Mav's can't take the Heat...

[Larry Gude]

First off, congrats to Reilly and the Heat and, especially, Zo, the first of the legendary Georgetown big men, Patrick, Dikembe and of course Alonzo, to win an NBA title.

On to Mark Cuban and Co.

Did Cuban whine his way to the top? Is that how he became a billionaire so young and bought himself a basketball team? I would have guessed that he simply worked harder and smart enough to make his work succeed. In any event, this crying foul business didn't work, so, maybe next year his team responds with more effort and smarter play when faced with adversity?

The flip side, the Cuban way, blaming everybody else, from the refs to the league President, didn't work so good and, maybe lead his coaches and players to pick up on his victim (Mark Cuban, multi-billionaire, owner of the Mavs, front row everynight in every NBA town, victim) status and away from themselves.

 

[Coaster]

Agreed, Cuban needs to shut up and sit down. There are always 'bad' calls going both ways in all types of sports. Maybe he is a control freak and can't take the fact that some things just happen.
The intensity of the Heat didn't 'just happen' though, they won because they wanted the title more, plain and simple. I picked the Heat to win because it was in their eyes, that winning edge (Eye of the tiger Rock!!!!). After game 2 everybody I told my prediction to was ribbing me, but I stuck with it.
Anyway, fun to watch, Cuban and all.

 

[Otter]

Granted, Cuban needs to tone his act down, but I love the fact that he is a fan first, owner second. No one can say he doesn't have a passion for his team. Even tho I've only met you a few times, Larry, if the positions were reversed and you owned the Mavs(or the Redskins for that matter), I think you would have the same fan-oriented passion. Maybe not quite so overboard as Cuban, but close.

 

[Larry Gude]

Maybe...

Granted, Cuban needs to tone his act down, but I love the fact that he is a fan first, owner second. No one can say he doesn't have a passion for his team. Even tho I've only met you a few times, Larry, if the positions were reversed and you owned the Mavs(or the Redskins for that matter), I think you would have the same fan-oriented passion. Maybe not quite so overboard as Cuban, but close.

...but I'd like to think my reaction would be to head for the locker room and TOTALLY eliminate the mindset of 'we got screwed' and replace it with 'we have to be that much better'. In private, with the team and coaches.

From Dan Snyder to Mark Cuban, yeah, I'm with you from the fan standpoint; Be seen upset, booing and having a reaction, like a fan, sure, but not charging the court and not publicly lambasting the commissioner and the refs.

The NBA is a business first, not a sport. The goal is NOT to provide the best games in terms of fairness and getting calls right or they'd do what football does and use replay, alot. They promote stars, individuals. Magic, Bird, MJ, Shag, Kobe and now, Wade.

If those super stars had had calls made correctly in their careers, some of the greatest moments in NBA history may have gone the other way. Look at the Wiz/Cavs series.The Wizards would have beaten the Cavs in 6. Think of all the times those big names would have fouled out of games by the begining of the fourth quarter or even halftime.

Everyone was ALL upset with Shawn Taylor got tossed against the Bucs, including me. bad call! Make up call! We're getting screwed! Replay made everyone calm down and accpet that it was a good call, justly carried out, instead of watching phantom fouls on the big screen replay which don't get corrected.

Snyder doesn't own a team in a league that says, behind close doors, that the rules are secondary, like basketball and baseball do. Basketball does not want fouls called correctly and baseball does not want balls and strikes called correctly because they believe, the people that own and run the leagues, rightly or wrongly, that bad calls make the game better.

Maybe it does. Maybe not, but I think Cuban hurt his team by telling them that the result was someone elses fault, that they got cheated. I ain't no star but I've played enough sports and been on enough teams to have experienced that attitude first hand and it is deflating. 'We did good enough! We were cheated!"

I've also experienced "Screw the ref. You guys ain't getting ANY calls so don't expect 'em. Move your damn feet. Get position. Go harder to the hole and make the sum##### call another charge. Get the rebound. You give it all you got and we'll live with the result." That fired us up.

Cuban wants to play so bad it's almost comical. I'm guessing he didn't play enough as a kid but, to me, I think he hurt his guys more than helped.

 

[Kain99]

 

[CableChick]

:snort:

 

[Larry Gude]

Can we be honest here?

...that was actually kinda short, yes?

 

[Otter]

...that was actually kinda short, yes?

Short and on target..

 

[Larry Gude]

You know...

Short and on target..

...now that you mention it, maybe Cuban is doing a good thing? Maybe he see's the success of the NFL, of TEAMS, and is thinking, 'Hey, let's call the game's right and let the best TEAM win. That way, your #8, 9 and 10 guys actually matter.

Dirk is his superstar and all, but, the NBA likes it's Shaq/Kobe's. It's MJ/Scotties. It's Duncan/Parkers and now it's Shaq/Wade's. Cuban knows how thin that list is, that you can't just get one anywhere in the offseason.

Point being that Dirk ain't that high up the superstar list. So, how to win? Team!!!

So, you raise hell, game after game. Regular season. Post season and now, the finals. You get attention. You get fans #####ing about blatant bad calls, like in the NFL.

The NBA is in a dynasty funk. Only a handful of teams have a real shot every year. The NFL starts each season with probably 20 maybes.

Is this his plan? Is he going to give the NBA to the fans, like the NFL has????


You may be on to something....