BAMAPHIN 22
FinHeaven Elite
Tight Collar Award  To Vince Carter, for choking throughout the Nets-Cleveland series, especially in clutch situations.
Miss Manners Etiquette Award  To Jason Kidd, for being the only player in the NBA who always thanks the bench attendants for handing him a towel when he comes out of a game and takes a seat.
Groucho Marx Hello-I-Must-Be-Going Award  To Billy Donovan, for his sudden realization that hardened NBA veterans would not say "Yes, sir" when he ordered them to run a dozen extra suicides.
Runners-up: Kobe Bryant and Jeff Van Gundy.
Coulda-Shoulda-Woulda Award  To the multitude of Phoenix Suns' partisans, who still believe that David Stern's unjust ruling to suspend Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw was the only reason the Spurs won the series.
First of all, while Robert Horry's body-check was unnecessary, its severity was considerably enhanced by Steve Nash's arm-flapping-foot-flailing antics. In truth, the impact was nowhere near as dramatic nor as damaging as Nash's histrionics made it appear to be.
Secondly, all of the blame goes to Stoudemire and Diaw for violating rules and procedures with which they were totally familiar. Besides, even with Stoudemire in the lineup the Spurs beat the Suns 3-2, and Phoenix was much more competitive in the game Stoudemire missed than in the team's other losses.
Exit Whining Award  Goes to Jerry West, for complaining that the Memphis Grizzlies, who had the league's worst regular season record, failed to get either of the first two draft picks. West is advised to look at the final regular-season standings in the 2005-06 season, wherein the Blazers had the NBA's worst record, were ping-ponged into the fourth slot, and still managed to wind up with Rookie of the Year Brandon Roy.
Opening up to his teammates earned Andrei Kirilenko high honors in Charley Rosen's off-season awards.
Cry-Me-A-River Award  Andrei Kirilenko, for crying in front of his teammates because he felt that he hadn't received enough playing time in Utah's first playoff game versus the Rockets.
Dont-Fix-It-If-It-Ain't-Broken Award  Presented to Avery Johnson, for starting Dirk Nowitzki at center in the opening game of the Dallas-Golden State series. By so doing, Johnson sent the following message to his players: "What we've been doing all season long isn't good enough to beat the Warriors."
Before a shot was fired, Johnson forced his players to doubt his credibility as well as their own collective self-esteem.
This misbegotten move wasn't the primary reason the Mavs lost the series, but it surely didn't help.
Mister Lucky Award  To Don Nelson, for repeatedly crediting "good luck" as the only reason why Golden State was able to beat Dallas. Nellie's not-so-subliminal message was this: "What a genius I am!"
http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/6929760?MSNHPHMA
Miss Manners Etiquette Award  To Jason Kidd, for being the only player in the NBA who always thanks the bench attendants for handing him a towel when he comes out of a game and takes a seat.
Groucho Marx Hello-I-Must-Be-Going Award  To Billy Donovan, for his sudden realization that hardened NBA veterans would not say "Yes, sir" when he ordered them to run a dozen extra suicides.
Runners-up: Kobe Bryant and Jeff Van Gundy.
Coulda-Shoulda-Woulda Award  To the multitude of Phoenix Suns' partisans, who still believe that David Stern's unjust ruling to suspend Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw was the only reason the Spurs won the series.
First of all, while Robert Horry's body-check was unnecessary, its severity was considerably enhanced by Steve Nash's arm-flapping-foot-flailing antics. In truth, the impact was nowhere near as dramatic nor as damaging as Nash's histrionics made it appear to be.
Secondly, all of the blame goes to Stoudemire and Diaw for violating rules and procedures with which they were totally familiar. Besides, even with Stoudemire in the lineup the Spurs beat the Suns 3-2, and Phoenix was much more competitive in the game Stoudemire missed than in the team's other losses.
Exit Whining Award  Goes to Jerry West, for complaining that the Memphis Grizzlies, who had the league's worst regular season record, failed to get either of the first two draft picks. West is advised to look at the final regular-season standings in the 2005-06 season, wherein the Blazers had the NBA's worst record, were ping-ponged into the fourth slot, and still managed to wind up with Rookie of the Year Brandon Roy.
Cry-Me-A-River Award  Andrei Kirilenko, for crying in front of his teammates because he felt that he hadn't received enough playing time in Utah's first playoff game versus the Rockets.
Dont-Fix-It-If-It-Ain't-Broken Award  Presented to Avery Johnson, for starting Dirk Nowitzki at center in the opening game of the Dallas-Golden State series. By so doing, Johnson sent the following message to his players: "What we've been doing all season long isn't good enough to beat the Warriors."
Before a shot was fired, Johnson forced his players to doubt his credibility as well as their own collective self-esteem.
This misbegotten move wasn't the primary reason the Mavs lost the series, but it surely didn't help.
Mister Lucky Award  To Don Nelson, for repeatedly crediting "good luck" as the only reason why Golden State was able to beat Dallas. Nellie's not-so-subliminal message was this: "What a genius I am!"
http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/6929760?MSNHPHMA
good stuff