Sport: 2007 NBA Play-Offs Pool

[Noj]

I wonder where my boy Stanislav "Stanley Badabinko" Medvedenko is?

[Guy Berger]

The Cavaliers are testing the proposition that you can't win a series while sleeping through most of the games.

Guy

[donald byrd 4 EVA]

lamar odom is so overrated

[Soulstation1]

damn it

bowen is freakin' grabbing nash's arm and non dribbling hand and nothing is getting called

[Noj]

The problem with Odom on the Lakers is he and Kobe approach the game in too similar a manner to compliment each other. Overrated? Maybe. Not a good fit on the Lakers? More likely.

Uh oh, Barry and Ginobili with back-to-back threes. C'mon Suns!

[Guy Berger]

Fuck. Who the hell am I going to root for in a Utah - Spurs series?

Go Pistons!

Guy

[Aggie87]

Fuck. Who the hell am I going to root for in a Utah - Spurs series?

Go Pistons!

Guy

If you're rooting for the Pistons, then I'd go for the Jazz. I think the Pistons match up against them alot better than they do against the Spurs.

[Guy Berger]

Fuck. Who the hell am I going to root for in a Utah - Spurs series?

Go Pistons!

Guy

If you're rooting for the Pistons, then I'd go for the Jazz. I think the Pistons match up against them alot better than they do against the Spurs.

I'll probably swallow my own vomit and root for the Jazz, but I do hope that Bruce Bowen does his usual work on Carlos Boozer.

Guy

[Guy Berger]

From tradesports:

Pistons-Cavs: Pistons 72.5%

Utah-Spurs: Spurs 79.1%

Championship:

Spurs 54.8%

Pistons 29.2%

Jazz 8.7%

Cavaliers 7.9%

[Big Al]

INteresting article in today's FW Star Telegram

Phoenix's punishment was very Stern decision

By JENNIFER FLOYD ENGEL

Star-Telegram staff writer

SAN ANTONIO -- How desperate have times become in our little slice of this wide, wide world of sport?

a. Sports fans have to travel to teeny Santonio for a fix, and;

b. Fort Worthians, Dallas-ites, et al., we all reside in a single city until further notice.

"We're from Loserville," a Plano-ite said by way of introduction when he approached me at Game 6 of Spurs-Suns. I immediately understood of where he spoke.

He and his son had come down to the Alamo City for a fix of playoff basketball and were headed to Houston this morning to watch Rangers baseball.

I checked; they are neither crazy nor closet Spurs fans.

"No diehard Mavs fans," he said. "This is the best basketball," his son explained.

Or it was. Until David Stern ruined the NBA playoffs.

He and his Entourage basically slapped the Spurs into the West Finals as surely as if he had nailed the 3-pointers and ruled the paint in their decisive run in Friday's 114-106 victory in Game 6. It officially won the series for the Spurs.

"Frankly I am going to try to figure out how we did this," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said afterward.

He needs look no further than Stern.

The reality is the commish did most of the heavy lifting for them, when he decided to suspend Suns big man Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw for Game 5.

Oh, and as an added bonus, Stern also destroyed his best playoff series, which for all intents and purposes was the NBA Finals. Excellent work, really, if you like idiotic, self-destructive behavior.

Somebody is probably going to argue the Suns choked in Game 6. Or that Steve Nash did. Or that they made their own bed when Stoudemire and Diaw left the bench.

As Brother Galloway likes to preach: "Watch the damn games."

Friday's game had Stern's shadow everywhere, a reminder of exactly what was lost with Stoudemire. It was a back-and-forth opening 31 minutes, a study of what happens when the unstoppable force meets the immovable object.

Tim Duncan scored. Stoudemire answered. Stoudemire scored. Duncan answered.

So when Stern erased Stoudemire from Game 5 in Phoenix, he basically dealt a death blow to Phoenix's chances and an asterisk to Santonio's greatness.

What ultimately determined this series was Stern and his insistence on a strict-constructionist application of this one NBA rule when, on every other NBA rule, there is this very Dr. Phil-ish approach.

Talk about what went down. Speculate what everybody was feeling when said incident happened. Mete out justice based on whatever is the whim of the day.

My guess is of all the stuff that happened in the series -- from bloody noses, to Amare calling Bowen dirty to Bowen proving his point with his knee, to Robert Horry proving what dirty really means by delivering a nasty check to Nash in Game 4 which, of course, led to the bench-clearing nonbrawl, nonincident that everybody is still buzzing about -- what proved suspension-worthy was the least offensive.

And therein lies my problem with Stern.

The whole purpose of the do-not-leave-the-bench rule is that it dissuades players from jumping into the fray, from brawling, from fighting. And it did. They were stopped. They did not come anywhere near what eventually developed into nothing.

So what exactly was the purpose of the suspensions?

And why did Stern and his Entourage not take action earlier, say when Nash was being bullied, bumped and bodied.

"He's got a lot of bruises," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni allowed. "If you check his legs out, it looks like a lot of gnats have been biting at him."

Doing what good media types do, everybody immediately ogled Nash's legs, which really do look a little haggard.

Warning: What follows next is another jab to Loserville.

"He's probably got six or seven more years in him," D'Antoni added when asked if all of this abuse had affected Nash.

Have I mentioned recently how ugly hindsight has been to the Mavs' decision to let Nash go?

Very ugly. And about 457 or so times.

Because this is where this story becomes ugly in Mavsland since, technically, the only reason Nash is a Sun is because his body was supposedly breaking down.

"I know; that is what I heard," D'Antoni said. "That is the rumor. They just miscalculated by about nine years."

About the only good news for bitter Mavs fans and Mavs owner Mark Cuban is the guy who won two MVPs since leaving is not going to win a championship without them as well.

Not this year. Thanks to DStern.

So congrats DStern, you have Utah-Santonio and Detroit-Cleveland. And I have no compelling interest in watching any of your games until November.

But I probably will anyway. I live in Loserville.

And even bad basketball is better than Rangers baseball.

[Guy Berger]

Have I mentioned recently how ugly hindsight has been to the Mavs' decision to let Nash go?

Very ugly. And about 457 or so times.

I don't think Dallas would be a better team with Nash still around.

Nash has been a better player with Phoenix than he ever was with Dallas, and I think that has a lot to do with the system Mike D'Antoni has set up. I also wonder if Nash could function in the slower-paced, defensive-minded system that Avery Johnson has brought into Dallas.

Guy

[Soulstation1]

Con Finals Picks

SA in 5 games

Det in 6 games

[Guy Berger]

Con Finals Picks

SA in 5 games

Det in 6 games

I agree with the Detroit pick but I think SA will do it in 6.

Guy

[JSngry]

Have I mentioned recently how ugly hindsight has been to the Mavs' decision to let Nash go?

Very ugly. And about 457 or so times.

I don't think Dallas would be a better team with Nash still around.

Nash has been a better player with Phoenix than he ever was with Dallas, and I think that has a lot to do with the system Mike D'Antoni has set up. I also wonder if Nash could function in the slower-paced, defensive-minded system that Avery Johnson has brought into Dallas.

Guy

I agree.

And I don't hear any Phoenix fans screaming that they's have won if they'd have had Dirk to go with Nash.

[Guy Berger]

Anybody read Jack McCallum's book on the 2005-2006 Phoenix Suns? Here's amazon's summary:

Sports Illustrated's chief NBA writer, Jack McCallum, only planned to spend the preseason with the Phoenix Suns as an "assistant coach" -- and then write a story about his experiences. Instead, he stayed on with the Suns throughout their exciting and controversial 2005-2006 season. Gaining access to everything from locker-room chats with superstar point guard Steve Nash, to coaches' meetings with maverick coach Mike D'Antoni, McCallum learned what makes this wildly popular, innovative, and international assemblage of talented players and brilliant coaches tick -- making Seven Seconds or Less an all-access look at one of the greatest shows in sports.

Here's a review.

I'm currently reading this book. Fascinating and recommended.

Some funny parts:

p. 57 "...the comment made by Darius Miles, a young player for the Portland Trail Blazers, after he heard that a player had been fined $300,000. 'My mother would have to work over a year to make that kind of money,' said Miles."

p. 66 "When Nash was named Canada's athlete of the year, D'Antoni said to him, 'That's a great honor, Steve. Did you beat out one of those curling guys who sweep the ice?' "

p. 99 "During an agonizing 139-137 triple overtime loss in Denver on January 10, [assistant coach Marc] Iavaroni leapt off the bench to protest a blocking call on Nash that he thought should've been a charge on the Nuggets. Joe Forte, a veteran ref, came over to the bench and said to him, 'First of all, you split your pants. Second, you gotta calm down.' It was true, Iavaroni was trying to get by with a pair of suit pants that had a small rip in the crotch."

Guy

Edited May 20, 2007 by Guy

[Guy Berger]

Deron Williams is having a great 4th quarter, but it looks like too little too late.

Guy

[Aggie87]

Beautiful pass between Okur's legs by Tony Parker today! I missed all but the 4th quarter, having taken my daughter to Shrek 3 (which was funny, but mostly more of the same).

I don't understand the scheduling on this series. Spurs had to play less than 48 hours after a tough series vs. the Suns, and play again Tuesday night, but after that there's a long break until Saturday. Why can't they space these things a little better?

[Guy Berger]

I don't understand the scheduling on this series. Spurs had to play less than 48 hours after a tough series vs. the Suns, and play again Tuesday night, but after that there's a long break until Saturday. Why can't they space these things a little better?

Aggie, you aren't the only one -- I really wonder about the NBA's scheduling sometimes.

Guy

[Soulstation1]

How 'bout the BIG Boss Snoop D - O - Double G as the new NBA Commish??

He can relate to today's ballers....

[Soulstation1]

[Soulstation1]

[Aggie87]

Parker's through the legs pass

[Aggie87]

'Old-school' Horry would knock down Nash again

SAN ANTONIO -- Trust me, they don't call him "Cheap Shot Bob" in this town. Instead, Robert Horry, the man whose shoulder shiver helped alter the look and feel of the NBA playoffs, received something Sunday afternoon that you don't see and hear every day: a spontaneous, heartfelt standing ovation that lasted a full 30 seconds.

For checking into the game.

"They just missed him," said the Spurs' Michael Finley of the reception. "As fans, you miss having a valuable part of your team."

Horry didn't put up much of a linescore in the San Antonio Spurs' 108-100 victory against the Utah Jazz in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals. But he didn't have to. All he really had to do was show up.

"I'm just happy they accepted me back," said Horry, who can now count on exactly one finger the number of times he's gotten a standing O for reporting to the scorer's table. "It was funny."

Or as Jazz guard Derek Fisher, a former Horry teammate with the Los Angeles Lakers said, "I was actually jealous."

Exiled to David Stern's penal colony for two games, Horry finally returned to the court ... and to a hero's welcome. The cheers weren't for his three rebounds, two assists and one blocked shot in 16:32 of playing time. It was for what happened last Monday in this same AT&T Center. Phoenix Suns' point guard Steve Nash can tell you all about it.

Horry's controversial body check of Nash in the closing seconds of Game 4 sent tremors through the Suns-Spurs series. Horry was suspended for those two games, but it was the one-game suspension of the Suns' Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw (for leaving the bench area following Horry's flagrant foul) that created a national uproar.

The short-handed Suns lost Game 5 at home and were closed out here last Friday evening. Afterward, Nash said Stern's decision to suspend Stoudemire and Diaw "will forever haunt us." It won't haunt Horry. The man previously known as "Big Shot Bob" has a long history of winning championships (no active player has won more than Horry's six NBA titles) and of making plays that matter. But the Nash controversy continues to puzzle him because, he said, he didn't do anything wrong.

"I'm still amazed at the notoriety that this one play got compared to Baron Davis' foul [against Fisher in the Golden State-Utah series] and Mikki Moore's foul [against Aleksandar Pavlovic in the Cleveland Cavaliers series]," Horry said. "Those were like malicious fouls in my eyes. Guys who can't protect themselves off their feet. Blow to the head."

According to the Horry School of Fouling, his shoulder-check on Nash was perfectly acceptable playoff etiquette. That's why he didn't understand why everyone -- Nash, Stoudemire and Diaw, the media -- got bent like a paper clip.

"You know what?" Horry said. "If I had the situation to do all over again I would still [do it]. That's just the way I'm programmed. You go over there and foul, and you foul them hard. The only thing I wish I could have changed is that it wouldn't have been that close to the scorer's table. Other than that, I'm an old-fashioned player, an old-school player who will foul you and foul you hard."

Nash was a rookie when Horry joined the Suns in 1996. They used to play one-on-one together in the Suns' practice gym. They took car drives together. Horry respected Nash then, and he respects him now. But that doesn't mean Nash, or anybody for that matter, gets a free pass in the postseason.

"I think on my part -- and I think [Nash has] been in the league long enough to realize -- it's just basketball," Horry said. "I can understand if I had clotheslined him and tried to hurt him, but that was just a bump. Hopefully in his eyes he'll look at it as just basketball and no hard feelings. Because when you're trying to win you have no friends until you walk off the court."

Horry probably doesn't have many friends in Phoenix, not that he cares. He said Stoudemire and Diaw only have themselves to blame for getting suspended.

"They complained ... like I can get in their heads and play Nintendo with their minds and bodies and get them to walk out onto the court," Horry said.

No, he said, this was about something more basic. This was about the unwritten code of playoff basketball that Horry, now in his 15th season, learned during the 1994 NBA Finals. The New York Knicks vs. Horry's Houston Rockets. Horry went in for a dunk and Knicks enforcer Anthony Mason took him out. Horry bounced hard against the wooden floor.

"I had two sprained wrists and a hairline fracture in my ass after it happened," he said. "I knew what had happened, but I was hurt. I got up after that, but it was still painful. You just played on. You don't worry about it. Nobody [from the Rockets' bench] ran over there trying to push and shove, trying to cause anything. It was just a hard foul and you get up and go."

Nash eventually got up, but it was obvious after the Game 6 close-out loss that he felt that the suspensions had denied the Suns a chance to compete on an even level. I agreed and told Horry that the best postseason series had been reduced to what-ifs.

Horry scoffed at it.

"Every year's going to be a what-if," he said. "That's the game of basketball. What if a guy turns his ankle? What if a guy gets in a car wreck coming to the arena? There are so many different aspects that could happen that nobody knows. Only the man upstairs knows."

Except that Horry's foul on Nash wasn't an accident. It was done on purpose and with the Suns' victory already assured. Doesn't matter to Horry. The playoff code is the playoff code. And he isn't the only one who thinks that way.

"It's a part of our game," said Fisher, an 11-year veteran. "It's not like he picked him up and threw [Nash] over the scorer's table. He hit him."

So I asked Horry what he'll do if the same set of circumstances present themselves in the series against the Jazz. Utah guard Deron Williams dribbling down the court ... the Jazz comfortably ahead in the final minute ... seconds ticking off the game clock.

Horry looks at me like I've asked him if he wears socks during the game. Of course, he'd foul Williams.

"But I'd fall down this time and make it look like I'm trying to take a charge," he said. "I've got to look like I'm trying to get ready to take a charge and fall down. Then everybody would be like, 'Oh, he got knocked down too.'"

Horry is laughing now. He gets up from the chair in front of his locker and begins to walk away. "Can't tell more secrets," he said.

[Soulstation1]

11 time champ

[Soulstation1]

i like what i see so far,,,,