About that whole K-Mart technical thing...

by Andrew Feinstein on May 26, 2009 8:06 AM MDT

Kudos to Denver Stiffs reader "Lucas" for sending in this Mark Stein article claiming that Kenyon Martin has had three technical fouls rescinded (previously unbeknownst to me), meaning that last night's technical was just his third, not sixth as we've all feared. I've since received confirmation from my sources that this is true. Yeah!!

Tweet Comment 13 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Best thing I have read all day.

When a Nugget (I'm looking in your general direction K-mart) finally approaches the tech-limit, I hope that the refs are going to be as generous as they were last night with Kobe, when Salvatore all but begged Kobe to shut-up so he wouldn't have to T him up. Something tells me that JR and K-mart will not receive this same courtesy.

by JTR on May 26, 2009 8:31 AM MDT reply actions

The NBA and ESPN are not going to let it happen. I would love to be wrong but we'll have to rain threes to win this series. If we think the refs have been questionable to date, you haven't seen anything yet.

by Anonymous on May 26, 2009 9:20 AM MDT reply actions

We have to play so there is no doubt and have sufficient cushions to prevent joining the list of teams who have been screwed by NBA refs in a Game 7 in LA.

by Rob on May 26, 2009 9:43 AM MDT reply actions

Refs have been dangling from Kobe's short and curly's all series long. Those damn puppet commercials are STILL running too. The conspiracy hasn't gone away yet! Nor will it and we need more games like last night to eliminate any potential interference in our path to the finals.

PS, that puppet commercial would be a colossal FAIL if it didn't have LeBron saying that last line to save it... the "Why do we live together?" comment saves it from total waste.

by Eric K on May 26, 2009 10:31 AM MDT reply actions

There's a poll on ESPN right now asking who is the best team left in the playoffs and the Nuggets seem to be the favorites at 36% followed by the Magic at 34% then there is a huge drop off with the Cavs at 16% and guess who's last? That's right, the Fakers at 14%. Got to say, I never thought I would see the day.

by Goldennugget on May 26, 2009 10:54 AM MDT reply actions

The puppet crap is wearing on me. I'm glad Dwight had something to say about it. It was something like "It's disrespectful...It's like they've already counted us and Denver out."

It is truly disrespectful. Kind of ironic also that their using puppets to get their message out, as David Stern is the grat puppet master.

The only thing that would make me believe it's not a conspiracy is if I start seeing dwight and Melo puppets, talking ish to the Kobe LeBron puppets.

The calls will only get worse if Denver/Orlando keep playing good basketball. The NBA wants to stretch these series to 6 or 7. The more games played, the more advertisement, the more ticket sales, the more merch sold, etc.

If the refs called the games straight up it would be Denver in 5.

If the Nuggets pull off an upset in game 5 I fully expect to see the worst officiating to date in game 6. To be followed by suspensions and technical foul calls galore.

by Joelsopinion on May 26, 2009 11:51 AM MDT reply actions

In what other profession would you see marketing to the degree that we do with LeBron/Kobe when there are still other candidates to win the Championship? ESPN has VitaminWater ads on the left and right of it's homepage with them featured as well. Do they think that we can't read between the lines? Are we moronic WWE fans? It's all about ratings, which are trumping real basketball being played... that's sad. The NBA is no better than the WWE if they are "working" their sport over intentionally for the sole purpose of generating as much revenue as possible.

All the Laker fags will still wind up watching the Finals if the Nuggets beat them anyway... same goes for the loser team in the East. I'll be watching the Lakers/Cavs final if that's indeed what it boils down to, so I don't see why the league would purposly cater to the "casual" aka "bandwagon" fan of the sport by totally tarnishing its credibility and throwing series' into the bigger market teams favor. What will the drop off be in ratings if Denver goes over LA? 5%? 10%? More? Bottom line is that fringe margin worth your respectability?

Real fans will watch regardless.

by Eric K on May 26, 2009 1:41 PM MDT reply actions

I go from depressed to euphoric every other day.

by magster on May 26, 2009 1:43 PM MDT reply actions

How many techs does melo have?

by ishlifyhead on May 26, 2009 3:37 PM MDT reply actions

No, the Nuggets would've won this one in 5 (or even in 4) if they executed better and didn't blow game 1 and 3 and didn't start jacking up 3 all over the place in game 3. And let's not forget the inbound pass thing. Plus, the Nuggets shot 14 free-throws more than the Lakers in game 4 (and had more free-throws than LA in game 1 and 2 as well). Did you notice Phil Jackson complaining about the Nuggets getting all the calls today?

The Nuggets, and not just the Lakers, had their fair share of calls going their way. Remember Billups' huge 3 with few seconds left in game 1 when his foot was out of bounds and the refs didn't say anything? Or the jump ball late in game 2 when JR Smith made an illegal move and ended up getting the ball. That should've been a violation. Instead of looking only at those calls that go against the Nuggets, why do we have to turn a deef ear to those calls that actually favor the Nuggets? Do we have to be homers all the times?

by Anonymous on May 26, 2009 5:54 PM MDT reply actions

It is truly disrespectful. Kind of ironic also that their using puppets to get their message out, as David Stern is the grat puppet master.
*************************************

do you realize that those commercials are made by Nike and not the NBA? There's not the NBA logo in those commercials. Every single commercial made by the NBA has the NBA logo on it. It's Nike who pulled out this crap sooner than they should've. And obviously Howard is not on those Nike commercials since he's an Adidas guy.

by Anonymous on May 26, 2009 6:02 PM MDT reply actions

Good post Erik K, couldn't agree more. I have always wondered realistically how many more fans the NBA could gain from L.A. being in the Finals every year as Stern said would be his dream scenario a few years back. Real NBA fans are going to watch no matter what, and I just don't understand the logic behind hyping up a Kobe vs Lebron Finals. Basketball is still a team game, and I have a feeling the Nuggets and Magic are going to prove that in the Conference Finals creating a total backfire of the Lebron vs Kobe guaranteed match-up.

by Goldennugget on May 26, 2009 6:14 PM MDT reply actions

@ Anon#1- Good point that the Nuggets lost games 1 and 3. No question about that. As far as the foul calls go, Denver led the NBA all year in free throw attempts. Why would that trend change now? Also the Lakers shot exactly 14 more free throws than the Nuggets in game 3. So your case holds no real truth. It does however show your bias towards last years WCF champs.

@ Anon#2- Bad business is bad business. Nike knows how much money the NBA stars bring in. The NBA knows this also. The NBA also knows that there are 28 other teams in it's league. It's bad way of business in that the NBA allowed NIKE to use the likeness of players under contract in the NBA, to promote a possible outcome to the season. It's bad business in that it alienates fans of those 28 other teams. They show NBA championship rings in the commercials, so please don't say that the NBA did not sign off on this marketing ploy. The NBA front office should have pulled the plug on this. Instead they show exactly where they stand. They have also led millions of fans to believe that the NBA has a stake in these adverstisements.

And please leave names next time you choose to throw words around.

by Joelsopinion on May 27, 2009 9:43 AM MDT reply actions

Comments For This Post Are Closed

STIFF LIST (as of 4/26 by Andrew Feinstein)

1. METTA WORLD PEACE

Metta resorted back to Ron Ron last Sunday by clubbing James Hardenwith an "inadvertent celebratory elbow", landing him a 7-game suspension. Apparently, changing his name didn't prevent NBA commissioner David Stern from overlooking Metta's past behavior problems.

2. CHARLOTTE BOBCATS

The 'Cats are on the verge of securing the worst winning percentage in NBA history. Given that the guy who runs the team - Michael Jordan - had previously drafted Kwame Brown and Adam Morrison, should this really be a shock?

3. OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER
The team that was supposedly built to overcome the lockout-shortened season managed to lose 7 of its last 14 games, ceding the Western Conference's 1-seed to the Spurs in the process. Their reward might be a first round matchup with defending champion Dallas.

4. BILLY HUNTER AND DEREK FISHER

With report after report coming out about NBPA union head Hunter's shady, nepotistic dealings and questions arising about Fisher's own role in dealing with NBA owners behind Hunter's back during the lockout, this off-the-court scandal could prove to be more exciting than the playoffs themselves!

5. STEVE NASH AND THE PHOENIX SUNS
The Suns are on this list for squandering the last few great seasons from Nash. Nash is on this list for his stupidly stubborn loyalty to a franchise as awful as the Suns.