I might be early!

noel · Post by **noel** » May 3, 2006, 7:49 pm

Winnow wrote:Bell is suspended for one game. Grats on an undeserved win in game 4 and another in game 6 due to superstar treatment...gotta save the ratings! Not like Kobe doesn't deserve to sit a game for elbowing (they can review after the game) and double technicals.

Maybe when Amare gets back, the Suns will have a superstar on their team?

J/K!

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » May 3, 2006, 8:25 pm

I don't think the Suns are out of it but taking away Bell is basically giving the game to the Lakers.

Combined with the multiple blown calls in game 4 that all favored the Lakers, I'd say it's a shitty series win.

As for superstar...it has more to do with the TV market the star is in. Put Nash on the Lakers and he'd be able to kick players in the nuts and not get called for it but other players would get called for fouls on him if the airflow was disturbed around him.

Kelshara · Post by **Kelshara** » May 3, 2006, 9:36 pm

Bell and Winnow sound about equally whiny heh.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » May 3, 2006, 10:08 pm

Fuck the Lakers! If the Suns are down big tomorrow, Kobe gets undercut and a trip to the Injured Reserve list for the rest of the playoffs!

Zamtuk · Post by **Zamtuk** » May 3, 2006, 10:43 pm

no matter the clippers will put away whoever wins.

noel · Post by **noel** » May 3, 2006, 11:04 pm

No fucking way.

Post by **Sylvus** » May 4, 2006, 12:05 am

Winnow wrote:Not like Kobe doesn't deserve to sit a game for elbowing (they can review after the game) and double technicals.

Sweet. Lame shit.

What's new, Kobe's always gotten away with rape...

*rimshot*

Canelek · Post by **Canelek** » May 4, 2006, 12:40 am

"Yeah, we don't mind sharing Staples Center, that place rocks! Playoff scenario? Not in our lifetime!"

noel · Post by **noel** » May 4, 2006, 1:40 am

Sylvus wrote:
Winnow wrote:Not like Kobe doesn't deserve to sit a game for elbowing (they can review after the game) and double technicals.

Sweet. Lame shit.
What's new, Kobe's always gotten away with rape...

*rimshot*

LOL!

Cartalas · Post by **Cartalas** » May 4, 2006, 3:50 pm

After Watching the game again Im surprised Bell only got a one game suspension.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » May 4, 2006, 4:44 pm

Cartalas wrote:After Watching the game again Im surprised Bell only got a one game suspension.

You missed all of Kobe's elbos to the face! The camera is conveniently focused elsewhere for those!

I know why Phil Jackson wanted Raja to play...the Suns now have a rallying point and a "win one for the gipper" type attitude going into game six which makes them the clear underdog. The one advantage the Suns have is that the NBA would like a weekend Suns/Lakers game seven so they might fix this game as well to maximize their profits and ratings.

I guess Nash should be a whiny bitch like Kobe:

"It's always tough," Nash said. "People ask me every day why I don't get the respect from the officials. I just can't worry about that stuff. A lot of people say it's because I don't (curse) them every five seconds and yell at them every call. But to me, that'd be a waste of time. I just want to try to be as calm and as competitive as I can for my teammates."

Sueven · Post by **Sueven** » May 4, 2006, 7:15 pm

Come on Winnow. Bell grabbed Kobe's head and threw him to the ground. I watched the whole game, including Kobe's elbows, and there's no question that Bell deserved the punishment more than Kobe. Bell was the one who blatantly and intentionally grabbed Kobe's head and flung him to the ground, not even attempting to make a basketball play.

Remember when Kobe elbowed Mike Miller in the throat earlier this year? He got suspended for two games for that.

To claim that the NBA is attempting to fix this series so the Lakers win, but also cares so intimately about this FIRST ROUND SERIES that they're willing to micromanage every aspect of referee behavior and suspensions to ensure that it goes seven games is completely ludicrous. It's far too stupid for a smart person like you to believe. This is the first round! Neither of these teams are even good enough to make the finals!

This suspension is COMPLETELY in line with precedent. Players are NOT suspended for getting two T's in a game, they're tossed from the current game (if you actually paid attention to what sort of violations lead to suspensions instead of talking out your ass, you would know this). Players ARE suspended for flagrant fouls if, in the view of the NBA, the violation is serious enough to warrant such a suspension. This is what happened to Kobe in the Mike Miller incident, and Ron Artest in the Manu incident, and so on. Similarly, Bell was suspended for intentionally throwing Kobe to the ground. Given the fact that James Posey (FROM THE BIG MARKET, BIG STAR MIAMI HEAT) was suspended for a less serious foul than the one Bell committed, it would be absurd for the NBA not to suspend Bell. If they failed to do so, they would be demonstrating clear and obvious favoritism toward the Suns.

The next post I make on this subject will contain even more capital letters.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » May 4, 2006, 8:05 pm

Nice post Sueven : )

noel · Post by **noel** » May 5, 2006, 2:43 am

I thought the Suns were going to give it away at the end of regulation; they played like total shit down the stretch. They were fucking money in overtime though.

I thought the last shot of regulation should have gone to Kwame Brown instead of Kobe, ala the Pass to Steve Kerr of old, but I guess it wasn't to be. Shame really, I think an in your face slam by Kwame would have ended it.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » May 5, 2006, 3:03 am

Suns 126 Lakers 118 OT Series Tied 3-3

2005/2006 NBA League MVP:

Steve Nash: 32 points, 13 Assists (and a win)
Marion 20 pts, 12 rbs, 4 ass, 4 stls
Barbosa 22 pts
Diaw 19 pts, 7 assists
Tim Thomas 21 pts, 10 rbs (monster 3 pointer at end of game)

Look at the minutes in this game...the Suns had to go with six men...six! Tim Thomas was the only bench player with any significant minutes.

There sure are a lot of elbows taken from Bryant! Gee, wonder if Raja took a lot...nah, Kobe's a superstaaaah!!!!

Barbosa took four stitches in his lower lip in the first quarter after being accidentally elbowed by Bryant.

Maybe in game seven they'll just give Kobe a baseball bat out there to do his damage.

The best news from this game is that Kobe is back to ball hogg'in. It should make game seven easy...Kobe: 80 points Suns: Win

Cartalas · Post by **Cartalas** » May 5, 2006, 8:48 am

Im thinking it wont matter who wins game 7 both teams will be to tired to beat The clippers.

Zamtuk · Post by **Zamtuk** » May 5, 2006, 12:27 pm

Post by **Sylvus** » May 5, 2006, 4:40 pm

And for a counterpoint to Winnow

Bill Simmons, my favorite columnist, wrote:After his 0-for-5 stink bomb from the field in Game 6, over the last three games Smush Parker has gone 3 for 24 in 110 minutes of playing time. This isn't a slump, it's a homicide. Could this be a more ideal situation for the Suns? Nash couldn't guard Sue Bird if both her ACLs were blown out, but with Smush decomposing out there, Nash doesn't have to play defense and saves all his energy for the offensive end. Let's see how this flies against Sam Cassell and Shaun Livingston in Round 2. Put me down for the choice: "poorly."

*~*stragi*~* · Post by ***~*stragi*~*** » May 5, 2006, 4:51 pm

Cartalas wrote:"Phoenix (if they get what's his name back), "

OMG LMAO!!! ( Sorry Winnow that was funny as hell)

fuck that guy, he's worthless and we should end his contract.

5 PAGES LATE

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » May 5, 2006, 4:59 pm

The thing about this is that he Suns shot way below their average shooting percentage in the first few games of this series. It wasn't the Laker defense, it was plain and simple poor shooting. Smush Parker shooting like crap is just evening out the oddities in the series.

I guess that's why they makes these best of seven series now instead of best of five even for the first round now. The Suns owned the Lakers during the regular season. Thankfully, they were able to weather a couple freak games.

I'll shit my pants if the Suns lose Saturday (although I'll do it in the bathroom so I can clean up afterwards without much fuss)

I wonder why these writers think anything will be different in the playoffs than during the regular season. We did ok vs the Clippers this year as well. What they should be focusing on is the lack of Kurt Thomas (who was present earlier in the year unlike Amare).

*~*stragi*~* · Post by ***~*stragi*~*** » May 5, 2006, 5:10 pm

noel wrote:I thought the Suns were going to give it away at the end of regulation; they played like total shit down the stretch. They were fucking money in overtime though.

I thought the last shot of regulation should have gone to Kwame Brown instead of Kobe, ala the Pass to Steve Kerr of old, but I guess it wasn't to be. Shame really, I think an in your face slam by Kwame would have ended it.

i still remember that heart breaking pass

Kelshara · Post by **Kelshara** » May 5, 2006, 5:14 pm

I watched the elbow that split his lip and I have a hard time finding that one intentional. Might be others during the game but not that one.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » May 5, 2006, 5:17 pm

Kelshara wrote:I watched the elbow that split his lip and I have a hard time finding that one intentional. Might be others during the game but not that one.

Did I say it was intentional? DID I!!??!1

Post by **Sylvus** » May 5, 2006, 5:47 pm

Winnow wrote:I wonder why these writers think anything will be different in the playoffs than during the regular season.

Because things have been different in the playoffs. Kobe is playing an entirely different game than he did during the season, much more unselfishly than he did throughout the season.

As you said, the Suns didn't have any problem with the Lakers in the regular season. If things weren't any different in the playoffs, why is it going to game 7?

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » May 5, 2006, 6:29 pm

Sylvus wrote:
As you said, the Suns didn't have any problem with the Lakers in the regular season. If things weren't any different in the playoffs, why is it going to game 7?

I did mention that Kurt Thomas is missing from the Suns lineup that worked over the Lakers. Losing our best big man defender does have an impact on things.

Kobe really isn't playing any different. He averaged 40+ during the season vs the Suns and had huge stats. Early on in the series, Kobe was playing a little less selfishly but we all knew that wasn't going to last and the last few games he's back to scoring mass points while the Suns remain balanced thanks to Nash's skills as a point guard along with just about every player on the Suns being unselfish and decent passers with Diaw being an exceptional passer. Somehow, people will keep focusing on how great Kobe is while Nash's talents are brushed aside...I guess there's enough people out there with votes that think he's good enough to warrant the MVP though. It's amazing that whoever Nash defends doesn't score 100 by themselves since he can't defend anyone. I always thought the bottom line was wins and Nash's presence makes the bigget difference in wins...and no, you can't plug in another PG into the Suns's lineup.

Kelshara · Post by **Kelshara** » May 5, 2006, 10:12 pm

Stop cut and pasting your old posts. Get some new material already!

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » May 5, 2006, 10:55 pm

Kelshara wrote:Stop cut and pasting your old posts. Get some new material already!

well, considering that the Suns thread was eaten by the board....these are kind of new posts...again......

Kelshara · Post by **Kelshara** » May 5, 2006, 11:07 pm

Touche

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » May 6, 2006, 9:22 am

Some nice pictures from game six of the Suns/Lakers series.

Tim Thomas' three pointer that sent the game into OT...where's Kwame, Kwame, Kwame...oh there he is, out of position! Kinda funny that Lakers fans chant his name...they wouldn't be chanting if Amare was throwing down on him every other possession!

Boris finishes off the Lakers in OT: (did I mention the leagues most improved player was just an after thought trade throw in? Probably!)

Cart mentioned the teams being banged up after this series..check out Marion after the game:

Must be nice to get paid over ten million this year and not play! All smiles!

Kelshara · Post by **Kelshara** » May 6, 2006, 12:39 pm

Can we get Winnow's Suns thread back please? Was so much easier to ignore his rampant fanboism then.

So far I still say it looks like it will be a Pistons - Spurs finale but Dallas has a good chance to spoil it. Mavs have impressed me this year and it should be a very good series against Spurs. They actually know what the word defense means now! Imo this series is the real regional finale.

I don't see anybody stopping Pistons though. At this time if I was a betting man I would definitely put my money on them as the team to win it all.

On a side note.. bow down to LeBron. You could hear a collective scream of joy all over Cleveland last night heh. I do feel sorry for Arenas though, I really like him both as a person and a player.

noel · Post by **noel** » May 6, 2006, 1:55 pm

I'm not sure if I like or dislike what Lebron did during the waning seconds of yesterday's game. On TV, I saw him go over and say something to Gilbert Arenas during his free throw shots (both of which he missed). The announcers commented on it, but in the post-game interview, no one asked. According to espn.com, he said, "If you miss these free throws, we win the game."

Obviously they still needed a little more than that, but I think that's kind of weak to tap a guy on the shoulder and say that when he's at the line. That said, I think the Lakers/Suns and Cavs/Wizards were the best two series of the first round.

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » May 6, 2006, 2:31 pm

That's just the trash talking that was pointed out. It gets a lot more interesting throughout the game. Part of defense is rattling your opponent mentally.

Kelshara · Post by **Kelshara** » May 6, 2006, 4:27 pm

Yeah not quite sure I like that either to be honest. But the series was damn good and entertainment.

Sueven · Post by **Sueven** » May 6, 2006, 5:58 pm

I like it. Show some competitive spirit. They won, no?

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » May 7, 2006, 12:15 am

Suns 121 Lakers 90 (Phoenix wins series 4-3)

The good news for the Suns is that they get to beat down another L.A. team next!

Sooo, a 31 point win. Now it's time to sit back and wait for the Sun haters to move on to the next team and tell me how the Clippers are going to school Phoenix. (Lakers conveniently forgotten)

Suns haters are like religious people...each time they are disproved, they just move on and make up something new!

Religious nut: How far into the universe can we see?

Sane person: 100 billion light years.

Religious nut: God lives 101 billion light years from earth in a pimp Castle!

Ah yes...Nash sucks!

Kobe's second half point production: 1 point...MVP! MVP!

Kwameeeeeee!!!

NEXT!

Back when it matterd in March, the Suns beat the Clippers 126-95...interesting...31 points just like this game...but the playoffs are different!!@1!1

The Suns have their mojo back. Here's hoping the Spurs and Mavs beat each other up some to even out the wear and tear.

Zamtuk · Post by **Zamtuk** » May 7, 2006, 1:20 am

noel wrote:I'm not sure if I like or dislike what Lebron did during the waning seconds of yesterday's game. On TV, I saw him go over and say something to Gilbert Arenas during his free throw shots (both of which he missed). The announcers commented on it, but in the post-game interview, no one asked. According to espn.com, he said, "If you miss these free throws, we win the game."

Obviously they still needed a little more than that, but I think that's kind of weak to tap a guy on the shoulder and say that when he's at the line. That said, I think the Lakers/Suns and Cavs/Wizards were the best two series of the first round.

lebron and gilbert are really good friends actually. if you had noticed, gilbert had been poking fun at lebron all throughout the series. (read: its lebrons game were just playing it) gilbert actually commented on it and said it is part of the game of basketball and accepted it. he acknowledged it worked and was left in dissappointment. while i really dont like this kind of behavior, i think its cool that both players took it well and werent pissed off by it at all.

noel · Post by **noel** » May 7, 2006, 1:59 am

I don't think the clippers can beat the Suns, but I will be rooting for them.

Besides being one of the seven most spectacular playoff collapses of all time, the worst part of this series as a Lakers fan is that I have no idea what kind of team we have. They finished the season so well, and played so well in games 1-4 (they nearly won game 1), that it really looked like they were becoming a team to be reckoned with. Unfortunately in games 5-7, they went back to being the horribly inconsistent team we saw earlier in the season. The one bright spot, other than Kobe's scoring has been the growth of Luke Walton. It will be interesting to see what,if anything will be changed in the off-season.

If the Suns beat the Clips, it will take 6 games. They'll get beat by Dallas in 5, and the Pistons will sweep Dallas. My prediction...

The Suns will get post season respect when they earn it. Allowing an overachieving .500 7th seed Laker team to take them to 7 games in the first round does not earn respect.

Spang · Post by **Spang** » May 7, 2006, 2:56 am

the lakers will never win another championship while kobe is on the team.

Pherr the Dorf · Post by **Pherr the Dorf** » May 7, 2006, 3:15 am

Bird and Magic used to talk shit to each other... same with Magic and Jordan, same with Russel and Chamberlain, when the guys actually are friends AND both happen to be on the top tier (Arenas is a flat out stud imo) of playing skills... of course they are gonna talk smack to each other all game, especially in game 7, especially over a pickup game at a bbq in july... whenever wherever... I talk shit to my friends when we play and I suck at hoops...imagine if I was good!

Leonaerd · Post by **Leonaerd** » May 7, 2006, 4:04 am

I think Winnow has gone off the deep end. =/

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » May 7, 2006, 4:25 am

noel wrote: The Suns will get post season respect when they earn it. Allowing an overachieving .500 7th seed Laker team to take them to 7 games in the first round does not earn respect.

So last year, a Suns team with one of the biggest turnarounds in NBA history makes it to the Western Conference finals and they get no post season respect?

This year, no Amare, picked to maybe get the last seed in the west...they win their division, make it past to first round so far...and no post season respect? come on. It's funny how things are forgotten during the course of the year.

I see another tough series with the Clippers simply because Phoenix is lacking big men and have to have good shooting nights to win...in a seven game series we should do ok as eventually the Suns just can't be stopped by anyone other than the Spurs or Pistons when hitting their shots. Not that Nash has anything to so with it...i can't believe he's even an allstar much less MVP two years in a row. We all know the Suns have some magical beans that they eat that makes them good and should get zero credit.

I'm hoping the Mavs take down the Spurs as I think the Suns have a good shot against the Pistons who barely won both meetings with the Suns this year in the final minutes of their games.

I nice Nash MVPx2 article:

Twice as nice

Nash to be named MVP for second straight season

Posted: Sunday May 7, 2006 1:18AM; Updated: Sunday May 7, 2006 1:18AM

This season, Steve Nash had career highs in scoring, rebounding, field goal percentage and free throw percentage.

PHOENIX (AP) -- The Phoenix Suns scheduled a news conference for Sunday to announce that Steve Nash is the NBA's MVP for the second year in a row.

The announcement of the 1:30 p.m. EST news conference did not specify the reason, but Suns officials confirmed it was to present the award to Nash.

The Arizona Republic reported earlier that Nash would get the award, becoming the 10th player to win it in consecutive seasons.

The award is determined by a panel of sports writers and broadcasters.

Nash, 32, won his first MVP award last season, when he directed the Suns to an NBA-best 62 victories. This year, the Suns lost Amare Stoudemire to injury, and traded away Joe Johnson and Quentin Richardson.

This season, Nash had career highs in scoring (18.8 points), rebounding (4.2), field goal percentage (.512) and free throw percentage (a league-leading .921). He led the league in assists at 10.5 per game and finished sixth in 3-point percentage at 43.9.

"Any time you sit back and think about just winning it once, it's mind-boggling -- the company and what it means in the history of the game," Nash said after the Republic broke the news. "To win it twice obviously just compounds that. It's just an incredible honor."

Nash was drafted by Phoenix as the No. 15 pick overall out of Santa Clara in 1996. Two years later, with Kevin Johnson and Jason Kidd playing ahead of him, he asked for a trade and was sent to Dallas. The deal included the draft choice that the Suns used to get Shawn Marion.

The Suns signed Nash to a five-year, $65 million contract in 2004, a deal Mavericks' owner Mark Cuban wouldn't match.

Thanks Dallas for giving us Marion as well as Nash back!

-----

There's all sorts of Suns/Lakers goodness on ESPN's Daily Dime and the unfortunate national recognition Leandro Barbosa is getting which is going to make it a major bitch to keep him in Phoenix:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime ... ime-060507

Midnyte_Ragebringer · Post by **Midnyte_Ragebringer** » May 7, 2006, 8:50 am

Spang wrote:the lakers will never win another championship while kobe is on the team.

I used to think that as well. After watching all 7 seven games of this series, I learned that his supporting cast sucked. Those first 3 games were great. He shot well and passed well and his teammates shot the ball well. In the last 3 games, they sucked. They threw the ball away, were afraid to make shots, couldn't makes shots, etc. If they get the right people around him, they could win a few more.

Kelshara · Post by **Kelshara** » May 7, 2006, 10:37 am

I know the cool thing is to hate on Kobe but he was definitely not the problem for the Lakers this series. In the first games when his teammates actually wanted to shoot (and managed to drop a shot from 3 feet) he passed the ball and got them open shots. When they started refusing shots he had to shoot himself to give them a chance at all. LeBron did the same thing in the Cavs series and he got tons of praise for it. Kobe gets shit. Funny, really.

Suns has a good chance against Clippers if Nash' ankle is fine. And if they manage to play the game at their speed. The second they get slowed down they lose. That said, on the paper Clippers has a better team than Lakers. Far better.

And no Winnow. This series didn't get Suns much respect. You went to 7 games against Kwame and Smush!

Kelshara · Post by **Kelshara** » May 7, 2006, 11:01 am

Oh and you shouldn't be so smug Winnow. You were one ball bounce from loosing. Literally.

Sueven · Post by **Sueven** » May 7, 2006, 1:07 pm

Not that Nash has anything to so with it...i can't believe he's even an allstar much less MVP two years in a row.

Maybe, y'know, people do give him some respect?

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » May 7, 2006, 1:26 pm

Sueven wrote:
Not that Nash has anything to so with it...i can't believe he's even an allstar much less MVP two years in a row.
Maybe, y'know, people do give him some respect?

shhhh, it's his paranoia coming out again. Kind of like how he thought everyone was hyping up iPods in his Zen thread.

Post by **Sylvus** » May 8, 2006, 12:23 pm

That was a pretty dominant effort by the Pistons against the Cavs yesterday. Bring on the West!

*~*stragi*~* · Post by ***~*stragi*~*** » May 8, 2006, 1:49 pm

Midnyte_Ragebringer wrote:
Spang wrote:the lakers will never win another championship while kobe is on the team.
I used to think that as well. After watching all 7 seven games of this series, I learned that his supporting cast sucked. Those first 3 games were great. He shot well and passed well and his teammates shot the ball well. In the last 3 games, they sucked. They threw the ball away, were afraid to make shots, couldn't makes shots, etc. If they get the right people around him, they could win a few more.

Bryant is suppost to be the supporting cast fool. You don't setup a team around a fucking pointguard and win games.

You'd think he'd figure that out after 9 years.

I'd also like to dump Amare on his fucking ass for the bullshit he pulled this season.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » May 8, 2006, 1:59 pm

Stragi wrote: I'd also like to dump Amare on his fucking ass for the bullshit he pulled this season.

Hey! We'd only have won like 30 games this year without the moral support of Amare sitting beside out bench!

Don't count out Amare! He's no Diaw but he's not bad!

Kelshara · Post by **Kelshara** » May 8, 2006, 2:22 pm

Stragi wrote: Bryant is suppost to be the supporting cast fool. You don't setup a team around a fucking pointguard and win games.

Bryant is not a point guard