just like how it first was when the Warriors just barely made it into the playoffs. The way the media is demonizing the Warriors, (like Brett Edwards, Craig Kwasniewski, and Ric Bucher to name a few) the Energy Solutions will be such a hostile environment because of their extremely homer-ish fans.

I just can't stand how so many in the national media are using last night's game to totally put down the character of Baron and Jrich, in some instances, even insulting them and overly exaggerating the severity of those "cheap shots" and making Baron and Jrich seem like thugs to readers that don't know better. Alas, there is nothing that can be done about it....

All I can do is have faith that the Warriors will bounce back and prevail against the odds.

that those guys call themselves "intelligent basketball fans." I don't necessarily condone what Baron did, but those guys are acting as if DFish was shot or something. "Writhing in pain" my arse. Just keep drinking that Haterade, will you?

As for the league, I really hope that they make a decision about Baron soon. Taking into account that they didn't do anything for those Bowen incidents, I really hope they make the right one.

I think the events at the end of the Suns-Spurs game may have an effect on the league's decision about Baron... they may decide to start cracking down since things seem to be escalating in several of the series.

if we dont hear anything from the league about Baron until after tomorrows game. But the ending of the suns/spurs may force them to rule something. Man i cant believe what a thug Horry is, did he just come off the playground or something,especially against a nice clean cut boy like Steve Nash. he is just showing his playoff inexperience, wait, what oh he has played more playoff games than any other active player.

THIS IS THE PLAYOFFS. this is how it should be played you dont give the other team anything, if they try to take it you send them a message that if they try they may well end up on their back. Dont get me wrong you shouldnt try to intentionally injure some one, and i am pretty sure that was not the intention of the W's hard fouls, or Horry for that matter (Bowen i am not so sure about) But the Jazz fans and others should realize this(maybe they should try to dig up some tape of there coach in his playing days)as I said in another post, that I dont think I have ever heard more whining from fans fo a team that are up 3-1 in a series. cant wait to hear them when they lose

after you read the comments and threads on that jazz blog site you will get mad, good motivation to demolish utah tomorrow.

hopefully the players feel this way too.

from baron's foul was fish's reaction was very soccer-like. I saw baron's elbow come up while they were close together. As it reached the top of his neck/lower ear zone, fish hit the ground and grabbed the top of his ear area/side of his noggin. That's not where he was it.
to my eyeball.
but i need replay.

from comments on truehoop.com. I'm sick of this crap.  First, JRich did what any self-respecting player would've done.  Second, DFish was acting like an Italian soccer player and Baron's shot was uncalled for, but not necessarily unheard of.  

I think there's a lot of white/black in the ignorant comments.  Lots of ignorance coming out...

By the way, here's some smartass who's taking bets:

MO74  (5/14/2007 at 7:15 PM)

For those Warrior fans who want to stand behind their team and put their money where their mouth is, I'm taking bets. Got $10? Got $50? How about a couple hundred? I say Utah wins this series. Who wants to wager, straight up? Email me at mercmorris at yahoo.com.

First, where the hell was this guy to start with?  Second, it's not too brave to offer bets when you're up 3-1.
Third, it's not too smart to lay out a bunch of b.s. and then post your email address on the internet.  

Up to you if you want to contact the dude...

Let's not get too carried away with things here.  

1.  First off, since it's my anaology we're talking about; Unless you've ever played ball at Venice Beach (like I have), you wouldn't understand the analogy.  Let me explain:

You have your home pick-up court with your friends that you play along with every week, right?  Suddenly a team of pretty-boy frat guys (in their effeminate powder blue jerseys and Euro smugness) roll in and beat your brains in and start talking trash along the way.  You look around and think, "No f_cking way!  This is not happening!"  So you take out a few guys as they drive to the hole.  You throw an elbow as you grab a board.  They may beat you, but you're kicking there pretty-asses along the way.  THAT is how I saw the way Golden State was reacting on Sunday.  They were at the Oracle and NOBODY comes into the Oracle and wins.  And NOBODY tried to dunk along the way as time is running out.  NO-BOD-EEE!!

I hope I'm clear on the anaology.

Of course, I'm not saying that Venice Beach is my home court (but the talent there is closer to NBA than where I normally play (unless you count 5th string Clippers), but I was hoping I got my point across.)

Race was not the intent... just humor.  

2.  As I wrote on my site, I agree completely with J-Rich dropping Okur on his ass.  The guy was trying to rub it in and he deserved the hard foul.  However, the elbow on D-Fish was a bad decision.  Fisher's the feel-good storyline of the week in all of sports.  So needless to say, there's a lot of attention (and cameras) on the dude.  What was BD thinking that he could throw a bow at what amounts to a made man in the NBA?  
3.  Tha Dubs are an extremely competitive team.  (Duh, that's the appeal to their game since April 1st.)  They play with the same fire and emotion every game... almost a football-like intensity.  But since they draw so much energy from emotion (simply because Nellie refuses to go deeper on his bench and they need to "dig deep from within" to get the energy to play) they are prone to emotional breakdowns when things go bad.  Hence, the Steven Jackson meltdown in Game 2 against the Mavs and BD's cheap shot at D-Fish on Sunday night.
4. Brett is a Mavs fan.  Myself, I'm a Laker fan and I'm secretly pulling for Tha Dubs, simply because I'd love to see how they play against San Antonio (unless Stern intervenes and assigns refs who are anti-home team like last night with Steve Javie, the Suns shot a season high 29 freethrows ON THE ROAD).  Anyway, I'm actually pulling for the Dubs.
5.  Just because there is a difference of opinion does not make us haters.  Just because you are blogging for THE storyline of the NBA doesn't make you immune from dissention.  That's the beauty of the blogosphere, open mindedness.

Now let me wallow in my tears as I'm in the middle of the Mitch Kupchak era.

No hard feelings and keep up the good work!

Craig

...but the Jazz bloggers that have consistently commandeered the TrueHoop column comments section have been all-to-freely using the term "jungle ball."  some of this has been after their wins.  the racial and homophobic undertones (one guy shot back at me with "isn't oakland right next to san francisco.  i bet you work in one of 'those' barber shops.  go do some more nails") cross so many lines.  i keep trying to maintain the perspective that it's just basketball but this series has gone way past that for me.  as opposed to a lot of opinions on this blog that the Jazz fans have been better than the Mavs fans, i totally disagree.  they're more supportive of their team, yes, but the angles they've taken to insult us in a series they lead 3-1 is astonishing.

Hey I want to make a Warriors playoff video to some song.  Anyone know where I can get footage?

Thanks.

As someone who is not a huge fan of either team, I'd like to put my somewhat unbiased 2 cents here on some of the topics being tossed around.

I'm a sorry Knicks fans so since my team is out I got into two other teams this post-season, interestingly the Warriors and Suns. I've LOVE to see a Warriors-Suns WCF... the thought of that makes me drool... two teams runnin' and gunnin'... vs the potential snoozefest of Jazz-Spurs. I guess it is ironic since I loved the brusing Knicks and it was us who really brought thug ball to the forefront :) But here I am. I am even rooting for Don Nelson even though he screwed over the Knicks big time where he was coach here.

Anyway... here are some thoughts on the hot topics:

1. Chippy play: BD's cheapshot is a cheapshot but not worthy of suspension. Fisher flopped. I do think JR's foul on Okur was rough and uncalled for. Not suspension worthy either but Warrior fans should shut their mouth that it was necessary because Okur was "showing them up". If that is the case, BD "showed up the Jazz" with his superdunk (it was sweet but people CALM DOWN! There is only one dunk worth of "The Dunk". We know what it is. STARKS in 93 over Jordan and Grant in crunchtime!). Anyway BD not only dunked it, but then he flaunted it like mad. According to some people's logic, Kerilenko should have taken BD's head off like JR did Okur. But Kerilenko laughed and said at least he got to be on a poster. So the whole "Okur" having no class trying to dunk is a worthless argument.
2. Whining behavior. I love the Warriors style of play but they whine like a bunch of babies worse than the Bulls and Phil Jackson in the 90's when Oak, Mase, X, Starks and Ewing used to push his airnesss and co. around. The sarcastic clapping is not tech worth but it IS annoying. Phil Jackson used to do that all the time and I hated his whiny ass for it. The warriors just moan and groan. The Jazz do it too (Sloan complains about everything) but the Warriors players are too open and over the top about it
3. dumb ass fans. Anyone who uses slurs at a game deserves to get pounded. the Warriors fans chanting "F**K the mormans" didn't distinguish themselves either. Religious intolerance is not acceptable either... arguably the cause of a lot of wars in the world and injustice in our own country. Anyway fans are fans and they all get annoying on the message boards. Jazz-Warrors flamewars are nothing if you look at Yankees-Red Sox. I've seen a lot of nasty stuff on both message boards. Calm down.
4. What do you guys like of that ESPN P2 analysis that the crowd at the Oracle is not the same this series because the warriors became tready and all the hard-core fans got bumped for the more reserved fan who is there because it is the thing to do (and has the money to play for the jacked up prices)

Anyway great series. I feel for the Warriors since they could have won all 3 games they lost. They aren't out of it yet but will need a few bounces go their way and get hot again.

sees this team as classless

that is there blog entry title and i think this clearly shows that they just want to divert some of gsom's traffic for their own advertising gain. i also doubt it will pay off in the end when nobody wants to go back there ever again. i know i will never read that blog again.

http://theassociation.blogs.com/the_association/2007/05/i_guarantee_gso.html

...a sense of self-importance the opportunity to spread any ill-informed opinion like wildfire (all of us included).  once upon a time these guys would be forced to write this crap with sharpie on a bathroom stall divider and be granted no credibility.  now that they get to type it online, we run the risk of the other morons like them, once unable to communicate between one another, flocking together to self-congratulate.  

converting those without the mental wherewithal to resist a good story is nothing new to our friends in SLC, as is apparently a predisposition towards characterizing occasionally overzealous young black men as "thugs" and "bullies (that ones on charley rosen)", who play "jungle ball."

this is a fan group who's self-righteousness clearly borders on delusion.  as the interviewed blogger Layton Shumway claimed, "The Jazz are more likely to sign clean, family-oriented, un-flashy players because it's a clean, family-oriented, un-flashy state. It's also because the players we had for so long -- Malone, Stockton, Hornacek, Eaton -- were also that way. This is somewhat of a broad stereotype to make, but I believe it's generally true."  

does anyone outside of SLC actually believe Malone or Stockton were "clean players"?  ask Karl's daughter about his family-oriented nature.  this team gave Greg Ostertag (a thug, to ignore the racial connotations that Jazz fans would have you believe come along with the term) a career.  "un-flashy"?  used to describe 3 white guys + Karl Malone, hmmmmm.  Jerry Sloan was one of the most borderline dirty players of his era.  THEY LED THE NBA IN PERSONAL FOULS FOR THE ENTIRE SEASON.

enough's enough.

 

From the world wide follower ...
No suspension, but Davis' foul on Fisher upgradedBy Chris Sheridan
ESPN.com

Baron Davis will be allowed to play in Game 5 of the Golden State-Utah series Tuesday night after the NBA league office decided not to suspend him for his hard hit on Derek Fisher of the Jazz in Game 4.

 Davis

NBA disciplinarian Stu Jackson upgraded the penalty against Davis to a flagrant foul, category 2, but elected not to suspend him.

The Warriors were trailing 102-93 with 97 seconds left Sunday night when Davis missed a 3-pointer and Deron Williams grabbed the rebound. As Derek Fisher turned to go up court, he banged into Davis and went down in a heap, forcing the Jazz to call a 20-second timeout. Replays showed Davis stopping and throwing an elbow, although Fisher said he thought it was Davis' shoulder that caught him in the right ear.

"Boom is tough and hard-nosed, but he wasn't out there trying to hurt anyone, especially me," Fisher said after the game, referring to one of Baron's nicknames, "Boom Dizzle."

Davis, a former teammate of Fisher's, said it was unintentional and apologized to Fisher, who was well enough to finish the game.

"I told him to stop flopping, and he laughed. He said he knows I didn't do it on purpose," Davis said, according to The Associated Press, before the Warriors flew to Utah on Monday. "Me and Derek Fisher, we're great friends. He's a great mentor to me, and in the moment of the game, the heat of the game, there's going to be some contact, some unnecessary contact."

further from the truth.  that blog and the utah jazz blog have to be the whiniest, most UNintelligent commentary on nba basketball i have ever read.

anymore technicals tho.  His play on Fisher was upgraded to a Flagrant 2.  GO DUBS!!!!

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs2007/news/story?id=2871206

their little article about the spurs/suns is all about Amare lying about coming into the game. where is the part about the spurs being playground punks, or bitch ass horry. i guess if they claim intelligence they might as well say they are objective as well

This is what I think:

Word to the Fresh Store on Bowditch, off of Telegraph in Berkeley.