Horry & Pop Today at Shootaround

[Despot]

Meanwhile, Horry said he was "an old school guy" and that in his early years, his foul would have been no big deal. He said he bumped Nash when he realized he wouldn't be able to get in front of him to draw an offensive foul.

"If it would have been anybody but Steve Nash, it probably wouldn't have been two games," he said after the Spurs shootaround. "But you know Steve is a great player, MVP. He's a focal point of the NBA now and they just have to protect their players."

Horry said Nash over-dramatized the bump when he went flying into the scorer's table.

"I thought I'd just bump him a little bit," Horry said. "As you know, the great acting skills Steve has, when he hit the floor, then flopped and did 'Oh, I'm dying here' - it happens. I really wasn't trying to hurt him. I had no malicious intent to hurt Steve. I like Steve. He's a good person."

Horry already was a target for Phoenix fans. When he was with the Suns in 1997, he tossed a towel in the face of then-coach Danny Ainge. Now Phoenix fans have changed Horry's nickname from "Big Shot Rob" to "Cheap Shot Rob."

"It doesn't bother me," he said. "I was already hated here in Phoenix anyway, but the messed up thing is the boos were kind of disappearing. Damn, now I've got to start all over."

Popovich repeated his belief that Horry's foul was not that serious.

"It was a hard foul, it was a playoff foul," he said. "I've watched a lot of playoff games and seen harder fouls, so I didn't think that that was excessive. But on the film, he did what he did. He had his forearm up and it moved forward and he got suspended. I think one game would have probably been good enough. I think that two is a bit excessive."

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...MPLATE=DEFAULT

You know why I think this is important? I think it gives us insight into the teams mentality. They are not giving into the public outcry, they are defiant. While saying stuff like this and calling out other players is not the norm (I figured Pop would have put a gag order on Horry), they are still focused.
The last thing the Spurs needed was to come into tonights game trying to prove to the world that they are not the bad guys. I'm pretty sure they are more than aware that they are headed into ground zero tonight.

I can't help this feeling that things are going to get out of control tonight, and will exceed anyone's expectations, The fans in Phoenix seems to be deeply traumitized by this.

[violentkitten]

yeah, em all.

[TLWisfoine]

Baron Davis's foul on Derek Fisher was harder.

[tlongII]

I advise all of you HOMER Spurs fans to read this article by Bill Simmons...

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2...6&sportCat=nba

[TLWisfoine]

Bill Simmons is a hack, although an entertaining one.

[violentkitten]

I advise all of you HOMER Spurs fans to read this article by Bill Simmons...

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2...6&sportCat=nba

i advise you to suck a . jim only pretends to like you because you give good head.

[shelshor]

The ONLY "flop" on Nash's part was laying back and putting his arms above his head. Him flying into the table was no flop...

all you have to watch is the first 4 seconds...
http://youtube.com/watch?v=KTMa0vMcGP4

and him putting his arms above his head and laying down wasn't what drew Diaw and AS off the bench....

You're smarter than that, timvp...

Nash lying down and putting his arms above his head bought him some time so there would be someone between him and Horry, before he hopped up and tried to go after Horry

[tlongII]

i advise you to suck a . jim only pretends to like you because you give good head.

Blow me Matthew! Jim likes me becaue I let him beat me in golf.

[Supergirl]

Very cool videos. I loved Horry's take: "It was a hard foul...I've seen harder."

Also, he made a good point, which he said twice, about the NBA and media responding the way they did particularly because of WHO he fouled (Nash, the darling boy, the MVP of the last two years, Mr. "It's not easy always taking the high road"). This is very true.

And, he called Nash out on his acting skills, without disrespecting him. He really is a class act, even when he's being vilified.