710 ESPN's "SMOG" - Steve Mason's Blog

Chauncey Billups with an "illegitimate 3," helping Detroit to 2-0 lead.

Do you have to be Albert Einstein to figure out that this Chauncey Billups shot shouldn't count?

Clearly, the clock was stuck at 4.8 seconds then started late with Billups finally getting his 3-pointer off at .5 seconds. The shot should not have been allowed. What's the point of having replay if you're not allowed to use it. TNT had the ability to show a real-time replay with a clock superimposed on the screen, but the league's replay rules don't allow for reviewing a play to determine when the clock started.

Did the "illegitimate 3" matter? Orlando had a 6-point lead with 6 minutes left in the 4th quarter at the Palace, so they were able to rally back from the bogus shot that gave Detroit a 1-point lead at the end of the 3rd, but there is no way to know how the proper call might have influenced the outcome.

Detroit has notoriously tough fans. Somehow, I think that if the same situation had occurred in Orlando, common sense might have prevailed. It's easier to take points off the scoreboard for the road team. It's also easier to take some time and get the call right when you don't have thousands of angry Pistons fans in your face.

It's still a shame. If you've got instant replay, why not take the time to make the right call. A little common sense and logic should rule the day.

Luke Walton goofing on Sasha!

Ross Siler, formerly of the LA Daily News, is now writing for the Salt Lake Tribune, and he re-counted this funny Luke Walton-Sasha Vujacic story on his blog today.

Either last season or the season before, Luke Walton was signing autographs outside the Lakers hotel in Indianapolis. One of the kids had a binder of basketball cards and was flipping through it when Walton hit the mother lode. He saw a rookie card for Vujacic that can only be described as a basketball glamour shot.

Not only did he sign everything he could for that kid outside the hotel, Walton bought the Vujacic card off him. Then he had a member of the Lakers public relations staff photocopy it about 10,000 times. They were destined to be hung all over the banquet room where the Lakers were going to watch the Super Bowl on the road.

I never heard about Vujacic's reaction, but I'm guessing it was embarrassment. In his fourth year with the Lakers, Vujacic has shed the label Phil Jackson once gave him as an "11 o'clock shooter" (great in practice, bad in games) and has become a dependable reserve on one of the NBA's deepest teams.

I'm pretty sure that the above photo is the one that was photocopied 10,000 times.

Carlos Boozer has come up with a new strategy!

Carlos Boozer says that the only way that the Utah Jazz can survive their second round series with the Lakers is to defend Kobe Bryant better and to keep him off the line. Kobe was 21-23 from the charity stripe yesterday at Staples, and it was clearly the difference in LA’s 109-98 win.

That’s an excellent strategy Carlos. I can’t believe that nobody ever thought of that.

This is the problem with playing the Lakers. You can try going one-on-one with Kobe, and he’ll kill you. Or, you can throw the “kitchen sink” at Kobe and Pau Gasol will make you pay.

The Denver series was a great test case for how deadly the Lakers are. In Game 1, the Nuggets  sent everybody after Kobe and Gasol lit ‘em up for 36 and 16 boards. In Game 2, they threw just one man, mostly Kenyon Martin, at Bryant, and Kobe went for 49.

What was the straw?

If you were listening to 710 ESPN last week, you probably heard that I messed up my back.

I've never really had back problems before, but I took a yoga class last Wednesday night, and all of the sudden my lower back seized up. On Thursday, I called in sick. There was just no way I could even get out of bed. Then came a real "Catch 22."

When I called the doctor, I told him that I needed pain pills or an anti-inflammatory or a muscle relaxant. He said that I had to go to his office to get a prescription. I explained there was just no way that I could get to his office without some pharmaceutical help. He still refused to dole out any magic pills.

Finally, I got a friend to throw me in the back of his SUV, and I made it to the doctor's office. I had to use a cane (embarrassing), and I had to sprawl across the back seat of the SUV because I couldn't sit upright (more embarrassing).

The bottom line is that I'm still struggling, but I think I'll be on the air Monday. In pain, but on the air. For the record, I was diagnosed with a lumbar strain.