MILWAUKEE — It's right up there with "My dog ate the homework," and "My alarm didn't go off."
From the beginning of the NBA Eastern Conference finals between Milwaukee and Philadelphia, Coach George Karl of the Bucks has been whining about the officials. This is the last excuse of a desperate man. Except Karl started using it right after Game 1.
And after listening to Karl and, quickly enough, his players, through the first five games of this best-of-seven series, one might think David Stern and NBC officials are standing behind the curtain and pulling the strings. A Buck can't touch a 76er without the whistle blowing.
It is the 76ers and Allen Iverson the NBA and NBC want to see play the Lakers, that's what the Bucks are saying. And maybe even believing.
Oh, and the injuries that Philadelphia players have--the broken bones and bruised hips--probably fake too. We imagine Stern and Co., before getting the officials to make the right call, are off doctoring X-rays.
So far, all the whining has done is get Karl's players so hot and bothered that they keep committing dumb technical and flagrant fouls, which afford the desperately offense-impaired 76ers plenty of free throws.
Karl said he was tired of hearing how well Philadelphia plays defense and how hurt Allen Iverson was, is or will be. Karl said after the 76ers had won Game 1 that the Bucks play defense as well as Philadelphia, the only difference being that Milwaukee always gets called for fouls and Philadelphia doesn't.
Before Game 5, while the 76ers were having a news conference complete with X-rays and doctors diagraming the break in the ankle of guard Eric Snow, Karl was rolling his eyes and babbling about how he figured the 76ers were describing another "miracle."
Milwaukee star Ray Allen told reporters before Game 5 he had evidence the NBA commissioner wanted the 76ers to win. Allen said family members told him they had seen Stern stand up and pay close attention to the Jumbotron when a replay was shown of Allen's two-handed shove to the ground of Iverson, which, by the way, was missed by officials. Apparently, by Stern's looking at the replay, Allen and his family deduced that Stern was taking the side of the 76ers.
One word of reality has come from Milwaukee forward Scott Williams.
"We lost our composure and gave them 10 points," Williams said Wednesday.
There were two flagrant fouls and a technical foul, and Philadelphia won by a point. Not hard to do the math.
