Patrick Ross

The Heat is On

Congrats to the Miami Heat for winning the 2006 NBA championship. Congrats to Shaq, the mature one in the spat with Kobe, for winning another title two years after Kobe had him shipped out of town. Congrats to Dwayne Wade, who will be a force in this league for years to come.

No congrats to the Mavs, who I will use as a poster child for my own children in defining a sore loser. Whining about refs. Kicking balls into the stands and hitting 63-year-old men in the side of the head. Knocking over stationary bikes. Running onto the court to yell at refs and the NBA commissioner.

When the Suns beat the Mavs last year in the playoffs they were gracious winners, when they were eliminated by the Mavs this year they were gracious losers. Jerry Colangelo has always put high value on character, as demonstrated when he sent Jason Kidd -- accused of spousal battery -- to New Jersey and received a far poorer point guard in Stephon Marbury in his place. (Marbury had character issues of his own, but that's water under the bridge.)

The Spurs beat the Suns in last year's playoffs, yet I rooted for them in the Finals because they carried themselves with class, from ownership on down. Popovich is a classy coach, Tim Duncan is a classy team leader. Win or lose, they get respect. I think the Suns are the same, even if they haven't won the big one yet.

Dallas may win a title someday; they have the talent. But I'm guiltily taking pleasure right now in Dallas' loss. It's called schadenfreude; I think Dirk Nowitski can translate it for Mark Cuban.

The Greatest Game Ever

Sunday night's NBA Finals Game 5, with an overtime, was pretty good (the highlight had to be Dirk Nowitzki demonstrating his maturity by kicking the ball into the stands in frustration after the loss). But most cager fans consider the best Finals game ever, and perhaps the best basketball game ever, to be the Game 5 triple-overtime between Boston and Phoenix exactly 30 years ago.

I heard Paul Westphal and Gar Heard discussing the game on the radio last night. Westphal came up with the idea of calling a time out the team didn't have, when down one point with a second left in the second overtime. Boston made the technical foul shot to increase the lead to two, but that moved the ball to midcourt. Curtis Perry -- incidentally my daughter's after-care teacher now -- threw the inbounds pass. Coach John MacLeod called the play for Westphal but he wasn't open. Heard was, and he made the "shot Heard around the world" to force a third overtime.

The Suns eventually lost that game, and a tired team lost again in Game 6 to give Boston yet another title. But as Westphal pointed out yesterday, at midseason the Suns were among the worst teams in the league. They traded for Heard, went on a tear, knocked off the defending Golden State Warriors in the playoffs and gave Boston a run. Of course, the Suns likely would have won that game if the refs had accepted Paul Silas' request for a time-out when Boston had none at the end of the first overtime. (That's where Westphal got the illegal time-out idea.)

That technical foul shot would have won it for the Suns, and Westphal said yesterday he's convinced the Suns would have won the title after that. But he also -- magnanimously -- said the refs were right to ignore the error by Silas because that shouldn't end the game. He also criticized the Sunday night referee crew for accepting Josh Howard's time out after the first of two Wade free throws, a call that prevented the Mavs from having any real shot at taking the lead.

I was an eight-year-old kid, playing in our backyard, when this game was airing on CBS. My mom called me in somewhere around the end of regulation, saying "Patrick, you really ought to come see this." That night, even though they lost, I became a Suns fan and have been one ever since. It's been thirty years now, and I have no regrets.

Maybe Next Year

That's what you always end up saying at the end of a Phoenix Suns season; nearly 40 years in the league and still no title. Still, this was a great year; they accomplished far more than most expected with Amare Stoudemire only playing three games. They were two games away from the Finals; with Stoudemire back, and maybe a point guard from the draft to spell Nash a few minutes a game, who knows. Thank you, Phoenix Suns, for an exciting season.

P.S. I know I'm late in posting this; it's not because I've been in mourning. My wife and I enjoyed a 3-day romantic weekend in Savannah, something I highly recommend, particularly if you are fortunate enough to stay at the Ballastone Inn. We watched Game 6 in a bar overlooking the Savannah River; being in such an idyllic setting took some of the edge off of the loss. Yes, I am lucky to have a wife who agreed to watch a sporting event on a romantic weekend.

106-86

That's the score of the Suns' Game 4 victory over the Mavs tonight. Wanna know how important Raja Bell is to this team? The Suns won the game he missed in Round One due to suspension, but in the other 5 games he's missed this season they are 0-5. In the five games the Suns have played in which he has returned from injury or suspension Phoenix is 5-0. Let's hope his calf holds up for Games 5 and 6. Oh, and it was great to see Kurt Thomas back on the court, even if it was during garbage time.

For a team that's not as good as people think, they were pretty darned good tonight.

Suns' Depth

Gioblog, a Mavs fan (yes kids, there are such things, and no kids, I can't explain why) says the Suns aren't as good as people think they are (no word on who "they" are). He says:

The Suns are simply not deep enough, personnel-wise, to compete.

Hmm. We're three games into the series, the Suns have had significant leads in all three games, and they won the first on Dallas' court. Seems they're competing. Oh, anad as to the depth part? Well, there's some truth to that, but perhaps Gio should look at those three guys in suits on the Suns' bench named Stoudemire, K. Thomas and Bell. Think they might provide a bit of depth if they were on the court?

I think Dallas should be embarrassed they haven't run away with this series yet.

Leading in a WCF

Still on a high from Wed. night's 121-118 Suns win over the Mavs in Dallas, marveling at Most Improved Player Boris Diaw's game-winning shot and poise. Tonight is Game 2; oh, to win that one too, the way the Spurs won the first two against the Suns in the WCF last year! I think this is the first time Phoenix has led in a WCF since 1994 (or possibly 1995, when they ultimately lost to Houston). Most experts didn't think the Suns would even be in the playoffs this year with Amare down, so everything right now is like gravy.

127-107

Phoenix moves on, another Los Angeles team is sent home.

The Suns sure do seem to like Game 7s.

Mavs Win

I've almost never seen a comeback like the Spurs tonight, overcoming a 20-point deficit in the game and a 3-1 deficit in the series to Dallas to force a Game 7 overtime. Still, Dallas held on to win. The only better comeback I've seen, which also fell short? The Suns in Game 5 against Boston in the 1976 Finals, where they trailed almost the entire game but forced three overtimes.

The Suns are playing now against the Clippers (and leading). Assuming the Suns move on to the Western Conference Finals tonight, Dallas will be a better matchup -- they're a perimeter-shooting team, and Phoenix defends well on the perimeter (that's what they face in practice every day), whereas the Suns can't stop San Antonio's inside game or deal with the defense of Bruce Bowen -- but I just so admire the Spurs as a team, I couldn't help rooting for them. They are a true champion.

My Modest Suggestions to Mike D'Antoni

Those who don't care about basketball, please stop reading.

Okay, the Phoenix Suns are facing yet another Game 7. I humbly offer two suggestions to the 2004-2005 NBA Coach of the Year Mike D'Antoni on how to beat the Clippers and move on to the Western Conference Finals for the second straight year.

1. Play Eddie House. During the regular season, House came off the bench and was instant offense; he doesn't need to warm up, he just scores. D'Antoni likes to shorten his roster the deeper he gets in the postseason, but right now he's playing seven players, and one, James Jones, has pulled a disappearing act (Tim Thomas disappeared last night, too). The Suns looked exhausted in the 4th quarter last night, and they're supposed to wear other teams out. Stick in House off the bench instead of Jones. If he misses shots, well, that's no worse than Jones, and you can sit him down again. If he gets hot, look out.
2. Play Kurt Thomas. This might be more controversial, given he's recovering from a broken foot and hasn't played in months. But he's been practicing with the team for the last week or two, and D'Antoni said he'd most likely play in a 3rd round. Well, there might not be a 3rd round for the Suns. At the start of this series, D'Antoni said he didn't think he'd play Thomas in a Game 7, but I don't think he really thought there'd be another Game 7. Thomas completely changes the dynamic of this series. The Clippers can score at will inside with Kamen and Brand. Kurt Thomas changes that. He also gets offensive boards and put-backs on the other end, and he allows Tim Thomas to come off the bench with less pressure. Back in February, I believe (it was around the All-Star break) the Clippers were hot and had closed to within a few games of the Suns in the Pacific Division. Kurt Thomas was healthy. The Suns played the Clippers and just crushed them. In the 8 games since, with KT not in there, the Clips have been right in every game. I'd wait as long as the league allows D'Antoni to wait on the announcement, though, so Dunleavy has little time to adjust his rotation and strategy.

Here's hoping I can write a few more such posts over the following weeks, and that I'm not done writing about the Suns after Monday night.

Staying Up Late

A three-and-a-half hour game, 2 OTs, but the Suns prevail. Good grief.

Only one more win and they return to the Western Conference Finals for a 2nd year in a row. Much thanks go out to Raja Bell for that great 3 at the end of the first OT, and to Shawn Marion in a 36 point, 20 rebound game. Wow.