First off,
This sucks. I have read some pretty heated comments on these boards, and they are warranted. A Spur was the aggressor last night, pulling a move that no one should be proud of, and the Suns have been punished for it. I am posting to let yall know that most Spurs fans are not snickering gleefully at this decision because frankly if we were to win this thing now, it would have an asterisk next to it in the eye of the sportsworld and we already have a championship with an asterisk in the shortened season of '99. We want to win it, but not like that.
The short version: this is not good for anybody.
But before anyone rushes into conspiracy theorys let me just make a couple of points.
A.) The league does NOT want the Spurs to win this series. The Spurs have been to the finals three times and each time it has been amongst the lowest TV ratings for the finals in History. S.A. is ranked the 37th largest sports market in the country, and that is our fan base. The Suns are up-tempo, exciting to watch, and they are what people want to see. The Spurs are old news in the sports world. People want a new story. They are just not going to get it this year. There is no wizard pulling the strings for the Spurs so yall can stop clinging to that raft.
B.) I know it could seem ridiculous considering the lack of suspensions of Bowens questionable plays during games two and three, but the reason there was no punishment is because they were just that... questionable. There is no conclusive evidence that says that either the step on the back of the foot, or the knee to the crotch was intentional. Bowen was on offence when his knee connected to Nashes crotch and he was executing a very standard B-ball move: the jab step, which is used to create space to avoid blows just like that!! Nash was up in his business and he paid the price. Should have been an offensive foul and thats that. And there is simply no way to prove that Bowen was just trying to chase down a possible board during the Amare mishap. Of course, we know this is not true. But this is exactly what makes Bowen special. Yall call him dirty, we call him crafty. He knows what he is doing, and he is very good at it. He is there for one reason, and that is to make his oppenents job as hard as possible. Welcome to the world of competitve sport. We are not playing checkers here.
Bowens violations were questionable, the rule Amare and Diaw broke is written in stone, you can not jump off the bench. Sometimes, the ball has to roll your way to win.
C.) Speaking of which, its the playoffs... tell your guys to stop whining like a bunch of tattle tale 1st graders. And by that, I mean Amare, and your owner. It is plain and simple, NOT helping your cause. It is the reason you are not getting calls, and it has just given the Spurs motivation and a swagger. They walked onto the court with a "I will show you dirty, ya puss," attitude and they are getting it. Say what you want about the Spurs but they have been through alot, overcome alot of adversity and have a pretty good track record to show for it. One thing we do not do is bitch to the media and let me tell you why and let you in on a little secret... Refs and the league dont like bitc&$g and moaning. Tim might give his trade mark, aw shucks look on the court after he gets called for a foul, but he does not whine to the national sports media about the opponent and calls, essentially saying the refs are not doin their job to the whole world. Jason Terry flat out PUNCHED Finley in the nuts last year in game 5, and that play was dirtier than any play has been in this series. But, we did not go out and start crying to the press, calling the entire Maverick organization dirty. We awaited the decision, and the league delivered. And besides, I can remember Charles Barkley pulling some questionable stunts back in his day. Raja Bell tossing Kobe to the floor last year... real classy. The road goes both ways Phoenix, and not every Sun just got home from Bible study. Snap out of it! This is the playoffs, and whoever wins this series will win the championship, so check the maxipads at the door and lets play some ball. This is the big enchilada. Stop making it sound like we are inventing 'in your face basketball.' Two weeks ago, we were the "milk and cookies" team of the league led by Tim Duncan (not exactly Dennis Rodman guys). Amare has made us out to be the '89 Pistons when in fact, our organization has been built around classy players like Timmy, David Robinson and Sean Elliot. So stop wasting your breath and save it for the court, you are going to need it.
In short, this sucks, but just play ball. You may have won game 1 if Nash did not bust his nose, but you know what... he did. We probably would have won it all if Derek Fischer had not made his circus shot in '04. We probably would have won it all if Manu did not foul Dirk in game 7 last year. But, S&*# happens! Thats life and that is sport. If you are good enough you will come back and win anyway. Thats what the spurs do, and it has won us three rings, even if you do not like the way we have won them.
May the best team win.
This sucks. I have read some pretty heated comments on these boards, and they are warranted. A Spur was the aggressor last night, pulling a move that no one should be proud of, and the Suns have been punished for it. I am posting to let yall know that most Spurs fans are not snickering gleefully at this decision because frankly if we were to win this thing now, it would have an asterisk next to it in the eye of the sportsworld and we already have a championship with an asterisk in the shortened season of '99. We want to win it, but not like that.
The short version: this is not good for anybody.
But before anyone rushes into conspiracy theorys let me just make a couple of points.
A.) The league does NOT want the Spurs to win this series. The Spurs have been to the finals three times and each time it has been amongst the lowest TV ratings for the finals in History. S.A. is ranked the 37th largest sports market in the country, and that is our fan base. The Suns are up-tempo, exciting to watch, and they are what people want to see. The Spurs are old news in the sports world. People want a new story. They are just not going to get it this year. There is no wizard pulling the strings for the Spurs so yall can stop clinging to that raft.
B.) I know it could seem ridiculous considering the lack of suspensions of Bowens questionable plays during games two and three, but the reason there was no punishment is because they were just that... questionable. There is no conclusive evidence that says that either the step on the back of the foot, or the knee to the crotch was intentional. Bowen was on offence when his knee connected to Nashes crotch and he was executing a very standard B-ball move: the jab step, which is used to create space to avoid blows just like that!! Nash was up in his business and he paid the price. Should have been an offensive foul and thats that. And there is simply no way to prove that Bowen was just trying to chase down a possible board during the Amare mishap. Of course, we know this is not true. But this is exactly what makes Bowen special. Yall call him dirty, we call him crafty. He knows what he is doing, and he is very good at it. He is there for one reason, and that is to make his oppenents job as hard as possible. Welcome to the world of competitve sport. We are not playing checkers here.
Bowens violations were questionable, the rule Amare and Diaw broke is written in stone, you can not jump off the bench. Sometimes, the ball has to roll your way to win.
C.) Speaking of which, its the playoffs... tell your guys to stop whining like a bunch of tattle tale 1st graders. And by that, I mean Amare, and your owner. It is plain and simple, NOT helping your cause. It is the reason you are not getting calls, and it has just given the Spurs motivation and a swagger. They walked onto the court with a "I will show you dirty, ya puss," attitude and they are getting it. Say what you want about the Spurs but they have been through alot, overcome alot of adversity and have a pretty good track record to show for it. One thing we do not do is bitch to the media and let me tell you why and let you in on a little secret... Refs and the league dont like bitc&$g and moaning. Tim might give his trade mark, aw shucks look on the court after he gets called for a foul, but he does not whine to the national sports media about the opponent and calls, essentially saying the refs are not doin their job to the whole world. Jason Terry flat out PUNCHED Finley in the nuts last year in game 5, and that play was dirtier than any play has been in this series. But, we did not go out and start crying to the press, calling the entire Maverick organization dirty. We awaited the decision, and the league delivered. And besides, I can remember Charles Barkley pulling some questionable stunts back in his day. Raja Bell tossing Kobe to the floor last year... real classy. The road goes both ways Phoenix, and not every Sun just got home from Bible study. Snap out of it! This is the playoffs, and whoever wins this series will win the championship, so check the maxipads at the door and lets play some ball. This is the big enchilada. Stop making it sound like we are inventing 'in your face basketball.' Two weeks ago, we were the "milk and cookies" team of the league led by Tim Duncan (not exactly Dennis Rodman guys). Amare has made us out to be the '89 Pistons when in fact, our organization has been built around classy players like Timmy, David Robinson and Sean Elliot. So stop wasting your breath and save it for the court, you are going to need it.
In short, this sucks, but just play ball. You may have won game 1 if Nash did not bust his nose, but you know what... he did. We probably would have won it all if Derek Fischer had not made his circus shot in '04. We probably would have won it all if Manu did not foul Dirk in game 7 last year. But, S&*# happens! Thats life and that is sport. If you are good enough you will come back and win anyway. Thats what the spurs do, and it has won us three rings, even if you do not like the way we have won them.
May the best team win.
