<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">His stance infuriated Stern, who was at his condescending best Monday night when he said the matter wasn't closed. He said he'd decide whether Van Gundy could return as coach next season. "I don't want to restrict any option," Stern said. "It's not over." Oh, please. Presumably before he throws Van Gundy out, he'll sit down and watch some video. If he does, he'll see there's a problem. Van Gundy said the specific calls weren't the thing that upset him. He said it was the fact that the complaints of one owner, Dallas' Mark Cuban, would lead the NBA to have referees look more closely at one player. How could Stern be upset about this? Cuban admitted he'd filed the complaint. He said someone in the league office admitted some calls had been blown. At a time when the Rockets are furious at the way Yao is treated, the last thing Van Gundy wanted to hear is that officials are going to cut him even less slack. And by taking those complaints public, he turned the debate away from those fourth-quarter meltdowns in Games 3 and 4. If it was a diversion, it failed. Some of his players weren't even aware of the storm their coach had started. "No kidding? He said that?" David Wesley said. No matter. One of the things the Rockets get by having so many veteran players is a solid, consistent effort even when sportswriters attempt to turn the attention elsewhere. That effort bought them nothing Monday night. They missed too many foul shots, made too many mistakes and ? yes, it's true ? got too many bad calls on their way to a 103-100 loss to the Mavericks. They trail the best-of-seven series 3-2 and now have to win Game 6 Thursday in Houston and Game 7 Saturday in Dallas to keep going. They were never really in this game, and they were never really out of it. The Mavericks led virtually from start to finish, but the Rockets still had a chance to win at the end. If a bad turnover call hadn't gone against them with 56 seconds to go, if they hadn't missed 11 foul shots, if Jason Terry and Nowitzki hadn't nailed big shots, the Rockets might have won anyway. In an odd way, they ought to feel good about their chances. A team that's younger, deeper and quicker still can't put them away. "We can look back on a game like this and find 10 things that might have made the difference," Wesley said. The Rockets have been one or two plays away from winning three straight games. Their mission isn't impossible. "We'll rest and study and let it rip Thursday," Van Gundy said.</div> Source Go Jeff!
I heard about this and just laughed. Basically the refs are now biased against Yao, based on a specific memo sent out by the league which itself is based solely on cuban's whining. That's completely irresponsible and when van gundy calls them on it, he gets fined and threatened with a ban??? Riiight.
I honestly can't figure out why the NBA is so riled up about this. Everyone knows that officials go through evaluation sessions with the league after games, and it isn't suprising at all that they'd be asked to pay special attention to certain plays (and players making those plays) that haven't been well officiated. Van Gundy was frustrated that this inevitably means they'd be focusing harder on Yao and the alleged moving picks, and he obviously considers it an unfair bias. But it's perfectly natural that refs would be told to pay special attentions to certain players and plays they make. It's well known that some players attract special attention from refs (Dennis Rodman is a perfect example; Danny Fortson is another). It isn't a "conspiracy theory" to acknowledge it. The NBA (and David Stern, in particular) is making itself look really bad with its overboard reaction.
The NBA is mad because Van Gundy basically exposed the league by saying the ref warned him to tell him they'll be watching Yao more closely...Van Gundy has stated nothing false and he feels wronged that the refs are so influenced by a mere owner...I applaud him for being honest about the situation because some of the series has seen some brutal, explicit officiating (i.e. Nuggets/Spurs, Nets/Heat and of course, Rockets/Mavs)...The refs are trying to be in control more so than ever, instead of letting teams play...Van Gundy only stated what every owner and player has been thinking for some time now...Game 5 of the Rockets/mavs was some of the worst officiating I have seen...Now with the targets on them, hopefully refs will just call the game instead of trying to control it...
