It seems like Im the biggest Tim Duncan fan on the board, but this is the quietest 22-21-5 from a star player in a big game Ive ever seen.

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I cant wait for the game tonight. I think winner of this game will win the series. I understand why some, Nas most notably, would disagree from the Lakers perspective, but I think if the Spurs even this up at 2-2, and especially if they do it convincingly, I think they will win Game 6 and one of the games in LA to win the series. It's gonna be dependent on Manu's ankle. I expect the role players to step up like they did in game 3 again tonight.

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Lakers get it done tonight.

The Lakers are all over the offensive glass, and Odom is playing very aggressively.

Duncan is the only player playing well so far on SA. He's gonna need some help.

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With all the refs available at their disposal I think its ridiculous that Joey Crawford is reffing an important Spurs playoff game. He has continuously shown a bias against them over the past 2-3 seasons. He clearly isnt impartial, and this just one season after Donaghy and many people(Im not one of them) dying to expose a conspiracy by the NBA to rig the final four so that its Celtics/Lakers.

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Do you own Tivo? I rewound it three times. He only took two steps since catching the ball. He caught it at a little past the free throw line. I know youll disagree, and its not something I care to go back and forth about. I wish we were watching in the same room so I could point it out, but thats all I have to say about it.

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Bryant really has mastered that "MJ offensive push off without making it look like a push off" move.

The Spurs are really gonna need to do something about their lack of defensive rebounding if they want to win this game. They are playing good defense but not boxing out at all. They gotta feel a little bit good about only being down by 6 with Manu being 0-4 from the field, but Barry has been playing out of his mind in this first half.

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I know Parker is usually the guy to do the pick n roll with Duncan, but I think Pops needs to draw up some plays with Manu and Duncan playing off eachother to help get Manu some easier looks.

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I cant believe how similar this 4th quarter is to Game 1. 2 points in the last 5 minutes. Its uncanny how close the Spurs have been so many times to taking the lead and havent been able to do it. They have done evetrything else borderline perfectly. As Im typing this Kobe dunks it and the game is pretty much over.

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What the fuck? Thats bullshit. Im all for saying hey lets not let the refs decide the game, but that is a crystal clear foul. I cant believe even the biggest Laker fan would say thats not a foul.

Im not saying the Spurs deserved to win, they played lousy and got lucky to be in it at the end, but that was a bullshit non-call by a ref with a clear history of hating the Spurs and treating them unfairly.

Edit: I cant believe the TNT guys are saying Barry should have flopped. We have enough flopping in the league already. The refs need to do their damned jobs and recognize a clear as day foul when they see it. Also Barkleys point about the refs shouldnt have called the foul because the Lakers outplayed them is absurd. The Lakers clearly did outplay them but that shouldnt be a factor in making that call. It should be an objective call based on its own merit.

If there is a Game 7 in this series or the NBA Finals, expect Jack Nicholson to be the head referee.

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You have to make that call, unless you want to increase the flopping epidemic. The TNT guys are right that if Barry flopped, or "sold" the call, he would have gotten it. I hate that type of soccer-esque basketball. The calls should be called based on their merit, not the acting ability of the ball handler.

On a side note I cant believe that Kobe possession. I havent seen him make that boneheaded a play since the 90's.

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I get your point and normally would agree but Fisher forced their hand. He left Barry no viable shot, and the only way they had a chance was to have that foul called. There was no chance of Barry making that shot, and that is solely the result of the foul.

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Nice Nas, but I still think my last post is justifiable and explains my reasoning on this one. For the most part I am happy with how much they have let the players decide this series.

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I knew from the second I made the post there was no way you were agreeing with me. Im a Kobe fan too, but the last play of this game reminded me of why I hated this team so much in 2001-2003.

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The officials still decided the game. It's pretty simple really. Brent Barry was forced to take a very difficult off balance shot because he was fouled. No way in hell was he going to hit that shot and the only reason for it was that Fisher played terrible defense and fouled him quite obviously.

You don't want the refs deciding the game is the biggest copout in sports and it annoys me. Did they decide the game in the second quarter when they called a foul? Two points are two points.

It's not like this was a hit on the arm while driving to the basket. This was Barry getting his momentum completely knocked off and having to throw up a desperation shot. Fisher got rewarded for a very bad defensive play.

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No doubt it was clearly a foul.

However, the refs have never made those calls in the final seconds of a game, so why start now?

Yeah, alotta fuckin good that does the Spurs today. Theres no excuse for not overturning it at the time.

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In my opinion, this was worse than the suspensions from the Spurs-Suns series last year. At least the suspensions last year were correct interpretations of the rule. This clearly wasn't. Both of them severely hurt the team from winning a game.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Theres a very good chance that non call decided the NBA champion. The Lakers had a good chance of winning this series either way, but now they are almost a lock to win it and theres no way the East champ is beating them if they play as inconsistent as they have been during the ECF.

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Nas you have to realize how absurd your position is here. Just because the Spurs didnt play well the whole game doesnt mean the refs should hand the Lakers the game. It was IMPOSSIBLE for Barry to get a good shot off because of the foul. Like Rick said, the refs DID decide the game by not calling an obvious foul. The NBA wouldnt be issuing this statement if it wasnt very apparently obvious.

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Who cares? They were down 2 at that point. Would it somehow make it less of a BS call if the Spurs had led all game and then lost the lead in the last 30 seconds only to get screwed in the last 2 seconds?

That's even worse than "you can't call a foul in the last 5 seconds".

I don't care how a team got there. The final score is what matters, and there was a good chance it would have been tied heading to overtime.

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Your first sentence Im guessing his half kidding but totally absurd. Your second sentence doesnt matter because the Spurs are the no excuse kings of the NBA. They will never use an excuse. I cant remember the last time they did. The fact the NBA said the call should have been made is all the proof you need. As for the last sentence, Im not positive about that, we'll see. Depends on if the officiating crew is still comprised of Joey Crawford and Jack Nicholson.

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Theres absolutely no way you would have this position if the Lakers were down by 2 and Tony Parker jumped on top of Kobe Bryant. Of course Kobe would get the foul all day in that case, but if he didnt you would definitely be all over it. And for the first time ever I would agree with you.

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Listen to the river sing sweet songs
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Makes one handed 30 foot shows while falling down because a PG is sitting on top of him? I didnt see that highlight.

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And the Spurs with their backs absolutely against the wall. Thats when they were at their best. I dont expect the Lakers to score more than 90 points tonight, but Im not sure who is gonna win. The Spurs defense will be as good as we've seen it all postseason, but I dont know if their offense will suddenly stop being dreadful. Manu needs to score much more than 7 points.

TNT showed a stat before the game that 7 lakers got an offensive rebound in the last game. I really like stats like that because it shows that it wasnt one guy or just their front line. At basically every position they got outhustled.

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What a fantastic start, but noone is forgetting Game 1. Pops is one of the best coaches Ive ever seen, so why the hell did it take him four games to realize Kurt Thomas is better than Horry right now. Thomas has given them great minutes so far. Manu still looks hesitant with the ball, but I would too if Kobe were guarding me. Hopefully the Spurs can keep a 15+ point lead going into halftime.

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I know supposedly Kobe is hurt Nas, but I havent noticed even the slightest dropoff in his play.

Manu is clearly playing at 70% tops. Dont tell me this is an excuse, its not. Its just an observation. Manu is downright hurting them on both sides of the ball.


The Spurs look terrible in the 4th. No hustle, no defense. They look like they have given up. You're crazy if you think Bowen is a better defender at this stage of his career than Prince. Prince has the quickness to keep up with Kobe and the length to bother him on all those mid range jumpers.

Next season the Spurs need to replace the majority of Bowen, Barry, Finley, Horry, Oberto, Thomas, and Vaughn.

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Brent Barry is about the best player on the floor right now for the Spurs.

He's the best besides Duncan and Parker.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
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