The whiny bunch mock Dirk and pay

Yesterday, we posted an article blasting Wade for faking an injury and sitting out a half of the biggest game (Game 5) of the WWE Basketball Finals. We were not even aware that before the game James and Wade had mocked Dirk playing sick in Game 4.

Really Wade?

You're going to mock a guy that was clearly legitimately sick? How else do you explain Dirk missing the six shos in a row possibly for the first time in his career if not months or years. The dude had been making anything and everything before that night. 

Now, I understand that the media and players often embellish their illness. To this day, I have no reason to believe that Jordan was that sick when he played in the Finals. Because frankly, if he was that sick he would not have been playing.

But there is no doubt that Dirk played a game while being under the weather. You could see it in his face. And down 2-1 in a series, Dirk was much more worried about actually winning the game than attention whoring it up.

Attention whoring is your game James and Wade. And your game is weak. Wade faked an injury (infirmity) in Game 5, the very thing he had just mocked! And then when he could not come back in the game and make a heroic comeback he decided that he had enough of that. He did not want to even worry about his pretend injury going forward.

Perhaps Wade learned a little something something from his fellow whiner, James. Last year in a game against the Bulls James tried to make his second free throw with his left hand. When he completely bricked it he spent weeks faking a right elbow injury.

In James own words, "it's nothing structural." It was merely a "funny bone" injury. Oh yea, I've had funny bone injuries and then ran around like my arm needed to be in a sling. JACKASS.

Lebron made such a joke of himself that one dude even made a twitter account mocking him:

http://twitter.com/#!/lebronselbow

And let us take time to remember this play by Wade. The dude charges into Brian Cardinal, gets right up and and makes two free throws and then acts like he got shot in the hip. JACKASS.

  
Wade and James mocked Dirk and then went out and lost Game 5. Idiots. 

The sad thing is that we've seen this show before. Wade and James celebrated their Game 2 15 point fourth quarter lead right in front of the Mavs bench and then choked away the game.



The Heat have adequately proved the adage, 'fools mock but they shall mourn.'

Bonus: The third drama queen (Bosh) 

Faker! Wade's childish antics cost him this time

It seems appropriate that David Stern runs the NBA like the WWE because Dwyane Wade has taken WWE Basketball to the next level. 

In the first quarter of the pivotal Game 5 of the WWE Basketball Finals, Dwyane Wade banged into Brian Cardinal (The Custodian). He was okay though. He even immediately asked his teamates to help him up. He made his two free throws and then suddenly he acted like he suffered a Bo Jackson career ending hip injury. He was faking (remember Shots Heard is based on calling it how it is).

While his team needed him on the court, he was milking his pretend injury and dreaming of his coronation as the latest great sports hero of our time. He even built up the drama by calling his return to the game 'questionable.' Of course, nobody believed that he was not coming back into the game. Well anybody that isn't a stupid idiot didn't believe that anyways.

Wade did not bother to come back into the game until half way through the third quarter. The game was still close. And with the Heat down for most of a close game, he did not even bother to pretend that the pretend injury mattered.

Of course, maybe the plan all along was for a rested Wade to come back into a still close game relatively late. Maybe it was a ploy. Either way, the entire ploy insulted the senses.

Often times, the aftermath verifies the reality. In this case, the aftermath would be the post-game press conference. When Jason Terry was asked to regard Wade's injuries he pointed out that Wade was as aggressive as ever.

When Wade was asked to address the injury, he admitted that it did not affect his play and he would not regard it further. The charade had left a bad taste in his mouth. Moreover, he knew it was something of potential folklore that had only melted down into a pathetic ploy gone wrong.

Want further proof that Wade was faking? He wasted no time declaring that he would be fine to play Game 6. There was no talk of an MRI or whatever have you.

How many times have we seen Wade get touched and act like he got blasted? He has always loved the attention for the wrong reasons. His bad behavior is constantly reinforced by officials giving him 'star calls.' This time, he paid the price.

Picture 1: Dwyane Wade is always looking to the refs (and viewers) for sympathy. It's no wonder that Charles Barkley call his team 'The Whiny Bunch.'

Picture 2: When this is your self image, you want to make a heroic second half entrance and lead your team to the promised land.

2011 WWE Basktetball Finals: The numbers do lie, Points in the taint

Through four games of the 2011 WWE Basketball Finals, the Dallas Mavericks have shot 21 more free throws than the Miami Heat. The Phil Jackson approach to such numbers would be to think that the Mavericks are getting the benefits of the calls. That would be a fallacious approach to the matter (as was generally the case in Phil's history). Not all teams were created equal.

Let us consider why the Mavs should get to the free throw line more often than the Heat.

The Mavs size advantage

The Dallas Mavericks have three seven footers (Dirk Nowitzky, Tyson Chandler, Brendan Haywood) who offensively perform on the low post. The Miami Heat have none. The closest thing they have to a low post presence is Chris Bosh, who is really a high post player and has no intention of consistently bodying up the Dallas bigs. For that matter, he has no intention of rough housing with anybody's bigs. Shaq knew what he was saying when he called Bosh the Rupaul of Big Men (Oh and special shout-out to the RealGM.com a-hole mods  who thought it was cool to censor any and all conversation on that matter).

It's also noteworthy that the Heat would much rather see Haywood (the league's worst free throw shooter) on the line rather than shooting chippies. They will foul him on purpose and if the refs conveniently miss the call, all the better.

Mavs are ready for the James and Wade drives (and they do not need to foul)

It is true that Miami Heat stars Lebron James and Dwyane Wade can consistently use their quickness to get into the lane. But when it happens, the Dallas defense is geared to have helpers prevent easy lay-ups and dunks by those players. Of course that will leave somebody open, but let's face facts, the Miami role players are not inspiring fear in anybody. 

The strategy is clearly to force the role players to make open shots or force James and Wade into bad shots. It's a solid strategy, but some of it is negated when interficials look for any excuse to turn a non-foul into a foul.

How often in this series have you seen Wade and James get easy driving non fast break lay-ups and dunks? You could probably count them on one hand.

There is just rarely a need to foul James and Wade. That fact is reflected in Game 1. In that game James and Wade shot a combined 7 free throws. 

When David Stern inserted his Company Man Dream Team of Joey Crawford, Ken Mauer and Ed Malloy for Game 2, they called enough pretend fouls to put Wade himself on the line 12 times. The Heat went to the line 24 times that game to the Mavs 21.

Mavs have more players that frequently get to the rim

Besides James and Wade, who gets to the rim for Miami? That's right, nobody! On the Mavs side you have Dirk, Chandler, Haywood, Marion, Barea and even Terry. Even a player like Kidd is going to penetrate the lane more consistently then any third player on the Heat. 

Essentially, foul shots are the result of getting to the basket and the other team not wanting to give up an easy basket. In a fairly officiated game it is unlikely that the Mavericks would have less than a ten free throw surplus.

***

It is all about Points In The Taint

During last year's WWE Basketball Finals between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers it was obvious just how many ways that the interficials could decipher the outcome. Shots Heard had to make up a term to describe it. That term was and is 'points in the taint.'

The Lakers won the points in the taint battle and their series clinching play was even a points in the taint play (Gasol landing/traveling before making his series clinching shot).

Back in the days of yore, teams that won the points in the paint match-up usually won the game. In today's NBA, teams like the Miami Heat (who have no low post presence) win games and series by winning the points in the taint battle.

Points in the taint comes in many fashions. It can come by the interficials allowing the Heat to bang against the Mavs on one end and calling touch fouls on the Mavs at the other end. That is actually the best way for the interficials to have an impact on the game. The cumulative effect of calling a game in that manner can turn a 20 point blow-out by the Mavs into a 4 point win for the Heat. This is a very under-rated tactic. And the best part for the interficials, is that there is no signature play that points towards unfairness or corruption.

Missed calls count too. At one point in Game 2, Wade dunked an offensive rebound into the hoop while it was easily over the cylinder.

Last but not least - more and more officials are using technical fouls to deflate a team's morale. On two occasions, the interficials have hit Mavs coach Rick Carlisle with a bogus technical foul. Both times, the refs made a bad call that was civilly objected by Carlisle. Yet, the interficials added insult to insult by t'ing him up. During the first such instance, announcer Jeff Van Gundy said he monitored the entire interaction and found absolutely no wrong doing (including cussing) by Carlisle.

In the previous three five game series, the Miami Heat out shot their opponents from the free throw line by about 50 free throws per series. Given how 'soft' the Miami Heat really are, that's a mind boggling stat.

The discrepancy was so profound that before the series even began, James and Wade were bragging about the touch fouls on drives being a part of their team's model for success. As a fan that watches that type of crap unfold, I'm sickened. It's like a victim having to hear his assaulter brag about the crime after the fact. And yes, the state of NBA officiating is a crime to the senses (and likely a real crime that has yet to go prosecuted).

Make no mistake. The Mavs have a free throw surplus, but the Heat are winning points in the taint. With each of the last (potential) three games being so much more critical we can only expect the points in the taint advantage to be more profound.

If the Mavs play their A game like they did against the Lakers, they willl win the series regardless of points in the taint. The same concept held true for the Celtics when they played the Heat. They were the better team on paper. But a tired team playing their C game lost that series in 5.

If the Mavs play their C game like they have been, they will lose this series. 

If the Mavs play their B game, anything can happen, assuming the Heat don't bring their A game. But so-so jump shooting teams rarely bring their A-game. And the Heat's A game is only an A if good shooting is combined with good defense that leads to fast break points. That is a rare combination for the Miami Heat who are essentially a two and a half man team.

Either way, expect points in the taint to have a major impact on the conclusion of this series.

Picture 1: Eric Spoelstra and Dwyane Wade tell Joey Crawford how he can be a better interficial. Seriously, why do the officials insist on conferencing with the 'stars?' It's to make sure they are content and have reached their star call quota.

Picture 2: How often do we see it? Wade goes in for a lay-up free and clear, grazes against a finger and a ref blows his whistle for the and one. Sickening!

Picture 3: You won't catch Crawford sharing intimate looks with the 'mid market' team's players like he does with Dwyane Wade.

It's Go Time For Joey Crawford

Despite David Stern's best efforts, the Mavs and Heat series is tied two to two after four games. For marketing purposes, Stern needs two Miami victories in three games for the Dwyane Wade / Lebron James 'Dynasty' to begin.

It's time for Stern to go to his best company man, Joey Crawford. Shots Heard is predicting Joey Crawford appearances in the most pivotal games, Game 5 and Game 7. Book it.

And if for some reason we are wrong and Stern does not want to appear so blatant in using Crawford in WWE Basketball Finals games 5 and 7 two years in a row, then still expect to see Crawford in Game 6 or 7 in Miami. 

If the Mavs are up 3-2, Stern will use Crawford to stem the tide and at least get the series to a Game 7. If the Heat are up 3-2, Stern will save Crawford in the event that a Game 7 is necessary. The latter is optimal for Stern. He loves Game 7 money and having his best man on the floor when the series and financial vitality of the NBA are in the balance.

WWE Basketball...Stern predictably rigs Game 4 of Heat vs. Bulls

True to the spirit of my word, I have not followed  the Eastern Conference Finals charade. I know that the WWE has the higher rated Miami Heat slated for a victory. There is no need to watch a rigged fight. But just for fun, I flipped the channel to overtime of Game 4 of the Heat/Bulls. I did not bother to watch regulation.

First thing I did was to identify which company men were on the case. 

Right away, I spotted Joey Crawford's bald shiny head (He is Stern's number one man). Bennett Salvatore was on the case. He is another Stern favorite. The third referee was Ed Malloy. He seems to have a Tim Donaghy heir about him. Malloy was the company man that needlessly ejected Paul Pierce during the fourth quarter of the 2011 Eastern Conference Semifinals Game 2 Miami Heat win against the Celtics.

Stern was clearly serious about getting the Heat a crushing 3-1 lead against the Bulls. The line-up paid dividends. 

Late in overtime, Lebron James drove to the basket, barreled into the chest of Joakim Noah and made a lay-up. James wanted the 'and one.' These days, 'stars' not only expect to have their offensive fouls ignored, they whine when they are not rewarded with free throws in such instances. 

It's the Kobe Bryant Syndrome. How many times have we seen Bryant throw elbows, push defenders away and then drive to the basket get then get a ghost foul and one. I for one have seen it enough to know just how rigged the NBA is. But this is nothing new. Back in the 98 WWE Finals, Michael Jordan two hand pushed Bryon Russell away and then nailed a wide open shot to win the championship.

The no-calls are a huge weapon in the company men's arsenal. Never was this more true than in overtime of the Heat and Bulls. In overtime, the interficials (refs) swallowed their whistles when Lebron James traveled and when Dwyane Wade goal tended.

On the traveling no-call, James pump faked, and the defender lunged forward and closed out without fouling. With the shot clock winding down, James now had no space to take a good shot. That was no problem, he simply had to switch his pivot foot while literally taking two steps to free himself from the defender. It was an amazingly obvious travel, but the refs did not want to call the travel against their dog in the fight. James subsequently made the jump shot.

On the very next possession, Derrick Rose drove to the hoop, shot a scoop shot that was on its downward path when Dwyane Wade blocked the shot. Once again, the company men swallowed their whistle.

That four point swing sealed the win (and essentially the series) for the Heat. Stern gets what he wants; LBJ/Wade championship ratings. The company men will get rewarded with their per diem championship games and playoff bonuses.

It's ridiculous. It's not even a conspiracy theory any longer. We've seen this before. David Bowie said it best. 'The film is a saddening bore.'

Picture 1: 'This is my house!' Ed Malloy tells Paul Pierce. 'Get out of here! My Heat are going to win this thing! I don't care if Wade has to take out Rondo in Game 3! This is our series!'

Picture 2: No amount of pleading by Avery Johnson was going to stop Bennett Salvatore from fallaciously putting Dwyane Wade on the free throw line during the 2006 WWE Basketball Finals.

Picture 3: 'You'll get your chance smart guy!' Joey Crawford shows fans just how far he's willing to go to shut up the competition.