<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">There were ?Free Amar? placards. There were Stoudemire, Boris Diaw and Steve Nash masks. There were signs reading: ?We Got Screwed? and ?Wanted: Cheap Shot Bob.? And when the San Antonio Spurs finally took the floor for Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals Wednesday at US Airways Center ? with an armed officer behind their bench and beefed up security everywhere ? Suns fans vented 105 degrees worth of Phoenix frustration with a lusty chorus of boos. ?I absolutely hate the Spurs,? Phoenix resident Jerome Palmer said. ?They?re not the San Antonio Spurs. They?re the Baghdad Spurs with Saddam Duncan.? Suns fans never got the chance to address NBA commissioner David Stern, who canceled his planned trip to Phoenix after the league gave one-game suspensions each to Stoudemire and Diaw for leaving the bench late in Game 4 after the Spurs? Robert Horry body-checked Nash into the scorer?s table. Stern told ESPN?s Dan Patrick he had a cold. Nor did fans get a chance to address NBA vice president of basketball operations Stu Jackson, who handed down the suspensions Tuesday. But when told that venders were hawking ?Stu Sucks? T-shirts, Suns coach Mike D?Antoni quipped: ?So my shipment finally came in?? ?David Stern is a complete disgrace,? Chandler resident Michael Tucker said. ?He didn?t even have the guts to come here tonight because he knows he was wrong. He should resign immediately.?</div> Source: East Valley Tribune
The fans have only their team to blame, they led the entire game by as many as 17 points and didnt finish the game. even if they were amare/diaw less they lost the game after holding the lead. NO ONE TO BLAME BUT THE TEAM!
See, the thing is that if James Jones did this to Tony Parker and Tim Duncan and say Bruce Bowen did what Stoudamire and Diaw did and got suspended, Spurs fans would be pissed too.
The game itself, in a vacuum, was a fair game and the suns lost fairly. They couldn't continue to keep up the pace with their lack of staff. That said, the game itself should never have been played the way it was with those suspensions. Nothing the spurs accomplish now is worth a fart in a hurricane.
That's no suprise that they were tired in the end. They played like 6 players and they just ran out of gas, that's it. GO SUNS IN GAME 6!!!
What happened was a joke....the NBA ends up rewarding the Spurs and cheap shot Bob for his actions. The suns lost two of their best players for doing very very little and all it cost the Spurs was Horry's 3pts pergame. In my opinion if the Suns go on to loose this series the whole playoffs are forfeit...they dont mean a thing
<div class="quote_poster">02civic Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">What happened was a joke....the NBA ends up rewarding the Spurs and cheap shot Bob for his actions. The suns lost two of their best players for doing very very little and all it cost the Spurs was Horry's 3pts pergame. In my opinion if the Suns go on to loose this series the whole playoffs are forfeit...they dont mean a thing</div> Nash was throwing elbows, which is why Cheap Shot Bob hit him. The Suns blew a big lead at home (and could have rested Nash a couple of minutes had Marcus Banks entered the game), I don't feel bad for them and you don't know that the Suns would definitely beat the Jazz or Pistons/etc. in the future anyway.
<div class="quote_poster">huevonkiller Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">you don't know that the Suns would definitely beat the Jazz or Pistons/etc. in the future anyway.</div> Exactly, we don't know. Maybe the Spurs would've won the whole series anyway, maybe the Suns would've won and lost to Utah, but because of the stand = suspension rule, we'll probably see the Spurs beat Utah... it throws the whole Playoffs out of whack, who knows what could've happened had the NBA either went by the rule (and suspended Duncan and Bowen who did the same thing) or realized because nobody got into the fight, nobody should've been suspended. How the record book will look: 2007 NBA Champion* * Stern/Jackson screwed Phoenix
As I feel that the Suns are kind of the spiritual siblings of my hometown Warriors... and as I kind of wanted to be able to watch basketball a few more weeks... I lament this situation as well.
<div class="quote_poster">Montaman Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">As I feel that the Suns are kind of the spiritual siblings of my hometown Warriors... and as I kind of wanted to be able to watch basketball a few more weeks... I lament this situation as well.</div> I feel ya, I'd still be looking forward to games myself, even without Phoenix, had Baron and the Warriors advanced.
Really, I just want somebody to show the world you can win with an uptempo team. Those teams in the 80s could score like their lives depended on it. I tend to agree with what Paul Shirley said in his correspondence with slate.com... the Phoenix Suns were playing with the future of basketball in their hands, and for now, at least, they couldn't get it done. They'll be back, though... every year, the Spurs already old team is just gonna get a little slower, and teams like Golden State and Phoenix will keep pushing the tempo.
<div class="quote_poster">Montaman Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Really, I just want somebody to show the world you can win with an uptempo team. Those teams in the 80s could score like their lives depended on it. I tend to agree with what Paul Shirley said in his correspondence with slate.com... the Phoenix Suns were playing with the future of basketball in their hands, and for now, at least, they couldn't get it done. They'll be back, though... every year, the Spurs already old team is just gonna get a little slower, and teams like Golden State and Phoenix will keep pushing the tempo.</div> Hasn't that already been proven? Nash just isn't as good as Magic, that's the only problem.
One reason why I don't like Nash is because nobody criticizes him for his failure to lead his team to the Finals. He's had plenty of opportunities, but he hasn't stepped up and mustered the will to lead his team. Players like Kobe, LeBron, Tmac, Garnett, etc.. catch heat for not being able to lead their team...but why not Nash? As for the fans, I don't think they have a reason to be mad. Amare admitted his wrongs and excepted his punishment, I think the fans need to, too.
The Suns were down 20, who brought them within 5 points? Nash. He never quit, and it was not his fault that the Suns lost this series. David Stern and Stu Jackson should get the Playoffs MVP because they had more to do with the Spurs winning than the Spurs did. Nash is the only reason Phoenix has won 5 series in the last 3 years. Kobe hasn't won a first round series without Shaq and when he had the chance he disappeared in the second half. I've not heard a lot of talk about LeBron, he's still so young and has taken a team that had the #1 pick in the draft and brought them to the ECF... the knock on him is his 4th quarters, he goes cold when he should be clutch. Like Kobe, T-Mac hasn't gotten out of the first round, unlike Kobe he actually has played with decent teams. I agree KG is unfairly criticized, but it's probably because he's a PF/C and a scorer (Nash isn't a scorer unless he has to be, he turns everybody else into scorers). So you hate Nash because the media criticizes players who make twice as much as Nash for not getting out of the first round (something Nash has done many times)? Maybe you should hate the media. I don't hate the Memphis Grizzles because David Stern unfairly stuck his nose into the series, it's not their fault, just like it's not Nash's fault the media appreciates how great he is. <u>LAST 3 YEARS</u>: Nash: won 5 series, 177 regular season games Kobe: won 0 series, 121 regular season games T-Mac: won 0 series, 137 regular season games KG: won 0 series, 109 regular season games 5 and 0 aren't the same number.
It is true that uptempo has won in the past, but the NBA seems to have stagnated recently, with the success of the Spurs leading to a defeated, ashamed exasperation for many fans of the running and gunning game. My trepidation about it is that even in my grudging acknowledgement that San Antonio is a very, very good basketball team, I get absolutely no enjoyment from watching them. They're a team that, while excellent, plays a stifling style of basketball, and they're a old team with no upside or intrigue. As a Warriors fan, I can watch games and ponder how good Monta Ellis or Andris Biedrins may be one day. I can't do that with the Spurs. Bowen is Bowen. Oberto is Oberto. Duncan is Duncan. Their youngest starter is Parker, and as long as he's been around, I feel like I already have him all figured out. As to Nash not leading his team to the finals... Nash is the purest passing point guard in the NBA today. His unbelievable ball handling and dishing has opened up his offensive game, but his greatest asset remains the assist. Given the fact that he has outperformed Kobe in the playoffs since he started playing at an MVP level, and given the fact that Kobe as a scorer takes his team's life in his own hands more frequently, he's an easier, and one might argue more worthy target. I entirely understand why a Laker fan might be frustrated by that, but I can't argue the logic.
No I don't hate him because of his lacks of criticism, I just think people shouldn't ignore that. This team has been together for awhile now and they can't put it all together. Their window of opportunity is closing pretty fast. There is rumors of them having to trade away some key people to avoid the luxury tax. Nash isn't going to stay like this forever, his body won't hold. I just think he needs some criticism for his lack of getting to the finals. Just because Nash brought his team within 5 doesn't mean anything. How many times has Mcgrady brought his team back? Kobe? Garnett? Pierce? Arenas? Failure is failure.
I'm so surprised that Steve Nash could play at this level. And in his 30's. Hopefully for Suns fans he's body can hold out one more year. Because after the next season. I'm pretty sure his play will go down. Like how Shaq has for the past 3 seasons. But by that time Amare can be an mvp player himself. Rebounding 11 to 12 boards a game. And blocking close to 3 shots.
I just saw from ESPN yesterday watching the Spurs/Jazz game that Steve Nash is the active player who plays the most playoff games without a ring. He had 3 opportunity last 3 years but he choked. He maybe be superb in the regular season but he can't do it in playoff. Playoff basketball is totally different.
