What, just cuz I use Geiko means I'm less of a caveman?

First, I'd like a moment of silence for the post I did on Monday night. It was a live journal of the Spurs-Suns game. It was, in a word: glorious. About 5,000 words of epic Bowen-hating goodness. And at the end of the third quarter, it was...lost. Completely. My laptop shut down, and I sat there, misty-eyed, and rebooted in hope. But all was lost. Neil Diamond couldn't do a song that produced more shame than I felt.

So, with that being said, let me throw down a few key points:

- that hip check was more clutch than any shot Robert Horry has ever hit.

If you were to tell Popovich that he had the option to trade two Horry games for one game each from Stoudamire and Diaw, honestly, what are the chances he says no? Admittedly, Rob could not have forseen the reprecussions of his booty bump. There's no doubting that. But after giving away a gimmie, the Spurs needed a wake-up call. Consider this scene: 1984. Lakers v. Celtics. With LA running away with a critical game 5, Mr. Timberwolves Kevin McHale reset Kurt Rambis' hairdo with a flying close-line on a breakaway dunk. As NBA.com has Cedric Maxwell saying:

"Before Kevin McHale hit Kurt Rambis, the Lakers were just running across the street whenever they wanted," he said. "Now they stop at the corner, push the button, wait for the light, and look both ways."

I won't condone hard fouls, but if the Spurs want to get out of this series, they need a defining turn-around moment. Rob, like so many times before, gave them a moment to come together as a team. And it doesn't hurt to have Diaw and Man-I-Am Stoudamire out while it occurs. By the way, how does Steve's hair look now?

- to channel Barkley, the rule concerning bench-clearing is utterly ludicrous.

Imagine if baseball had this rule. Its unforgivable. I personally enjoy bench players getting into it; actually, I think each team needs a screamer on the bench. I'll agree that a player should be suspended the moment he puts his hands on someone, but not for standing up and walking three feet. C'mon, Stu, shouldn't you be worrying about what the players' clothes look like or something?

-Steve Nash should be suspended too.

2 reasons: first, because it was the worst acting job I've ever seen. I don't doubt that he got hit, but there's no way it was that bad. He looked like a guy from Saving Private Ryan who never got a last name. Secondly, he should be suspended for going through two players and giving a two-handed shove to Horry. And yes, that's how I knew he was okay.

(Don't worry, I'm not serious about Nash being suspended. It was just a nice segway to make those two points. Maybe not. Whatever.)

Either way, this is going to be the most exciting series I've seen in about five years.

* * *

So guess what? Jason Kidd can shoot threes now.

I'm not sure when this happened, but he woke up in game 2 and hasn't really missed since. He's going up immediately when he catches the ball, and it doesn't matter if there's a guy on him or not. And these threes aren't hitting any rim whatsoever. It's like he borrowed Thunder Dan Majerle's spirit for the postseason. He could use his bicepts, too. That dude had guns. It'd go a long way to make him look more intimidating.

Who's giving the Nets a line on meeting Detroit in the Conference Finals? I'd like to see those odds.

* * *

Finally, I'd like to give a little shout out to my buddy David Kohler at SPC Auctions. They're having a big auction on June 5th. Their link will be in the upper right of this site in the future, so go over and check them out. A bunch of Boston baseball and basketball memoribilia, including Willis Reed New York Knicks Home Jersey From Historic Performance in Final Game of the 1969-70 Championship Series (Knicks First Title), (yes, the ankle game.)

So head over there and check it out, they have about 15 pages of mid-level and high-level cards, jerseys, and one-of-a-kind items.

Press Release:
http://mail.google.com/mail/?attid=0.1&disp=vah&view=att&th=11292079c4329bbc

Web Site:
www.SCPAuctions.com

Show them some love.