Apparently, that is what this post is supposed to be considering all the news and hype that the Robert Horry hipcheck has caused. Let’s forget the ongoing feud between Sasha Pavlovic and Mikki Moore. Of course, I’m referring to an Eastern Conference Playoff game, which leads me to the philosophical question, “If Mikki Moore shoves Sasha Pavlovic to the ground with no one watching, does Pavlovic’s body make a sound?” Horry’s hip check has caused a greater stir than Baron Davis’ elbow to the head of now-superhero-status Derek Fisher. Yet, Fish did not get as much love and Davis did not take as much of a beating in the press. Then again, what happened to J-Rich’s flying forearm to Memo Okur? Obviously, since Okur is a Turkish Jazz man, no one really cares. (Quick sidebar: Okur looks so much like one of my college football teammates, it is crazy. I’m calling him Memo Cheatham for the rest of the article.) Memo Cheatham was actually going up for a dunk when J-Rich slammed into him. And Richardson hit him hard.
Now, I will not attempt to justify Horry’s hip check. I can only think that he was trying to get in front of a surging Nash to draw a charge. After all, Robert does those smart things at the end of games. But another thing Robert Horry knows is winning. And if it requires sending a message to the other team’s star in preparation for the next game, so be it. This is the playoffs people. Things get more physical, and teams get more chippy as the intensity and the games progress. Hell, I was always hated my good friends the most at the end of two-a-days. Once you have gone up against one team or one person for an extended period of time at a high level, these things are bound to happen. I don’t want to watch the playoffs and have the players hold hands after every game. That is what the lame regular season was for. Man up.
However, I am somewhat concerned about the ramifications of Horry’s shot. Amare Stoudamire and Boris Diaw HAVE to be suspended for one game. NOW WAIT YOU CRAZY SUNS FANS, DON’T ATTACK ME YET BECAUSE I’M NOT DONE HERE. It sucks that those guys MUST be suspended, because it will seriously hurt the Suns’ chances for next game, even if it is at home. Without Amare and Diaw, we might get to see the two-headed monster of Sean Marks and Pat Burke on Tim Duncan when Kurt Thomas gets in foul trouble and knocks himself out with a smack to his forehead. I only say that both players HAVE to be suspended because Stern has always stuck to his guns about leaving the bench during a fracas. If he lets up on Stoudamire and Diaw here, he will have softened his reign of power for the first time ever allowing other players to challenge similar suspensions. Stern has established a bright-line rule for leaving the bench, and he cannot waiver on his committment to that rule. It is just a shame that it will hurt this series in the long run.
Of course, it could lead to a Spurs win on the road, and then a Suns win on the road to force a game 7 and then everybody wins. Stern maintains his iron fist, while the best series of these playoffs goes the distance.
In summation, I think Diaw, Stoudamire, and Horry should all miss one game. Raja Bell should receive a fine for his retaliation on Horry, and I think that should be the end of it.
All I know is, somewhere Rick Mahorn and Bill Laimbeer are calling today’s NBA players a bunch of b*&^#$s for their lack of toughness.
