Making excuses
Yes, he does - I mean, does he seriously believe that the entire NBA league is out to get his poor, poor Ming? Does he realize that Erick Dampier and Shawn Bradley got into as much foul trouble as Yao Ming in the play-offs? Yao has 3.3 PF/game average in the regular season vs. 4.8 in the play-offs. Damp has 3.1/gm in regular season vs. 4.2 in the play-offs. Another big stat? Yao Ming has been 30 mpg in the play-offs vs. Dampier playing 20.6 minutes. Do the math and you will see who is getting more fouls called on them per minute.
All stats aside, I think even ethically what Mark Cuban did was right (and I admit 90% of the time Cuban goes over the top on issues). Cuban had a problem with the way Yaoi was setting moving picks and he sent the league the tapes to review - if that results in the refs being more careful while calling fouls and more vigilant, I am all for it. If JVG thinks they are missing calls (I can think of the obviously missed call against Finley when he was out-of-bounds while stealing from Barry), he should do the same. Just like the non-called fouls on Yao that may have made a difference for the Mavs in the first two games but didn’t, these missed calls while reviewed, will not help anything but to prevent such mistakes in the future.
I don’t think NBA officiating is all that great - every single fan out there feels like the referees have it out for them. That doesn’t mean it gives the coaches free rein to talk conspiracy theories. Play ball and leave the “truth is out there” fantasies to the X-files crowds, JVG! I hated it when the Mavericks used to whine for calls last year (they are much better this year) and I feel JVG is as pathetic in not recognizing his team’s weaknesses that are killing them and trying to focus the issue on stupid things instead.
Yeah! Take that, Houston! I know it took about two games for my boys to show it, but I am glad they did it. Of course, there are still two more games to be won, so I will refrain from counting my chickens before they are hatched. Hopefully, the German Pope will pray hard enough for Nowitzki to realize the play-offs have started.
Speaking of the German Pope, a former Hitler youth leading one of the world’s largest religion? In Dennis Miller’s words, anytime there is an adoring throng ardently and passionately in love with a German, it makes me nervous.
Via Prashant Kothari comes this story about a guy put to death in the Saud and they find out five-days later they find out he is innocent - turns out justice delayed was justice forever not served in this case. I am not surprised the Indian Government has not raised a stink over this - we are the kind of people who will put up crap just so others can tolerate us. We never believe we deserve respect like any other nationality. We will continue to be treated like crap until we decide we are as good as anyone else. It is one thing to be a squeaky wheel - it is another to go through impossibly great lengths to avoid confrontation of any kind.
Who woulda thunk it, but Laura Bush was genuinely fine in her well-scripted jokes about “Desperate Housewives” and “Chippendale’s”. Rock on, First Lady - a sense of humor only makes people more likeable - especially a self-deprecating one.
I wonder how many flags wI am not exactly holding my breath trying to figure it out.