Spurs as villians

[Lurker]

Spurs: NBA's new villains?by: John Hollinger
posted: Wednesday, May 16, 2007 

SALT LAKE CITY -- You know what I love about this suspension stuff in the Spurs-Suns series? Finally, the Spurs are the villains. Took 'em long enough.

How long were these guys going to roll up 60-win seasons and make deep playoff marches before somebody got angry about it? Usually a team this successful provokes almost instant, visceral hatred -- think of the Yankees, Lakers and Cowboys of recent times.

Yes, the Spurs are in a pea-sized market, so we're not constantly swarmed by obnoxious Spurs fans. But other small-market teams have provided a lot more animus for the rest of the league. Certainly nobody was a big fan of Oakland's Bash Brothers, for instance, and the Jazz were public enemy No. 1 throughout the West for much of the 1990s.

In this case, however, the Spurs were such nice guys that nobody could get upset about it even while they were getting their brains beat in. David Robinson? Sean Elliott? Steve Kerr? Avery Johnson? It's tough to cast guys like that as the enemy.

So in a way I'd like to thank Robert Horry for giving us something to get riled up over. Even now, the Spurs' case as villains is a bit tenuous -- they don't do the smug, we're-better-than-you thing that's expected from the enemy, and their personalities couldn't possibly be more vanilla. After a decade of dominance, about all they have on their villain resume is a shot to the crotch, a wayward kick and one hard foul.

But sometimes, that's all it takes. After countless years of seeing the Spurs crush all comers, it seems Western Conference fans are finally getting angry about it. Denver fans had it in for Manu Ginobili in the last series; now Bruce Bowen and Horry are the chosen ones in Phoenix. If the Spurs advance, I have no doubt the raucous Utah crowd will have a favorite target, as well.

None of this may matter a wit on the basketball court, but in a weird way it's a good thing for the NBA. The league does best when there's at least one dominant team that everyone either loves or hates, and the decline of the Lakers has left a void in that department the last few years. Maybe San Antonio is finally ready to step up to the plate as the bad guys.

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As usual, Jazz coach Jerry Sloan was good for a few quick thoughts on Tuesday about the fracas. Mostly, he was amused by what passes for physical play in today's game (despite coaching the league's most physical team, I might add).

But with the current rule being that players who leave the bench area automatically get a one-game suspension, Sloan has as much need as anyone else to keep his players on a leash when things get hairy. Sloan said it's tough to keep players under control in such a situation, but added, "We all try to make sure they don't go out there. They've been told."

They did a good job of that in Game 4. Two different situations could have provoked a couple wayward steps onto the court a la Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw, most notably the flagrant foul on Mehmet Okur by Jason Richardson. But cooler heads prevailed and Utah had a full contingent for Game 5.

Perhaps that's because Sloan wasn't in uniform. One of the more fiery players of his era, Sloan admitted he might have been good for a suspension or two, but seemed a bit thankful when he noted, "They didn't have any rules then. You could go wherever you wanted to go."

[rickortreat]

This is a joke, San Antonio is not a dirty team.  They have some players who cross the line from time to time, but that is the way the game is played particularly at playoff time.

They are a far cry from the Detroit Pistons with Isiah.

They play hard defense and funnel players into Duncan, the same defense that has won countless teams championships.

[Derek Bodner]

San Antonio has been playing dirty this series.  That doesn't mean they're not playing good defense, but Horry and Bowen have undeniably been playing dirty.  I think there's a line between getting in somebody's head and intentionally hurting someone.  I think both have crossed that line.  And frankly, Bowen's done it enough that I'm sick of him.