Before I begin, let me just say that I am a die-hard Phoenix Suns fan. However, I am not writing out of malice or sour grapes. I am writing because I am a concerned basketball fan who does not appreciate the NBA's tyrannical defense of the San Antonio Spurs.
Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals was a hell of a game. I was pulling for the Lakers because of my "bias" as a Suns fan, but overall I could really care less who won. With a minute to go, I figured it was over, as did every non-Spurs fan. When it came down to the final play, I was wondering what Gregg Popovich (who I respect and acknowledge as an exceptional coach) would draw up.
When Brent Barry got the ball closer to half court than the three-point line I was shocked. When he pumped and Fisher left his feet I screamed at the television, "Why would you leave your feet? Let him shoot!" I was relieved when Barry stupidly dribbled away from the contact and missed the rim.
During the post game, I was astonished when there was so much talk about "should a foul have been called?" I admit there was contact, and if you are going exactly by the rule book, it probably would have been a two-shot foul.
But over the course of a game, there are so many of those occurrences that are never called; and especially in the final two seconds of a playoff game, that was a definite no-call.
When they went to Gregg Popovich's press conference after the game, I was pleased with his response that it was not a foul. I was pleased as well with Barry's response.
I kept waiting for them to say that Barry should have jumped into the contact instead of dribbling away, though. The next day, when I heard that the League Office announced that there should have been a two shot foul, I was furious. It was an idiotic and pointless move on their part to say the least.
First off, if they hadn't made it an issue, no one would still be talking about it. Also, there are so many things the league could apologize for. What I'm saying is that there are many other wrongdoings that the NBA Office could be addressing. It is ridiculous (and I would not call it incidental) that the NBA office chooses to side with the Spurs.
Let's go back to the 2007 Western Conference Semifinals between the Spurs and the Suns. After Robert Horry hipchecks Steve Nash into the scorer's table, when the game was just sealed and the players are already on their feet, Amare Stoudamire and Boris Diaw walk 10 feet from the bench and get suspended one game each (a quintessential Game 5, that I guarantee the Suns would have won if they were at full strength).
Robert Horry, however, got suspended two games. I would have been satisfied with Stoudamire and Diaw's suspensions if Horry were suspended a full season. It is unbelievable that a dirty play like that is only one game more than walking away from the bench. That's another instance that the League takes the side of the Spurs.
The league has also downplayed the issue of the Spurs' dirty play on several occasions. When Bruce Bowen kneed Steve Nash in the groin in the 2007 Playoffs, the issue was never addressed. When Robert Horry took out David West's back in this year's Playoffs, the issue was never addressed.
My question is, why does the League Office continue to hold the Spurs' hand time after time? This article has addressed the facts, and if it is accused of bias then that person is a Spurs fan hiding behind the truth—an inconvenient truth.
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4 months ago
you are stupid, and the suns suck ass, they are never gonna win a championship, but maybe if they did they would get the respect they deserve, thats why the office made that omment because even though the spurs weren't crying about it, the league felt they should at least admit their mistake, what do the spurs have to do to get a little respect, i hate you dumb spurs haters, focus on what counts and quit using your influence on creating hate in the league. you suck too!
from 4 months ago
youre an idiot. if you ignore this bias and the spurs dirty play then you simply are an ignoramous.
4 months ago
It is obvious that this writer is desperate and probably about to loose his/her job. The fact is that the Spurs have accomplished more than any small market team ever has, with little budget consistently over a decade. On top of that, when the best athlete in the NBA forgoes an opportunity to make and extra $10Mil/yr or so, AND forgoes $100Mil by not joining the NBA draft a year early to continue on a promise, you know that team is special, Period! The Spurs epitomize what the league so desperately needs, CLASS and HUMILITY! I guess 50 years from now, we can all say that the demise of this great society is not the exporting of jobs overseas, the flattening of the world, brain drain, etc...But instead an infusion of naive, egalitarian, thoughtless writers who lack the critical thinking capability and insight to give credit where credit is due. When fans and sports writers glorify criminal behavior and the elevate the $ potential that a Kobe brings in over a basic sense of civility and peace, then dense writers come in and further promote the motes operandi of Sodom and Gomorra like behavior, it is a sad day for us all!! And I am agnostic!! The Spurs are a Class act and hard to follow in the NBA! The Suns are not destined to win a championship, perhaps a CHUMPionship is in their future.
GO Spurs!!
from 4 months ago
Egalitarian thoughtless writers who glorify criminal behavior? What article were you reading?
I understand where the author is coming from and where you are coming from. Duncan, Ginobli and Parker are class acts. I agree with you in that regard.
However, Bown and Horry are far from being class acts. If anything they are two of the dirtier players in the league, which is why I understand where the author is coming from.
So both of you have some merit in your arguments.
4 months ago
Quote: "However, I am not writing out of malice or sour grapes"
Bullshit. If you're still bringing this stuff up its out of malice.
I wasn't too upset by the non-call vs. the Lakers... until the sports guy on the news said it was none other than JOEY CRAWFORD who didn't make the call. dun dun dun!!!!
And back to the Robert Horry hipcheck thing
There is no precedent to suspend anyone for a full season for something like that. If Robert Horry had maybe punched Nash in the face, knocked him onto the floor and then jumped up and down on top of him yelling obscenities, then a rest of the season suspension would have been justified. But the two Suns players who got up from the bench received one game suspensions because its AUTOMATIC. It's not someone's call. It's automatic. Not a conspiracy.
And why would there be a conspiracy? What's the motivation? A Spurs finals game does not offer the league much in the way of a financial incentive, since SA is "small market" or whatever the term is.
My advice to spurs-haters is to stop whining and stop making excuses. Try actually beating the Spurs, like the Lakers did.
PS- Could you at least be creative enough to not rip off your title from Al Gore?
4 months ago
Geez... three words: GET OVER IT!
Raja Bell = dirty player and a flopper
Steve Nash = a flopper
Your window has closed. Come back in 10 years.
4 months ago
Awsome photograph...... I'm closing this web page and NEVER opening it again,
Awsome photograph. Maybe next year you guys get it. ???? NBA is hard to figure out.
http://www.bleacherreport.com/sections/San%20Antonio%20Spurs
You mention that NBA went and said it was a foul on Fisher, that only puts them more in a
hole, when the fan is assuming refs are calling the game. I mean really calling the game.
You see, if a referee calls a good game in favor off the bookie who threaten him. His daughter
goes to Harvard full ride. If not she goes full ride 6' ft. below grade. There are millions of money
riding on single game, more so in playoffs.....all sports!! And then with that ref donehee or donahue,
whatever... saying that not only refs but players coaches and NBA staff betting and shaving points, way to go mister commisioner. Martin enjoy the game thats all we got. Hate to say it but my team is out (SA). Win or lose Im still gettting paid the same. Enjoy the game. show our kids how to enjoy a game.
That is the easy part, teaching them how to deal with a loss that is life.
NBA Season 2008-2009 HERE WE GO!!!!!
4 months ago
I have spent the last year marveling at how any one can write drivel like this.
The league has bias toward the San Antonio Spurs?
Martin, if you think the league wants any other teams than the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals, you are delusional. That may be unfair but David Stern will live with the status quo if it means his leagues two most storied teams get to play each other for an 11th time in the championship round.
So, you gaurantee the Suns would have won game 5 with Diaw and Stoudemire? I guarantee you the Spurs would still have won and that's why I hated the suspensions as much as you did. The Spurs did not need any help winning a title last year. Nobody was beating them the way they were playing.
The Suns were a good team last year, and yes I know that they strung together two 17-game win streaks, but there no reason to believe anything was different from 2005.
You can change the role players on rival teams but if the core is still the same and as productive, expecting a different result was a bit much.
The Spurs won that season series 3-1 and had given ample evidence they were the better team. It doesn't matter what that margin of "better" is just that they are better.
The Spurs beating the Suns in five games this year said it all and some of the players you probably love admitted as much.
Many fans like you believe their team is the only victim but what you saw with the no-call on Brent Barry and some questionable fouls in other series is the NBA is equal opportunity. Many of your points are false and deserve examination.
Is Bruce Bowen a choirboy? Of course not, but he is not dirty. If Kobe Bryant, the best player in the world, says so, maybe you and Ray Allen, Stoudemire and others should listen. Bowen knows what he can get away with in accordance with the rules so give him credit for that.
Some comments in the playoffs from former Suns coach Mike D'Antoni were telling. He will tell you that Raja Bell and Steve Nash flop no less than Manu Ginobili. He even admitted that he tells them to do it. Why wouldn't he?
For too long, people have mistakenly lashed out at players for flopping instead of NBA officials and the the league office for allowing it.
D'Antoni also says that Ginobili is one of the "three best players in the world." It is amazing how many fans write opinions that contradict what their coach says.
Robert Horry did not take out David West's back. West was already injured and should never have been playing that late in the game when a comeback was no longer possible. When you hear TV analysts advise to take out their star players when the game is all but decided, that's why.
Could I have done without that Horry pick? Yes, but it happened, and the Hornets and West got over it.
"But over the course of a game, there are so many of those occurrences that are never called; and especially in the final two seconds of a playoff game, that was a definite no-call."
Your quote sums up the NBA's biggest problem. A foul is foul whether it happens two minutes into the first quarter or with two seconds left. The officials swallow their whistles so as not to affect the outcome of a tight game but end up doing so because they don't call a foul that is a foul.
All of those occurences you have seen, especially Bowen's foul on LeBron James in game 3 of the finals last year, should have been whistled.
Shouldn't the NBA go "exactly by the rule book" on every play? If you're going to suspend the rules in any part of a game, especially the critical end, why have them in the first place?
Many of the problems your article raises are ones the NBA, not the Spurs or any other team, needs to fix. You might want to reconsider saying your article harbors no "malice or sour grapes" as it is full of both. You do list some facts but do not provide any context.
My recommendation to Suns fans still peeved about the suspensions is to take the Spurs attitude. Why do you think the silver and black has beaten the purple and orange three times in the last five years?
When things don't go your way or a player gets injured, you can make excuses or accept the blame and move on.
I can gaurantee you that if the roles were reversed, Popovich would have said nothing about the suspensions after game 5. He would have reprimanded his team for blowing a 16 point lead and a double digit one in the fourth quarter. All you can do in the NBA is play with what you have and control yourself.
If the Spurs had used Derek Fisher's .4 shot, horrible calls in the 2006 Dallas Mavericks series or Tim Duncan's 2001 injury as excuses, no way would they have hoisted championship banner number five last June.
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