Each One Teach One
This is just a quick note to let you know that FreeDarko's own Bethlehem Shoals has been given a regular column over at AOL Sports in addition to his usual Fanhouse duties. The first one, further exploring his complex relationship with the Golden State Warriors, is up today. The good news is lengthy "thinkpieces" from Shoals on a regular basis; the bad news is that he doesn't get to use as many weird/funny pictures as he does here. Give and take. While I'm linking up everything in sight, don't miss Shoals's contributions to a post trashing Reggie Miller's game commentary over at AwfulAnnouncing.
GO WARRIORS!
posted by Brown Recluse, Esq. @ 5/11/2007 02:32:00 PM
52 comments
52 Comments:
Reggie Miller has made me long for Jon Barry. There, I said it. But why can't they get Clyde Frazier announcing Warriors-Jazz? What's he busy doing this time of year?
Hat shopping and fur coat storage.
That man is my hero.
How's this for a Non-Sam-Smith rumour:
Donnie Nelson (Mavs GM) talking to Sactown about Artest. Devin, Josh, and Dirk off the table:
Whatcha got? Sound like the Mavs may try to fleece Sacto for a (head)case few teams want.
Baron Davis has just pulled of three absolutely jaw-dropping plays in like the last twenty minutes, capped off by maybe one of the greatest dunks ever.
(I know I'm entering Bill Walton territory here, but damn! that was awesome.)
...and they T him up!?
"DON'T BLAME IT, FRAME IT"
The dunk = fine wine. You will see it in future decades.
So much of that game was so hallucinatory. Okur hoists a three in the fourth with his team down 20, and Hubie says, "Mehmet just forced that. There's still time." Two solid minutes of big upping Adonal Foyle (Democracy Matters!). AK finding his true position. Then AK finding a position as The Beard's ottoman.
Baron topped of a BEAST performance of a night with a riDUNKulous posterization of AK47. AK47 broke down and cried for the 2nd time in the playoffs this year afterwards.
Baron Davis
The best part about that dunk: it elicited some great responses. Adonal Foyle made a ridiculous face, and Stephen Jackson started... rubbing? waxing? buffing?... Boom Dizzle off. Re. Freaking. Diculous.
Bill Simmons said he'd get to at least one Warriors game if they made it through the second round. I'm curious to see what his impressions of the game were.
well, I know everyone said it, but ####...sweet baby jesus. 10 yrs from now everyone who watched this game is still going to have, indelibly burned into their brain, the image of Baron crushing Kirilenko and then POPPING HIS FREAKING COLLAR just like "hey, I just destroyed the essence of your soul". that was the pinnacle of Oaklandness meets GSW lunacy. even Mike Tice had to back the #### up and recognize.
at first I thought I saw 1,000 pieces of AK's repaired psyche reshattering and careening off into the night but he seemed remarkably good natured about it ("at least I got to be on the poster"? WTF? awesome) so that's good. and in fairness elite shot blockers who get posterized going up to challenge shots have a pretty solid excuse; dude still has 16 blocks in 3 games.
One thing about AK become did become definitively clear tonight, namely that Kirilenko in extended minutes at point forward=16 turnovers in the first half. so much for that.
benqrock: I thought S-Jax dusting Baron's collar off was the final touch that really elevated the moment to sheer perfection. Another great reaction was Mickael Pietrus looking scared out of his wits watching the replay.
Can we get a link to the video. I was up all night studying for finals and completly lost track of time.
Just go to http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=270511009 and watch the video before it goes offline.
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It's at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLIR6J8VQ6w for now
I feel sorry for whoever had to endure Hubie Brown and whoever else called the game with him. In the bay area, this game was also broadcast on the local channel where you get much more intelligent (and pro-warriors ) commentary. Unfortunately, this is only the case when ESPN has the national coverage.
The dunk needs a nickname: How about "The Dunk Heard 'Round the World"?
re Anon 1:47, it was Mike Tirico and he delivered one of the all-time classic "out of character" reactions. Just completely lost his shit.
Awesomest of dunks or most offensive of fouls?
http://img86.imageshack.us/img86/5812/akfoulvt2.jpg
Both, probably.
I was gonna post about how awesome that dunk was, but then I saw the pic by Moosover:
Baron shoulda been called for a flagrant.
It makes me sad because in real time it was the best dunk I had seen since Carter over Mourning (2 years ago?).
uh, you do realize that picture is a photoshop, right? it's not even a good one at that.
that dunk will be remembered years from now as the turning point in this series. baron shouted "this shit is done," the world heard him, and gsw will win the series now.
Yeahm that picture definitely looks like a photoshop job. It appears as if Baron's thumb is lodged in AK-47's eye.
That's the same picture posted here:
http://www.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2007/05/12/sp_warrior4qtrgame34942kw.jpg
Looks legit to me, as in a non-Photoshop deal.
Baron shoved AK in the face, but players "get away" with that all the time, to the point that it's not really getting away with anything. At any rate, great dunk.
Well, I guess I was wrong. Still, I really don't care: that dunk was unspeakably great.
There's something very strange about that photo & I'd love to see a larger version. Doctored or no, though, almost all the great dunks of our era could have been called o-fouls.
Crazylegsjackson -
"almost all the great dunks of our era could have been called o-fouls."
What an idiotic, and UNTRUE generalization to make. If most of em were fouls, most of em woulda been called.
The photo DOES look fishy.
What atrocious refereeing in this game. I think the Spurs would have won this game regardless, but the no-calls in favor of SA were absolutely ridiculous.
Sean--true story. I am a drunk, biased Suns fan, but the officiating was terrrrrrible. The Suns still played like crap though.
So much for Kurt "Duncan Stopper" Thomas.
Nice to see Manu score 8 points in 30 seconds after getting finger banged in his eye.
San Antonio is even more lame than Salt Lake City.
More likely to advance: Suns or Warriors? I say Warriors and it's an easy choice.
DAMMIT! FREEDARKO NEEDS A BILLUPS POST WITH THE QUICKNESS!
Warriors for sure. Phoenix came in looking to show and prove, but lost its swag midway through the second quarter. You can't do that against San Antonio; they pounce on your insecurities and destroy you.
I doubt anyone else will agree with this statement, but the only way this Warriors team could be any better is if Mullin had managed to get Jackson, Harrington AND Marquis Daniels from the Pacers. I think my head would explode.
"the no-calls in favor of SA were absolutely ridiculous."
Ya'll never cease to amaze me. OF COURSE the NBA and refs always give the Spurs all the calls. Duh! Stern knows what a major market San Antonio is and he'd love nothing more than to have another Spurs-Pistons Finals because they always draw amazing ratings. And, fuck, NOBODY likes the Suns or wants to watch them keep playing, right?!?!?
Because I care, please allow me to quickly break down the differences between these two teams:
Amare gets kicked on his heel, spends the next few days rewatching zoomed-in slo-mo video to make sure he was kicked in the heel, and then publicly complains to the media about being kicked in said heel.
On the other hand, Ginobili gets hit in the eye (you really want to talk about no-calls?), bleeds, gets up, and starts going harder in the paint than he has all series.
But by all means, please continue to make excuses for why teams keep coming up short against the Spurs. Teams always succeed once they start feeling like they're being victimized by the officals. That certainly doesn't create any psychological hurdles or anything...
brickowski,
"I think the Spurs would have won this game regardless"
"The Suns still played like crap though."
Brickowski: Um, dumbass, I wasn't saying the referees were doing it on purpose. But when you have Nash getting fucking man-handled on the way to the basket by Bruce Bowen (who isn't dirty, of course), and the referee is standing right there, you'd think he'd call it.
And I'm not making excuses for the Suns: they played like shit and deserved to lose. And the Spurs were great, especially Duncan. But to say that SA isn't the biggest fucking group of whiners on the planet, and that that doesn't have an impact on officiating, is bullshit.
Oh, and Amare is right by the way; the Spurs are dirty. You want some examples? Here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAakQjpFibg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLgHeeOZJFI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdxXvkMB6gA
In regards to the Manu no-call, "The boy who cried wolf"?
Duncan would have had to impale a Sun player through the chest to get his fourth foul called anytime before garbage time. I'm not saying it makes sense why and I'm not saying the Suns didn't help to give that game away, but the calls were certainly skewed San Antonio's way. Again.
Brickowski: Sorry for calling you a dumbass. I'd just woken up, and I was in an unpleasant mood, to say the least.
With that said, you are still full of shit regarding the Spurs.
right on Brebowski!!!
right on every level.
Spurs put their game where the suns mouths are.
We can probably look forward to more of Nash publicly calling out his teammates for trying to keep him away from his first title.
Nash's heart and game are in the right place to get it done, but the immaturity of other players (and the coach) will be what knocks him out of the playoffs if things go that way.
Oh yeah...
That and Tim Duncan.
Did you guys see that shit!?!
freedarko's take on friday's warriors-jazz is conspicuously absent.. maybe a mega-post after tonight?
Surely, you've seen this post:
http://wisinsider.blogspot.com/2007/05/breaking-news-spurs-get-more-calls.html
and its precursor:
http://wisinsider.blogspot.com/2007/05/suns-spurs-game-two-watching-whistles.html
regarding officiating of Spurs game. I agree with the analysis (except the conclusion) and think that if enough of us on the net (including freedarko) speak up we can make the league look into it. Cheating is ruining the game of basketball and those of us who actually care about the game should make a stand. When the Spurs steamroll to the finals, this will all get more relevant.
BOTTOM LINE: The San Antonio Spurs have the highest winning percentage of any NBA, NFL, NHL, or MLB team over the last TEN years. That is a decade, an eternity in the world of pro sports. For this reason I can understand the large number of folks out there who over the past few years in particular have become Spurs "haters". It is natural to root for the underdog, and to want to see the mighty fall. That is why with each year that the Spurs continue to be successful, more and more people will jump on the "hater" bandwagon.
I get it... You are all fed up with watching this team that plays in a small market, a city that you all consider just another shitty podunk, Texas town (even though it is the 7th largest in the country). You are tired of watching a style of play that you have categorized as "boring", and players that are not "exciting" because they don't beat their wives or say ignorant shit to the media. You are sick of a coach and a system that has remained intact over a span of time that has seen other franchises remake themselves several times over. You are ready for a team that has more "talent" than the Spurs to reach there level of success, even though the trio of Tim, Tony, and Manu is perhaps the most talented in the league. All in all you hate the Spurs for all the wrong reasons, and if you had any sense, you would wonder why your teams could not be more like the Spurs.
From the top down, the Spurs are perhaps one of the most humble teams in the league. Anyone who has ever watched a Popovich interview or press conference would be able to see that. Tim Duncan is the most humble superstar-athlete any of us have ever seen. His career performance has been nothing short of spectacular, and yet he does not act as if he is the least bit special. "Haters" find this boring... to a Spurs fan however, this is the essence of what makes the team great. They approach every season the same way, refusing to accept that they have accomplished anything. They make the Championship their goal each year, but realize that it will take an 82 game season of playing hard for 48 minutes each game to put themselves in position to even have a chance at it. For all of your claims that the Spurs are impossible to watch, and that they are in fact what is wrong with the NBA, the fact is that they go about it the RIGHT way, and they have won doing so.
So go ahead and complain one more time that the Spurs consistently get more help from the referees than any other team in the league. I can understand this because it is the only way you can possibly justify the Spurs success without an admission that perhaps they are doing something right. As a "hater" that would be unthinkable right? Thought so. I would like to suggest that just maybe you could all be putting some of the negative energy you put into your criticisms of the Spurs in these blogs into some constructive comments on how other teams that you would rather see succeed could go about doing so.
The Spurs are the only major sports franchise in San Antonio and this has led to a very special relationship between the team and it's community of fans. But that relationship is just as importantly founded on a respect that the city has for a team that wins without gloating, loses without pointing fingers, and humbly maintains it's position as the pinnacle of sports franchises, the model to which all others look towards for direction (see Dallas, Cleveland et al). And if this makes them an easy target for the fans of less successful teams... we will take that trade off any day... and so would you.
Jordan J: I don't "hate" the Spurs at all (except for Bruce Bowen), and I don't even find them that "boring" for that matter. I think Tim Duncan is one the greatest players ever, and I'd love to have the Ginobli/Parker backcourt on the Celtics anyday. Would I like the Suns to win this series? Yup. But that doesn't mean I can't recognize how great SA has been this year as well as over the last decade.
It's just the constant whining after every foul called on them and the dirty play of Bruce Bowen that gets on my nerves. Have you seen the video of Bowen kicking Wally Szczerbiak in the head?
Note: By the way, I'm a Celtics fan. Boston won sixteen titles in a thirty year span, and was in the playoffs all but five times from 1950-1951 to 1994-1995. So I don't think jealousy has anything to do with my gripes.
Or when Bowen kneed Steve Nash in the balls. Classy guy.
I hope someone pulls a Robert Parish and punches that asshole in the face.
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Come on...who doesn't enjoy seeing Wally get kicked in the face over and over in slow motion?
I think Bowen's dirty, but let's admit that he at least got that one right.
Brickowski: True . . . But the last time I checked this was basketball, not karate.
I wonder which benchwarmer D'Antoni should send in to take a cheapshot at Bowen.
Marcus Banks? At least he'd be doing something to earn his $3 mil a year.
Pat Burke? You think he's a local favorite now? Imagine if he were to elbow that douche bag in the head, Karl Malone-style. He'd become the most popular player in Phoenix!
Jalen Rose? He needs something to do.
Eric Piatowski? Nah; he should probably should stick to fist-pumping after every big PHX play.
Bowen is a dirty dirty player. Always taking cheap shots and cheating constantly. He is single handedly ruining the sanctity of our noble sport. He deserves to be taken out of a game by a strategic blow to the head. He deserves to be drug out in the street and shot. I hate him and his style of play, everything he stands for...
Now how can I get him on our team?
"Player haters, elevators . . . If you cross me, you will die". - Wise LeBron
Looks like we're headed to a Jazz/Spurs matchup in the West finals. That, combined with the prospect of either Pistons/Cavs or Pistons/Nets in the East, should be enough for me to justifiably turn my attention toward free agency and the draft.
BenQRock: I agree with you on the ECF . . . But I think the Jazz may have a chance (slim as it may be) of upsetting the Spurs. Of all the teams that are probably going to advance to the next round, the Jazz I mind the least.
Jesus you guys are fucking picky. If you don't get exactly the matchups YOU want you whine and bitch and complain that the NBA sucks. Guess what, the playoffs are about the teams and the players willing their way to a championship. Whoever gets there seserves to be there so shut the hell up!
Les Whinin: First of all, dumbass, no one is going to say the NBA sucks if the teams we (and I use that word loosely) want to see advance don't. And secondly, no one has said that teams who do advance don't deserve to be where they are.
So bascially, shut the fuck up.
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