Van Gundy, can you say playoff distraction?

Now he's done it. This time he's really stepped in it. One look at David Stern in the audience last night and you didn't need a body language expert to tell you this guy is not happy. I've got nothing but the creeps for David Stern, but one thing I can say about the man, he doesn't like being crossed. The whole flap arose when Van Gundy, perhaps drunk on cheap wine, let fly with the accusation, based on information he acquire from a deep throat referee, someone nor refereeing the playoffs, that the refs for the Mavericks-Rockets game were told to keep an eye on Yao Ming and see if he was moving on his screens. Apparently, this was due to complaints from the Mavericks accusing Yao Ming of just that. My problem with the whole thing is this: so what? Refs get together and make notes to one another about what to watch out for? Isn't that what they're supposed to do? If Shaq is stepping over the free throw line on his foul shots, and Mark Cuban complains about, as he once did, along with visual footage, which is to say proof, of Shaq doing just that, then who are the refs NOT to seek to redress the problem? What David Stern sees as an accusation against the integrity of the game, I see as no big deal. As a long-time basketball fan, I already knew the refs did this very thing, which I don't think is a big deal. In one game Shaq gets a foul every time he touches the ball; the next game he's mugging people in the paint and no calls. It's because the refs look at game tape, just like players, and try to improve. This isn't at all touching on the fact that the referees suck. They do. I'm not absolving them of their ignorance, but I see no problem with saying to keep an eye on Yao. Next game, they'll probably say, "Hey, look out for Finley, make sure he's inbounds." It makes sense.

That said, Van Gundy appears to be in trouble. And I think it's probably becaus he's a whiner. He's whined ever since he got started in New York; he whined as a color commentator, picking on the other vertically challenged coach/analyst, Mike Fratello, in whiny exchanges. He whined about Shaq. He whined about Phil Jackson. He whined about Michael Jordan. It's the way he is; he's not going to change. What sets this one apart, unlike the other times, what makes his situation more serious, where Van Gundy made his mistake, was when he mentioned the referee who gave him the tip, if such a person exists. He shouldn't have done that. Because now the NBA is going to want proof of his accusation. You can't insinuate, even though he didn't mean to, that the NBA is fixed, and not get in trouble. Not with David Stern in charge. The time has come to keep quiet, try to hold home court in Houston, and hope the commissioner calms down over the next couple of months.