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Sunday, June 18, 2006
Sayson: ‘Low blow’ on Mavs means 3-2 Heat lead
By Homer Sayson
Secondovertime
MIAMI – The Heat were up 68-51, and time had whittled down to 6:32 in the third quarter. Dallas was setting its halfcourt offense when forward Josh Howard fumbled the ball right into the waiting arms of Jason Williams.
Quickly, Williams streaked for a fastbreak. In front of him was the Heat halfcourt, unguarded and open as the San Fernando Valley. Sensing that Shaq was trailing him, Williams reduced speed, and just right below the free-throw line, he gently scooped the ball towards an anxious O’Neal.
Shaq enveloped the Spalding into his massive hands. He took off, and the Miami Airlines Arena crowd, expecting a thunderous dunk, held its breath. The building, packed with 20,114 fans, was ready to explode into an unholy din.
Shaq, meanwhile, was in mid-air, his mouth drooling over the sight of an open rim. And then all of a sudden, Jerry Stackhouse darts from the blind side. The 10-year veteran shoved Shaq, breaking the play, and sending the 7-1 O’Neal crashing beneath the basket.
“It was a hard foul,” Stackhouse insisted. “When Shaq is going to the basket, we want to try to make him go to the free-throw line and earn it.”
Hard? Now way, Shaq says, kidding that “my daughters tackle me harder when I come home. I’m one of the last players of the old school, and you know, you just have to take a hard foul like that and keep moving. It actually felt pretty good to get hit like that. Thank you, Jerry. Appreciate it.”
Funny, but the NBA isn’t laughing.
And so yesterday afternoon, while the Dallas Mavericks were recuperating from the wounds of Thursday night’s blowout, the league announced Stackhouse will be suspended one game for his Game 4 malfeasance.
“The contact by Jerry Stackhouse was clearly excessive and warrants a suspension,” NBA vice president Stu Jackson said in a press release.
“It makes no sense at all,” moaned Mavs owner Mark Cuban. “It’s just a bunch of baloney,” chimed Mavs coach Avery Johnson. But it’s worse than that, said Donnie Nelson, Dallas’ president for basketball operations. “It’s a low blow, especially at this critical time. We’re really surprised and appalled.”
Why all the fuss?
Because Stackhouse is key part in the Mavs rotation. He has averaged 13.8 points in 21 playoffs games and he has burned the Heat for 13 per in these Finals. He is a solid perimeter defender, a veteran who doesn’t shrink in crunch time.
The 6-foot-6 Stackhouse is easy to like, a consummate pro who does his job without moaning for minutes. Remember, he was once an 20-plus scorer and a starter but he willingly gave up both to play off the Mavs bench.
But Stackhouse made a terrible foul in Game 4. He never has been a rough player, but in that skirmish with Shaq, he clearly made no attempt for the ball and just mugged O’Neal. You have to wonder, was it payback for Game 1, when Shaq busted his nose for three stitches worth of pain?
We will never know. What we know is that Stackhouse won’t be suiting up for Game 5. And with the Heat already riding in a mammoth wave of momentum, the absence of Stackhouse is a terrible blow to the Mavs.
As of yesterday, I was still convinced that Game 5 will be a coin-toss. But now that Stackhouse has been sidelined, it’s an easy call. Miami will head back to Dallas with a 3-2 series lead.
(homsay@hotmail.com)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (June 18, 2006 issue)
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