Insider Request: Chris Sheridan chat

[WraithSentinel]

http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/chatESPN?event_id=15923

Can someone post it?

[johnnyde]

Welcome to The Show! On Friday, ESPN.com's NBA reporter Chris Sheridan will stop by to chat NBA playoffs.

Chris came to ESPN from the Associated Press where he spent the last 10 years as the lead NBA writer.

Sheridan's chat tips off at 10 a.m. ET on Friday so send in your questions now and join him right here for the answers.

Sheridan archives: Columns | Chats

SportsNation Chris Sheridan: Good morning from New York, where I find myself after pulling an all-nighter in Detroit to catch the first flight out. I'm operating on about 90 minutes of sleep here, so I'll be in rare chat room form. The topic du jour is the Eastern Conference finals, but as usual, we'll dabble elsewhere, too. Here we go ...

Gregg (Cleveland, OH): HOSED...the anticipation travel call on sasha and the non-call on lebron were unbelievable. And how does Mike Brown not lose it?? He has to make a more bold statement today, right?? I've come away from those two games feeling more convinced than ever that the Cavs are the better team and will eventually win this series. Younger, more athletic, better rebounders, and the best defensive team the pistons have faced...

SportsNation Chris Sheridan: Hosed is a good word. There are other good words, too, and I was looking for a few choice ones from Mike Brown last night after the Cavs got hosed, as you say. Check out this morning's Daily Dime for my take on it. As I said in the piece, Mike can't be a pushover when getting hosed. He's gotta stand up for his guy, and he's got show a little righteous indignation at the very least. No one with a brain in their head is going to accuse him of making excuses, which seemed to be what the cavs were most worried about after the game last night.

Jim (Athens, Ohio): I think it's funny how Andy is now a flopper ever since all the national coverage. Did they not see the first 82 games of the season?

SportsNation Chris Sheridan: Sheed was pretty hard on Varejao at the interview podium last night, calling him a flopper _ among other things. Not sure how fallin back after getting smacked in the jaw qualifies as flopping, though.

Marc (Akron): Didn't my Cavs lost this game because (1) we squandered a 12 point lead by scoring 26 in the second half and (2) Larry Hughes missed a 7-foot jumper?

SportsNation Chris Sheridan: Well, yes. And you lost Game 1 in part because Z missed a shot he should have hit one possession before The Pass. They lost both games for a lot of reasons, Marc, and now I'm curious as to how they're going to lose Game 3. How's this for a dream scenario: Cavs down 77-76 with 10 seconds left, the ball's in LBJ's hands, he drivs to the hole and shoots and misses, and this time he gets the foul call. You think he's making both foul shots for the win? I would have liked to see if he could have made them last night, but I guess Jimmy Clark, Bernie Fryer and Mark Wunderlich had an earlier plane to catch than I did.

Tom (Sydney, Australia): I think it's funny how LeBron was criticized so much for passing in Game 1, then in Game 2 he forces up a bad shot in the same situation and is not criticized for that? Foul or no foul (and I don't think there was much there), he should have either pump faked to draw a foul, or taken it stronger towards the rim. He expected to get fouled and then missed as a result of that. Why is the media not all over this?

SportsNation Chris Sheridan: Tom, take another close look at the drive and the shot. Rip whacks him across the arms several times on the drive, and there is unmistakably clear contact on the shot. He got mugged, basically, after doing exactly what he said he would do _ make the right basketball play _ in the aftermath of his much-debated Game 1 decision.

Brad (Ann Arbor): Chris, you can't be serious with all this Cavs love. Varejao was flopping all night long and Sheed hardly touched him on that shot. Second, are you really so sure that Lebron didn't commit the off-arm foul on Hamilton?

SportsNation Chris Sheridan: It's not Cavs love and it's not Pistons hate. I could care less who wins this series, just like I could care less who wins any series I cover. Sportswriters only root for good stories. On your second point, I didn't see it as an off-arm foul. I saw it as a mugging.

Tom (East Lansing): even if lebron gets fouled and hits both, pistons still have 8 seconds, two timeouts and a chance to win right, chris? i mean people act like the game was completely stolen from the cavs, first Z and marshall missed, then james missed, hughes missed, and side show bob missed, all great looks (besides james' shot) and yet they all missed, shouldnt that mean they didnt deserve this win?

SportsNation Chris Sheridan: Agreed that the Pistons might have won it if LBJ had hit the FTs and Detroit got he final shot. And I would have been extra curious to see who took that shot after reading John Hollinger's piece yesterday which included a great chart of individual players' success rates on shots in the final 24 seconds of the 4th quarter with their team wither tied or trailing by one or two points. (the data comes from 82games.com, which charted it over the past three seasons). Chauncey Billups is 5-for-31 (16 percent) in such situations. LeBron was 8-for-29 (28 percent) going into last night.

Matt (Boston): How much of the no-call last night was due to the perception that too much was decided at the free-throw line in last year's playoffs? Seems they've been fairly consistent in letting them play this year.

Mike (Washington DC): If you want weak calls, go watch last years playoffs. Wade was getting breathed on and shooting 20 free throws. This year is a man's playoffs. Detroit over San Antonio. My question is why do you like girlyman basketball and referees handing championships over to players who drive into contact and then take a dive?

SportsNation Chris Sheridan: There's a rare back-to-back posting, one of Stein's best chat room moves. Look, Mike, I don't want weak calls, and I don't think watching Dwyane Wade shoot FTs made for particularly compelling theatre last year. That's not the point here. My take is that the refs missed an obvious, obvious foul.

Eric (Ann Arbor): I would like to know if you think the officiating on the last play was inconsistent with the officiating throughout the course of the game. I felt there was pretty heavy contact throughout the game without a lot of calls. Do you suggest plays at the end of the game should be officiated differently?

John (detroit): Chris, I'm not coming in here with any sort of venom, but check the tape again. LeBron clearly used his off-arm to push off on Rip prior to the shot. The refs let them play, and the non-call was consistent with how the game was called all nite. Oh, and it's gotta feel good for Cavs fan to see their $12mil/yr player brick an open 10-footer after the LeBron miss......

SportsNation Chris Sheridan: Another back-to-back posting. I think the lack of a whistle was consistent with the theme of how the game was officiated, but that doesn't make it right. Good dig at Hughes there, in that first post.

Phil (Salt Lake City, UT): To Mike in D.C. Fouling is not manly...it's against the rules. It takes a man to play great defense without hacking a guy on his shot and hoping the refs bail him out by not blowing the whistle. Rip got bailed out last night.

SportsNation Chris Sheridan: There was a lot of great defense played in that fourth quarter last night, by the way. I heard people saying that was an ugly game, but I disagree. That game was intense.

Josh (Detroit): Lets talk about something positive like Jason Maxiel's coming out party. This sort of reminds me of Tayshaun in '04. Could Jason come close to being that effective of a player? Thanks!

SportsNation Chris Sheridan: I've been very impressed by Max over the course of the first tw games, and in the Bulls series, too. Check my last blog entry for a description of a sick, sick dunk I saw Max throw down at the end of practice Wednesday. But I have a question: was Jason getting free throw tips from Ben Wallace last season when they were teammates?

Fred (NYC): Sheed has been awesome in the playoffs. Give the man his due.

SportsNation Chris Sheridan: That shot he hit last night to put them ahead was something else. He's been playing the best I've ever seen him play, and he's incredibly tough to stop when he's as fired up as he has been lately.

Juan (NY,NY): Varajeo was definitely fouled, and i think he might have got the call had he not launched himself backward 10 feet. He looked like he was at ground zero of a nuclear blast. I really think that's why he didn't get the call. Thoughts?

SportsNation Chris Sheridan: Probably some truth to your theory. There's been a groundswell of anti-flopping chatter between lots of teams and the league office, and it was a big topic of discussion at the Competition Committe meeting I covered in Las Vegas at the All-Star break, and it stands to reason that the league office has instructed referees to tread differently around guys with a reputation for flopping. Andy is certainly one of them.

Vincent (LA): Can you explain why LeBron was given an unannounced flagrant-2 and not suspended for his elbow on Webber in Game 1 that was identical to the elbows Kobe got suspensions for?

SportsNation Chris Sheridan: I'm curious myself as to why the league didn't put that out with so much as a whisper yesterday. I know they don't routinely announce reclassigied fouls, but in this case, given the spotlight, I think they should have departed from standard operating procedure.

Nic, Detroit: Since the games have been close, do you still think Pistons in 6?

SportsNation Chris Sheridan: Yes.

Josh (Chicago): Can we please talk draft? Do you agree with Bill Walton that free agents will want to go to Portland more if they pick Oden (and maybe for less money too)? Also, do you think the Bulls should trade their pick for a veteran? Thanks!

SportsNation Chris Sheridan: Here's my predominant draft thought of the day: I think the Blazers are going to take Kevin Durant. On your Bulls question, I think the Bulls should package the pick and their '09 pick with Nocioni and Duhon in a sign-and-trade (it couldn't be officially announced until the cap changes in early July) for Gasol or Jermaine.

Johnny (Reseda):: Didn't you talk draft yesterday?

SportsNation Chris Sheridan: Chad Ford is the draft talker around here with the most game. I did all my talking yesterday with this here computer (or electronic typewriter, as we Luudites like that call it)., and I was a one-topic guy yesterday _ all ECF, all the time.

Shane (Austin, TX): Is the Spurs-Jazz series over? How do you think the Spurs-Pistons will be?

SportsNation Chris Sheridan: I like the Jazz to win Game 3, and I still think they can take it to seven games. They've been the most resillient team in the NBA all season, and their 2-0 deficit against the Rockets didn;t end up killing them, did it?

Bobby (San Diego): Has anyone noted that LeBron has 2 fouls in 90 minutes of play this series? Maybe people should start complaining about that.

SportsNation Chris Sheridan: Duly noted, Bobby.

DK (Parma): Um, i cant believe all these Piston fans claiming Bron used his off arm on Hamilton.. did they NOT see Rasheed use his off arm on Andy?? Whether or not Sheed pushed him with all his might is irrelevant, he still "used his off arm" and pushed...

SportsNation Chris Sheridan: Tons of good back and forth stuff between Cavs fans and Pistons fans in the question queue. Nothing like a good border war.

Dave(dallas): Barkley says Bron shouldn't expect calls like that on the road. I sure have seen those calls go against Dallas at home. Officials just blew it.

SportsNation Chris Sheridan: Wouldn't be a good bitching-about-the-refs day without a little input from Dallas, would it?

SportsNation Chris Sheridan: That'll be a wrap for this morning, folks, and a good weekend to all, We'll chat again next Friday.

[WraithSentinel]

Thanks.