The Rest of the NBA

[BigEd76]

 

Another NBA note:  Shaq's wife gave birth 6 minutes before Kobe's wife this morning.  Kobe loses again... 

[SD_Eagle5]

Another NBA note:  Shaq's wife gave birth 6 minutes before Kobe's wife this morning.  Kobe loses again... 

Thats great, he'll never get out from under his shadow.

[BigEd76]

Dallas swept Memphis.  The Grizzlies are now 0-12 in the playoffs the last 3 years... 

[SD_Eagle5]

Dallas swept Memphis.  The Grizzlies are now 0-12 in the playoffs the last 3 years... 

Just saw that on Comcast, that was what I was originally going to post before I decided to berate Kobe.

[ice grillin you]

Bell regrets suspension, not foul

Paul Coro
The Arizona Republic
May. 4, 2006 12:00 AM


Raja Bell the teammate regrets what he did Tuesday that has him suspended tonight.

Raja Bell the man can't have the same level of remorse, given his disdain for Kobe Bryant.

Bell was suspended for Game 6 for his clotheslined takedown on Bryant in Game 5, a retaliation move that puts his team's postseason fate in peril.

Bell's heated history with Bryant has roots in the 2001 NBA Finals but has grown hotter this season with physical duels on the court and stinging words off it. Bell's blood has been boiling all series because of how much he feels Bryant gets away with and a Flagrant Foul Penalty One he received a day after Game 3.

He felt a line was crossed in Game 5 when Bryant elbowed him in the cheek and Lakers coach Phil Jackson told him repeatedly, "You (expletive) deserved it" when Bell complained to officials near the Lakers bench. After Bell knocked Bryant to the ground with a left forearm to the neck, he walked toward the Lakers bench and pointed, saying something along the lines of, "There's your foul!"

"I have no respect for him," Bell said of Bryant before his suspension was levied Wednesday. "Because I think he's a pompous, arrogant individual. I think a lot of people let him get away with things and he feels like he's supposed to get away with them, and I don't agree with that.

"I was cool through four games of this series, man. No beefs, all right. Whatever. If you're going to keep hitting me in my face and then talking like you're not doing it on purpose, there's a reason both my cheeks are bruised right now and I can barely open my jaw. All right? Every time you stick your butt out and try to hit me in my genitals, you're doing it on purpose. That's something you don't do inadvertently, and it was enough."

Bryant told Los Angeles reporters Wednesday that Bell "overreacted." Jackson poked fun of Bell's tirade ("You mean Raja didn't say 'supercilious'?"), said it was Bell's "full flips" and "belly flops" and tight play that set up the problems.

"He has a glass jaw," said Bryant, adding that Bell should not whine.

"Maybe he wasn't hugged enough as a kid. I look at him a little bit; he gets a little insecure about something."

After Tuesday's game, Bryant made the comparison and an offer that the pair's altercations belong in the "octagon," an ultimate fighting venue.

"We don't need an octagon," Bell said. "There's plenty of space and opportunity right out here (on the court), man.

"When I get hit in the face multiple times, you've stepped across a line with me. It's not basketball anymore. It was basketball for four games. When he hit me in the face, it was the last straw for me. That still doesn't excuse it but that's just the way I felt."

Steve Nash, one of Bell's best friends, lamented the decision and Bryant's officiating treatment but could relate.

"We've all made mistakes," Nash said. "We only have to go back a game to realize I probably shouldn't have dribbled into trouble regardless of what the referees could've called."

[The BIGSTUD]

Arenas nailed a 27 footer near the buzzer to tie it. Nice shot.

These playoffs have been awesome.

[The BIGSTUD]

Everybody wave goodbye to Kobe Bryant. He's going home, where he belongs.

[MDS]

I guess it's time to go to Colorado and force an 18 year old to take it in the ass

[The BIGSTUD]

The winner of the Mavs/Spurs series goes to the Finals to play Detroit IMO. The Mavs might take it all this year. They look like the strongest team in the playoffs so far.

[bowzer]

Can someone tell me what the hell Jerry Stackhouse was doing on that last play???  A forced fadeaway 3, when they only needed a 2 to send it into OT?

[MURP]

he was being Jerry Stackhouse.

[Sgt PSN]

That was a total bonehead play by Stack.  Once he got the loose ball he had a clear path to the basket for an easy lay up.  Instead he steps back behind the baseline trying to be a hero. 

[BigEd76]

Larry Hughes' younger brother died (the one that needed the surgeries and forced Larry to leave for the NBA after his freshman year)

[hunt]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2444469

i guess the knicks don't believe in playing the right way.

[SD_Eagle5]

The buyout is worth at least $40 million, the newspaper reported.

Wow, that's insane, might as well let him coach a few more years. Then again, this is the Knicks, who are sort of the NBA version of the Skins.