Sorry, Kevin. This pun thing is way too much fun.
During what has been one of the more memorable NBA playoffs in years, as well as one of the more memorable playoff series in years, David Stern has decided he has had enough of people actually enjoying the NBA, and has suspended Horry, Stoudamire, and Diaw for a game from the Spurs/Suns series. With Stern's ever-continuing drive to turn the NBA into his own Nazi regime, he has sucked any chance the Suns had of overcoming the Spurs (which was pretty slim anyway), and has destroyed what has been a fantastic series.
Certainly he is feeling the pressure of Roger Goodell's new tighter reign on the NFL, but c'mon David, is this really necessary? Yeah, they jumped off the bench and violated that rule, but does that really constitute the suspension of the best player on one team during a tight playoff series? Why not fine him or call a technical? No punches were even thrown! I half expected him to suspend Kobe for conspiracy of inciting the fight. Maybe we ought to retroactively look at each chest-bumping during the year and suspend players each time they came off the bench to defend a teammate. No wonder no one is watching basketball these days.
On another note, we were exposed to one of the sillier and more awkward moments of the year while watching Dirk Nowitzki accept his MVRSP (that being the Most Valuable Regular Season Player) award while all the more deserving candidates are still playing basketball. Why is it that the playoffs are not considered part of the voting process? Wouldn't the player that steps up during the playoffs and leads his team to, ahem, winning more games when they count, be more valuable to his team than someone that becomes invisible when they need him the most?
I'm not saying a player on a non-playoff team or a team with a quick playoff exit can't win an MVP, because my vote certainly goes to Kobe, who's team crapped out of the playoffs like a spicy bean burrito. You take Kobe off that team and they would no doubt be a high lottery team. But this post is not just for Kobe Bryant. It is a call out for recognition of Baron Davis, Tim Duncan, Lebron, and Jason Kidd--the guys who come through for their teams during high-pressure situations, and without whom their teams wouldn't be even close to where they are.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
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6 comments:
Hey Luke...I'll be checking back here every so often to read up on what you have to say, but in return...how about some commentary on hockey? ;-) Perhaps the Red Wings 5-0 win in Anaheim to reclaim the series lead would be a good place to start...
Yeah the suspension sucks for the series, but the NBA put the rule there to stop crazy fights from happening on the court...and to make a rule valid there has to be some sort of punishment, and fining them means nothing to these guys. I guess they could try and revise the rule to be a little more lenient, but hey, the rule's been there forever, and maybe Boris and Amare should be suspended just cause they're so stupid that they would forget that. And I'm not just saying this because I'm rooting for the Spurs.
Kevin, you are too saying that because you're rooting for the Spurs. :-) As I wrote in my post on the same subject (Luke, you trying to steal my thunder here?), this feels like the situation where two kids get the same punishment for fighting, but the punishment only matters to one. They both get the Legos taken away, but only of them even likes Legos.
The rule itself needs to go. Bill Simmons wrote a pretty good column on the subject (it's on ESPN Page 2). It's worth checking out.
I wouldn't have voted for Dirk, either, but I don't have a problem with the award being just for the regular season. The playoffs have their own MVP award.
As for the presentation, I didn't find it awkward. I thought Dirk handled it very well. I suppose I could have done without Cuban going Dick Vermeil on us, though.
Kevin-check the timestamps. You'll see who stole who's thunder ;) And so did Bill Simmons. Granted his is much better, but nevertheless...
After watching the game last night I've got to say that it was much closer than I'd thought. And in reference to Bill Simmons's article, I never noticed before, but I sure did a couple times last night, that Bowen is definitely quite the dirty player.
Good for people to know.
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