Mark Cuban fined

[hifigator]

Mark Cuban was fined $250,000 for his actions after game five in Miami Sunday night. I saw him run out on the floor and yell at somebody and then the cameras cut away. What exactly did he do or say? I am sure it had something to do with the questionable calls going the Heat's way towards the end of overtime.

That is a pretty steep fine, but I guess to him it is pocket change. If they really want to send a statement and hit him "where it hurts" they should make him take one of those anger management classes. I have never had the "priviledge" but from what I hear, all they do is make you really angry.

[miamihoya]

According to Greg Cote of the Miami Herald, Mark told David Stern "f' you...your league is rigged" (or something along those lines).

Cuban denies saying it, but would you really put it past him? He needs to stop crying about the officiating, and start worrying about his team's collapse.

[RockawayHoya]

From an observer who has no rooting interest in either team (despite the fact Zo plays for the Heat, which I don't really care about):

Cuban did go overboard (again) by obviously blasting Stern and Co. in public last night immediately after the game, and it's really unnecessary because everyone already knows Cuban's feelings about the officiating all year and how poor its been, so he's just really beating a dead horse with his tirades.

But on the other hand, Cuban absolutely has a point about the terrible officiating in the NBA (and not just in the Mavs games). For the entire postseason, the officiating has been atrocious and inconsistent. And it's been going on for years now. Sure, star players got the benefit of the doubt back in the day too, but it's getting to the point now where the refs are playing a major role in just about every crucial situation in the playoffs, and that's not right. So while I wouldn't go as far as Cuban as to say the league is rigged, it sure does seem like it at times .

[miamihoya]

I'm not going to go as far as saying officiating in the NBA is excellent or perfect, yet I think that the reaction to game 5 has been absoultely overblown. I know i'm probably bias and would of said that wade was fouled no matter what, but i do really think that if you watch the replays, there is no doubt he was fouled. There was contact several times, among them a hand on his forearm (by terry i think) and Nowitizki's hand on Wades hip. Dallas should of known better. The previous 12 or so times that wade drove to the basket, the refs were calling them for contact. You should expect the same on the last attempt. The officiating wasn't one sided as Cuban accuses. Its just that Dallas was resorting for jump shots all day long, so there was no oppurtunity for Miami to foul them. If dallas wants to go to the line, then drive to the hoop. Finally, Howard defiantley called the timeout at the end. Even from all the way up in row 416 I could see him make the motion. Replays show that twice he made the timeout motion, and started walking toward the bench. I feel bad, cuz it was just a mental lapse by a young kid or a lack of communication with the coach. But the refs made the right call, because once the heat guys were at the bench, you couldnt call them back and not charge dallas the timeout. So again, i know i'm bias, but i think that if there is a so called "heat-bias" by the officiating, there has been an equal "dallas-bias" by the media.

[SoCal Hoya85]

I think one of the reasons the Refs seem to have much more to do with close outcomes is because of all the 1 on 1 play that happens in the final 2 minutes or so of each close game. When you have a player like Wade who is going to take it hard to the hoop on those final plays there is going to be contact and this leads to Refs having to make a big call or a big no call.

[hifigator]

SoCal Hoya wrote:

I think one of the reasons the Refs seem to have much more to do with close outcomes is because of all the 1 on 1 play that happens in the final 2 minutes or so of each close game. When you have a player like Wade who is going to take it hard to the hoop on those final plays there is going to be contact and this leads to Refs having to make a big call or a big no call.

That is a great point and one which goes unnoticed often. You always here that the "Star" players always get the calls and things of the sort. Someone called into the SportTalk show and made the comment that if that were Posey that they wouldn't have called a foul and then mentioned some of the past greats like Jordan in the same position. Well that kind of goes without saying. If you think about it, in those late game key possessions, the Jordans and Wades are GOING to have the ball in their hands. The Poseys of the world are not going to get the call ... because they don't have the ball. And yes, there will be a lot of one on one to the hoop with the star player holding the rock. If he could be guarded one on one, he wouldn't be that much of a star player would he?

[hifigator]

Incidentally, for those who have any doubt that it was a foul ... albeit one on Harris not Dirk ... here is a link:

www.gatorsportsforum.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=145087