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Oops, Sorry Spurs & Flop Fest To End

Incredibly, the NBA has released a statement that the officials missed the call in Game 4 on Tuesday night, when Derek Fisher appeared to foul Brent Barry on the game's final play.

"With the benefit of instant replay, it appears a foul call should have been made," said a statement by NBA spokesman Tim Frank.

Really? The Spurs, the entire TNT crew, Rotoworld, NBC, ESPN and the rest of the free world (outside of San Antonio) agreed that the no-call was the right call, yet the NBA decides to chime in and rub this in the collective face of Spurs' fans after the fact? So why don't we get a replay of the final play like the Heat got against the Hawks earlier this year? Why don't we just let Barry shoot his free throws prior to Game 5?

I am fine with the call being made or missed live, as it was close and up for debate. But for the NBA to come out the next day and publicly declare that the wrong call was made, when everyone had pretty much decided to move on? And with no "correction" offered? Now I'm wondering what the league's motives are and if there's not something to all these conspiracy theories? This is one of the most baffling things I remember seeing in the league, and my guess is David Stern did not give the OK for Frank to make his statement. The right thing for the league to do was to say, "Yes, there was contact with Barry, who chose to dribble the ball instead of shoot it. No, we did not feel like it warranted an automatic foul call, although it could have gone either way. But in light of the situation and the play at hand, we felt our officials did the right thing by not calling a foul."

Don't be surprised to see Frank soon leading the dog-sled team that is pulling Isiah Thomas through the Siberian mountains right about now. And really, NBA? You want to make this statement when Joey Crawford is officiating against Tim Duncan exactly one year after he threw him out of a game and challenged him to a fist fight for simply laughing while sitting on the bench? Really?

I'm in shock and don't know what else to say.

Nice win for the Celtics on Wednesday, although they still look (to me) like a young team that doesn't understand how to close out a game. Remember when Kevin Garnett was an angry young man and would ram it down his opponents' throat? Now he's a timid, middle-aged man who would rather pass, or shoot a fadeaway-J, than drive to the hole. He hit his shots tonight, so it didn't matter. But if the C's don't win it all, it will probably be because of KG's suddenly limited ideals on offense. I mean, the dude has shot nearly 50% from the floor and averaged 11.something rebounds per game for his career. You'd think he'd spend some time in the paint in the Eastern Conference Finals, right?

The Celtics still have home court all the way through the Finals, and should still be considered the favorites to win it all, unless Detroit beats them back-to-back home and away this weekend.

The NBA also announced tonight that they will be fining players for flopping next year. While I'm all for the principles here, just wait until the first time someone is run over by Bruce Bowen, legitimately, and is fined for flopping. My money is on Pau Gasol getting crushed by Bowen in Week 1, and Gasol getting a bill for $5,000 while recuperating from the hit in the hospital for "flopping." The NBA...Where flopping draws penalties, unless it's the final shot of a crucial home playoff game and the offensive player doesn't do a good enough job of "selling" the foul to the officials." Huh?

Oh, and as for Joey Dorsey's claim that he knows the Bulls and John Paxson will take Michael Beasley with the first pick. Um, no Joey, incorrect. I guarantee you Paxson hasn't even had time to focus on that draft pick, as he's still trying to shuffle things together and find a frickin' coach! Once he does that (um, Mike D'Antoni is no longer available, Jerry Reinsdorf), then Pax and his mystery coach can get together and talk about whether it's Beasley or Derrick Rose (I say Rose - Duh). But out of all the stories I've heard, I believe Paxson. No way he has even given serious consideration to his draft choice at this point. He still needs to find a head coach, who will also have a say in the matter. And as for Reinsdorf still being in charge in Chicago? Turn the page.

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Oh, the league sez a foul should have been called. Did they also say that Duncan should have been called for an obvious travel violation in the second quarter or the clock operator blew it when not resetting the 24 after Fishers shot in the final minute. And Kobe never did make it to the free throw line in game 4, but Parker is shooting FT's by flopping to the ground after EVERY drive to the basket. Dumb a*# league

So glad to see the new rule against flopping - excellent.

Dr A - sorry to go off on an unrelated tangent, but something about the MVP voting has been bothering me. A poll of sportswriters shortly before the end of the season showed some in favor of Kobe, some in favor of Chris Paul, and MOST saying they'd vote for whichever of those two ended up with the better team record. I can see giving it to a guy on a good team over a guy on a bad team, but come on! With all the funny bounces, close games, bad calls, injured teammates, and every other thing, how can a team's record being ONE game better in an 82 game season decide the MVP?! That just tells me that the sportswriters are a bunch of morons who can't compare one player's contributions to another's and just go with whoever's the best player on the best team in the West.

I thought it should have gone to Paul, but the Cavs proved they were the worst team when missing their star, so that could be an argument for LeBron. But Kobe's teams have traditionally had a better record when he's out than when he's in. The mere fact that the Lakers had a better record this year than the past couple years, while Kobe scored 8 points per game less than he did 2 years ago is a strong argument that his scoring is not the reason the Lakers were good this year. And to reward a guy who has done everything wrong - rape, cheating on his wife, badmouthing his teammates and executives, demanding to be traded, running the other piece of a dynasty out of town, having the greatest coach of all time call him uncoachable, changing his jersey number to make himself the top selling jersey, the list goes on. The guy is despicable - how about that being the tie-breaker instead of which team had a better record by one game? If the Lakers win the title this year, it will be because they were gifted an all-star for nothing. Any other team in the West playoffs would have beaten the Lakers if they had been given Gasol instead. It won't be because Kobe was any different.

And another thing - why does team record mean everything for the MVP and nothing for the ROY? Who decided that? That makes no sense to me. I agree with you, it should have been Horford.

Forgive my negativity, I LOVE the NBA but I get cranky when the Nuggets lose in the first round EVERY YEAR!!!!!

Nice MVP rant! I'm not sure why or how, but this was the "Year of Kobe." Paul had a fantastic year, but for some reason, Kobe was viewed as a great teammate for the first time ever, despite the fact he wanted out a year ago...In fact, he and Paul Pierce were betting money a year ago as to who would be the first to get traded, and now they're battling in the Finals for their old teams. Crazazy. I'm fine with Kobe winning MVP, but I would have been fine with Paul winning it too...Luckily, I didn't have to vote.

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