2005 NBA Playoffs

[White Shogun]

I couldn't believe the hacking and chopping that went on in that game. Guys were getting their arms slapped down while shooting, they were pushed in the back and knocked off stride dribbling the ball, they were mugged while holding the ball, it was unbelievable!

Of course the announcers attribute the close game to the 'suffocating' defense of the Pistons. If it was any more suffocating, the Spurs would be playing with pillowcases tied over their heads!

 

[Kaptain]

One point to make about Robert Horry's great performance was that many of the big three-point shots he made (and Bowen) were set-up by Manu. Manu did have 9 assists for the game and though his is getting mugged out there his is still a major factor in the Spurs wins.

 

[SteveB]

I saw a number of times where there was an obvious foul on the arm during shooting, but it wasn't called. I heard Hubie Brown say that in that instance "the hand is part of the ball" and therefore it is not a foul. What? So if the defender touches the ball but in the process, he grabs the hand/arm, it is not a foul? I haven't heard that before.

 

[JD074]

Good point about Manu's passing. He's had two game-winning
assists in this postseason (the pass to Duncan against Seattle
being the other one.) I was just frustrated because I'd like to
see him dominate like he did in the first two games. But at this
point I just want the Spurs to win tonight. Period!

Hopefully the 100 million dollar man can knock down some free
throws as well....

It's also been unfortunate to see the white players' roles
reduced considerably. They had four white players in their
rotation in the regular season, then Nesterovic got nixed (I
believe he was injured, but he hasn't played in the playoffs
regardless), last night Udrih didn't play, and Barry's role is
simply to provide a breather for Ginobili and others. Oh well.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

Well, I was wrong, it didn't end in 6. Looks like I was being conservative/optimistic in my prediction. It was a horribly sloppy game, which is pretty typical of the NBA now.

 

[Bart]

Col Reb, the game was sloppy but Ginobli and Duncan in particular could have gone to the line about 50 times. Seriously, Duncan has been mugged just about every possession.

 

[White Shogun]

There was one play in the 4th quarter when Duncan had the ball in the paint. He went up THREE times and was mauled, slapped, and bumped every time with nary a whistle to be heard. It was unbelievable.

The refs and the NBA would have us believe that Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili suddenly grew extremely clumsy and can't dribble the ball in a straight line.

They are calling the playoff games differently than the regular season games because 'nobody wants to see the refs determine the outcome of a game.' In other words, they're NOT making the calls they should to avoid directing the outcome of the game. Of course, by not calling the game properly they ARE determining the outcome! Duh!

This is the type of bulls*** that the Patriots pulled on the Colts in the NFL playoffs a couple years ago. The dbacks mugged the Colts' receivers every play, knocking them off routes, holding, ad nauseum, and the refs never called a single interference penalty.

I don't think the refs want the Pistons to win the series, I think they wanted seven games, thats all.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

You may be right White Shogun. I think there was a lot of interest in that 7'th game. First one in 11 seasons.

 

[Kaptain]

Spurs win! Manu was great again. IMO he should be the playoff MVP. There was quite campaign throughout the game to give the award to Duncan. If Ginobili were black there would be no question that he would be the MVP. The high shooting and FG percentage, the assists, and his defense was awesome.

 

[jaxvid]

You're right Kaptain. If Manu was black he would have been a lock. He was clearly the most exciting player, flying to the basket for dunks, there was nobody else in this series who did that.

Duncan won the award, But so what. People saw what a great white athlete could do. I'm sure there are kids all over America imaging themselves as Manu as they shoot hoops in the driveway. Way to go MANU!!!!

 

[Bart]

Manu was the man for sure. He set up Duncan several times, played great defense and made spectacular shots. He seemed to have more spring in his step as he weaved through traffic and drove to the basket.He took a kneeto the thigh the other day and it slowed him down until tonight's game.

 

[white lightning]

I agree that Manu could have won it but Duncan is also
a deserving winner.Tim Duncan is one of the nicest guys
in the whole league and is very unselfish.He gave credit
to his team just like Ginobli did.With out a doubt,
Ginobli is one of the most exciting stars in basketball
today.I loved watching him play.Congrats to the Spurs!

 

[SteveB]

I agree WL, Tim and Manu are co-MVPs of the series. They were a great 1-2 punch.

 

[Bart]

For a guard Manu pulled down lots of rebounds. Rasheed was hyped by the announcers too much if you ask me. He is nearly 7' tall but Manu had more boards than he did and outscored him by a ton. Duncan was the top rebounder for the Spurs but Ginobli was only one board shy of tying for second with Muhammad.

 

[white lightning]

I really like the article here at Caste about Manu and
how he is helping to change the game.His constant energy
is a joy to watch.He plays as hard as a kid trying to
make the varsity team in high school and he would
probably play that hard for free.Manu just loves the
game and it shows.His athletecism is so fun to watch
along with his all around skills.My hat is off to him
and the Spurs.Manu Mania has arrived!Ha.ha.

 

[GreatLakeState]

Credit where credit is due, congratulations to the Spurs. Manu
is sweet, no doubt. People were "hating on" Manu a bit in
Michigan, but as someone aptly pointed out on another
message board, how much would you love him to be on your
team?

The Stones will be back ... maybe Darko will even play. I'm
going to watch him in summer league, and hopefully he'll get
the reps he needs.

 

[bigunreal]

It was great seeing the Spurs win, but it was standard racism once
again to deny the MVP to the best player on the court, hands down.
Duncan is a really nice guy, and put up big numbers. However, he was
subpar, imho, for much of the series. He missed a bunch of easy shots
last night that could have cost the Spurs the title. Without Ginboli,
they would not have won. I guess the NBA felt that Don King's America
wasn't ready to witness David Stern handing the MVP trophy to a white
player.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

I thought Manu could have just as honestly been given the MVP as Duncan. Manu and Duncan both had off nights during the series. Thankfully though, they both played hard when they had to. I thought Duncan correctly said that the MVP's were the rest of the starters.

To me, Manu was the MVP of game 1 and 2, Horry in game 5, and Duncan in game 7. People have short sports memories though, especially when there is a white guy involved in doing something spectacular. With all that said, it was a good series, and I was right that the Spurs weren't that much better than the Pistons. I was surprised though that it went to 7. I do think that Manu will have at least 2 or 3 more chances to become the MVP of the Finals. The Spurs will probably be in contention for it again next year, so I think we have something to look forward to. Also, I must give a lot of credit to Brent Barry, who made the most of his minutes during the series. It was great to see him playing so much in game 7!

 

[sunshine]

A few post series observations. As for Manu check out JB Cash's article that sums up the importance of his achievements. Manu's play was a direct stab at stereotypes. Indeed the fact he burned by the most elite athletes in the NBA--Shawn Marion, Pistons D etc... proves just how much of a talent Ginobli has evolved into in his third NBA season. His play qualifies as a big caste event. The Spurs won with a few guys playing poorly. Parker was below average most of the time and could not stop Billups. He is barely a point guard. more like a small 2-guard who lacks three point range. At least he didn't turn it over a ton last night.Udrih his backup has a bright future. Popovich was smart to put Bowen on Billups later in the game. Also Mohammed was about as bad as it gets, no? I mean he could not catch the friggen ball the entire series nor could he finish a simple dunk.. I am sure he is a nice fellow but after hearing Stephen A Smith crudely and rudely make fun of Nesterovic for ages etc...By the way where was big mouth after the game last night? Duncan kind of pulled his weight but it was not pretty. Horry surprised me. I thought he would have nothing left in the tank but the wily vet came up big again. Biggest moment might have been the charge he took on Hamilton after sniffing it out. Crazy but I think hedeserves to be in the hall Of fame for his D,clutch play and stellar playoff resume he has accumulated over a long period.Elsewhere Barry looked spirited last night and the spurs deserved a lot of credit. The Pistons are hard to shake. One other thing. Ginobli is a great defender. Prince had size and reach advantage but Manu did a fantastic job of hanging in there and causing havoc. Very pleased with outcome.

 

[Kaptain]

Bigunreal, we think alike. Manu was robbed out the MVP. The fact that he didn't even get considered for MVP by the talking heads was unreal. I did some number crunching and compared Duncan and Ginobili. Here is how they compared (avg. per game) in the games the spurs won in the finals:


Duncan Ginobili


Pts23.2 22.8


FG%&nb sp; 43% 55%


Assist2 5.5


Rbs&nb sp; 14.5 5.8


It's clear to me that Ginobili at least deserved some consideration as the MVP. He achieved these stats averaging roughly 7-8 less minutes of playing time than duncan. Ginobili winning the MVP would have been the icing on the cake for a terrific of white achievement in basketball. The olympics, Nash MVP, and ginobili. Chicken little the sky is falling!

 

[Don Wassall]

ESPN has a big photo on its homepage of Duncan and Parker hugging. Duncan and Manu had an emotional embrace after Game 7 and one would think that should be used. But no, the erratic "Frenchman" gets top billing with Duncan instead.


Duncan got the MVP based on reputation as much as anything, though the media doesn't particularly like him because he's a well-mannered, humble team player rather than fitting the mold of what the media wants a black athlete to be. But what really stands out to me is that there was no discussion about it. Wasn't it at least a debatable subject? Nope. It's Duncan by unanimous media proclamation. Reminiscent of the Super Bowl when Deion Branch was named the MVP rather than the clearly more deserving Tom Brady and nothing was said about it.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

It is remarkable what Manu has accomplished during the last few years. I believe there will be a day soon when he will be the undisputed star in San Antonio. His play when Duncan was out earlier in the year helped his popularity a lot. I do not think his finals performance will be forgotten by Spurs fans.

 

[White Shogun]

I knew there was no way Manu would get the MVP. The guys I watched the game with were arguing about it before it was announced. I said there is no way they'll allow TWO WHITE GUYS to win MVP for the season AND the Finals.

No way.

And as has been said, it wasn't even considered.

 

[SteveB]

I was listening to the Dan Patrick show on ESPN radio and he had Charles Barkley as a guest. They were both making a case for Ginobli as MVP. Barkley has been on Ginobli's bandwagon for a couple of years, but it is good to see some of the ESPN commentators getting on also. This series has definitely open some eyes out there.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

I heard Patrick that same day and you are right SteveB. It is good to hear it from the "big names" in sports radio. I think the series did open some eyes. I know I watched the whole series, the first time I have done that since the Lakers/Celtics days of the 1980's. I also managed to see a couple of playoff games, which is also more than I have seen in a decade and a half. I know the ratings weren't that great for the Finals, but I think it helped Manu get to the next level in popularity and showed how whites can play great ball when given the minutes to do so.