Much to my chagrin i fear the NBA finals have already been played.

With that said I have to say that after reading through a recent post by my man Bri Moore, I feel that I can safely make the assumption that no one outside of South Texas is dissapointed the Spurs are not representing the West in this year's finals.  With Moore's post and the comments thereafter to back my assumption, its evident that there is a general feeling amongst almost everyone that the Spurs are boring

But why?

Outside of the Dallas' game two thrashing of San Antonio, which I unfortunately payed to witness, was the west semifinal not one of the most riveting and epic 7 game series' in recent memory?  Two overtime games, including game 7!  The other four games being decided by a grand total of 9 points.  Of those four two being decided by only a point.  All four were still any team's game inside 2 minutes  I was literally emotionally drained after almost every game in the series.  This is the first time in my life that I was ever happy to see a series end with my team coming up short, simply because these nail-biting, down-to-the-wire, "balls to the wall" contests were more than i could take.

Is this something that only a Spurs fan can appreciate?  Can one person look me in the eye after watching that series and tell me that they were not entertained by every game save game two?  I will concede to the fact that the Spurs don't put up a lot of points.  Does this make them boring?  What really matters in an NBA game?  Is it not the fourth quarter? 

What the Spurs did in game 7 was incredible.  After weathering lights out shooting by the Mavericks in the first half, and being down by as much as 20 at one point, they were still able to somehow claw their way back into it. 

How about the boring Tim Duncan.  41 points, 15 rebounds, and 6 assists.  He gave everything he had in that second half.  He was so cramped and dehydrated after the game that he literally went straight from the press conference to the trainer's room and was put on IV's for several hours to rehydrate himself.  Isn't this what its all about?  He and his fellow teammates showed more heart than I have ever witnessed.  I have never been more proud of my team.  Not when we won our first title in '99, or after finally getting past the Lakers in '03 to take the title, or even last year after winning the finals in a hard fought game 7.

As a Spurs fan it hurts to see my team not in the finals, but as an NBA fan it hurts even more to hear that almost everyone is glad that they aren't.  Without taking anything from the Mavericks, I am still not convinced they are better than the Spurs.  Furthermore, the Spurs deserve a little more respect than hearing everyone say they are glad they aren't in the finals.  They are just as an exciting club to watch as the next team.  Granted, they come from a small market down in San Antonio where seemingly no one wants to watch them not because they are boring, but more likelt because they are such a small market team with an equally small fan base.  Could that be what its really about?  They don't have a colorful player similar to the likes of Shaq, or an even more colorful owner like Mark Cuban.

Ask anyone in San Antonio and they will tell you.  Down here we love our Spurs.  To us, we love them because they are just as exciting to us as the Lakers are to those crazy cats from Los Angeles.  Watch highlights from the epic west semifinal from this year and I bet you won't disagree.

The Mavs fans truly have no class or dignity as evident in game 6.  Why do I say this you ask?

Why on earth would any so called "fan" boo a man who gave everything he could to the Mavericks franchise night in and night out, through thick and thin, for over eight years?  And in turn for everything he gave to the Mavericks and the city of Dallas why on earth would he be greeted by his former "fans" with resounding boos?

The answer is because the Mavericks fans have no class.  If anyone forgot Michael Finley did not leave the Mavericks franchise by choice.  Finley became an expendable salary cap move by a team who seeked to avoid paying luxury tax because they felt his salary was inflated.  Under the terms of the NBA's collective bargaining agreement Dallas was able to exercise a one time amnesty clause and cut Finley to avoid paying this tax. 

If not only bad enough to be abandoned by a team that he had given so much, Finley was also abandoned by the "fans" of that same team. 

Notice how I use quotations around the word "fans".  Any person with any common decency about them would know that Mike Finley is not the man who should be booed.  If the Mavericks "fans" want someone to boo they should save it for Mark Cuban.  If anyone he is the bad guy here, not Finley. 

Imagine working for a company for eight years.  Now throughout these eight years you give everything you can to improve that company.  Throughout the time you are there you see it blossom from a small and relatively unestablished  entity into a huge success.  This company rewards you for your large contributions by making sure that you receive the monetary compensation you deserve.  Now imagine that after eight years of hard work, dedication, and personal sacrifice this company decides to let you go because they feel that what you are payed no longer equals your output.  You, of course, feel that you can still make a significant contribution to the company but they do not share the same sentiment.  Feeling deserted by those whom you have worked so hard for you are forced to look for work somewhere else.  Subsequently you take a job with a rival company and in turn are forced to be in competition with those who used to be your co-workers.  To top it all off, those same co-workers now hate you simply for the fact that you were forced to take a job with a rival company out of nothing more than necessity. 

How would you feel?

Mavericks "fans" should be ashamed of their treatment of Finley.  It shows a complete lack of class on their part.  After all he did for Dallas over the years I would think he deserves a little better than that.  Granted he may now play of a rival team, but that in no way merits him receiving the boos. Maybe for a second Dallas "fans" should put themselves in his shoes.  Hopefully then they might realize that although he may now wear a different uniform, he still deserves their respect.

I arrived home on Monday night to the voice of my roommate Marco:

"Spurs Suck!  Go Mavericks!"

Marco is a self proclaimed former Spurs fan from the pre-championship years.  He claims he gave up on them after years of dissapointing early exits in the playoffs. 

"I hate the Spurs", he rants as he continues to patronize my best friend Justin and I.  Given the current situation I am left with little ground to stand on.  My team is in the the hole, three games to one.  Our opponent has been relentless.  They just seem to be a little bit faster, and a little bit younger, and seem to want it just a little bit more.  The end seems near.  What we have worked for all season long seems to be slipping from our grasp.

Everything about this series has been frustrating to a Spurs fan.  None of the breaks seem to be going the our way.  Two games in a row that could have easily gone either way have fallen in favor of the opponent.  At this point there are only two things that can happen to a team. 

Give up or keep fighting.

The Spurs know how bad the Mavericks want it.  They have never been this close before.  They are on the brink of beating the one team that has been their bane for the last 5 years.  This is not the same team they faced in years past, however, this team is different...better.  The Spurs could easily say that the series is over and that statistics show that only 5% of teams have ever come back from facing a 3-1 deficit.  Giving up would be the easy thing to do, but I still believe.

My dad has been a police officer for over 30 years.  Often times I have asked him, "Dad,  what would you do if you were in a situation that you thought was the end?"  His response is always simple.  "I wouldn't go down without a fight son".  Words of wisdom I always say.  Words that the San Antonio Spurs must take to heart when they take to the floor tonight. 

Collectively as one the Spurs fans must make it known to everyone.  We still believe. 

Let me just state for the record, the Dallas Mavericks are a great team.  In overtime of game four they simply outplayed the Spurs.  Jason Terry was straight ridiculous making critical shots one after the other.  Devin Harris delivered another great performance and Dirk was his usual self with 28 points on 7 of 12 shooting.

HOWEVER!

The officiating has become downright unacceptable.  So bad in fact that it had a huge effect on the outcome of a game, again!  No one is taking away from how great the Mavericks are, but crucial horrible calls down the stretch are just ridiculous.  More specifically making a horrible call on Bruce Bowen when the Spurs are clinging to a 2 point lead with 8 seconds remaining in the game and sending a 90% free throw shooter to the line.  This is ludicrous. 

Nevermind the fact that the foul, if on anyone, should have been on Dirk Nowitzki.  Nevermind the fact that in calling said foul the referees sent one of the top 5 free throw shooters in the league to the line and handed Dallas a tie game.  Whatever happened to "letting them play"?  Would Dirk or one of his fellow Dallas teammates have made a shot to tie it if the foul had not been called on Bowen?  If they had would Duncan have still missed the game winner at the buzzer?  We'll never know.  The fact of the matter is that the call made was wrong, period.

The Spurs are now down to the Mavericks 3-1 and on the brink of elimination.  If some of the bad calls that were made in closing minutes of both games 3 and 4 had not been made this series might be knotted at 2-2, or the Spurs might even be the ones up 3-1.  These two teams are so evenly matched that the officials can not afford to give either team an unfair advantage by making bad calls in the clutch.  Instead of being whistle happy the referees might consider being conservative with their calls.  After all, I think the last thing fans want to see is a battle of free throws.

The Spurs loss at American Airlines Arena was a tough one.  Grinding it out on the road in a pivotal game 3 only to come up one point short in the end is hard to take.  The Spurs played an extremely tough opponent tonight.  No, im not talking about the Dallas Mavericks.  Im talking about the three guys who officiated game three.

For every Maverick fan who thinks this contest was called fairly I hate to tell you this, but it was far from that. 

The Mavs went to the line fifty times in game three.  Thats right, thats not a misprint, 50 times!  Compared to the Mavs 50 attempts the 32 freebies the Spurs received seems miniscule.  For those of you who are mathematically challenged that is 18 more times the Mavs were at the stripe.  The Mavs took full advantage of this converting 17 more free throws than the Spurs.  Now this may not seem like a big deal to some, but in a one point game this is a HUGE differential.

Only one of the Mavs starters, Josh Howard, had more than four fouls.  However, NOT ONE of the Spurs starters including Ginobili, who didn't start, had LESS than four fouls.  The only reason that Howard and Dampier had more than four was because Duncan was being so aggresive in the low post all night.  Remove Tim from the game and not one of the Mavs players would have had more than 4 fouls.

To make things worse Tim Duncan fouls out with a minute left thanks to a ticky-tack call when Dirk steps on Tim's foot, spraining his ankle and falling into Duncan to draw the whistle.  This foul was one of countless horrible calls, and non-calls, made by the officials throughout the night.  Losing their one go-to guy when they needed him the most proved to be a crucial loss for the Spurs.

The Spurs trailed almost the entire game until mid-way through the fourth quarter.  When they finally took the lead they were unable to maintain it when everytime they seemingly made a defensive stop, the whistle was blown.  This inability to sustain a run was just one of many tough breaks the Spurs received from Joey Crawford and company.  Dirk Nowitzki alone took 24 free throws.  In other words he took 3/4 of the number of free throws the entire Spurs team took combined!  Out of his 27 points 21 of them came from the stripe!!!!  This guy is not Shaq!  In fact, he doesn't even play much in the low post, a position where players tend to draw a lot of contact, hence more fouls.  Timmy, who did virtually all his damage in the low post, shot a mere 8 times from the line.  1/3 of what his Dallas counterpart attempted.  This one discrepancy alone proves how poorly this game was officiated.  It is obvious that the officials were giving Dirk a lot more respect than they should have.

I want to hear Dallas fans and their rebuttle to all this, because i guarantee no one will be able to provide any type of legitimate feedback to prove me wrong.  Like i said, its a matter of using common sense to see that the Spurs were not outplayed by any stretch of the imagination.  The numbers speak for themselves in this one.  It makes sense too when one considers the fact that the league would prefer to not have another Spurs/Pistons final, being that it drew poor ratings last year.  I believe this all a conspiracy by the NBA to have a Mavs/Pistons finals matchup....but thats a whole other blog.