Pitchforks!

[Bayliss]

I will watch them every game. But the last 4 minutes was depressing. Why did we run so many plays for Daniels? And why did Finley get that play called for him?

1) I'll be crucified but as much as people talk about Fin's contrinutions to this team it would be nice if he ever did it when it mattered. Good Lord he sucks out there. And this is the "heart and soul" of the team? Puleeze. There is no reason for him to be starting ahead of Daniels and Howard next year. Nonwhatsoever. (And don't give give me the inexperience of those two... tthey played better in both playoff games then our "leader...")

2) Nellie needs to go right now. He holds this team back more than any opponent or player. He simply does too much crap. I am disgusted with his selections. In fact, it would be fitting if they lose the next two and Cuban fires his butt.

[LordOfTheMavs]

Chill man. It was a closely fought two games. Especially the last one. Chill out. They gotta come to the AAC. We can always steal a game later. After we blow the SadSacs off the court at the AAC they will know that it is just a matter of time before the better team steal a road game and then the series is over.

[Max Power]

Originally posted by: Bayliss
I will watch them every game. But the last 4 minutes was depressing. Why did we run so many plays for Daniels? And why did Finley get that play called for him?

1) I'll be crucified but as much as people talk about Fin's contrinutions to this team it would be nice if he ever did it when it mattered. Good Lord he sucks out there. And this is the "heart and soul" of the team? Puleeze. There is no reason for him to be starting ahead of Daniels and Howard next year. Nonwhatsoever. (And don't give give me the inexperience of those two... tthey played better in both playoff games then our "leader...")

How did the rookies play tonight? Howard was 1-9 and Daniels was 5-15. Neither of them have played worth a damn. At least Finley can point to last offseason when he was essential in keeping the team alive vs the Spurs. What have the rooks done again to warrant this confidence?

2) Nellie needs to go right now. He holds this team back more than any opponent or player. He simply does too much crap. I am disgusted with his selections. In fact, it would be fitting if they lose the next two and Cuban fires his butt.

Ah, Nellie's gone. But we're not going to get any better until our "franchise player" decides to play defense.

[SaltwaterChaffy]

Dirk played better defense tonight than I've ever seen him play. His helpside defense was great tonight. Eddie played an incredible game. But nobody else did s**t, and Nellie called a moronic last play.

[Bayliss]

Ah, Nellie's gone. But we're not going to get any better until our "franchise player" decides to play defense.

Dirk and Eddie were the only ones playing defense. So that argument holds no water.

As for the rookies. Daniels had 11 rebounds and Howard had several too. What did Fin have? Both rookies are better all-around players right now than Fin. They are more well-rounded right now.

[Max Power]

This one game, Dirk played decent defense. But he guarded the injured Miller or the washed up Divac most of the night. A coach will put the worst defender on the worst offensive player.

But whatever. This team will never win a championship until Dirk takes control of it. And despite his whiney little outburst, he has not done it or he would be taking the final shot.

[dude1394]

Thought the announcer had a great point that is true. That if he had someone down there who would take some of the brunt of being the only big guy out there he would be an even better defender. He had two blocks attributed to him and many other contests.

The rookies didn't shoot well but damn they competed. Daniels went 5-15 but he got to the line 6 times, hit 'em both and got 11 rebounds. He outplayed finleys ass off.

Finley was 4-13 with 3 rebounds NO fts.

[dirno2000]

Max, you think it's Dirk's fault that he didn't get the final shot?

[Peja_owns]

Originally posted by: LordOfTheMavs
Chill man. It was a closely fought two games. Especially the last one. Chill out. They gotta come to the AAC. We can always steal a game later. After we blow the SadSacs off the court at the AAC they will know that it is just a matter of time before the better team steal a road game and then the series is over.

You can't automatically expect the Mavs to win their home games with ease do you?

[NYCdog]

There is no reason for him to be starting ahead of Daniels

I'll give you one........Daniels mightnot be here next year.

2) Nellie needs to go right now. He holds this team back more than any opponent or player. He simply does too much crap. I am disgusted with his selections. In fact, it would be fitting if they lose the next two and Cuban fires his butt.

I agree with you totally here. Nellie's decision making process and play selection is almost at the same level as Steve Francis.

But let me ask you this.......If you fire Nellie, who do you replace him with.........Dr Jack Ramsey?

Or maybe one of the fired eastern conference coach's bunch........scratch Jim O'Brien off that list BTW.

Byron Scott would be an interesting fit........but after the way he lost his players attention after all the success they had, not to mention the success of his successor Lawerence Frank, I'm not sure he's the right man for the job.

And dont bring up Pat Riley, either. He will not be coming here or anywhere lese for that matter. With the success they have had in Miami with there young talent, not to mention the all-of-a-sudden bright future they now have down there, its hard to imagine Riles leaving his sweet gig in heavenly Miami for any other job, even coaching the Lakers. It just aint happenin so give up that dream........

So who does that leave you with..........Rudy T.

Would you want him here more then Nellie.

Fact is, I just dont think there too are many good free agent coachs to go after to replace Nellie.

Thus Nellie might be the best choice for coach of the Mavs right now.........unless they promote from within the ranks.

If they do the latter, they better hurry up before Del Harris ends up as GM in Toronto.

[dude1394]

Originally posted by: Max Power
This one game, Dirk played decent defense. But he guarded the injured Miller or the washed up Divac most of the night. A coach will put the worst defender on the worst offensive player.

But whatever. This team will never win a championship until Dirk takes control of it. And despite his whiney little outburst, he has not done it or he would be taking the final shot.

And he had 5 blocks the last game. BS dirk played his arse off. Dirk is right now leading the leage in blocks in the playoffs.

[Bayliss]

But whatever. This team will never win a championship until Dirk takes control of it. And despite his whiney little outburst, he has not done it or he would be taking the final shot.

Yeah. Let's let Dirk knock Nellie out for calling the play. Or better yet for letting Fin shoot. Dirk should've tackled Fin to get the ball back.

As for defense: Apparently you didn't see how manyt times Dirk had to try and stop Bibby/Peja/Christie who was blowing by our perimeter players all night.

Knock him all you want but the majority of our defensive probs stem from Nash and Fin. In that order.

[dirno2000]

Daniels is on Finley's ass right now. About the only think he's lacking is experience. Fin's not getting any younger so I'm sure by about midway through next season Daniels will have passed him if he has any work ethic.

Not really a knock on Fin...players just don't get better after 30.

[Josh]

Its not so much the fact that Dirk didn't take the last shot, he wasn't even in the play. He took the inbounds pass, handed it off to Finley, then just stood around on the other side of the court doing nothing.

[Max Power]

Originally posted by: dirno2000
Not really a knock on Fin...players just don't get better after 30.

And Nash is HOW OLD?

[LordOfTheMavs]

Originally posted by: Peja_owns

You can't automatically expect the Mavs to win their home games with ease do you?

No, but that was posted right after the Finley play. So my mind was grasping after any line at all at the time. But you have to admit. The Mavs have played the Kings tough at Arco and put a scare in ya. Lets see if the SadSacs can do the same at the AAC.

Remember the Mavs suck on the road this year.

[SaltwaterChaffy]

Originally posted by: Josh
Its not so much the fact that Dirk didn't take the last shot, he wasn't even in the play. He took the inbounds pass, handed it off to Finley, then just stood around on the other side of the court doing nothing.

NBA basketball isn't run like it is in the rec center Josh. Someone calls a play for Fin to be isolated on that side of the court, and Dirk to not be in the play. That person is Don Nelson. So don't blame Dirk for "not being in the play."

[Max Power]

Originally posted by: dude1394

And he had 5 blocks the last game. BS dirk played his arse off. Dirk is right now leading the leage in blocks in the playoffs.

Dirk isn't guarding a player - all he is doing is helpside defense. There isn't any respected NBA source that would say that Dirk even plays AVERAGE defense. For posters on this board to claim otherwise is pure homerism.

[kg_veteran]

It's a shame this has come down to Fin vs. Dirk -- again.

Damn Nellie.

[Max Power]

I don't want it to be Fin vs Dirk but I am not going to back down on this. I get tired of the Finley bashing and the Dirk and Nash excuses.

[Bayliss]

I get tired of the Finley bashing and the Dirk and Nash excuses.

Dirk has an excuse for these playoffs:

a) leading rebounder for the Mavs
b) leading scorer for the Mavs
c) leading shotblocker
d) leading FG%
e) leading 3P%

So explain to me what part of his game this playoff season is lacking?

As for Nash. He has been terrible too. But Fin has been a lot worse than Nash.

[SaltwaterChaffy]

Max, nobody is saying that Dirk is a stellar defender. But he brought it tonight, and you cannot deny that.

Also, I'm not bashing Fin when I talk about the last shot. I will bash him for playing like shit so far the first two games. But Fin didn't take the ball away from Dirk to take that last shot.

That was a designed play, and it was freaking stupid.

[dude1394]

Dirk guarded ever center they threw out there. I'm not trying to contest dirk versus finley. I'm po'd at finley being put in that position by nellie. What is mike going to do not take the shot? "Hey coach, don't call my number".

Dirk has been about the best defender on the mavs team in this playoff series except Najera.

[kg_veteran]

I am so sick to my stomach.

Nellie can't be gone soon enough.

[HeatFan7]

I have to agree with Max here, Dirk played very bad defense. How many blocks get means jack, quite honestly. I seen to many people shoot layups tonight right over him. If hes the franchise he has to standup and say, I am going to go out there and contain Webber. Not so bad defesnively where Nellie has to put him on the weakest offensive player game in and game out. Blocks and steals means nothing, hell I think Webber had just as many blocks and steals as he had today, was he good defensively? NO, the only person I saw out there good defensively was Najera. Trying to lump Eddie and Dirk in the same class defensively in this game is hilarious. Eddie had to come in the game because of Dirk, Walker, etcs lousy defense. Fin got the last shot because he is best in those situations. Dirk and Nash both have chocked all to often in those situation, and Fin has came up the biggest in those situations. I'd like to see someone debate that. Dirk, nor Nash has hit as many game winners as Michael Finley. Just before that play, Dirk slips(can you say Golden State not to long ago?), and then Nash misses the 3. And Daniels shortarmed an easy shot. Fin got the ball, because Nash, Daniels, and Dirk all had failed on the previous attempt and hasn't showed the ability that Fin has in the clutch. Then Dirk airballs the 3 at the end, if he hits that its a game again and you can still win or tie the game at the worst if they make both FTs. I would say Dirk is not having a good series, sure the #s look good but ALL BIG MEN HAVE GREAT GAMES AGAINST THE KINGS. Kwame Brown had 30pts, 19rbs. Lamar Odom had 30pts, 19rbs, 11asst. Neither gave up a triple double to Chris Webber, and in both cases they were the PFs and they guarded Webber as well. Why dont Dirk guard him? Or anyone else remotely good for that matter? Don't be so quick to blame Finley here folks, your franchise player has to step up a lil more as well. Given the player Dirk is offensively, he just hasn't gotten it done IMO. For your sake, he'd better step up his game a notch or two, or its adios Mavericks. He is playing no better than he was at the end of the season. The playoffs is when you step up, like he has done in the past against better defenders. No reason why hes not dropping 40 on the heads of the Kings. He should be guarding Webber and containing an "INJURED" Webber. If Nelson doesnt have the confidence in him to guard an injured Webber, then Dirk is even worst than I thought defensively. That tells you alot about the confidence Nellie has in Dirks D, or lack thereof rather. I seen to many layups go up and over him today. What about Nash? He was abused by Bibby today. I think Finley did an pretty good job on Peja, but his teammates didnt step up and follow defenisvely.

[MavsFanFinley]

It's unfortunate that the only thing people will remember about this game is that Finley took the last shot. Actually, he didn't even get the shot off, but was stripped by Peja. Had they been in Dallas, he might have gotten the foul call, but he wasn't going to get that in Arco.

What I'll never understand is why Nelson called that play and why you would put a person in that position? Especially one who is struggling and not shooting the ball much. That was a stupid decision had Fin made it or drawn the foul. Most will be blame Finley, but make no mistake that it was Nelson's call.

It makes me laugh because people point to the 3 rebounds and think Fin wasn't active. I thought he looked better than in the first game and was inside fighting for rebounds or strips. Don't forget that there is more to the stat line. I'm not saying he played or looked great, but Nelson should have left him on the bench instead of bringing him back in with 3 minutes.

Only Najera came close to playing better than Dirk tonight. Najera was all over the place and not only irritated Webber but the fans as well. He looked like Najera of the old and we've sorely missed his energy.

It's hard to imagine but Dirk looked better than he did in the first game. He was really active on defense. Burned a couple times, but it was mostly from having to cover for others. He took a couple stupid shots, but I was surprised he took 6 in the 4th quarter. I kept telling my mom that they need to get it to Dirk. And they never did. It had to be Nellie's call because the players hardly looked for him. And if the players were ignoring Dirk by themselves, then Nelson never corrected them. Posting him was working, but in the 4th quarter they parked him on the 3 point line as a way to draw Webber out. And then they didn't even take advantage of it.

I love the rookies, but they probably only had a handful of good plays between them. That block by Howard and a few rebounds he was able to come away with in traffic was it. You think Finley had trouble with Peja, guys were flying by Howard. And in the 4th, we were going to Daniels again on offense. I remember one play where Nash missed the shot and Daniels got the rebound. We had a new shot clock and he goes right back up and hits the front of the rim. This was with like 2 minutes or less left in the game. He hit those 2 ft's with ice flowing through his veins, but Christie outplayed him once again. He and Nash had a nasty habit of dribbling out the shot clock. Have we learned nothing?

I didn't know until after the game that Jamison was hurting. Both hamstrings tighted up on him. I hope he's available for the next games because he'll score if nothing else.

I thought Walker hustled his ass off there but he isn't a center so it's another strike against Nellie for putting a player in a no win situation. I haven't read the game day thread and probably won't, but I bet it was negative towards him.

I thought Nash was as bad as Nellie. He made horrible decisions all night long and was surprised he only had 3 turnovers. He took stupid shots and forced things in the 4th over and over again. He was the worst defensively. I'm sure most will chalk it up as just a bad game, but he damn sure isn't showing any leadership skills either.

[dirno2000]

Originally posted by: Max Power

And Nash is HOW OLD?

I didn't say anything about Nash. Nope, he's not getting better either. I'm by no means giving him a pass and I'm really not knocking Finley. It's not like he tried to get stripped. His game is limited...always has been and always will be. At times it doesn't matter because when his fade away 17 footer and his three pointer is falling then he can be unstoppable. It's just that those times are becoming fewer and further between. OTOH Daniels is only going to get better.

Since you want to bring Nash into it, he's not as replaceable because he plays a more vital position and even when he's not making shots he's still the engine that runs our offense. We just don't have a suitable replacement for him...that being said; if a young one becomes available then we should consider it.

[Josh]

Originally posted by: SaltwaterChaffy
So don't blame Dirk for "not being in the play."

I wasn't.

[grndmstr_c]

Nellie is a moron for not playing Shawn in the first half, and for putting the ball in Fin's hands for the last play.

Steve and Mike should be ashamed of themselves.

Eddie was inspiring tonight.

And criticising Dirk like he's the reason the Mavs are down 0-2?! Come on, I can't even believe those of you who are taking that stance believe that load of hooey.

[Murphy3]

Originally posted by: kg_veteran
It's a shame this has come down to Fin vs. Dirk -- again.

Damn Nellie.

There was no reason for it to come down to Dirk vs Fin in this thread.

I'm not ready to run fin out of town by any means. But, I am extremely disappointed by his play. I'm also disappointed by his decision making.

And shame on Dirk for guarding the same players that KG probably would have guarded.

As for the team's defense on Webber, I'll take his stat line any and every night. Assists can be VERY overrated. Many times assists are just the product of you being the guy that passes the ball to a player that hits a jumper. There's nothing spectacular about it. Webber hit cutters and he hit alot of guys for jumpers. I'm sorry, but it was more often than not poor defense on the cutters that got the Mavs burned.

Webber was 6-19. He shot poorly in the 1st half and was just as bad in the second. Yes, Najera did a great job on him, but Webber wasn't anything special out there. He put up an Antoine Walker triple-double. He through a few spectacular passes and threw alot of passes to guys that just happened to hit jumpers. Besides that, he could have very easily shot his own team out of the game. I'll take a stat line like that any and every day from Chris Webber. Six for ninteen with double digit assists? Sure, give me that any and every game.

[Murphy3]

Originally posted by: MavsFanFinley
It's unfortunate that the only thing people will remember about this game is that Finley took the last shot. Actually, he didn't even get the shot off, but was stripped by Peja. Had they been in Dallas, he might have gotten the foul call, but he wasn't going to get that in Arco.

What I'll never understand is why Nelson called that play and why you would put a person in that position? Especially one who is struggling and not shooting the ball much. That was a stupid decision had Fin made it or drawn the foul. Most will be blame Finley, but make no mistake that it was Nelson's call.

It makes me laugh because people point to the 3 rebounds and think Fin wasn't active. I thought he looked better than in the first game and was inside fighting for rebounds or strips. Don't forget that there is more to the stat line. I'm not saying he played or looked great, but Nelson should have left him on the bench instead of bringing him back in with 3 minutes.

Only Najera came close to playing better than Dirk tonight. Najera was all over the place and not only irritated Webber but the fans as well. He looked like Najera of the old and we've sorely missed his energy.

It's hard to imagine but Dirk looked better than he did in the first game. He was really active on defense. Burned a couple times, but it was mostly from having to cover for others. He took a couple stupid shots, but I was surprised he took 6 in the 4th quarter. I kept telling my mom that they need to get it to Dirk. And they never did. It had to be Nellie's call because the players hardly looked for him. And if the players were ignoring Dirk by themselves, then Nelson never corrected them. Posting him was working, but in the 4th quarter they parked him on the 3 point line as a way to draw Webber out. And then they didn't even take advantage of it.

I love the rookies, but they probably only had a handful of good plays between them. That block by Howard and a few rebounds he was able to come away with in traffic was it. You think Finley had trouble with Peja, guys were flying by Howard. And in the 4th, we were going to Daniels again on offense. I remember one play where Nash missed the shot and Daniels got the rebound. We had a new shot clock and he goes right back up and hits the front of the rim. This was with like 2 minutes or less left in the game. He hit those 2 ft's with ice flowing through his veins, but Christie outplayed him once again. He and Nash had a nasty habit of dribbling out the shot clock. Have we learned nothing?

I didn't know until after the game that Jamison was hurting. Both hamstrings tighted up on him. I hope he's available for the next games because he'll score if nothing else.

I thought Walker hustled his ass off there but he isn't a center so it's another strike against Nellie for putting a player in a no win situation. I haven't read the game day thread and probably won't, but I bet it was negative towards him.

I thought Nash was as bad as Nellie. He made horrible decisions all night long and was surprised he only had 3 turnovers. He took stupid shots and forced things in the 4th over and over again. He was the worst defensively. I'm sure most will chalk it up as just a bad game, but he damn sure isn't showing any leadership skills either.

Great post, MFF.

[Dirkenstien]

Give

Dirk

The

F*&*ING

Ball.



...and so the chants continue

[Richard]

Originally posted by: Murphy3

Great post, MFF.

Great post my eye. Pure reconstruction/fabrication to attempt to excuse Fin's screw up. The replay showed that a) Fin couldn't lose one of the league's weaker perimeter defenders, and b) when he tried his fall away jumper he wasn't touched by Peja, "Iron hands Finley" simply lost the handle on the ball as he was raising it to shoot.

What to do if he continues with such play is for a later day. Should Nellie have called on another player for the last shot the way Fin has been playing thus far in the playoffs, maybe. Did other players also play scared and help lose the game - absolutely. But, don't tell me Fin was the victim of a bad call. That's horsefeathers. He made a bad last shot with no one but himself to blame. In the offseason when Mark and company judge these players on how they did in the playoffs, lets judge them on what they actually did, not what excuses we might fabricate for for them.

[Murphy3]

Originally posted by: Richard

Great post my eye. Pure reconstruction/fabrication to attempt to excuse Fin's screw up. The replay showed that a) Fin couldn't lose one of the league's weaker perimeter defenders, and b) when he tried his fall away jumper he wasn't touched by Peja, "Iron hands Finley" simply lost the handle on the ball as he was raising it to shoot.

What to do if he continues with such play is for a later day. Should Nellie have called on another player for the last shot the way Fin has been playing thus far in the playoffs, maybe. But, don't tell me Fin was the victim of a bad call. That's horsefeathers. He made a bad last shot with no one but himself to blame.

It's not excusing Fin's play. It's pointing a bit of the blame where it should be...squarely on the shoulders of Don Nelson.

[Richard]

[qIt's not excusing Fin's play. It's pointing a bit of the blame where it should be...squarely on the shoulders of Don Nelson.[/quote]

So, Murph, if a head coach can't call on his allstar team capt and the guy who he has groomed to take most of the last second shots for the last 6 years to take the last shot in a playoff game without being accused of being a stupid coach, WHO should the coach be able to call on?

BTW, I tend to agree Nellie could have made better choices, but, BUT, to try to excuse Fin's failure in anyway by suggesting its the coach's fault for calling his number, not his fault for the poor play he executed is the height of apologism. Fin choked. Nellie could have made a better call (sad as it is that he can't rely on his so called team leader in pressure situations), Jamison literally froze up under the pressure, Walker joined the underperformers under pressure brigade. Just don't give me cover stories for Fin's part of the failure last night - I ain't buying them.

[MavKikiNYC]

Originally posted by: dude1394
Thought the announcer had a great point that is true. That if he had someone down there who would take some of the brunt of being the only big guy out there he would be an even better defender. He had two blocks attributed to him and many other contests.

Collins made that point, and I think he's dead-on. Dirk just doesn't have the physical skills to be a dominant player defensively. But Dirk would definitely hold his own and not be a weak link in a lineup of average-to-good defenders.

Bird may have had even less athleticism than Dirk, but in a lineup of Parrish, McHale (or Cornbread Maxwell), Ainge, Johnson, Bird was more than adequate defensively.

[Murphy3]

Originally posted by: Richard
[qIt's not excusing Fin's play. It's pointing a bit of the blame where it should be...squarely on the shoulders of Don Nelson.

So, Murph, if a head coach can't call on his allstar team capt and the guy who he has groomed to take most of the last second shots for the last 6 years to take the last shot in a playoff game without being accused of being a stupid coach, WHO should the coach be able to call on?

BTW, I tend to agree Nellie could have made better choices, but, BUT, to try to excuse Fin's failure in anyway by suggesting its the coach's fault for calling his number, not his fault for the poor play he executed is the height of apologism. Fin choked. Nellie could have made a better call (sad as it is that he can't rely on his so called team leader in pressure situations), Jamison literally froze up under the pressure, Walker joined the underperformers under pressure brigade. Just don't give me cover stories for Fin's part of the failure last night - I ain't buying them.[/quote]

Who can he call on? The ball obviously should have been in Dirk's hands. Fin is MUCH better at catching and shooting than he is at creating on his own. That has become painfully obvious over the past several years. There is absolutely nothing wrong with it, but you simply have to play to your players strengths. Dirk and Nash are simply MUCH better at creating a shot on their own.

Guess what, Fin isn't an all-star anymore. He wasn't an all-star this year. He wasn't an all-star the year before. Dirk is the best player on the team and was the only player that was performing at a high level on the offensive side of the court in both games. To go anywhere other than to Dirk makes little sense. Dirk is by far the best player on this team. Why Nellie cannot coach as if Dirk's the best player on the team is beyond me.

To not criticize Nellie for asking Fin to do something that he's not very good at doing makes little sense. Fin does not create well on his own. To not criticize Nellie for not putting the ball in the hands of the best player and only hot player on the team also makes absolutely no sense.

You need a reality check.

Yes, Fin deserves to be criticized for having the ball knocked away in that situation. However, Nellie deserves as much or more of the blame for screwing up on a brain dead coaching decision.

[MavKikiNYC]

Only Najera came close to playing better than Dirk tonight. Najera was all over the place and not only irritated Webber but the fans as well. He looked like Najera of the old and we've sorely missed his energy.

Isn't it amazing how people respond to just a little bit of that kind of play? To JUST ONE PLAYER putting out that kind of effort? Isn't it amazing how that kind of effort stands out, and how it affects the whole team?

I think people may be starting to get hungry for that kind of play, and may be tiring of the Cotton Candy that is SmallBalls.

[Murphy3]

Originally posted by: MavKikiNYC

Collins made that point, and I think he's dead-on. Dirk just doesn't have the physical skills to be a dominant player defensively. But Dirk would definitely hold his own and not be a weak link in a lineup of average-to-good defenders.

Bird may have had even less athleticism than Dirk, but in a lineup of Parrish, McHale (or Cornbread Maxwell), Ainge, Johnson, Bird was more than adequate defensively.

Thank you pointing out the obvious Mavkiki. I do not mean that as an insult because it desperately needed to be pointed out.

[Richard]

[i]Yes, Fin deserves to be criticized for having the ball knocked away in that situation. However, Nellie deserves as much or more of the blame for screwing up on a brain dead coaching decision.

I agree they both deserve some blame for that. Just don't let fin off the hook entirely and the ball wasn't knocked away, he just lost the handle on it and it squirted up in the air. Iron hand Mike.