The 2007 NBA Playoffs

[Saucemaster]

Honestly, though, the Suns didn't deserve to win this game, and certainly not this series. They NEVER found an answer for Parker, in particular, but really speed in general just killed them.

Anyone else amused to see Shaq miss EVERY layup/dunk/putback attempt where he was fouled? He used to just blow through those and slam it home anyway.

 

[overdog]

Refs killed Suns at the end. Bowen clearly hit the ball out of Nash's hands. And Amare's phantom 5th foul on Tony Parker was yet another case of flopping and acting. And before Robert Horry stole the ball from Nash, Parker clearly pulled Nash back by the shoulder but there was no call.

On the bright side, nice win for the Rockets. Not coincindentally, it was T-Mac's first game shooting over 50% since March 8. Everyone says that T-Mac shouldn't be blamed for not getting out of the first round in years past, and I agree. Ironically, if the Rockets get eliminated in the first round this year, it will be T-Mac's fault for once.

 

[Jelly or Syrup]

i dont know what the suns owners did for them to be hated so much by the ref's. i hope they dont trade diaw, but they really need a "marion" type player, because there was no way diaw should be guarding parker

 

[Brian278]

Originally Posted by Saucemaster

Honestly, though, the Suns didn't deserve to win this game, and certainly not this series. They NEVER found an answer for Parker, in particular, but really speed in general just killed them.
But...the Spurs are so old! Seriously, who would have ever thought that the Suns of all teams would find the aging (as we're constantly told) Spurs playing too fast for them.

Anyone else amused to see Shaq miss EVERY layup/dunk/putback attempt where he was fouled? He used to just blow through those and slam it home anyway.

Yeah. The questions now is...what is the fall out from this? Does D'Antoni stay (my guess is yes, and if he doesn't he has every team with a vacancy beating down his door)? Do they take one last gasp with an aging Nash and the player formerly known as Shaq, banking on the rest of the guys to pick up the slack (again, maybe yeah unless they get a great offer for Shaq)? How much heat does Kerr take for this, and how much of it does he actually deserve for breaking up the team with the best record in the conference at the time on a major gamble (that sabotaged the next few years)?

 

[chronoaug]

Really? No one can say the suns didn't lose it themselves. 7 turnovers in the 4th and probably about 4 in the final 2 minutes? Terrible. The nash inbounds play was tricky and seemed like it might've been off nash's hands but it's impossible to tell. That shouldn't even have been an issue as it was a poor decision to pass it to him there in the corner and a bad pass itself. Why wasn't diaw who is taller and a more skilled passer making that inbounds and why couldn't someone else run over and get the pass? Just bad offensive execution down the stretch by the suns.

 

[overdog]

Originally Posted by chronoaug

Really? No one can say the suns didn't lose it themselves. 7 turnovers in the 4th and probably about 4 in the final 2 minutes? Terrible. The nash inbounds play was tricky and seemed like it might've been off nash's hands but it's impossible to tell. That shouldn't even have been an issue as it was a poor decision to pass it to him there in the corner and a bad pass itself. Why wasn't diaw who is taller and a more skilled passer making that inbounds and why couldn't someone else run over and get the pass? Just bad offensive execution down the stretch by the suns.

True, the Suns should blame themselves first and foremost, but I'm just pointing out that some of those turnovers were the result of poor calls.

 

[bob_gnarly]

i love the suns but **** do they blow!!!! they did deserve to lose. there is no relevance to the fact that the suns beat them in the regular season. the spurs are a playoff team, and they always prove it. i def. do not see the suns winning any championships in the near future. they always just break my heart. so go hornets!!

 

[Bradford]

Originally Posted by Brian278

But...the Spurs are so old! Seriously, who would have ever thought that the Suns of all teams would find the aging (as we're constantly told) Spurs playing too fast for them.



Yeah. The questions now is...what is the fall out from this? Does D'Antoni stay (my guess is yes, and if he doesn't he has every team with a vacancy beating down his door)? Do they take one last gasp with an aging Nash and the player formerly known as Shaq, banking on the rest of the guys to pick up the slack (again, maybe yeah unless they get a great offer for Shaq)? How much heat does Kerr take for this, and how much of it does he actually deserve for breaking up the team with the best record in the conference at the time on a major gamble (that sabotaged the next few years)?

Man that game sucked! Of course the Suns may actually be older than the Spurs.

Who gets the blame? I think D'Antoni is in trouble here. His refusal to play the bench was clearly a problem in the playoffs. His offensive style is great in the regular season, but it doesn't work in the playoffs.

I wonder if the Suns will talk to Larry Brown.

And FWIW - I don't think the Suns would have won this series even with Marion although they might not have slid to a 6 seed and maybe they would have missed the Spurs in the first round.

 

[chronoaug]

Originally Posted by overdog

True, the Suns should blame themselves first and foremost, but I'm just pointing out that some of those turnovers were the result of poor calls.

Some of them were. The spurs also got bad calls from time to time and so goes every nba game. Like i told a friend of mine, if reffing bothers you that much, you might want to just listen to the game on the radio. Especially basketball. Good lord it's so hard to ref. I ref middle school (and occasionally high school age kids) and it's still really rough. Sometimes you're not 100% sure or even 80% sure but you still have to make a call based on the info that you have. I do enjoy it though, even though it is kinda stressful at times. For all the **** nba refs get, they're actually pretty good. Much much much better than college refs and it's probably the hardest sport to ref in my opinion.



bradford- larry brown is already coaching the bobcats


I wish d'antoni would just go coach the raptors even though sam mitchell is probably not going anywhere. The raptors need to either fully embrace their identity or make a move to bring in a few real basketball players who can bang inside, help them on defense and the glass. As is, they're just a soft team. But if they would embrace the style colangelo is trying to create, they could be like the old suns and the sonics from 04 or whenever it was they made that 1 year run. D'antoni can't really coach this new look suns team very well. It's just not the type of team he can run. It won't happen, but i think we all know what coach likes to come in and jump on a championship caliber team and take the glory. Stan van gundy sure does.

 

[Mark from Plano]

Originally Posted by Mark from Plano

OK...I just read in the paper that Avery was so satisfied with Sunday's performance that he cancelled practice yesterday.

Unbelievable.

Originally Posted by Mark from Plano

No joke that he cancelled practice, you'd have to ask him why that makes any sense.


All right...The Dallas media is now reporting that the reason that Avery cancelled practice is that before the playoffs began he set a team rule of no partying during the playoffs.

After game 4 it was brought to his attention that not only did Josh Howard organize a big party, but passed out flyers in the locker room and that 3 or 4 team mates showed up. Avery got disgusted at the insubordination and cancelled practice.

Dirk then called a players only meeting and practice.


After the game last night Dirk was livid over something. One reporter asked him what he thought should be done and he basically said "I'm too angry to answer that question right now. I need to calm down and think about it for a bit before I answer and say something stupid."

I know there are lots of Dirk haters out there, but this loss was not Dirk's fault, IMO. He led all scorers in the series and had double/doubles in 4 of the 5 games (as did CP3). He played hard and took the ball inside a fair bit and took some good hits doing it. But ultimately he didn't have the support from the other players or the coach to get it done. Changes need to be made.

 

[Saucemaster]

Originally Posted by chronoaug

Some of them were. The spurs also got bad calls from time to time and so goes every nba game. Like i told a friend of mine, if reffing bothers you that much, you might want to just listen to the game on the radio. Especially basketball. Good lord it's so hard to ref. I ref middle school (and occasionally high school age kids) and it's still really rough. Sometimes you're not 100% sure or even 80% sure but you still have to make a call based on the info that you have. I do enjoy it though, even though it is kinda stressful at times. For all the **** nba refs get, they're actually pretty good. Much much much better than college refs and it's probably the hardest sport to ref in my opinion.

I'm with you there. Reffing is incredibly hard work, and much as I wanted the Suns to win that game (and got pissed at some of the bad calls that went SA's way) there were also a couple of times when the Suns got away with murder and had nothing called--one Tony Parker turnover in particular where I recall seeing him basically get mugged, and even the Suns player who ended up with the ball seemed to pause, expecting the whistle that didn't come.

It's even harder in the playoffs, when almost all the officials allow a more physical style of play. There was PLENTY of contact on both ends of the floor in last night's game that would have been an automatic call in the regular season, but consistently (which is the key) didn't get any whistles in this or basically any other playoff game this year. It happens every year--the refs allow a little more banging in the playoffs. It's one of the things that makes the playoffs fun to watch, as guys get more involved and play harder. I have no problem with it, but it makes it much harder to draw the line, and when fans see something on the replay that's been going uncalled all night, but now it's crunch time and it's their star player on the receiving end, they get livid.

Originally Posted by Mark from Plano

After the game last night Dirk was livid over something. One reporter asked him what he thought should be done and he basically said "I'm too angry to answer that question right now. I need to calm down and think about it for a bit before I answer and say something stupid."

I know there are lots of Dirk haters out there, but this loss was not Dirk's fault, IMO. He led all scorers in the series and had double/doubles in 4 of the 5 games (as did CP3). He played hard and took the ball inside a fair bit and took some good hits doing it. But ultimately he didn't have the support from the other players or the coach to get it done. Changes need to be made.

I agree with you, Dirk did a great job in this series. The knock on him has always been that he plays a bit soft, but even putting aside whether that's been true in the past, he didn't seem soft to me at all in this series. And I don't think anyone who paid attention can say he didn't desperately want to win this one.

 

[Omar1223]

if d'antoni really does get fired, how long do you think it is before another coach comes calling. i dont think he will get fired but i def. think avery johnson is gone.
+1 on this loss not being dirks fault at all. he played his heart out.

 

[chronoaug]

Dirk played fine. I hate the espn era. People let espn decide their opinions way too much. Since when is dirk a choke artist and really soft? Because some espn announcers needed **** to spew after losses despite dirk's history with big shots in closing minutes or bit rebounds, clutch free throws, etc... Same with Kobe being an asshole and a team cancer when shaq left. I really don't think people would've had those same problems with kobe or dirk if not for espn and their mostly awful sports coverage which normally ends up as 2 or 3 people yelling pointless opinions at each other to create a stir.

 

[whacked]

Originally Posted by chronoaug

Since when is dirk a choke artist and really soft? Because some espn announcers needed **** to spew after losses despite dirk's history with big shots in closing minutes or bit rebounds, clutch free throws, etc...

And when is that?

 

[landho]

It would be a big mistake if Phoenix encourages (or even allowes) D'Antoni to leave.