Comments on: The NBA is rigged ? Please..

By: Austin Siegel

Austin Siegel — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 19:22:21 +0000

Mr. Cuban, if the NBA isn\’t rigged, why is LeBron in the finals already with a garbage supporting cast? And why was the free throw comparison in Game 6 41-19 with 5 minutes left in the game? It\’s obvious that Mr. Stern is controlling the market and his refs are his \”pawns.\” I admire your team and coach Mr. Johnson. Both Detroit and Dallas are the way a basketball team should be manufactured, you put them both in street ball and I guarantee you they take every championship out there! I have lost all faith in the NBA, but I it is always good to have hope, but I think at this rate is going under. And I TOTALLY agree with Bill Simmons article after last year\’s Game 5, you guys got screwed, and Bill Simmons called the next decade as the LeBron and Wade decade, where superstars are worshipped and real TEAM basketball isn\’t.

By: Dan

Dan — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 11:08:37 +0000

Excellent, clear-headed post, sir.

By: Jay

Jay — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 11:08:37 +0000

People may say the NBA is rigged becasue of the inconsistency of calls and the fact that “supstars” get calls to go their way simply because they are who they are, but this is pure emotion; no more and no less. 24 hours later no one in their right mind believes the game is rigged or fixed.

What is apparant to everyone is that while you are the savior of Mavs Basketball, you are equally its destruction. The game is not rigged, but there is an anti-Cuban sentiment at the league office, which in turn translates to an anti-Maverick sentiment on the court with the officiating.

Your actions, though well intentioned, are hurting your team. I challenge you to find anybody who would argue that if the time out fiasco at the of the game involved Pat Riley, that time out is never assesed. Pat Riley would get the benefit of the doubt, end of story. But when you help to create a bias at the head office by cursing and losing your head, you cause these calls to go against your team. In baseball the tie goes to the runner, in this case and in this series, the tie will go to the Heat… everytime.

Cursing is never a good idea. (I’m sure your wife would agree, listen to her… please)

I think you are a terrific person and business man and simply a passionate Mavs fan. It has taken me until today to get over it and that is only because there is a game tonight. I wrote The Ticket in response to their trashing of Avery Johnson after his, masterful response, to Eddie Sefco (SP?). Eddie deserved that, stupid question and at the wrong time.

But you have to step and start taking responsibility for the negative feelings that surround your team within the media, the fans and the league. You are not simply a fan anymore, you are now the owner and business man and you have to find a way to constructively play the PR game. You will decide how to do that, it’s not my place to tell you how to conduct your business, but know that you are responsible for this bias.

You and you alone.

By: Madeleine Marr

Madeleine Marr — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 11:08:37 +0000

I am the reporter of the phantom Mark Cuban boat story. I received inaccurate information on a very tight deadline. My apologies to everyone involved.

Here is the link to the correction. Good luck in the series.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/corrections/14831000.htm

By: prae

prae — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 11:08:37 +0000

1st off: Mark, ignore the ‘Cuban-Haters’ and just keep doing what you do and just be yourself. If I owned my own team and was worth $1.3B, I would probably do some of the same things you do. I do disagree , however, that the NBA is not rigged. It is rigged: whether this be a conscious or uncounscious choice by the league office, or the referees. The league is rigged to let offensive stars rule and other players just have to suck it up. Also, not to say that they rig it to where a particular team wins a particular game or series, but it is rigged where all the excellent young players (Devon Harris, who really is quicker than D Wade) gets all the calls against him, because he isn’t a 30-pt a game scorer. Tim Duncan is the king of the “Star-protected call”. The Mavs/Spurs series further proved that. Damp and Diop would play perfect position defense, Duncan would dribble to the middle, shoot a little jump-hook, and run into the defense just a little, then the foul would go on the defender. Total bull!! On another note:
Dallas made a big mistake by assuming the Championship after the first two games. Miami is making the same mistake, or at least the fans on the blogs are, after winning their home games. Honestly, when
you get down to the finals and noone is left but the best, either team
can win on any given night. That’s why it isn’t a 1-game finals;
Instead, they play best of 7. Dirk and Josh will get a chewing-out and may get 80 between them in game 5. Shaq and Wade may score the same. You never know what’s going to happen. You never know which crappy calls are going to go against who. (Yes, 1,2,3,4,5,6,or 7 bad calls over the course of 48+ minutes can make the difference in a win or loss. For all we know, J. Williams or D Harris may bust out for a 40+ game (not likely, but who knows?). All of you Heat fans can boast all you want, all your team has done is win its home games so far, just as Dallas has. But don’t forget, Miami has to win in Dallas. Dallas didn’t have to win in Miami. The chances of Miami actually winning in Dallas are not as good as the Heat fans think they are; and certainly not as good as Dallas’ chance of winning game 5 in Miami!! It took an overtime, an awesome free-throw performance from Wade, and 3 missed calls (all on the last play) for Miami to beat Dallas IN YOUR ARENA. All the Mavs have to do is what each team has done so far: win at home, but then again, it all depends on which players and referees show up.

By: Rick C

Rick C — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 11:08:37 +0000

Cuban used a reference from one of his coaches in his blog not long ago, and it said…”One of our coaches, if we win walks in the locker room with a cookie and shakes all the guys hands and says the same thing “on the left”. The Win column is on the left. It doesnt matter how you got there. You got there”

“It doesnt matter how you got there” is what it says.
Does Cuban believe in that? or just type it for the hell of it?

1st, superb talent on the Maverick team.
I’ve been watching NBA for 26 years, ever since Magic Johnson came to be a Laker. I am and will always be a Laker fan thru good and bad.
I’ve seen many bad calls in my time, and have criticized many officials as a fan over the years.
Now that I’m older I understand things I didnt back then. And one of them is that they arent perfect. The officiating is not any worse today than it was back then, or any better for that matter. As an official you have to nmake a split second decision,….with NO REPLAY like everyone gets to see. Once that call is made, it’s made. Roll with it. Quit complaining about the officiating. It’s senseless. And if the Mavericks were that good, the calls would not be a factor.
Finally someone agreed with what I was telling my Maverick friend and that is…..”Both teams have 48 minutes to make the best of their play, to put the other team away. You do not put yourself into position where one bad call can make a huge difference in a game”. The Mavericks dropped a big lead, Dirk Blowitzki missed another cruicial free throw, as did Howard. The Mavericks did not do what they needed to do, just like in game 3. Blew a 13 point lead in Q4. Blew and 8 point lead in last 2 minutes of game 5. They had their chances, and they didnt execute the kill.

Dont be mad at the Refs, be mad at your team for not sticking the dagger in the throat of the heat when they had that chance.

A fan sits on the sidelines and cheers his team on, the owner should be in the owners box out of site. The very reason I will not be a Maverick fan= Mark Cuban

Cuban to the Maverick fans/the NBA is like your boss trying to be your friend at the same time…it doesnt work.

Best wishes on tonights game.

By: Larry

Larry — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 11:08:37 +0000

HID’s ok, we like you like that.

See my comments on the DMN Blog, they can’t comment because the rules are not applied consistantly, and that is the problem, rules are not rules anymore…..Stern better fix this soon, but I doubt he can or will.

Larry

By: Randall

Randall — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 11:08:37 +0000

Man, where are all these Spurs fans coming from? Ha! Didn’t we send you bastards home already? You’d think you guys would just be all too excited to see the NBA season extended another game or two so you can cast more appreciative support to the only professional sporting league in America to put you on the map. The league grants you a team, the team brings national recognition and vast amounts of dollars to your city, and you want to bitch about the Mavs (and their owner) because they are still playing and you’re not??? How many banners do you have now? Shut up, grab a seat and a beer, and enjoy the show from the sidelines for once.

By: Bill Smith

Bill Smith — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 11:08:36 +0000

Mark,

You are right on. The media is too quick to write things without checking them out. I took journalism 101 and before you write anything you should have AT LEAST two sources saying the same thing.

I can’t wait to watch David Stern had you the Larry O’Brian Trophy and then everyone waiting on you to rip into him, only to hear you say, “Thank you Mr. Stern.”

By: Caphcky

Caphcky — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 11:08:36 +0000

Mark
Thank You for all you do and for coming out and correcting the so-called truth. I wish you would leave Texas though, come to The Nations Capital and buy all teams that don’t have Redskins on their stationary. Rid us of these frauds we have in this town and you’ll be the #1 sports fan and best owner in the business (which you already are).