Spurs survive, exterminate Hornets
Man, I can’t stand the San Antonio Spurs. Maybe it’s Gregg Popovich’s barking from the bench. I’m pretty sure if that if I was in traffic and merging into one lane and the car next to me is driven by Mr. Popovich, he would cut me off without much of a thought. In fact, I think the only Spur who might let me in would be the gentleman from France, Tony Parker.
Maybe all the flopping by Manu Ginobili gets me riled up, but hey, he’s a foreigner. Perhaps it is because his English is not so good? Tim Duncan’s icy stare rattles my nerves, but his free throw shooting reminds me of an ostrich laying an egg for some reason, so that breaks the ice for me.
Then there is the defensive “tactics” of Bruce Bowen. There’s kicking the back of Amare Stoudemire’s leg, kicking the face of Wally Szczerbiak (yes, click here) and kicking Chris Paul in the groin (Bowen was suspended for a game and fined $37,000 for this, even though the officials on the court called the foul on Paul!).
For this series, Cheap Shot Bob Horry took his goonness out on David West’s back. I mean, I can understand if he didn’t have a history of it and didn’t play for the Spurs, but ask Steve Nash about this play from last year. I actually don’t think it was an intentional shot on West, but what draws my ire there is that the fans in San Antonio chanted “Horry, Horry…” as West laid injured on the floor. What a bunch of motherf’ers! From the organization to the fans, they show no class. David Robinson should be embarrassed.
The Spurs came out firing in Game 7 and took a nine point lead at the half. They extended the lead to 15 to start the fourth quarter. The Hornets got within three when Jannero Pargo hit a three with 1:35 to go, but Manu Ginobili hit 6-for-6 from the line in the last minute to seal the victory for the Spurs. He finished with 26 points and the Spurs won, 91-82,
I hope the Lakers destroy the Spurs in the Finals. It would have been great to have Andrew Bynum back by now, but he is undergoing surgery on Wednesday. Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom will be a handful for Tim Duncan. Kobe Bryant will have to deal with that pest, Bowen, but the Lakers role players stepped up all year long and will need to play well in order to put away the Spurs.
The Hornets had a great season, but couldn’t get it done in the end. David West finished with 20 points and 9 rebounds, while Chris Paul added 18 points and 14 assists. They combined to shoot 16-for-37 in the game, which wasn’t quite good enough. However, the power in the West changed this year from the Mavericks and Suns to the Hornets and Lakers. It’s too bad it had to end this way for the Hornets, but lets hope the same fate doesn’t befall the Lakers. I’m taking them in six games.
This entry was posted
on Monday, May 19th, 2008 at 10:01 pm and is filed under Lamar Odom, Andrew Bynum, Manu Ginobili, Pau Gasol, David Robinson, Gregg Popovich, Jannero Pargo, The NBA Source, David West, Wally Szczerbiak, Tony Parker, Amare Stoudemire, Los Angeles Lakers, San Antonio Spurs, New Orleans Hornets, Dallas Mavericks, Phoenix Suns, Tim Duncan, Robert Horry, Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, The NBA Source.
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7 Responses to “Spurs survive, exterminate Hornets”
May 19th, 2008 at 10:51 pm
Awwww, the darling Hornets got squashed by those meanie Spurs. Thats just awful, gosh darn it. And everybody loved them so much, even though the Hornets flopped and played as dirty as any team I’ve ever seen, and were so blatant about it. But it seems if you are a Spurs hater, nothing anybody says will satisfy you, so go ahead. Root for the Lakers, mourn for the shavetail Hornets, the whining Suns, whatever. When you are ready for a team that plays to win, come groveling back to the Spurs. And by the way, I was at that game when West went down. You people on TV got to see what happened, we did not. We were cheering for Horry, as we did several times during the game and in the previous games, because its his last year and the fans love him, as did the Laker fans and the Bulls fans when he was winning for them. It wasn’t until after the game that we heard all the ridiculous comments about it being a cheap shot. So get off your high horse, jerks. The Spurs organization, team and fans exemplify class and dignity, and you poor slobs only hate them because they keep winning. So hate on, see who gives a rip. The Spurs don’t, and their fans just laugh all the way to the next championship.
May 19th, 2008 at 10:56 pm
Wow Jon, I expected better from you. I came to MVN looking for a good recap of the game and some analysis and all I got was more Spurs hate, as if I haven’t seen enough all round the web for the last 4 days or even the last 4 years. I still don’t understand why people say Robert Horry has a history of being dirty for one hip check to Nash. Wonder if Jason Kidd sets a back pick on someone next season if someone will say he has a history of being dirty because of what he did to Pargo in that series, which was much worse than the Nash hip check or back pick. Probably not. Why? Because Jason Kidd doesn’t play for the team everyone loves to hate. Everyone loves to bring up the Duncan stare. No one has said anything about West’s temper tantrums and jumping up and down like a child when he got fouls called against him. Same thing with Amare in the last series. Oh yea, it’s because they don’t play for the Spurs. And I’m also taking issue with you calling me a motherf-er. I’m a Spurs fan and I was at the game and not chanting. I was actually appalled and embarrassed by the Horry chants. But don’t call out all Spurs fans, because it only really came from the bottom sections, probably not even half the fans in attendance were chanting it. You call the entire organization classless then call all of us motherf-ers. Pot calling the kettle black here. I also love how no one will ever give the Spurs credit for a win and instead say the other team lost the game. I always think and wonder if all this hate comes from the Spurs success. Winning 4 of the last 9 championships and always being the contender. Every team has players that may flop, stare or do worse after foul calls, have questionable defensive tactics, but none of them get as much hate as the Spurs. Why? Is it because they are successful and you have to turn your attention to them when they are playing in the finals, sweeping everyone’s darlings in the Cavs and raising the O’Brien once again. Jon, I actually like your writing and have a lot of respect for what you do with MVN, but was another Spurs hate post really that necessary? A lot of people may like them, but don’t stoop to fanhouse’s level. We don’t need another valleywag for sports. You guys are definitely better than that.
May 20th, 2008 at 12:16 am
Ok guys. You made your points. But face it - the rest of the league hates it when the Spurs win b/c it takes the fun out of it. I actually kind of like Ginobili, Parker is ok, and Duncan is all you can ask out of your superstar. Popovich and the role players drive me nuts.
I was really hoping to not have to watch the Spurs anymore this season after tonight. A Hornets-Lakers series would be much more exciting to me than Spurs-Lakers.
So, the chant of Horry while injuring West was just a coincidence? Cheering for injuries is classless. If that is not what you were cheering for, then the mf statement didn’t apply to you.
Hey, I’m in the Philadelphia area so this type of fan behavior is nothing new. Nothing personal. This article here is me venting - initial reaction to the game. It went way overboard to calling out everything silver and black, so I apologize. Michael, keep up the great work on ProjectSpurs.com.
May 20th, 2008 at 1:26 am
Pop is one of the most likeable people in the entire NBA…Please, Pop cannot be held responsible for what the crowd was doing…He is a true leader in every sense of the word, period.
BTW, just in case you have (conveniently) forgotten -
How come CP is not called a flopper? I dont have youtube links, but I strongly suggest you take a look at one big flop act of his in Game 3. It was an eye opener for me. May be it would open yours too.
Also, please go through this - http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/columnists/bharvey/stories/MYSA052008.1D.COL.BKNharvey.spurs.e27480a.html
- this is something mentioned in the passing by Marc Stein of espn.com as well.
I dont think you would call the Spurs a boring team if you can appreciate things like these…
May 20th, 2008 at 11:31 am
Jon,
I expect to see a great series out of Parker, which will hopefully make it a little more interesting and fun to watch when he is blazing past Fisher. I have to be honest thought, if I wasn’t a Spurs fan, I might think Pop was an a-hole. What’s your prediction for the series. I think the Spurs match up better with the Lakers than they did with the Hornets. Spurs in 7.
May 20th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
Jon, I’ve actually met Popp, and he seemed very thoughtful and nice, but I don’t know if that was his true self. It was after a very tough loss, though.
May 20th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
I lived in San Antonio for five years and can’t believe that they cheered the Horry hit on West. I think they were caught up in the competition.
In regards to the flopping; it’s not the Spurs fault. As a player, I flopped and when I coached I taught players how to do it. The problem is that the Spurs do it way to often and when they don’t get the call they cry like babies to the officials.
Anything done in moderation is fine, but the Spurs have made it an art form and the poor officiating by the refs is the bigger problem. I understand being fooled by a good flopper, but not to the degree that NBA officials are fooled.
If the officials would call the game correctly, the Spurs wouldn’t flop. Until that happens, the flopping will continue.
Ginobli is the greatest flopper in the history of the game, but realistically Derek Fisher is right up there too.
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