Goddamn Atlanta

and to think this could've been Charlotte with a little more luck and a little less dumbassery

4/28/2008 10:42:15 PM

JOE JOHNSON, boy showed up

4/28/2008 10:44:09 PM

a little less vincent

4/28/2008 10:46:57 PM

I am a Hawks fan now

4/28/2008 10:47:42 PM

man, fuck some hawks

4/28/2008 10:49:25 PM

the celtics beat the bobcats on a BS inbounds debacle this year

allen 3 ptr ftw

4/28/2008 10:50:16 PM

southeast division owns the celtics

4/29/2008 12:30:20 AM

Webber is actually pretty good in the studio

but it feels weird whenever barkleys gone


and I'm bout fuckin sick of this guy already

4/29/2008 1:57:01 AM

FUCK THE SPURS

two horrible fouls called in a row. both times the spurs trip over their own feet, foul on phx

also fuck hack-a-shaq

i hope that the spurs get "we are marshalled" someday

[Edited on April 30, 2008 at 12:11 AM. Reason : .]

4/30/2008 12:09:47 AM

i was just about to post this. they're the freaking duke of the nba. get all the calls. flop all the time. bunch of cheaters. makes me sick.

4/30/2008 12:11:42 AM

with both teams in big foul trouble, I'm betting this goes into OT

4/30/2008 12:18:48 AM

suns are giving this one away

4/30/2008 12:25:23 AM

JESUS FUCKING CHRIST PHOENIX

4/30/2008 12:26:33 AM

nash has really choked in this series

4/30/2008 12:34:33 AM

If Phoenix was just gonna turn the fucking ball over 4 of their last 5 possessions I wish they just would've folded earlier so I wouldn't have to watch this shit til the very end

Fuck the Spurs.

4/30/2008 12:36:55 AM

suns didn't deserve to win this series. pathetic.

i hate chris paul so much, but i hope the hornets blow the spurts out.

4/30/2008 12:37:10 AM

Quote :

"i was just about to post this. they're the freaking duke of the nba. get all the calls. flop all the time. bunch of cheaters. makes me sick."

4/30/2008 1:02:49 AM

i never thought they shoulda got shack

4/30/2008 1:13:38 AM

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

4/30/2008 1:20:52 AM

go spurs!

4/30/2008 9:33:33 AM

4/30/2008 9:42:20 AM

in other news, Tampa Bay Rays 3rd Baseman Evan Longoria is reportedly dating a woman named Tonya Parker

true story

(not really true)

4/30/2008 12:26:50 PM

Longoria doesn't date women anyways, he just fucks a lot.

4/30/2008 12:29:27 PM

How could any basketball fan actually be a Spurs fan?

They have to be the least liked team in the NBA....

4/30/2008 1:20:22 PM

Some fans actually appreciate good defense and solid team basketball. Not everyone needs dunk contests or up tempo small ball to be entertained.

4/30/2008 1:38:10 PM

The hack a shaq strategy Popovich employed throughout the series to slow down the Sun's offense was absolutely disgusting. That's not the way the game was meant to be played. Also Bruce Bowen is a piece of shit.

4/30/2008 1:42:37 PM

^How dare they take advantage of another team's weakness. They should be ashamed. I don't see much difference b/t that and laying off Tony Parker and making him shoot jumpshots. If Shaq could shoot FTs then it wouldn't be a problem.

4/30/2008 1:48:48 PM

Quote :

"How could any basketball fan actually be a Spurs fan?"

and hack a shaq is totally bush league. fuck that

4/30/2008 1:56:34 PM

Wonder how this series would have went if Bruce Bowen wasn't allowed to rape the Suns players mainly Nash?

4/30/2008 2:05:02 PM

^^^Dude, it's pure fucking faggotry and makes the game near unwatchable. Fouling a player hard so he can't score on a layup is one thing, but having your bench scrubs come in the game to hug Shaq away from the ball on half the Sun's possessions is not basketball. My 5'8" obese ass could walk onto a basketball court and do that. I sure as shit couldn't guard Tony Parker though. I can't believe anyone could defend that shit.


http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3375306

Johnson is out in Dallas.

[Edited on April 30, 2008 at 2:18 PM. Reason : :]

4/30/2008 2:06:06 PM

Parker went nuts this series. And wasn't all Nash's fault considering that they put Diaw on Parker that last few games.

Suns have one year left in them for a run. They need another creator/shooter though...that or Barbosa needs to step it up. Check that...I don't know what they need because I don't know what kind of offense they are going to run with Dantoni gone. If they kept him they would need another shooter. They didn't shoot the three well enough to run the offense they were running.

I swear San Antonio better not win another fucking championship. I think I would cheer for the Lakers over them. I'm officially on the Hawks/Rockets bandwagon for the rest of the playoffs (a bandwagon that will probably crash in a few days).

4/30/2008 2:19:44 PM

OMG stop fouling at the end of gamez guyz. That's not how you are suppozed to win!!!

Also please stop playing defense. It's not good for basketball to see Steve Nash turning the ball over and missing shots!

4/30/2008 2:20:57 PM

they didn't do hack a shaq at the end of games. they did it the entire game, for every game

Bill Simmons says it better than i could:

Quote :

"Name me one good/fun/useful thing that comes from hack-a-Shaq. You can't. It's not entertaining, it ruins the flow of the game, it's dirty pool, and it sucks to watch. How have they not fixed this loophole? Really, it's OK to bear-hug someone as they're running up the court? Why can't we give officials the leeway to say, "Look, you did that intentionally, even if we can't technically prove it, and we are penalizing you for it"? I just hate it. I hate it. I really, really hate it. If I were coaching the Suns, I would be fouling Bowen and Duncan every time and turning it into an "Eff-You" free-throw contest so David Stern had to break away from exchanging late-night e-mails with Clay Bennett to act like a commissioner for 10 minutes and fix this unforgivable tainting of a fantastic series that could have been headed for the Pantheon if not for such a garbage turn of events. That's not basketball. I can't stop shaking my head. (Two people I'm disappointed in: First, Gregg Popovich, the best coach in the league and someone who's much, much better than this. Shame on you, Pop. And I mean that in the most condescending way possible. And second, Shaq for not telling the refs as well as the Spurs bench, "If this foofer Oberto tries to bear-hug me one more time, I'm just warning you right now, I'm going to run him over like a mack truck and send him to the hospital for the rest of the playoffs." Come on, Shaq, you have four rings. Make a statement. Don't put up with this crap. As you can tell, I am passionate about the evils of hack-a-Shaq.)"

[Edited on April 30, 2008 at 2:25 PM. Reason : .]

4/30/2008 2:22:13 PM

Watching Shaq shot put a free throw is almost unwatchable. Are you just as mad when teams foul to try to come back, or when Raja Bell throws someone on the floor when they beat him to the basket?

The blame lies just as much with the Suns. Shaq is a free throw liability, and Amare and Diaw can't even pretend to defend Duncan.

[Edited on April 30, 2008 at 2:29 PM. Reason : .]

4/30/2008 2:26:40 PM

why can't shaq just try normal shooting form instead of just pushing the ball, other players with big hands seem to be able to do it.

Quote :

"Parker went nuts this series. And wasn't all Nash's fault considering that they put Diaw on Parker that last few games. Suns have one year left in them for a run. They need another creator/shooter though...that or Barbosa needs to step it up. Check that...I don't know what they need because I don't know what kind of offense they are going to run with Dantoni gone. If they kept him they would need another shooter. They didn't shoot the three well enough to run the offense they were running. "

maybe they should try trading shaq now, if they needed someone big to contain a player like duncan why not just get dikeme mutombo or brendan haywood or something, no need to pay that rediculous salary to shaq

[Edited on April 30, 2008 at 2:34 PM. Reason : k]

4/30/2008 2:31:21 PM

^^Yes, yes, and yes. Poor free shooting, fouling to extend the game, and bitchy/dirty play are the three things I despise most about basketball.

And no one is saying the Spurs needed that to win. That's the thing that pissed me off the most, they don't need that shit to win but they do it anyway.

[Edited on April 30, 2008 at 2:34 PM. Reason : :]

4/30/2008 2:32:38 PM

Quote :

"maybe they should try trading shaq now"

Nobody wants Shaq and his contract is too big. And although his play has gone down, he still averaged about 15 pts, 10 rebs, and a couple blocks a game (while shooting close to 60%). There aren't too many centers in the league that can still do that.

4/30/2008 2:53:10 PM

Quote :

"OMG stop fouling at the end of gamez guyz. That's not how you are suppozed to win!!! Also please stop playing defense. It's not good for basketball to see Steve Nash turning the ball over and missing shots!"

Wow, talk about missing the point entirely.

4/30/2008 2:58:20 PM

Yeah....I was sitting with a diehard Spurs fan...and he was really surprised and disappointed in Popovich for resorting to the Hack-a-Shaq.

The NBA should create a rule to deal with it.

4/30/2008 2:59:52 PM

well until they create a rule, the Spurs arent doing anything illegal

and maybe if the mentally retarded Suns hadnt made the trade in the first place they wouldnt have had to worry about hack a shaq...maybe if their 2 time MVP could play a lick of defense, he wouldnt have been abused all series by Parker

4/30/2008 3:09:12 PM

Quote :

"maybe if their 2 time MVP could play a lick of defense, he wouldnt have been abused all series by Parker"

Diaw played him for the 2nd half of the series...and I honestly don't remember seeing Nash guard him that much for the first half of the series. Dantoni's not dumb.

This offseason should be interesting. I think the Suns will have a better regular season next year because I think Amare is going to have any MVP-type season. And if they are going to try and keep Grant Hill as an important part of the team, they need to limit his minutes during the regular season.

4/30/2008 3:17:58 PM

Diaw was guarding Parker? I thought Bell was guarding him and Diaw was guarding Ginobli? Either way, the Suns don't really guard anybody in the first place, probably partially due to their head coach Mike Antoni

also Nash might not have been guarding Parker, but Parker was guarding Nash and he was too quick for him...Nash's numbers weren't horrible in the series (except for Game 5) but Parker was all in Nash's face most of the series

4/30/2008 3:22:05 PM

^They made a big deal about Diaw guarding Parker in game 4 when he held him to 19 points because they are teammates on the French team and Diaw supposedly "knew his moves". When Diaw was in the game, he was guarding Parker.

And Parker guarded Nash maybe half the time. When Bowen was in the game he was on Nash, especially in the late game situations.

You Nash-hate too much. But Parker definitely bested him in this series. Nash was horrible in game 5.

4/30/2008 3:32:17 PM

well Nash is extremely overrated, so yeah I'll hate

back to back MVPs? bahaha

i still stand by my statement that Nash is literally one of the worst defenders in the NBA

he can shoot the lights out...and he's a great passer...but he's also gotten knocked out of the playoffs 3 of the past 4 years by the Spurs...after a couple 50+ and 60+ win seasons, the Spurs have owned them yet again

in other news, man I hope Atlanta pulls what Golden State pulled last year...I made a bet with this dude and his two teams to win it all were Phoenix and Boston...1 down 1 to go

4/30/2008 3:34:06 PM

Quote :

"Yeah....I was sitting with a diehard Spurs fan...and he was really surprised and disappointed in Popovich for resorting to the Hack-a-Shaq. The NBA should create a rule to deal with it."

They did, about ten years ago (hence why it was called the Hack-a-Shaq rule). The rule only applies in the last 2 minutes.

They should probably consider disallowing the Shaq hop, shoulder/elbow throw, and continuation if they forced teams to wait until he had the ball to foul him. Also, would this apply to all off-the-ball fouls/holds or just those done on Shaq?

4/30/2008 4:31:40 PM

Quote :

"They should probably consider disallowing the Shaq hop, shoulder/elbow throw, and continuation if they forced teams to wait until he had the ball to foul him. Also, would this apply to all off-the-ball fouls/holds or just those done on Shaq?"

Then extend the rule. Hack-a-Shaq is obvious (its also used on Ben Wallace sometimes...so no, it won't just apply to Shaq). So I don't think it would be confused with something like fouling to extend the game (when you're down by more than one possession and need to get the ball back), or when your team is up by three and you foul to make them shoot two free throws instead of giving them the opportunity to hit a three.

And hold the "Shaq hop and dipping shoulder" shit. Every NBA player (mostly big men) have that hop in their repertoire. And as much as Shaq might commit offensive fouls, he also gets fouled (and no-called) just as much, and has defenders flop on him all the time. Can we just leave that stuff out of the conversation.

4/30/2008 4:41:41 PM

how would they enforce some type of "no hack-a-shaq" rule? do they charge flagrant or technical fouls to anyone who fouls shaq? learn to hit your damn free throws

or, as soon as shaq anticipates somebody is about to hack him, throw an accidental elbow to their face...make them think twice about fouling you

[Edited on April 30, 2008 at 5:16 PM. Reason : .]

4/30/2008 5:04:39 PM

Why not? Personally...I think Dantoni should have just taken Shaq out anyways. But I still think it's a bullshit strategy.

And by the way....AVERY "THE ROACH" JOHNSON just got fired.

4/30/2008 5:15:50 PM

yea Avery is proof that its not what you do in the regular season

I completely agree that hack-a-shaq can be considered bullshit, cheap, bush-league, unsporting, etc...but you play to win the game, and the suns knew full well when they got shaq that FT% was a huge question, and they'd seen countless other teams employ the hack-a-shaq method before...they werent getting any big surprises

i just dont see how you could right a rule into the rulebook that would somehow guarantee to eliminate hack-a-shaq type scenarios without leaving it up to the ref's own judgement

4/30/2008 5:18:10 PM

Quote :

"without leaving it up to the ref's own judgement "

What's wrong with that?? Virtually every call is "leaving it up to the ref's own judgement." There are exceptions: no charges inside the circle, illegal defense, lane violations, etc. But hand-checking, charges, blocking, etc. are all heavily based on the ref's own judgement. So the ref's might fuck up a little if the rule is implemented...but they would probably fuck up just as much as they calling charges and blocks.

4/30/2008 5:32:19 PM