DEAR NASH

[piccolodaimaoh]

I have no problem with them not reseeding after each round. What I always think is stupid is that the seeding doesn't completely go by record. It didn't matter as much this year when the five seed had a better record than the four seed, but last year when the six seed has a better record than the three seed, something is wrong.

You are absolutely right, the team with the best record should have the top seed. Just because you won your division with a bad record means you are in a bad division. We should not reward mediocrety.

 

[DannieDarKo]

​

 

[Bodie The Cursed]

Now that Phoenix's dreams and hopes of thier "now team" have been so bitterly been extinguished at the hands of ex-Laker Robert Horry (we have never been the same since he left) I pull for Utah, more like I pull for Derek Fisher ( I long for his return )..

In the meantime I'll enjoy the whine of Phoenix and thier fans over a glass of wine..

Nash and Marion are quality players, I like them. The rest of the team?..

In the end its a big man's game.. Phoenix teams seems to have been lacking that over the last few decades..

 

[nash]

<LOL!!!

 

[mfoga]

Last year the Spurs were #1, Phoenix #2, and Dallas #4. Dallas had a better record than Phoenix but was the 4 seed since they didn't win their division. Denver was #3, but they didn't even have home court in the first round because the 6 seeded Clippers had a better record. This year they changed it so the first 4 seeds are the three division winners and the team with the best record that didn't win their division. These four teams are then seeded by record. Funny thing about that was, in both conferences the fifth seed had a better record than the fourth seeded team so the fifth seeded team had home court. Houston had a better record than Utah, which won its division and Chicago had a better record than Miami which won it's division. Of course this doesn't really make a difference since the winner of those series still goes on to play the 1/8 series winner.

Perfect example of how the NBA has no idea what the hell they are doing.

I have no issue with divison winners getting top 3 spots, but then to be the #3 seed and not have home court makes no sense.

They need to figure it out, 3-4 more years of annual tweaks they might just finally get it right.

 

[gideon]

I agree with Bodie that - in the end - the NBA is a big mans game. Imagine how far the Phoenix Suns could have gone if they had the All NBA first team center for Game 5. When you take away that from them ........ and then make sure there is no replacement for him ...... it pretty much gets you the result the league wanted.

Thats not a whine -- just the facts.

The sad thing is that I have always pretty much liked the Spurs. I wish every player in the league had the solid fundamentals that Tim Duncan has. Tony Parker is a fine gaurd. But now they are being packaged as the return of the Bad Boys and if they win the title it will forever be wrapped in something that reeks of old garbage. Too bad.

 

[DannieDarKo]

The sad thing is that I have always pretty much liked the Spurs. I wish every player in the league had the solid fundamentals that Tim Duncan has. Tony Parker is a fine gaurd. But now they are being packaged as the return of the Bad Boys and if they win the title it will forever be wrapped in something that reeks of old garbage. Too bad.

Can't wait for the parade! 4 Time Champions baby!

 

[Bannister]

I agree with Bodie that - in the end - the NBA is a big mans game. Imagine how far the Phoenix Suns could have gone if they had the All NBA first team center for Game 5. When you take away that from them ........ and then make sure there is no replacement for him ...... it pretty much gets you the result the league wanted.

Thats not a whine -- just the facts.

The sad thing is that I have always pretty much liked the Spurs. I wish every player in the league had the solid fundamentals that Tim Duncan has. Tony Parker is a fine gaurd. But now they are being packaged as the return of the Bad Boys and if they win the title it will forever be wrapped in something that reeks of old garbage. Too bad.

Yeah, it is a vast conspiracy by the NBA to help the Spurs advance, because everyone knows the Spurs equal huge ratings and more $$$ for the NBA. If the NBA really wanted the Suns out, they would have just fixed the Lakers series so at least a big market team would have advanced. Also, last time I checked, those players knew the rule, yet no one is even putting any of the blame on them. It is not like this is a new rule. Just ask the Knicks. I am not saying the suspensions were warranted but guys have been suspended for less because of this rule.

 

[gideon]

Banninster... you seem to like to take what someone says and blow it up and distort it so you can say something that (in your mind at least) is clever about it. You exaggerate someones stance so that you can take a clear and easy potshot at it. Not exactly a new tactic on internet message boards but certainy a tried and proven one.

I do NOT think that the league office set out in some sort of conspiracy to give the title to the Spurs. What I do think, and have said this before, is that the league was offended at the remarks of Amare Stoudemire regarding lack of referee enforcement or league sanction on the Spurs dirty play. I think they took this as Amare coming up to the Big House and daring to tell them how to run their plantation. Big mistake and grievous offense. So when Bowen purposely knees Nash in the groin - the league does nothing. Its the league way of saying to Stoudemire - "take that punk and next time shut your mouth". Then Horry gives a hockey check to Nash and the Suns end up paying the larger price for that offense. Again, the league gets the chance to humble the Suns and Stoudemire and they jumped at the opportunity. That is the result the league wanted.

The league does not want the inmates running the asylum. And especially inmates that are just a few years out of high school. The league office cares about preserving the pecking order in the game - and one that keeps the players in their place. The classic example was a few decades ago when Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson and other stars mused publicly about putting some money together and buying a struggling NBA team and playing for themselves. The league said NO WAY and put a stop to it before it ever got beyond the talking stage.

The experts seem to be ripping into Lebron James for passing the ball last night but its hard for me to criticize a team player who put his teammate in a good position to win a important playoff game on the road. The Pistons showed yet again why - despite being a very good team - they sometimes resort to phoning it in for long periods with the expectation that they can turn it on like merely flipping a light switch when the mood hits them. That is the glaring weakness of the team.

 

[Bodie The Cursed]

The NBA has been pretty strict this season in keeping players in line.. No conspiracy IMO..

From this point on I'm sure Stoudemire will stay on the bench during an altercation and Kobe will shorten his follow-through on his 3 point shots.. Neither Stoudemire nor Kobe I feel had ill intent on the actions that leaded to thier suspentions..

Stoudemire got a good taste of physical playoff basketball.. This might be new to Stoudemire, but not the league.. A big man complaining about physical play is kind of funny.

 

[DannieDarKo]

 

[Scarlet]

 

[gideon]

Regarding the flailing arms of Kobe Bryant after a shot ......... this is nothing new. The Sixers used to have a gaurd named Lloyd Free who used to kick his legs outward when he went up for shots. When refs first saw it, he usually got the call and went to the line. Then people started to write and talk about it saying it was an unnatural move and an exaggeration that was deliberate to draw a unfair call. When the refs stopped calling it Free went back to a more normal shot.

I do think that in Bryants case, part of it is as a warning to defenders that you will pay a price if you gaurd him to closely. But that comes to an end as the officials make him pay a price for the move.

And there is the lesson of the NBA. When the league rewards something --- the carry, the palm, the clear out, the extra step, the dunk - it will grow and proliferate. When they consistently punish something, it will wane and die away.

 

[Bodie The Cursed]

Good points..

To add to that, Karl Malone used lead with his knees on layups and he wasnt shy about swinging his elbows either..

If you set a pick on Barkley, he would go through you so you thought twice about setting a hard pick on him again..

Reggie Miller used to do that kick while shooting as well..


Gideon, you remind me of Bill Walton when he commentates pulling obscure names from the past..

 

[Bannister]

Banninster... you seem to like to take what someone says and blow it up and distort it so you can say something that (in your mind at least) is clever about it. You exaggerate someones stance so that you can take a clear and easy potshot at it. Not exactly a new tactic on internet message boards but certainy a tried and proven one.

How am I blowing things up anymore than you already have? Last time I checked, I wasn't the one comparing Amare to a slave on a plantation being put in his place.

 

[Bannister]

I do NOT think that the league office set out in some sort of conspiracy to give the title to the Spurs. What I do think, and have said this before, is that the league was offended at the remarks of Amare Stoudemire regarding lack of referee enforcement or league sanction on the Spurs dirty play. I think they took this as Amare coming up to the Big House and daring to tell them how to run their plantation. Big mistake and grievous offense. So when Bowen purposely knees Nash in the groin - the league does nothing. Its the league way of saying to Stoudemire - "take that punk and next time shut your mouth". Then Horry gives a hockey check to Nash and the Suns end up paying the larger price for that offense. Again, the league gets the chance to humble the Suns and Stoudemire and they jumped at the opportunity. That is the result the league wanted.

What I don't understand about this theory is why would the league target the Suns and not the Spurs? Shouldn't the league be looking for anything and everything to punish the Spurs with, given the whole Joey Crawford incident.

 

[gideon]

from Bodie

Gideon, you remind me of Bill Walton when he commentates pulling obscure names from the past..

Well you certainly made my day with that reference. Walton is one of my favorite all time players - despite the years of injury - and I love his color work on TV. So thank you. Regarding Barkley, on ESPN he said the same thing should be done to the Spurs lead gaurd Tony Parker. Send a big man right at him and lay him out.... then they leave Nash alone. So Sir Charles has not changed one bit.... and much of America loves him for it.

from Bannister

How am I blowing things up anymore than you already have? Last time I checked, I wasn't the one comparing Amare to a slave on a plantation being put in his place.

My comments were to refute the idea of a league conspiracy to promote the Spurs. I have said that I do not believe the league has any interest in determining the winner. I think Stoudemire committed the one sin of any wage slave - and I proudly include myself in that category . He dared to have the balls to strut up to the Big House and tell them how to run their plantation. He did so - not during the regular season when things can be swept away much quicker - but at the dawn of what many thought was to be the premier series of the entire playoffs. It made news. If that embarassment was not bad enough for the league, then Bowen does his knee to the Nash groin routine and the league responds ... sorry ... the league fails to respond. This causes the wags at ESPN and talk radio to make the league front office and their officials a very interesting story. The dirtier the Spurs became, the more it made Stoudemire look prophetic.

The Spurs merely happened to be the direct and immediate beneficiaries of the action against Stoudemire. Oscar Wilde said "no good deed goes unpunished." Perhaps the opposite was true for the Spurs. They certainly committed a very bad deed (the Horry hockey check on Nash) and it was richly rewarded.

Much of America Big Business operates on the Plantation model. Workers are little more than wage slaves and management stays as far away as they can get except when barking orders. Why do you think so many businesses hate unions? Sure the money is a big thing .... but they hate the idea that workers are going to chime in and give advice and tell them how to run their business. The shocking temerity of it all!!!!!

Sadly, despite wage improvement and benefits, many businesses and management still operate under the theory of "there is the field we want picked ... now do it."

Study your American history. On the plantation, one of the worst things a field slave could do was to go up to the Big House and make a suggestion or offer a critical thought. Thats what Stoudemire did --- his race, my race, your race has nothing to do with it. Its the business/social model and the mentality it encourages that I refer to. Its alive and well in the NBA.

 

[Bannister]

from Bodie



Well you certainly made my day with that reference. Walton is one of my favorite all time players - despite the years of injury - and I love his color work on TV. So thank you. Regarding Barkley, on ESPN he said the same thing should be done to the Spurs lead gaurd Tony Parker. Send a big man right at him and lay him out.... then they leave Nash alone. So Sir Charles has not changed one bit.... and much of America loves him for it.

from Bannister



My comments were to refute the idea of a league conspiracy to promote the Spurs. I have said that I do not believe the league has any interest in determining the winner. I think Stoudemire committed the one sin of any wage slave - and I proudly include myself in that category . He dared to have the balls to strut up to the Big House and tell them how to run their plantation. He did so - not during the regular season when things can be swept away much quicker - but at the dawn of what many thought was to be the premier series of the entire playoffs. It made news. If that embarassment was not bad enough for the league, then Bowen does his knee to the Nash groin routine and the league responds ... sorry ... the league fails to respond. This causes the wags at ESPN and talk radio to make the league front office and their officials a very interesting story. The dirtier the Spurs became, the more it made Stoudemire look prophetic.

The Spurs merely happened to be the direct and immediate beneficiaries of the action against Stoudemire. Oscar Wilde said "no good deed goes unpunished." Perhaps the opposite was true for the Spurs. They certainly committed a very bad deed (the Horry hockey check on Nash) and it was richly rewarded.

Much of America Big Business operates on the Plantation model. Workers are little more than wage slaves and management stays as far away as they can get except when barking orders. Why do you think so many businesses hate unions? Sure the money is a big thing .... but they hate the idea that workers are going to chime in and give advice and tell them how to run their business. The shocking temerity of it all!!!!!

Sadly, despite wage improvement and benefits, many businesses and management still operate under the theory of "there is the field we want picked ... now do it."

Study your American history. On the plantation, one of the worst things a field slave could do was to go up to the Big House and make a suggestion or offer a critical thought. Thats what Stoudemire did --- his race, my race, your race has nothing to do with it. Its the business/social model and the mentality it encourages that I refer to. Its alive and well in the NBA.

I understand this, but by that logic, why isn't the league all over the Spurs for the Crawford incident?

 

[gideon]

Bannister .......... you are referring to this

Crawford ejected Duncan from San Antonio's loss after calling a second technical foul on the Spurs star while he was laughing on the bench.

"He looked at me and said, 'Do you want to fight? Do you want to fight?"' Duncan said. "If he wants to fight, we can fight. I don't have any problem with him, but we can do it if he wants to. I have no reason why in the middle of a game he would yell at me, 'Do you want to fight?"'

Crawford was cited for "improper conduct" and "inappropriate comments made to Duncan during the game." Stern said Crawford's actions "failed to meet the standards of professionalism and game management we expect of NBA referees."

The NBA also fined Duncan $25,000 for verbal abuse of an official. Crawford said Duncan referred to him with an expletive.

It is my understanding that the league looked into the charges of Duncan and found them to be true. The league took proper action against the referee. Referees are one step up from players .... closer to management ... but certainly not part of the league office or elite policy makers. The comments of Stoudemire were directed at the league office and proved to be an embarassment to them. You can probably also factor the status, experience and re****tion of Duncan over a long and unblemished career compared to Stoudemire who is young and only a few years out of high school.

Just like the officials have two standards for calling fouls - superstars and regular players - it seems the league also has at least a double standard in how they deal with those same players. Yes, Stoudemire is a star ... but Duncan had a lot more credit in the bank to play with.

 

[gideon]

This is weird ... I have tried several times to edit the *** out of the word RE****TION in the post above. It lets me manually do it but does not correct it on the screen.