Well I cannot stand this.

[Budkin]

Frog, it's good to see another intelligent Spurs fan on this board. The conspiracy talk is embarrassing. I'm still waiting to hear what was in it for Memphis--did they make the trade because their former employee Jerry West told them it was a good deal? Oh, wait, David Stern was in on it too. How did it go down? Everyone talks about this collusion/conspiracy like it's a fact, but none of these geniuses even have a theory about how it would have worked.

The fact is that the west got tougher and the Spurs didn't.

Excuse me but you'd have to be a ing idiot to believe that either one of you are actually Spurs fans. Trying to defend the Gasol trade is just utterly laughable. Pop never complains about and even he made a huge stink about what went down. And as for this not even being close series? Pull your Purple and Gold painted heads out of your asses. All of the games besides game 2 and 3 were decided by 8 points or less. 5 if you don't count the classless 3 that Vujacic took at the end of Game 5.

[sedale threatt]

It's not laughable. Memphis wanted to clear as much salary as they could, as quickly as they could. Kwame's was the biggest expiring contract out there. Why else would Memphis do it? To screw the Spurs? Were they promised floor seats at Laker games? Explain it to me.

[Budkin]

It's not laughable. Memphis wanted to clear as much salary as they could, as quickly as they could. Kwame's was the biggest expiring contract out there. Why else would Memphis do it? To screw the Spurs? Were they promised floor seats at Laker games? Explain it to me.

It had nothing to do with the Spurs or any other team, and that's the problem. It was all done behind the scenes. Other teams weren't even notified of Gasol being made available or given the chance to make offers. It's called collusion, and it's exactly what happened. Jerry West pulled the strings to make it happen, and it did. That's why it was unbelievable to see him handing the trophy to the Lakers the other night. It's like he was just flaunting it in everyone's face.

[cobbler]

It had nothing to do with the Spurs or any other team, and that's the problem. It was all done behind the scenes. Other teams weren't even notified of Gasol being made available or given the chance to make offers. It's called collusion, and it's exactly what happened. Jerry West pulled the strings to make it happen, and it did. That's why it was unbelievable to see him handing the trophy to the Lakers the other night. It's like he was just flaunting it in everyone's face.

You are spewing garbage with no basis in fact. First off, Gasol was on the trading block long before the laker trade went down. Chicago, for one was in talks for months about aquiring him. That is a fact! Jerry West left Memphis the PRIOR year because of a fallout with the ownership on the direction of the team. He was NOT in good favor with the owner. Fact! Jerry West gave out the trophy as part of the NBA's promotion to have superstars of the previous era handing out the trophies, just as Bill Russel did to Cleveland last year, and Havalchek did with Boston this year as well. Fact! So Jerry (with a huge history with the lakers) is not supposed to take part because a bunch of conspiricy wackos out there falsely accuse him of collusion. Get real loser. The only faces he flaunted anything in front of is guys like you who base their whole arguments on fiction rather than fact. Like the NBA, he, or any person with a real brain would care. Get over yourself.

SO you claim collusion, and you follow it up with a comment that "that is EXACTLY what happend".

How about following it with FACTS? I'm betting you have nothing to offer in that arena. MORON.

Funny how all these articles talk about Gasol being on the trading block yet NOBODY knew.

http://community.foxsports.com/blogs...l_Andre_Miller
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...ies/index.html
http://www.yaysports.com/nba/2007/01...the_block.html

A simple little google search and you wouldnt look like the fool you do.... IMO

But then, im sure there was no holocost, we never landed on the moon, and your too busy to show facts supporting your rants cause your still out searching for the 2nd and 3rd gunman.

[jag]

Pretty good rant Brutalis... I think this league has always had sketchy going on under it's glitzy veneer, kind of like a David Lynch movie. The thing that's making me start to lose interest in the NBA as a whole is the situation with the refs... they all need to be ing fired and a whole new crew needs to replace them who are trained in an entirely different way.

The fact that so much is a ing judgment call gives them way too much power to influence outcomes. I don't give a if instant replay slows down the game, it needs to be used more. A rule is a ing rule, and if you don't abide by it then what is the point of having it? For example, the foul at the end of game 4. That right there should have been reviewed, even if it took 20 minutes, and then play should have continued. Apologizing the next evening is totally ing pointless and just rubs salt in the wound of the team that got screwed.

Ok, I realize I'm starting my own rant, but the NBA really needs to do something if they want fans to come back. And I'm sorry but this manufactured nostalgia of a Lakers vs. Celtics Finals isn't going to cut it.

There's just no way a small-market team like the Spurs win 4 les in 9 years in a "fixed" NBA system. So during this 10 year period they are just now starting to consider the best financial option??? Why not do this after the first Spurs' le?

We were outplayed and out-hustled by the Lakers the entire series and now the league is fixed? But if we would have pulled out that win in game 1....the league wouldn't have been fixed?

This is ridiculous.

[ElNono]

I tought that if we get the Lakers in the first round, we beat them. But we spent all we had in the first two seriers. They were the better team in the WCF, and that is that.
As far as the East, Detroit is always there, but since they got Flip as a coach, they lost their defensive edge. The Celtics were the best defensive team in the league, undeniably.
I'll be damned if I didn't tell you I hate these Finals. Kobe winning without Shaq? ing KG and Ray Ray winning a ring? We'll never hear the end of it.
But they won the right to be there fair and square, playing the games.
Some of you sound like Suns fans after the Horry incident. Get over it. We have a good team and we'll be in the fight next season, just like every season.
Be proud of being a Spurs fan.

[mikekim]

Honestly, if I lived anywhere other than in southern california, I'd probably slightly prefer the Lakers winning.

But I don't think I can stand all the hype and ridiculousness a championship would bring to lakerland.

So as much as I hate it, I'm going for Boston...maybe...AHH...i seriously don't know.

Lakers aren't as hate-able as before, but I can't say I'm a fan by any means. And I can't stand most Laker fans I personally come across around here (as in where I live)

[DarrinS]

I'm not that familiar with the game of chess. Which one is the pond?

[TheManFromAcme]

+1

Excellent post.

[TheManFromAcme]

I'm kind of with GW. There's no proof of anything.

But... in a world where the Bush administration can obviously lie its way into a war and run slipshod over the Cons ution, while never getting pulled onto the carpet for it, especially by the (corporate owned) media, back-room deals become much easier to believe. I'm not saying David Stern is a master of baldfaced dealing like Cheney, but it's not beyond the realm of imagination. That's the problem.

When Chicago got the #1 I went fairly quickly from 'that should make Stern very happy' to 'that's really kind of weird, they had no chance at all...'

Dear Lord, a LiberaL/Democrat Spurs fan......can it get any worse?

[Strike]

I tought that if we get the Lakers in the first round, we beat them. But we spent all we had in the first two seriers. They were the better team in the WCF, and that is that.
As far as the East, Detroit is always there, but since they got Flip as a coach, they lost their defensive edge. The Celtics were the best defensive team in the league, undeniably.
I'll be damned if I didn't tell you I hate these Finals. Kobe winning without Shaq? ing KG and Ray Ray winning a ring? We'll never hear the end of it.
But they won the right to be there fair and square, playing the games.
Some of you sound like Suns fans after the Horry incident. Get over it. We have a good team and we'll be in the fight next season, just like every season.
Be proud of being a Spurs fan.

While I think the reffing in some situations was questionable or downright bad, it doesn't change the fact that the Spurs should never have been in those positions to begin with. They couldn't hold leads, couldn't erase deficits, and didn't do what needed to be done at the right times.

I'm proud of the team for getting as far as they did, but it just wasn't enough. I hope they will come with more desire (and a better roster) next season.

[cobbler]

I'm kind of with GW. There's no proof of anything.

But... in a world where the Bush administration can obviously lie its way into a war and run slipshod over the Cons ution, while never getting pulled onto the carpet for it, especially by the (corporate owned) media, back-room deals become much easier to believe. I'm not saying David Stern is a master of baldfaced dealing like Cheney, but it's not beyond the realm of imagination. That's the problem.

When Chicago got the #1 I went fairly quickly from 'that should make Stern very happy' to 'that's really kind of weird, they had no chance at all...'

Did you say the very same thing when the ping pong ball bounced your way to get timmy?

[ATXSPUR]

Dear Lord, a LiberaL/Democrat Spurs fan......can it get any worse?

keep the politics crap in the other section of the site.

[spurster]

The Spurs deserved to lose, but the NBA needs to do something about the lousy refereeing. Why should there ever be a no-call or a make-up call or a star call? Why do the NBA refs become national names, rather than anonymous? Why is Javie the only "road ref"? I don't much watch so much NCAA, but is there any NCAA ref with a national rep?

[21_Blessings]

Funny how that cheating ref is the only reason the Spurs beat the Suns last year. Pot meet the ing black kettle.

[ChumpDumper]

Funny how that cheating ref is the only reason the Spurs beat the Suns last year. Pot meet the ing black kettle.

It's always a fx when your team loses.

[pawe]

Collusion! they are Lakerfans so of course they're gonna say the trade was legit. And I agree that the trade was legit but what I don't like about it is not publicly announcing that Gasol would be available. If you are the owner of a team, would you let your somewhat star walk away for a Kwame Brown..where's the morale of the team and the pride of the city be after that? NBA's MO is to entice ordinary people to watch the NBA by hyping up popular teams that they always hear about hoping to lure them as fanatics in the future..I hope it works so basketball lovers like most of us would feel that the loss of our team would be at least validated.

[~~~~~~]

[gospursgojas]

If you took all basketball out of this, and looked at it just as a story, it would be obvious that the NBA got what they wanted.

On purpose.

So what? We'll all be back next season rooting for the Spurs.

NBA is quickly turning into the WWE, but that's ok bc I watch WWE every Mon, Tues, and Fri.

[pawe]

common sense is not so common when you can't sense what's common about it.

[cobbler]

Collusion! they are Lakerfans so of course they're gonna say the trade was legit. And I agree that the trade was legit but what I don't like about it is not publicly announcing that Gasol would be available. If you are the owner of a team, would you let your somewhat star walk away for a Kwame Brown..where's the morale of the team and the pride of the city be after that? NBA's MO is to entice ordinary people to watch the NBA by hyping up popular teams that they always hear about hoping to lure them as fanatics in the future..I hope it works so basketball lovers like most of us would feel that the loss of our team would be at least validated.

It was well known that gasol was available! As i posted above you can simply google "gasol on trade block" and come back with dozens of articles showing that many teams were in discussion to obtain him many many months before the laker trade. Do your research before you spread unfounded rumors.

heres a few to save you the trouble....

http://community.foxsports.com/blogs...l_Andre_Miller
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...ies/index.html
http://www.yaysports.com/nba/2007/01...the_block.html

[21_Blessings]

It's always a fx when your team loses.

Donaghy admitted in a court of law that he cheated in game 3

[bdictjames]

Well said man. My respect for you has gone up the roof.

[21_Blessings]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvkKdXLwt0U

lmao

[dastrey]

It was well known that gasol was available! As i posted above you can simply google "gasol on trade block" and come back with dozens of articles showing that many teams were in discussion to obtain him many many months before the laker trade. Do your research before you spread unfounded rumors.

heres a few to save you the trouble....

http://community.foxsports.com/blogs...l_Andre_Miller
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...ies/index.html
http://www.yaysports.com/nba/2007/01...the_block.html

Pau Gasol is an all-star level big man. He is the type of player you save your cap space for. The fact that all that Memphis cared about is cap space is what stinks. It's not like Memphis has so much talent that they had to clear space for new contracts. If they waited until the summer they probably could have traded him for cap space as well as a lottery pick.