The True Meaning of Hate

Hate. It is such a strong word. One that I try not to use ever. I do not remember the last time that I used the word hate to describe how I felt about another person. I have had girls lie to me, cheat on me, break up with me over text, but it didn't take me long to forgive them and I never described even my bitterest feelings towards them using the word hate. But today, I am going to use this word to describe how I truly feel for a certain person, actually a group of persons, a team, the San Antonio Spurs. This hatred that I feel comes from the fact that my team, the Phoenix Suns, cannot seem to beat them. But I am not only bitter because my favorite team plays worse than them, that is not always the case, sometimes, the Spurs get away with knees to the groin and body checks into the scorers table. Let me explain...
Back in 2007, I knew, with my whole heart, that the Suns were going to win their first championship. Everything was in place. They had been playing the best basketball of the season heading into the playoffs. They were the 2 seed in the west and the number 1 seeded Dallas Mavericks were knocked off in the first round by the Golden State Warriors. The road was paved for the Suns to make a run to the finals. But coming in their way was a dirty San Antonio team who had already beaten them in the playoffs in 2003 and 2005. The Suns lost game one at home 111-106, but came back to win game two by 20. Then it was off to San Antonio. The Suns lost a close game three in which Bruce Bowen sent his knee in the man parts of Steve Nash. (Watch Here) Bowen did not get suspended or fined for his flying knees. Then in game four, with the possibility of going down 3 games to 1, the Suns trailed by 10 in the fourth quarter before mounting a comeback. With under a minute to go the Suns took their first lead on a behind the back pass and jam from Nash to Amar'e. The Suns held a 3 point lead with about 32 seconds left. The Spurs had the chance to tie it with a three, but they missed their shot, Nash came up with the big rebound and began to bring the ball up court. The Spurs had to foul, but they did not just wrap up Nash, instead Robert Horry checked Steve Nash into the scorers table. (Watch the madness here) Nash got up obviously a quite upset, and understandably, both Amar'e and Boris Diaw, who where on the bench, stepped up to go and see what had just gone down. Neither of them got into the skirmish that ensued, but because they even took one step off the bench, they were both suspended for a pivotal game five back in Phoenix. To use a Poker term, with the suspension of their two big men, the Suns were on tilt, and although they did not lose game 4, the had just suffered a bad beat. Without their two starting big men, the Suns came out hot in game five, but they did not have the stamina to stop Tim Duncan and lost game five and the following game six back in San Antonio. It was the Spurs who committed the flagrant foul on Nash, and yes Horry was suspended, but overall it was the Suns that were penalized and lost the series because of a blow up by Robert Horry. So, I think my hate for the Spurs is quite understandable. The Spurs went on to win the Championship that year and the following season, they knocked off the Suns again in the first round of the playoffs. Not only have they beaten the Suns the last four times they have meet in the Playoffs, they have beaten them playing dirty ball. The last time the Suns won a playoff match up with the Spurs was in 2000 when a bleached blond Jason Kidd was running the point in Phoenix and Avery Johnson was not commentating on ESPN with his mouse voice, he was actually playing for the Spurs. That was 10 years ago. It has been an entire decade since the Suns have beaten the Spurs in the Playoffs. And now, in 2010, they meet again...
So the big question is will this year be any different? Once again, the Suns have home court as they are the three seed and the Spurs are the seven seed. But don't let their seed fool you. They just beat the Dallas Mavericks in six games and looked impressive in every one of their victories. The Spurs and the Suns are both different teams then they were back in 2007 and 2008. The key players are still around for both the Suns and Spurs. The Suns still have Nash and Amar'e while the Spurs have Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili. But there are lots of new additions to both teams. Many of the players did not experience those playoff series and do not truly know the hate that exist between these two teams. I think Grant Hill, who was not with the Suns for their playoff defeats said it best, "It would mean a lot to beat the Spurs, but you can't get caught up in the emotion of it and the history. You have to disassociate all that stuff and remove all that emotion from the equation and just get down and play basketball. All that ill-will and all that hate, it's all in the past. There are a lot of new faces in this locker room and Alvin [Gentry] will do a good job of making sure we stay focused and attend to the task at hand." Jason Richardson, one of those "new faces" to the Suns said "I wasn't here for that stuff. There's a lot of bad blood. Anybody who's followed the NBA or watched the NBA understands there's bad blood there. Should make it fun."
So here we go again, another Suns vs Spurs playoff match up. What will happen this year? Will we see a repeat of the past or will the Suns find a way to finally knock out and possibly literally knock down the Spurs like they have done to them so often in the past? The Suns won two of the three meetings in the regular season, the most recent being on April 7th when the Suns ran all over the Spurs holding Manu to only ten points. Ginobili, going into that game, was the hottest player in the NBA, having scored 30 or more points in 4 of the previous ten games including 43 points against the Magic. But Jared Dudley found a way to slow him down. He went out and tweeted about Ginolbili, asking the fans how to stop him. The response, make Ginobili go right. That's exactly what the Suns did and they stopped Manu from catching fire.
I truly think that the key players for both teams will have big games, they're not gonna be stopped, Amar'e and Timmy will get their points. The Suns may try to stop Duncan, but he is one of the all-time great big men and he is going to score. The key will come down to the play of some of the role players for each team. Will George Hill be able to lead the Spurs with Parker coming off the bench? Will Richard Jefferson continue to score in the playoffs and fit in with the rest of the Spurs? Will Robin Lopez be healthy enough to play and also be effective? And most importantly, will Jason Richardson be able to score like he did against the Blazers? In the Suns wins against Portland, J-Rich averaged over 28 points a game, but in their losses, he only scored 14 points per game. If Richardson can continue to shoot over 60% from the field (including 51% from 3 ) against the Spurs and if Amar'e can have big dunks like this one, this just may be the year that the Suns find a win. Another big key for the Suns will be their bench. In game 5 of the last series, the Suns bench scored more then 50% of their points. But I believe the most essential part for the Suns chances of winning will be their scoring. The Spurs are only 2-12 this season when allowing their opponent to score 100 or more points. The Suns average on the season 110 points per game. If the Suns can score, and score lots with their much improved defense, their chances of winning increase exponentially. So if you were to ask me who is going to win, of course I will say the Suns, and my true feeling is that this is going to be their year. But that does not stop me from feeling nervous about this series. It is very possible that the hate I have for the Spurs grows and grows, but hopefully, this year, finally, after so many years, I will look back on the 2010 playoffs and have a soft spot in my heart for the Spurs because the Suns were finally able to break through against them.