Dear Stu Jackson

How about they move the game to Friday, so i can watch it. I mean waking up at 2am, and then going directly to work after the game isn't my kind of fun. Unless i'm completly drunk.

I was glad to see that Horry hip-checked one of the suns he just happened to get the wrong one.  I was really hoping it was Raja Bell - but I would have taken Marion or Stoudemire as well.  Nash didn't deserve that - give credit to the Suns they executed and the Spurs didn't.  Looks like Manu is in hiding again, but i'm glad Barry is back.

The league could really go any direction with this.  Robert Horry didn't even foul him that hard.  If you look at it in slow-motion, Nash sold it to be a harder foul than it really was.  In real speed however, it did look bad and he got a flagrant-2, got tossed, and that's it.  He's been punished.  Since it was with such little time remaining in the game then the league could make a case to suspend him a game just to reduce the viloent fouls the rest of the series.  With that said, several Suns players, Amare Stoudemire in particular, DID leave the bench with no other reason but to get directly involved with the scuffle.  Just because the coaching staff of the Suns did an excellent job of preventing everyone from coming out further doesn't mean they didn't do it.  The intentions were there which is a PERFECT example of a violation of the rule in place.  It is there to prevent a melee from breaking out that the refs, coaches, players on the court, and other security don't have the man power to control, and therefore could get out of control and become very serious.  Although they were in violation with that rule directly, the coaching staff did prevent it from actually becoming a threatening situation, and the league could go either way with those suspensions.

That's my take on the suspension situation.  Now I have a few things to say about the whole "hard fouls" and "dirty" play of the series.  First of all, I am a Dallas Mavericks fan.  I have no bias for either Spurs or Suns.  Coming into this series I was disappointed that the Mavs were eliminated, and I was now looking forward to seeing the winner and the number one contender of the NBA Finals compete in this series.  No bias!  No favorites!

After the first four games, I have to say I am rooting for the Spurs to take it to the Suns.  All I see is another hard faught, grueling NBA playoff series between two wonderful teams.  The refereeing has been okay, never perfect, but fairly equal, and the "dirty" play, if you want to call it that, has also been equal.

On one side we have the Suns.  All I see from them is a bunch of crying.  Nash and Parker accidentally clashed heads.  All the talk is about how Nash needed stitches and how much of a warrior he is.  He is THE best point guard in the NBA, yet every single pass he makes, he follows it up with a tug, bump, or illegal pick that he gets away with.  Every shot he takes, he first gains separation by an illegal push off.  So, he's fouling just as much as he's being fouled.  Stoudemire has no right to put a lable on the Spurs or Bowen.  If Nash is the best point guard in the NBA, Bowen is THE best deffensive player in the NBA.  Part of that is throwing you off your rhythm mentally.  If that takes a few hard fould here and there, then so be it, because that's his job, and he does it perfect!  To top all of the crybabies of the Suns is Raja Bell.  I don't know if it is just me, but it seems like Bell is in the middle of literally everything that is controversial in every game no matter who they play.  If I'm not mistaken, which I'm not, I saw Bell in the face of an 8 year old kid in the front row last game jawing at him.  There was never anything said about that, but the camera was on that particular event for over 5 seconds, and that was completely uncalled for.  Basically, I could go on and on but I'll stop there.

Now, let's look at the Spurs.  As I said before... same fouls, same calls, same everything...  Do you see Tim Duncan complaining about anything?  Did Duncan call the Suns a dirty team?  Do you see anyone in the Spurs organization rattled by anything?  The answer is no.  That's a championship caliber team.  That's why they've been there before and the Suns have not.

In conclusion, I don't care who gets suspended.  I hope they don't suspend any key players just so the Suns don't have any excuses when they lose.  The Suns have a great team, but they can't quite cut it as a championship team when things aren't going 100% their way.  The Spurs solid club can.  Simply put, no matter what happens, I have the Spurs winning game 5 and closing it out at home in game 6 on the road to winning the title once again.

P.S.  This all coming from a Mavs fan, so nobody from Phoenix can respond with their views of how everything is because they're blinded by their bias.  Everything I speak is the truth !

Verdict is in.  Stoudemire and Diaw out for game 5.  Horry out for games 5 and 6, basically proving that what I said was correct.  Spurs in 6 !

While I hate to see anyone suspended, particularly given the intensity of this series (and as a Spur's fan, I have no doubt we can beat the Suns with their best on the floor), they really gave the NBA no choice. If they start applying "situational rules" (it's okay to apply the rule during the season, but not in the playoffs), then the rule itself, not to mention the brass, is meaningless. Quite frankly, I think their view was that precisely because this is the playoffs and the profile is so much higher, all the more reason to show that they are strict constructionists.

Oh, I'm sure you just HATE to see the Suns no. 1 and 2 big men suspended!

I'm not a Suns fan, but because of this pathetic ruling, I hope they win despite the suspensions.