Marbury's foul

[ASUCHRIS]

" nice people still say stupid things and should nonetheless be held accountable for them, regardless of whatever else they've done."

Do you not think he has been held accountable for this? Do you not read the papers, listen to the radio, watch NBA tonight, watch every other media outlet that has been raking Steph over the coals the last few weeks over this incident? What do you want them to do at this point? Have Steph go on national tv and apologize for saying it? The New York and national media has been bashing him relentlessly, I don't know how you can't recognize this....

 

[ASUCHRIS]

I agree about the Nets. That was mostly an injury issue with the entire team and Steph got blamed for it. But he wrote his own ticket out of Minnesota. As for Phoenix, they a had a good run one season, but it wasn't a style of basketball that would have worked long term, and in fact, didn't work the next season even before Amare got hurt. To say he was too early in Phoenix makes no sense to me. Even if by some unfathomable miracle they had dumped Penny's contract, kept Marbury and signed just Q and Hunter, this team would be struggling to make the playoffs right now. It takes a very specific type of team to work around Stephon Marbury at an elite level(much like Allen Iverson). Again, I really like Stephon, but I don't think he works very well as a #2 player, and I don't think a team built around Stephon Marbury will ever win a championship. Heck, there are very few players who can be built around for championships, which, by the way, is what the Suns organization is trying to do. Marbury wasn't early in Phoenix, he was the wrong guy for the job.

We can speculate all we want, but it is difficult to change the past and develop possible outcomes. There was a fair percentage of the board that was quite satisfied with the idea of building around Marbury, Stoudemire and Marion...and many were quite angry that this wasn't allowed to develop. Amare now is a much different player, and that is where the "too early" reference comes....Who knows, maybe you are right and it never would have worked out, and I recognize the fact that this is entirely possible. However, I still believe, that surrounded with a decent cast, Marbury could be a pretty effective player. Perhaps with a different style cast, and some player moves, it could have worked, that we'll never know...

 

[AZZenny]

Given that the new owners reportedly wanted him to sharply cut his remaining salary in a restructured extension as the only means to keep him here past free agency, I may be talking more apples and pears or oranges and tangerines.

Show me where RJ has said a negative about the DBacks, the city, or the state since donning that gawdawful MFY uniform. He has been as polite as Steph ever was, despite NY media attempts to bait him into saying negative things.

btw, I found it fascinating that one of the sticking points in finalizing his new contract was that they had to find a way for him to keep his courtside Suns seats through 2007, AND provide 6 premium seats for like 4-5 years thereafter.

I liked Steph. He got me interested in the Suns again - but he's not a Sun now, he's the star for the opponents, and thus fair game.

 

[elindholm]

nice people still say stupid things and should nonetheless be held accountable for them

Sure, but how did his stupid comment reflect badly on the Suns? Players make boasts that they can't back up all the time. That's much different from flipping off a crowd or saying nasty things about a city.

 

[BC867]

Regarding the various points made throughout this thread . . .

I, too, was at the game. The play and the replays all showed that Marbury came down hard on Steve's neck or back of his head, then held him to keep him from falling.

Considering the recent talk throughout the league that the way to beat the Suns is to take out Nash, I'd be suspicious.

In my opinion, Marbury definitely deserved a flagrant foul call. That seems to be why he was booed every time he touched the ball for the rest of the game. Perhaps it was directed at the refs, too.

Marbury wasn't really booed during the introductions, because our new PA announcer does a great job of whispering the names of the opposition, both then and throughout the game. I got a kick out of it.

 

[reader]

I thought flagrants were called in two ways. 1. Going for the body and not making an obvious play on the ball. 2. A hit above the shoulders.
Either way it seems to me it should have been a flagrant. The defense that Marbury tried to hold Nash up after clobbering him in the head, should not bear any weight and it should be reviewed by the league. Just my humble and non Suns biased view. If it is not reviewed and called a flagrant I can see more and more hard fouls coming the Suns way. The team should raise a real stink about this one to put other teams on notice.

 

[fordronken]

Do you not think he has been held accountable for this? Do you not read the papers, listen to the radio, watch NBA tonight, watch every other media outlet that has been raking Steph over the coals the last few weeks over this incident? What do you want them to do at this point? Have Steph go on national tv and apologize for saying it? The New York and national media has been bashing him relentlessly, I don't know how you can't recognize this....

I'm not saying the media didn't hold him accountable. I'm saying it's wrong for you to think he shouldn't be.

 

[Joe Mama]

ASUCHRIS, I agree with much of what you said, but I'm not sure I believe that Marbury was simply a little too early for the New Jersey Nets or the Phoenix Suns. I don't think I need to make much of an argument about his presence on this team. They were good with him when everybody was healthy, but no one in their right mind would claim that the Suns would be nearly as good today (forgetting salaries) if they switched Nash with Marbury. Like someone else said, I think they would be struggling for one of the last places in the playoffs.

When the Phoenix Suns acquired Marbury for Jason Kidd and the Nets went to the NBA finals by argued that it was unfair to compare the two players because New Jersey had significantly upgraded the rest of their roster. I still believe that's true, but I don't believe for a second that the New Jersey Nets would have been nearly as good with Marbury instead of JK.

As has been pointed out already it takes a very specific kind of team around Marbury to make him a winner. That Minnesota Timberwolves team was perfect for him. Unfortunately he was immature at the time and wanted to go back to the New York area.

BC, I understand what you are saying about the way that teams have been trying to hit Steve Nash, but I'm not sure it makes sense in this case. At the point of that foul the Phoenix Suns had the game pretty much in hand. If that was Marbury's intention (to be rough on Steve Nash) he probably would have been hitting him much earlier in the game. They don't even play again this season.

After I watched the foul of couple of times I think that Marbury was expecting Steve Nash to come up with the ball to the basket, but he really didn't. Marbury came down hard on the back of Nash's head and neck. It probably should have been called a flagrant even though I don't believe it was intentionally hard.

Joe Mama

 

[ASUCHRIS]

I'm not saying the media didn't hold him accountable. I'm saying it's wrong for you to think he shouldn't be.

ugh, my point is, I think it was taken out of context and blow out of proportion. It was a dumb thing to say, yes, but it's become a much bigger deal than it ever should have been.

 

[fordronken]

ugh, my point is, I think it was taken out of context and blow out of proportion. It was a dumb thing to say, yes, but it's become a much bigger deal than it ever should have been.

I agree.