ctpsb
05-18-2007, 09:22 AM
Just like Darkwaters I looked and didn't see this article posted. If it is sorry I missed it.
http://sports.aol.com/whitlock/_a/if-spurs-roll-on-suns-have-themselves-to/20070517102409990001
If Spurs Roll On, Suns Have Themselves to Blame
Key Suspensions a Result of Lack of Control by Phoenix
By JASON WHITLOCK
AOL
Sports Commentary
If the Suns lose this series, let’s don’t blame David Stern and Stu Jackson for following the rules. If the Suns lose this series, don’t look at it as an excuse to change the rule prohibiting players from leaving the bench during an on-court altercation.
If the Suns lose their best-of-seven series to the Spurs, let’s point the finger where it belongs -- at Amare Stoudemire, Boris Diaw and Mike D’Antoni.
I’m not some law-and-order right-wing nutjob. I don’t believe in mandatory-minimum sentences. The lack of parole in federal penitentiaries is an atrocity. I’m all for using common sense and judging each situation on a case-by-case basis.
But I can also recognize a good rule/law when I see one.
A hardline, zero-tolerance policy on players leaving the bench area during any sort of altercation is an appropriate, fair rule. It doesn’t need a gray area. The league has justifiably adopted a tough policy on fighting and the escalation of fighting. It’s a business decision, a good one. It’s no different from the rule that states you can’t step out of bounds when dribbling the basketball. If the ref sees it, he blows the whistle and it’s a turnover. It’s not a subjective rule. There’s no reason to act like the players are incapable of controlling themselves. They are. The Spurs didn’t react, and most of the Suns did exactly what they were supposed to do when Horry bumped Nash.
And all the whining and crying about how Stoudemire’s and Diaw’s one-game suspensions would ruin the Suns-Spurs series seemed pretty damn silly Wednesday night when the Suns were in control of Game 5 with five minutes to play.
The suspensions did not destroy the NBA’s best playoff series. To the contrary, the suspensions enhanced the game’s best series. I haven’t watched an NBA playoff game that intensely and rooted that hard for a team (the Suns) since Reggie Miller dropped 25 fourth-quarter points on Spike Lee and the Knicks in 1994.
The Suns were a wounded underdog. I tuned in expecting to see a bit of that great drama that TNT is known for capturing, and I wasn’t disappointed.
I knew the Suns and their crowd would be dangerous. Phoenix fans and players had a right to feel wronged. Robert Horry cheap-shotted Phoenix’s best player in the final moments of Game 4 and sparked Diaw and Stoudemire into losing their composure for a split second. That instantaneous, malice-less reaction cost the Suns two of its four best players for one game.
Man, that seems unfair. But as Shaq said Tuesday night during a brilliant performance on TNT’s studio show with Ernie, Kenny and Sir Charles, "life is unfair."
What was enlightening was watching Phoenix’s reaction to life’s unfairness. Rather than playing the victim, the Suns and their fans used an us-against-the-world-mentality to play well above their heads for a time.
Using a six-man playing rotation, the Suns controlled Wednesday’s contest. They should’ve won. I blame D’Antoni for the loss. He should’ve used a seven-man rotation.
The Suns simply ran out of energy the last three minutes. Steve Nash, Shawn Marion and Raja Bell all played at least 45 minutes. All night I kept begging D’Antoni to play Jalen Rose for a few minutes.
The Suns led by as many as 16 points. Jalen Rose could’ve played eight to ten minutes Wednesday. I know Rose is old, 34. I know he’s not the player he once was. But the man averaged 12 points a game last season for the Knicks and Raptors. Two years ago he averaged 18.5 for the Raptors and played 81 games. Rose can play every position except center. He can steal minutes at the four and one.
Shawn Marion needed some rest. He fell apart after a terrific, 22-point first half. Nash needed rest, too. He never took a good shot in the final two minutes. Yes, maybe Rose is washed up. But the Suns needed him last night. With Diaw and Stoudemire out, Rose needed to touch the court.
You cannot beat the Spurs with six players and a bouncer, Pat Burke, who played three minutes.
If the Suns lose this series (and fail to win the championship), Diaw, Stoudemire and D’Antoni are the scapegoats. Not Stern, Jackson or a simple, easy-to-follow rule.
2007 America Online, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
2007-05-17 11:39:03
http://sports.aol.com/whitlock/_a/if-spurs-roll-on-suns-have-themselves-to/20070517102409990001
If Spurs Roll On, Suns Have Themselves to Blame
Key Suspensions a Result of Lack of Control by Phoenix
By JASON WHITLOCK
AOL
Sports Commentary
If the Suns lose this series, let’s don’t blame David Stern and Stu Jackson for following the rules. If the Suns lose this series, don’t look at it as an excuse to change the rule prohibiting players from leaving the bench during an on-court altercation.
If the Suns lose their best-of-seven series to the Spurs, let’s point the finger where it belongs -- at Amare Stoudemire, Boris Diaw and Mike D’Antoni.
I’m not some law-and-order right-wing nutjob. I don’t believe in mandatory-minimum sentences. The lack of parole in federal penitentiaries is an atrocity. I’m all for using common sense and judging each situation on a case-by-case basis.
But I can also recognize a good rule/law when I see one.
A hardline, zero-tolerance policy on players leaving the bench area during any sort of altercation is an appropriate, fair rule. It doesn’t need a gray area. The league has justifiably adopted a tough policy on fighting and the escalation of fighting. It’s a business decision, a good one. It’s no different from the rule that states you can’t step out of bounds when dribbling the basketball. If the ref sees it, he blows the whistle and it’s a turnover. It’s not a subjective rule. There’s no reason to act like the players are incapable of controlling themselves. They are. The Spurs didn’t react, and most of the Suns did exactly what they were supposed to do when Horry bumped Nash.
And all the whining and crying about how Stoudemire’s and Diaw’s one-game suspensions would ruin the Suns-Spurs series seemed pretty damn silly Wednesday night when the Suns were in control of Game 5 with five minutes to play.
The suspensions did not destroy the NBA’s best playoff series. To the contrary, the suspensions enhanced the game’s best series. I haven’t watched an NBA playoff game that intensely and rooted that hard for a team (the Suns) since Reggie Miller dropped 25 fourth-quarter points on Spike Lee and the Knicks in 1994.
The Suns were a wounded underdog. I tuned in expecting to see a bit of that great drama that TNT is known for capturing, and I wasn’t disappointed.
I knew the Suns and their crowd would be dangerous. Phoenix fans and players had a right to feel wronged. Robert Horry cheap-shotted Phoenix’s best player in the final moments of Game 4 and sparked Diaw and Stoudemire into losing their composure for a split second. That instantaneous, malice-less reaction cost the Suns two of its four best players for one game.
Man, that seems unfair. But as Shaq said Tuesday night during a brilliant performance on TNT’s studio show with Ernie, Kenny and Sir Charles, "life is unfair."
What was enlightening was watching Phoenix’s reaction to life’s unfairness. Rather than playing the victim, the Suns and their fans used an us-against-the-world-mentality to play well above their heads for a time.
Using a six-man playing rotation, the Suns controlled Wednesday’s contest. They should’ve won. I blame D’Antoni for the loss. He should’ve used a seven-man rotation.
The Suns simply ran out of energy the last three minutes. Steve Nash, Shawn Marion and Raja Bell all played at least 45 minutes. All night I kept begging D’Antoni to play Jalen Rose for a few minutes.
The Suns led by as many as 16 points. Jalen Rose could’ve played eight to ten minutes Wednesday. I know Rose is old, 34. I know he’s not the player he once was. But the man averaged 12 points a game last season for the Knicks and Raptors. Two years ago he averaged 18.5 for the Raptors and played 81 games. Rose can play every position except center. He can steal minutes at the four and one.
Shawn Marion needed some rest. He fell apart after a terrific, 22-point first half. Nash needed rest, too. He never took a good shot in the final two minutes. Yes, maybe Rose is washed up. But the Suns needed him last night. With Diaw and Stoudemire out, Rose needed to touch the court.
You cannot beat the Spurs with six players and a bouncer, Pat Burke, who played three minutes.
If the Suns lose this series (and fail to win the championship), Diaw, Stoudemire and D’Antoni are the scapegoats. Not Stern, Jackson or a simple, easy-to-follow rule.
2007 America Online, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
2007-05-17 11:39:03