Round 2, Game 4: Spurs vs Suns Official Game Blog Thread

[DePastino]

Apologies to OV for not making it in here during the game, the lag was bad for some reason.

Spurs sacrificed a bishop for a rook and a knight tonight.

Can't even enjoy the win because of this BS.

I hope they at least split up the suspensions.

[JMarkJohns]

Maybe Horry had some longterm strategy here (but I doubt it). He deliberately did this in full view of the Suns bench knowing they'd come charging and thus getting a couple key players suspended for game 5. It's a theory...maybe a bad one, but I wonder.

I doubt Horry has ever done anything without knowing its ramifications. It's how he's able to make big shots, because he can see their demoralizing impact on the opponant. It's how he could justify throwin that towel in Ainge's mug, knowing full well he'd be shipped off. It's how he can risk a suspension in a series that needs him know full well the Suns have several overly emotional hotheads who'd run after him.

I don't doubt the thought crossed his mind a split second before he leveled Nash.

And if Nash truly did act after contact, it likely cost the Suns this series. If he wasn't stunned, or hurt, but merely baiting the refs, these actions are what led the benched Suns to believe they needed to defend their captain/engine/MVP. If such is the case, it, and not the hit, are the reason for the suspensions. I pray Nash was stunned; momentarily lacking the reason to get up. He did miss a FT or two afterwards, and seemed a bit unhinged in the interview, so I truly believe it caught him by surprise, but if he was fine and didn't react as such, damn that's a hard way to lose a series.

*shaking head*

[angel_luv]

It is so on! Suns going down and they can cry me a Riverwalk.
Spurs in six!

[Trifecta]

The Spurs have not lost 2 playoffs games B-2-B yet!

It will not happen on Wed! TD and TP will carry this team.

It was nice to se Barry stroke a couple of 3-balls tonight!

The bench better be ready to step up on Wed!


I think Pops made a couple of critical calls near the end:

During the Phoneix run, have TP guard Nash instead of Bowen.

I preferred to see the TP/TP pick and roll vice the MG/TD pick an roll at the end.

Also Barry should have been in for Bowen for perimeter threat!

Suns are due their credit for fighting back!

Spurs win games 5-6 to close!

[Kevin Blackistone]

So then I take it Aggie and his whining and delight in the ensueing suspensions for Amare and Diaw make Aggie more of a hack, than a Spurs fan?

Since the real fans are classy. I know plenty of them. Many here. Aggie and his garbage need to be called out by a few of these "real" Spurs fans.

Or is his fandom secured because just as I can do everything right on this board with reference to not whining, not condoning Raja's garbage, and being real on every topic and still be labeled a whiny when I want Horry out after his antics tonight, is he able to remain a true fan despite doing most everything wrong, handling himself is a whiny, completely weak sister manner, delighting in a BS foul that's aftermath all but wraps up the series for the Spurs based off an unfortunate gut reaction from two of the Suns best frontcourt players?

Is that how you "real" Spurs fans want to win? On the heals of a technicallity based off a reaction any one of us would likely fail to suppress in the heat of an emotional come-from-behind win on the road to tie up a legacy-defining series?

I you delight in beating less than the best than the opponant can offer, then you're just pathetic and undeserving of any "real" le, unless of course said le includes "a" and " " being the bookends to "real".

Again, I love this site, but way too many jump on opposing fans when they defend the few same-team bretheren around here, yet you guys all do th same thing. When someone crosses the line, where the correction? I'm not saying mod anyone's stuff, but if it's weak, then address it as such.

Whatever. Maybe I had this place and several of its great posters all wrong. I guess a loss really exposes the true colors of people. Lord knows, when I lost it, I reacted in a way I was rather ashamed of. I apologize.

Forget it..

Congrats on the series win. You really will deserve it :

I get what you're saying, but the officiating was horribly biased towards the Suns tonight. Not only did they get every questionable call, they got calls that were obviously wrong. Many of them. In addition, they got to cheap shot the Spurs all game long without any rammifications. The reason they were in the game in the 4th was due to both the officials and the Spurs letting up a bit. I believe that if the game is called evenly the Suns are out of it late. SA would have gotten far too many FT attempts for the Suns to catch up.

[TampaDude]

Apologies to OV for not making it in here during the game, the lag was bad for some reason.

Spurs sacrificed a bishop for a rook and a knight tonight.

Can't even enjoy the win because of this BS.

I hope they at least split up the suspensions.

I hear ya...if the Spurs win Game 5, and they have a much better chance of doing that if Stoudy and Diaw are out, it will be a "tainted" victory, IMHO...because they wouldn't have beaten the Suns at full strength.

Horry is good off the bench, but the Spurs have many bombers who can hit the 3s...but losing Stoudemire and Diaw would be a HUGE blow to the Suns.

[Nashfan]

Oh please, nash is acting!

Yeah, right

[angel_luv]

Was browsing through the thread.

My perspective from being at game. Crowd was very into it- maybe just didn't translate onto television. We booed Amare, chanted dirty every time he was at the line, chanted MVP for Timmy, and gave the refs and earful too.

And that Robert foul on Nash. I was in the lower ledge with a perfect view of the play.
Robert did hip check Nash but Nash was the one who threw himself in the air and to the floor.
I can't even talk about it- am so mad at all the baloney calls.

Just ugh!

[Trifecta]

Nash performed like he was in a Jamie Kennedy skit on that 'lay down'!

He was hit , but he was the dramatic actor in the end!

Freakin lost hurts after being ahead -- I am ready for game 5 now!

[JMarkJohns]

I get what you're saying, but the officiating was horribly biased towards the Suns tonight. Not only did they get every questionable call, they got calls that were obviously wrong. Many of them. In addition, they got to cheap shot the Spurs all game long without any rammifications. The reason they were in the game in the 4th was due to both the officials and the Spurs letting up a bit. I believe that if the game is called evenly the Suns are out of it late. SA would have gotten far too many FT attempts for the Suns to catch up.

You do realize that the above is exactly what many, many Suns fans here were blasted as whiny babies for?

If this, if that... I took it after game three. There was lots to say to the contrary. I came in and contratulated the Spurs for their defensive tactics on Nash, saying I'd never seen Nash play that poorly. I sucked it up, because most "real" Spurs fans had it right when they said the playoffs are just more physical, and that lesser teams shrink. As much as it hurt me to admit such, even in silence, they were right.

Now the shoe is on the other foot, and it's the Spurs fans whining and calling the Suns fans names? What the is that?

I try my best to act with class. Tonight I failed in my first post when I cursed out Horry. I did such in rage, not because of the foul itself, but because I knew the affect it would have on game five with Amare and Diaw.

I apologized. That was crappy on my part.

Still, I can't even celebrate this, the biggest win for these Suns since the mid-90's for fear of the imminent. It will be right by the letter of the law, but that's such a BS ending to this battle. It really sucks that this Suns team 's run will end because of a rule they only mildly offended. I agree it needs to be done, but that's just one more reason why I'm so pissed, and why it really sucks to see Spurs fans rejoicing in.

[ploto]

Has it really come to his-- Spurs fans whining about the refs and the game being too physical? Wow- you're right- talk about the shoe being on the other foot and only in a few hours time.

[Trifecta]

Bottom line -- Suns executed down the stretch , and the Spurs were executed.

Suns made shots, Spurs did not!

Must admit, Phoenix is never out of a game unless they are behind when the clock stikes 00:00 .

[Obstructed_View]

You do realize that the above is exactly what many, many Suns fans here were blasted as whiny babies for?

If this, if that... I took it after game three. There was lots to say to the contrary. I came in and contratulated the Spurs for their defensive tactics on Nash, saying I'd never seen Nash play that poorly. I sucked it up, because most "real" Spurs fans had it right when they said the playoffs are just more physical, and that lesser teams shrink. As much as it hurt me to admit such, even in silence, they were right.

Now the shoe is on the other foot, and it's the Spurs fans whining and calling the Suns fans names? What the is that?

I try my best to act with class. Tonight I failed in my first post when I cursed out Horry. I did such in rage, not because of the foul itself, but because I knew the affect it would have on game five with Amare and Diaw.

I apologized. That was crappy on my part.

Still, I can't even celebrate this, the biggest win for these Suns since the mid-90's for fear of the imminent. It will be right by the letter of the law, but that's such a BS ending to this battle. It really sucks that this Suns team 's run will end because of a rule they only mildly offended. I agree it needs to be done, but that's just one more reason why I'm so pissed, and why it really sucks to see Spurs fans rejoicing in.

For what it's worth, I thought the Spurs got beat despite playing well. I honestly didn't think that was going to be possible in this series. I thought just about every guy that hit the floor for the Spurs had a pretty good game, and they just couldn't put it away. There weren't more than three or four terrible defensive lapses by the Spurs, and the Suns made them pay for almost every one of them. And then during the time that the Spurs typically put it away, they just didn't on either end of the floor, despite numerous opportunities. Frankly I'm not sure how the Spurs didn't end up with a huge lead, because I didn't think the Suns were playing particularly well.

I think if not for all the complaining about dirty play, the incident at the end of the game probably wouldn't have happened the way it did. Horry hit Nash harder than he should have, in what I thought at the time was an attempt to make sure the officials would have to blow the whistle after they failed to whistle Manu for a touch foul seconds before. I thought Nash flailed, which given the situation was completely unnecessary, and ended up enraging his own teammates in the process. I'd be perfectly happy with no supsensions and a straight up game 5, because the end of the game sequence is on the officiating crew IMO.

Sorry if I'm crossposting, because I'm pretty sure I've said the same things in other threads. I'm kind of tired. There will be more discussion tomorrow. Congrats on the win. The Suns won a gut check.

[JMarkJohns]

For what it's worth, I thought the Spurs got beat despite playing well. I honestly didn't think that was going to be possible in this series. I thought just about every guy that hit the floor for the Spurs had a pretty good game, and they just couldn't put it away. There weren't more than three or four terrible defensive lapses by the Spurs, and the Suns made them pay for almost every one of them. And then during the time that the Spurs typically put it away, they just didn't on either end of the floor, despite numerous opportunities. Frankly I'm not sure how the Spurs didn't end up with a huge lead, because I didn't think the Suns were playing particularly well.

I think if not for all the complaining about dirty play, the incident at the end of the game probably wouldn't have happened the way it did. Horry hit Nash harder than he should have, in what I thought at the time was an attempt to make sure the officials would have to blow the whistle after they failed to whistle Manu for a touch foul seconds before. I thought Nash flailed, which given the situation was completely unnecessary, and ended up enraging his own teammates in the process. I'd be perfectly happy with no supsensions and a straight up game 5, because the end of the game sequence is on the officiating crew IMO.

Sorry if I'm crossposting, because I'm pretty sure I've said the same things in other threads. I'm kind of tired. There will be more discussion tomorrow. Congrats on the win. The Suns won a gut check.

Thanks. Truly. I was so enraged, I forgot they had at least one no-call where an foul should have been called. I hope the refs admit they effed up and put a good word in so this series can play out with each team at its best.

[timvp]

The Spurs need to come out ready to play. In Game 2, they entered the game overconfident and ill-prepared for the desperation the Suns displayed. The Spurs can't have a repeat of that performance.

Game 4 is a trap game because I think Game 3 was more luck than skill. Steve Nash is never going to start another game 0-for-9, no matter how well he's defended. Amare Stoudemire isn't going to spend more than half the on the bench with foul trouble. Leandro Barbosa is going to find his away to the arena this time.

On the Spurs side, the Big Three all played well in Game 3. That's not something you can count on every game. Usually, two of the three show up.

Don't get me wrong, I believe that the Spurs can beat the Suns. But their mental approach has been lacking at times this season.

Overall, I'm afraid that the Spurs are going to come into the game too relaxed. Game 2 was a pitiful performance brought on by overconfidence and a desperate Suns team.

In Game 4, the Suns will be desperate. The Spurs can't rest on a 2-1 series lead. The battle has just begun. If the Suns win this game, all the momentum earned due to the Game 3 win will evaporate.

Concentrate on the mission at hand, not what has or hasn't happened. Be prepared for desperation.

Believe.

1.

Props to the Spurs for collapsing worse than Game 2.

[Obstructed_View]

Props to the Spurs for collapsing worse than Game 2.

At least they saved us all the trouble and failed to show up for game 2.

[Buddy Holly]

All this does is make for a sweeter series win.

It ends at home.

[UV Ray]

Bottom line -- Suns executed down the stretch , and the Spurs were executed.

Suns made shots, Spurs did not!

Must admit, Phoenix is never out of a game unless they are behind when the clock stikes 00:00 .

Yeah, the Suns are strange that way. Sometimes I feel more confident about their chances when they're 4-8 points behind in the 4th than I do when they're 20 points ahead in the 3rd. Last year the Suns were known to blow big leads on a regular basis. This year they seem to be able to turn it on when they really need it. Anyway you look at it, they ain't going easy.