foodie2
05-07-2007, 06:21 AM
Officials, injury are not to blame for deflating loss
May. 7, 2007 12:00 AM
Curses.
The Suns said a few, mostly in the direction of the officials.
Their fans are beginning to believe in them, and after watching another freak injury put a dent in yet another postseason, it's getting easy to believe in the supernatural.
But once you get past all of the peripheral stuff - the conspiracy theories, the bloody bandages and the fog of disappointment - the real culprit is staring at the Suns in the bathroom mirror. And if you don't believe me, listen to Steve Nash, who lost more blood over the weekend than Oscar De La Hoya.
"We just have to have a bigger heart and continue to push through these invisible barriers that seem to pop up sometimes," Nash said after his team's 111-106 loss to the Spurs in Game 1. "I don't know what they are, but we certainly have moments where we don't play as hard as we should."
Just what you need, huh? The captain was calling out some of his teammates, and if energy/hustle are the criteria, then the candidates seem to be Boris Diaw (two rebounds in 25 minutes), James Jones (zero contribution in nine minutes) and Shawn Marion (extremely quiet until the fourth quarter and largely ineffective guarding Tony Parker).
You can blame this deflating loss on a lack of poise. It happened on the court, where the Suns couldn't function in the waning moments without Nash, where an out-of-control Leandro Barbosa made many bad decisions. And it happened off the court, where the coaching staff became overly obsessed with the officials, and the medical staff couldn't stop the bleeding.
Just like that, home-court advantage is gone.
"We'll just hope we don't have any other calamities at the end of games," Nash said.
No doubt, this was a cruel twist of fate. After all, when Nash and Tony Parker banged heads like teenagers in a mosh pit, Parker went down for the count. The Spurs point guard acted like he had gotten the worst of the deal, by far. And then Nash started bleeding.
While trainer Aaron Nelson "immediately" knew Nash's wound required stitches (six), there was only 2:53 left in the game. The decision to not sew up Nash on the spot was surely the correct call. But while the Suns tried stalling and burning through timeouts, they erred in not getting the bleeding stopped before sending Nash to the court.
"Every time we got it stopped, it started leaking out the bottom and the sides," Nelson said.
The chaos culminated in (a) Barbosa fouling Parker when the Suns should've fouled Tim Duncan, a bricklayer from the foul line; and (b) Stoudemire attempting a short shot with 11 seconds left when the Suns needed a trey to tie.
"We definitely needed (Nash) out there," Stoudemire said.
As if you needed any more reason why Nash is the real MVP . . .
Afterward, the Suns were predictably livid with the officials, particularly a call on Stoudemire near the end of the first half. That one was a bad call, and because it was No. 3 on Stoudemire, it had lingering effects. But every basketball game is full of inaccurate calls.
But instead of letting it go, D'Antoni was still arguing with official Bob Delaney before the start of the third quarter. And when assistant Marc Iavaroni chimed in from 30 feet away, Delaney had enough. He nailed Iavaroni with a technical foul, although D'Antoni gets half the blame for that one. Alas, in this game, the Suns actually out-whined the Spurs.
Nevertheless, the Suns need to remember that nothing is lost just yet. Unlike the misfortune that derailed the past two postseasons (bad injuries to Joe Johnson and Raja Bell), Nash will be playing in Game 2. Yet this time, the Suns had better come with their poise and they had better leave with a victory.
"We've got to get Game 2," Stoudemire said. "There are no excuses.
"There is nothing . . . except for winning."
Unfortunately, a season depends on it.
Reach Bickley at [email protected] or (602) 444-8253. Check out his blog at azcentral.com.
May. 7, 2007 12:00 AM
Curses.
The Suns said a few, mostly in the direction of the officials.
Their fans are beginning to believe in them, and after watching another freak injury put a dent in yet another postseason, it's getting easy to believe in the supernatural.
But once you get past all of the peripheral stuff - the conspiracy theories, the bloody bandages and the fog of disappointment - the real culprit is staring at the Suns in the bathroom mirror. And if you don't believe me, listen to Steve Nash, who lost more blood over the weekend than Oscar De La Hoya.
"We just have to have a bigger heart and continue to push through these invisible barriers that seem to pop up sometimes," Nash said after his team's 111-106 loss to the Spurs in Game 1. "I don't know what they are, but we certainly have moments where we don't play as hard as we should."
Just what you need, huh? The captain was calling out some of his teammates, and if energy/hustle are the criteria, then the candidates seem to be Boris Diaw (two rebounds in 25 minutes), James Jones (zero contribution in nine minutes) and Shawn Marion (extremely quiet until the fourth quarter and largely ineffective guarding Tony Parker).
You can blame this deflating loss on a lack of poise. It happened on the court, where the Suns couldn't function in the waning moments without Nash, where an out-of-control Leandro Barbosa made many bad decisions. And it happened off the court, where the coaching staff became overly obsessed with the officials, and the medical staff couldn't stop the bleeding.
Just like that, home-court advantage is gone.
"We'll just hope we don't have any other calamities at the end of games," Nash said.
No doubt, this was a cruel twist of fate. After all, when Nash and Tony Parker banged heads like teenagers in a mosh pit, Parker went down for the count. The Spurs point guard acted like he had gotten the worst of the deal, by far. And then Nash started bleeding.
While trainer Aaron Nelson "immediately" knew Nash's wound required stitches (six), there was only 2:53 left in the game. The decision to not sew up Nash on the spot was surely the correct call. But while the Suns tried stalling and burning through timeouts, they erred in not getting the bleeding stopped before sending Nash to the court.
"Every time we got it stopped, it started leaking out the bottom and the sides," Nelson said.
The chaos culminated in (a) Barbosa fouling Parker when the Suns should've fouled Tim Duncan, a bricklayer from the foul line; and (b) Stoudemire attempting a short shot with 11 seconds left when the Suns needed a trey to tie.
"We definitely needed (Nash) out there," Stoudemire said.
As if you needed any more reason why Nash is the real MVP . . .
Afterward, the Suns were predictably livid with the officials, particularly a call on Stoudemire near the end of the first half. That one was a bad call, and because it was No. 3 on Stoudemire, it had lingering effects. But every basketball game is full of inaccurate calls.
But instead of letting it go, D'Antoni was still arguing with official Bob Delaney before the start of the third quarter. And when assistant Marc Iavaroni chimed in from 30 feet away, Delaney had enough. He nailed Iavaroni with a technical foul, although D'Antoni gets half the blame for that one. Alas, in this game, the Suns actually out-whined the Spurs.
Nevertheless, the Suns need to remember that nothing is lost just yet. Unlike the misfortune that derailed the past two postseasons (bad injuries to Joe Johnson and Raja Bell), Nash will be playing in Game 2. Yet this time, the Suns had better come with their poise and they had better leave with a victory.
"We've got to get Game 2," Stoudemire said. "There are no excuses.
"There is nothing . . . except for winning."
Unfortunately, a season depends on it.
Reach Bickley at [email protected] or (602) 444-8253. Check out his blog at azcentral.com.