue of a great gamePLAN by avery. as a spurs fan, i hate to admit that pop was outsmarted by his understudy but that is exactly what happened. congrats to the mavericks and their fans.
posted by ksb122 at 08:29 AM on May 23, 2006
Whiny spurs fans continue whining even after having their ass handed to them. Film at 11.
posted by puke & cry at 08:35 AM on May 23, 2006
puke & cry-exactly which part of my post was whiny? and at what point did the mavericks hand the spurs their ass? maybe you just didn't watch the series so let me recap-not counting overtimes, the mavs outscored the spurs by 7 points (BTW, the spurs came from 20 points down to send game 7 to OT). ok, ok...lets count overtimes that makes the difference 20 points. average that out to 7 games and it's almost 3 point a game. did they win, yes. was it in decisive fashion, no.
posted by ksb122 at 09:03 AM on May 23, 2006
every player on every team pisses and moans about foul calls, not just the spurs. True, but the Spurs have a pretty exaggerated sense of personal aggrievement after every single hard play, and Ginobili's bringing the soccer-style flop to the NBA. How many points did the Mavs score in transition last night while one or two of the Spurs were hanging back kvetching to the refs? did they win, yes. was it in decisive fashion, no. They led by as many as 20 points. The Spurs led for less than a minute the entire game. That's not an eke-it-out victory. By the time the Spurs got to OT, they were so tired from their comeback that they had nothing left, even with three Mavs fouled out.
posted by rcade at 09:19 AM on May 23, 2006
Dirk vs. Nash - fun to watch the old mates battle. Do they get along?
posted by Bill Lumbergh at 09:36 AM on May 23, 2006
As someone who's still bitter over Steve Kerr dropping a bunch of threes to send the Mavs home in 2003, I'm glad that Diop gave the Spurs fans a similar experience tonight. Amen. That game crushed me. Having Kerr call this series was just wrong. It's interesting that the 05-06 Mavs have to go through four key players from that team to get to the Finals. As The association points out no matter how the calls go, the spurs are whiney whiney whiney. Fantastic! Duncan's a hell of a player, and I respect his talent a lot, but damn if he doesn't look like someone just poked a frozen finger up his ass every time he misses a shot. Dirk vs. Nash - fun to watch the old mates battle. Do they get along? You could say that. Nash's kids reportedly call Nowitzki "Uncle Dirk". Should be a wild series.
posted by Ufez Jones at 09:47 AM on May 23, 2006
As a fan of all sports Texan, this was a win-win series, and the fact that it was hard fought and well played was just icing on the cake. donnychris, we may see some run and gun style of play the next few days!
posted by mjkredliner at 09:49 AM on May 23, 2006
Get a haircut hippie.
posted by GoBirds at 09:50 AM on May 23, 2006
Dirk vs. Nash - fun to watch the old mates battle. Do they get along?
posted by rcade at 09:55 AM on May 23, 2006
Those are the gayest pictures I have ever seen.
posted by GoBirds at 10:44 AM on May 23, 2006
Mavs deserved to win for sure. They shot the lights out and rcade is right - The Spurs had nothing left for OT (but if Duncan coralls that Giniobli miss at the end fo the fourth a touch better - we're talking about Super Tim again - what a player, what a series, what a game seven comeback). Looking so forward to Wednesday. I think Phoenix vs. Mavs is going to be some free-wheeling magic. Despite my unholy man-crush on Steve Nash, I think the Mavs should beat them. I just hope they don't.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 10:45 AM on May 23, 2006
I am glad to see Hack-N-Chop Bowen, Flopmeister Ginobli, Crybaby Duncan, Phantom Foul Barry and Super-Efficient-Layup Parker ousted from the playoffs! The Mavs vs. Pistons in the finals! The RSS was tied 1-1! Should be a great one!
posted by bkdet at 10:46 AM on May 23, 2006
And yes GoBirds, the first pic is especially gay!
posted by bkdet at 10:47 AM on May 23, 2006
Too much of Parcells rubbed off on Cuban. Avery Johnson on the other hand is a class act.
posted by mustang71 at 11:12 AM on May 23, 2006
Those are the gayest pictures I have ever seen. Have you tried this one?
posted by Bill Lumbergh at 11:28 AM on May 23, 2006
I like the first picture because it looks like they're about to start a "best friends" movie montage where they ride tandem bicycles, wash a car and spray each other with the hose, and drink a chocolate shake with two straws.
posted by rcade at 11:52 AM on May 23, 2006
I'm from San Antonio, and absolutely not a Spurs fan. The one thing I'd like to point out: Everytime the Spurs have lost a game this season, and these playoffs, the Spurs fans start the "bad refs" chant. I've never heard the refs get blamed for so many losses in all my days. I would say the Spurs were just outplayed in this series. But, it's over now, so not much more can be said. :)
posted by FilaDog at 12:11 PM on May 23, 2006
Great Basketball semi final series. We need to keep Barkley (Charles,that is) off the microphone when commenting, although he picked the Mavs. over the Spurs!
posted by orlando32 at 01:18 PM on May 23, 2006
Well, I am a Spurs fan but, I was wanting the series to end earlier so the Spurs could get to work figuring out how the hell they can counter that style of play and maybe pick up a big man besides Duncan who's worth something in situations like that. I couldn't believe that they couldn't find a better counter to the Mavs strategy besides Duncan and, basically, 4 guards. I was hoping they'd come up with a better strategy that played more to their strength, which is most certainly not to run up and down the floor and try to out-score a clearly faster team like the Mavs. And anyone talking about people complaining about foul calls above, I don't want to ever hear you complaining when a call doesn't go your fav' team's way... and I'll be watching... seriously, I will... okay no I won't because I'm too lazy... My point is that, for the die-hards of almost any sport, its hard to believe your team could lose on their own so they gotta' find a way to blame someone. As for the Spurs themselves whining, I'm admittedly biased so my not thinking they complain more than anyone else probably means little. I personally try to avoid worrying/complaining about calls as I figure, over a long enough time-line, calls (good or bad) go both ways about evenly
posted by srw12 at 01:56 PM on May 23, 2006
decisive or not is a matter of opinion. regardless, it doesn't matter if you win by an inch or a mile.....winning's winning and the mavericks won. as far as the spurs compaining about calls, you ever watch ben wallace play? how bout kobe bryant? alonzo mourning? stefon marbury? rasheed wallace? i'll amend my statement above and say that a good majority of players, not all, in the NBA never think they commit a foul and are very animated about it. the spurs do not hold the exclusive to that, it only gets brought up because that series is still so fresh in peoples memories.
posted by ksb122 at 02:26 PM on May 23, 2006
its spelled stephon but good point
posted by gmactothemax91 at 03:25 PM on May 23, 2006
CONGRATS to the mavs i like how all mavs fans think they r the greatest thing in the world! u didnt kill us and just shut up u r starting to ack like ur GAY FAG owner(by the way good insult about the riverwalk cuban...that really hurt)
posted by dhump09 at 10:13 PM on May 24, 2006
Okay, so there's no chance of a Spurs-Pistons finals. I am appeased.