Spurs VS Suns 4th Game

[Odysseus]

Question: What do the Nuggets have to do to play at this level? Wow!

[RhymesayersDU]

The Nuggets need a SG.

[yavoon]

tim duncan?

[Liquid Courage]

Question: What do the Nuggets have to do to play at this level? Wow!


Apparently they need a players that are willing to sacrifice the quality of true athletic achievement and turn a good game of basketball into a soccer-worthy flopfest! I have a great deal of respect for the Spurs, but the Manu flop and Frenchie flop were ridiculous!

[TheManeMan]

Floppers R Us...even in the semi-circle...

http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20050531/capt.saa11005310129.suns_spurs_saa110.jpg

[MadCity]

Ok, so I wasn't the only person who though parts of this game resembled the end of the video for Epic by Faith No More.

[Odysseus]

You guys want to careful using the word FLOP around the Mane. Mock has it copyrighted to Eddie McCaffrey. I think it brings a new meaning to the word floppy but...

How come the Nuggets don't have a big nosed guy who can flop on cue? Isn't that the new form of dunking in the NBA?

How come the only times the Spurs fans have something to say is in the middle of Nuggets thread? No Spurs fans with any insight? Any Suns fans have an explaination for nearly getting swept?

[RhymesayersDU]

The Suns fans are still crying themselves to sleep. I know there was one dude around here pimping the Suns all season, about how they were head and shoulders above everybody else, and how Amare was God on the basketball floor.

Right.

I called the Spurs from the beginning of the season, they truly are a great basketball team. And Ginnobli, despite his flops, can really play some ball.

[Atlas]

The Nuggets need a SG.

Yep.. They need someone that can bury the THREE. Until the league wakes up and moves the three point line back teams need to be able to shoot the 3 pointer to be successful.

[Odysseus]

I heard from a friend that the Nuggets could have picked up Ginobili but Coach B passed on him. True? Rumor?

[RhymesayersDU]

I heard from a friend that the Nuggets could have picked up Ginobili but Coach B passed on him. True? Rumor?

Other way around, he passed on us. We wanted him, he stayed loyal to San Antonio.

[yavoon]

Yep.. They need someone that can bury the THREE. Until the league wakes up and moves the three point line back teams need to be able to shoot the 3 pointer to be successful.

haha back? should there be any 3 pt line along the sidelines? back is insane.

[watermock]

Ginobli and Nash are both examples that you don't have to be a wham bam I'm so bad player. That's why we lost the Olympics, and Ginobli got a gold medal.

He plays the game right, instead for show. Well, kinda anyway. Hey, if he can flop like a fish out of water, and the refs buy it....

[Tredici]

If we can't get the NHL back, maybe Buttman can talk Stern into implementing the "taking a dive" penalty into the NBA. Might as well have as many subjective calls as possible. More talkshow bitching fodder.....

[TheManeMan]

The Suns fans are still crying themselves to sleep. I know there was one dude around here pimping the Suns all season, about how they were head and shoulders above everybody else, and how Amare was God on the basketball floor.

Right.

I called the Spurs from the beginning of the season, they truly are a great basketball team. And Ginnobli, despite his flops, can really play some ball.

lets get this straight...I'm not a Suns fan...I do enjoy watching that team play, I have all year...I still think they are the best team in the NBA...despite being down 3-1 to a Spurs team that most probably will go on to win the championship...Amare has been like a God on the floor...And if you dont see it, then I dont know what to tell you...He's had 10 games of 30 points or more in this years playoffs...Hes only 23 years old!! Anyway, The only thing I know is that (and I hate to use excuses) but, if the Suns were 100% healthy when starting the western conference finals, then they wouldnt have been down 3-1 like there are as of today...Even if they do infact lose one of the next 3 games, they still will have the core of that team back together next year...And coming off a year where they set records in NBA history and in team history, I could only expect them to get better with more experience...

[Atlas]

haha back? should there be any 3 pt line along the sidelines? back is insane.

It's too close. Everyone knows that. THe moved it up a few years ago to get more threes and what they turned the NBA into is a low post three point game. No passing or movement. Go watch the old Laker teams of the 80's they had ball movement that's what basketball used to be. Not the snooze fests you get today.

[epicSocialism4tw]

You guys have to realize that there are fouls on every play usually on every player at all times during an NBA game. People use the 'flop' to draw attention on fouls that might not otherwise be called. Sometimes flops are over-dramatic, but if you have your feet set and take that charge you should get the whistle. Flops might not look 'tough', but they are legit fouls most of the time.

The same thing can be said about soccer (the original and more popular football). Somehow american fans can not keep up with the pace of the game and miss all of the elbows, hard tackles, pulling, shoving, cleatings and various high-speed impact maulings that happen in soccer. What happens if you are running full speed and one of your feet hits a snag? You probably go airborne. What happens when a defender behind you stomps on your achilles with his screw-in studs? You go down.

[gunns]

The difference between the Spurs and Suns? Spurs have a complete team, Suns have no defense. Difference between the teams playing now and the Nuggets, the teams playing now have basketball players, the Nuggests...4 basketball players and a showboater.

[Odysseus]

I miss old school basketball.

[yavoon]

It's too close. Everyone knows that. THe moved it up a few years ago to get more threes and what they turned the NBA into is a low post three point game. No passing or movement. Go watch the old Laker teams of the 80's they had ball movement that's what basketball used to be. Not the snooze fests you get today.


funny the europeans have a closer 3 pt line and they have a tremendous team game.

the 3 pt line is not the problem w/ team basketball.

and as a sidenote, basketball 20 years ago was played w/ about 1/5th the defensive intensity that some of the teams play it w/ now. the lakers easily played w/ about as much defensive intensity as the suns.

[epicSocialism4tw]

Alright, I have had my rant on 'flopping'. Now on to the game.

This game hinged on two major factors: reffing and execution.

As a mostly unbiased witness (a Maverick fan and a fan of Nash), I was really surprised at the trends in reffing in the fourth quarter. Phoenix were given several blatant non calls and breaks that led to critical momentum shifts within the final 3 minutes.

On one questionable sequence of a few plays, Nash traveled very obviously while trying to beat the press up the court. After Nash and the defenders Bowen and Parker crossed midcourt, Stoudemire set a moving screen that pinned Bowen's arm (which had no jersey in its grip) between Stoudemire and Nash. Bowen crashed hard to the floor and was whistled for a foul.

On Stoudemire's 'block' of Duncan's dunk in the final couple of sequences, Stoudemire's hand was easily visible within the cylinder. Granted it was probably tough to see at full speed, it should have been a goaltend. That play determined the winner of the game.

There were a couple of other huge sequences down the stretch that went in the Suns' favor. Parker was mauled going down the lane and turned the ball over. Ginobili was tossed by a Stoudemire shoulder and was whislted for a technical to offset Stoudemire's tech. That was an obvious attempt to 'balance' the call which was not in fact a tech-worthy play by Ginobili, but was almost worthy of an ejection on Stoudemire's loose-cannon loss of his temper. The NBA should formally apologize to the Spurs for that one.

The Reffing in this series has been surprisingly Sun-biased. The Spurs had just been too good to lose in the fisrt few games, but the refs have intended to make an impact in the favor of Phoenix throughout the series. I thought that it took years of competitiveness and success to warrant that kind of treatment from officials, but the NBA must really want the Suns to win a few.

[yavoon]

Alright, I have had my rant on 'flopping'. Now on to the game.

This game hinged on two major factors: reffing and execution.

As a mostly unbiased witness (a Maverick fan and a fan of Nash), I was really surprised at the trends in reffing in the fourth quarter. Phoenix were given several blatant non calls and breaks that led to critical momentum shifts within the final 3 minutes.

On one questionable sequence of a few plays, Nash traveled very obviously while trying to beat the press up the court. After Nash and the defenders Bowen and Parker crossed midcourt, Stoudemire set a moving screen that pinned Bowen's arm (which had no jersey in its grip) between Stoudemire and Nash. Bowen crashed hard to the floor and was whistled for a foul.

On Stoudemire's 'block' of Duncan's dunk in the final couple of sequences, Stoudemire's hand was easily visible within the cylinder. Granted it was probably tough to see at full speed, it should have been a goaltend. That play determined the winner of the game.

There were a couple of other huge sequences down the stretch that went in the Suns' favor. Parker was mauled going down the lane and turned the ball over. Ginobili was tossed by a Stoudemire shoulder and was whislted for a technical to offset Stoudemire's tech. That was an obvious attempt to 'balance' the call which was not in fact a tech-worthy play by Ginobili, but was almost worthy of an ejection on Stoudemire's loose-cannon loss of his temper. The NBA should formally apologize to the Spurs for that one.

The Reffing in this series has been surprisingly Sun-biased. The Spurs had just been too good to lose in the fisrt few games, but the refs have intended to make an impact in the favor of Phoenix throughout the series. I thought that it took years of competitiveness and success to warrant that kind of treatment from officials, but the NBA must really want the Suns to win a few.


the nba jury rigs so many things, is it any wonder that the year after a great defense wins the championship all of a sudden scoring is backup and moving screens are all now noncalls? the nba is like the nfl in it likes scoring, but it is far more duplicitous in how it achieves it.

[RhymesayersDU]

I still think they are the best team in the NBA

How can you be the best team when you totally lack anything that resembles a defense?

On the Amare comment, however, I didn't mean to diss him. I think he's a great young superstar, but at the same time, he's not Duncan yet... He will be, but I'm not ready to crown him King just yet.

[epicSocialism4tw]

How can you be the best team when you totally lack anything that resembles a defense?

On the Amare comment, however, I didn't mean to diss him. I think he's a great young superstar, but at the same time, he's not Duncan yet... He will be, but I'm not ready to crown him King just yet.


I don't know if he'll ever be in Duncan's league. The offense runs through Duncan first and the defense is funneled to and based aound Duncan. Duncan has been the best player in the league for a few years now. It's too bad that he's not neurotic like Garnett or brash and funny like Shaq, or the popular media would be putting him in the all-time top 5. The guy is pure dominance.

Stoudemire is still a compliment to Nash and has not become a defensive player yet. He may never have the tough, professional, patient, smart, and competitive mind of Duncan. He has great athleticism and power, but he stull bull rushes opponents and goes over the back on every rebound. When coaches catch on to his schtick he will have some serious foul problems. He needs to mature and I expect that he will. He should hit his peak around age 27 or 28.