No whining in basketball

No whining in basketball

May 3, 2007

The Suns and Spurs both finished off their first round opponents last night. They will kick off their series at US Airways Center this Sunday. I have serious doubts on whether or not I will survive this series.

Watching a Spurs basketball game causes me physical pain. It has nothing to do with the plodding pace at which they prefer to play. It’s not the constant slapping and/or clubbing that comes from the dirtiest player in the league, Bruce Bowen. I can even live with them making an NBA game about as exciting to watch as a rugby scrum. What I cannot stand is the constant incessant whining.

They behave as if they’ve never committed a foul. It is beyond asinine. From Duncan right down to Parker they all stand there with that shocked look on their face pleading with the officials as if to say, “Who me?! Surely you must be joking!” No, I’m not joking; and don’t call me Shirley. (sorry, couldn’t resist.)

I can picture the Spurs practice. Gregg Popovich standing at half court blowing his whistle and simultaneously 12 guys throw their hands in the air and scream “What! No!” then they all hang their mouths wide open until Pop says “Good, okay again.” They obviously repeat this over and over again during the time that most teams practice free throws, because they clearly aren’t doing that.

You can talk all you want about their three rings and the vaunted interior and perimeter defense; they are a disgrace to competitive team sports. They must not watch film because any person with a shred of dignity would be ashamed of their behavior if they saw themselves carrying on like that game after game.

Want to know why Joe Crawford ran Duncan from the game and subsequently quit rather than admit he was wrong? Because he is just as sick of this junk as I am. David Stern should have given him a bonus rather than chasing him out of the game. Hey commissioner, you really want to clean up the leagues image? Get rid of the whining. Outlaw it like Coach K did for USA basketball. Empower the official to give technicals for stupid looks and crying.

Although I’ll be rooting for the Suns I am not as concerned with the outcome of the series as I am with my physical and mental health. Not to mention the emotional status of my wife and children who I can only assume will take up residence with the in-laws shortly after tip off of Game 3. Speaking of Game 3, that’s where Vegas has the over under on my remote becoming permanently embedded in my television. A little advice, take the under.

What do you think?

* First name (required):

* Last name (required):
* E-mail address (required):

Phone number:
* Message (required):

Funny man, that's great! Sad but true. BLACK JESUS shall give them somethin to cry about alright. - Butler on azcentral.com

arizonaelias: May 03, 2007 3:46:07 PM

Funny post. Pix are the best part. Guess you close your eyes when any team other than San Antonio gets whistles, because they all complain. Ask Stephen Jackson. Nice to know you have the free time to obsess over the Spurs. They'll be playing next month. I hope you have a new tv by then...

sammavaca: May 03, 2007 4:49:14 PM

Beautiful article. I hope you forwarded it to the commissioner!! You should have thrown in a picture of a whining Popovich also. I hope the Suns take it to them! This will be a tough series! I have been a Suns fan since the days of the Hawk - Connie Hawkins. Also born (and raised) in PHX.

tcsteele: May 03, 2007 4:56:31 PM

As a Spurs fan, I don't mind you not liking the Spurs. But to write they are disgrace to competitive team sports...is asinine. I will agree with you...that they do complain but don't tell me they are only NBA team that does. Is so funny about Spurs haters...they dismiss 3 NBA Championships and the best winning record in all of sports since 1997. So I guess winning doesn't matter in America anymore. Oh...I forgot you have to win exciting for some people. Again, you don't like the Spurs but please respect their accomplishments. And I am looking forward to this series with Suns.

mhhm0831: May 03, 2007 5:46:30 PM

Blaylock=moron

You sound like an angry child who is jealous because your team never won anything. Try writing something that has a shred of validity and leave this ridiculous writing for the elementary schools.

scorcher73: May 03, 2007 9:53:31 PM

Well, mhhm0831 says it pretty good. If you think only TD/TP/Bruce/Manu cry, then you don't pay attention to your team or coach. All teams cry, all teams act like they did nothing, all teams point the posession arrow one way when they KNOW it hit off their foot out of bounds.. thats the way the game is played. Emotional. I enjoy the Spurs, I enjoy the Suns, but I also want to see the BEST TEAM win, and thats usually the Spurs, they play smart, and true basketball. All phases of the game are involved, and thats where the Suns continually fail. Sorry, but Amare won't be better than he was in 05, and Nash won't run through our D like he does the lakers... those 3's will be contested, and Matrix will disapear as he ALWAYS does against the Spurs... D'Antoni will counter with Kurt, and that plays RIGHT into the Spurs hands...

mbradshaw: May 04, 2007 10:53:45 AM

Stop hating the Spurs for beating you... (hiding behind "Spurs Whine too much) blah blah.. its unbecoming of you as a fan. It really shows your ignorance for basketball. Best team wins, and Spurs are the Best.

mbradshaw: May 04, 2007 10:59:17 AM

See that's what I don't like the "true basketball" argument. I'm sure when Dr. Naismith was putting the final touches on the rules of the game, a game he intended to get children to be more active, that he did not picture kids walking the ball up the court and dumping it down to the biggest kid and then standing around while that kid tried to back down the another big kid. The Spurs are good at what they do but please don't accuse me of basketball ignorance with a statement like that. The Suns get out and run because that's how the game was intended to be played.

As for the "everybody whines" argument, while that is totally true the Spurs have refined it to an art form. It's annoying. They protest every single call even when it's blatantly obvious.

Aaron Blaylock: May 04, 2007 11:21:02 AM

I can't say I ever noticed the Spurs having more winers than any other team, but I'm sure to take notice now. I am a total Sun's fan. Let's hope SA wines so much that they all get booted.

LadyCacti: May 04, 2007 11:56:18 AM

To Mr. Blaylock, thanks for the humor. As a Spurs fan, I throughly enjoyed the article. To attack the Spurs on their excessive whining and not their lack of offensive or defensive skills shows that you feel the Suns do not really have an answer to overcome a better team. However, by reading this article, it shows you have learned something.....when it come to whining.....if you can't beat'em, join'em.

dshadrock: May 04, 2007 3:31:46 PM

Great article, great verbage, but you forgot to add D'Antoni as a whiner aslo. I could care less about D'Antoni, but I remember a certain coach who actually started crying tears on television after the Suns lost to the Mavericks in last years ('06)2nd round of the playoffs. Remeber? Fox Sports also think D'Antoni is a whiner if you dont beleive me click on this link and scroll all the way to the bottom of the page, in fairness to the Spurs you forgot to put D'Antoni's photo of him belly aching in your photo slide show. http://community.foxsports.com/blogs/Tom7

rick_78213: May 04, 2007 7:03 PM

Very amusing to read Spurs fans defending their whiners. Ha Ha Ha, you are also comedic fans. As much as I have respect for the Spurs, this is really the Suns year. We should petition to give "Best whining team award" along with other defensive player award....Hey if the shoe fits. Great article and if you dont like it, go read other Spurs articles more suitable for you.

kwani02: May 04, 2007 8:21 PM

Okay...I can see you are concerned about the Spurs' whining. But you took a cheap shot and wrote they are a disgrace to competitive team sports. That's what I had a problem with. The Spurs is a well-run professional organization and have they done everything in an excellent manner.

Have you watch the playoffs....Allen Iverson, Stephen Jackson, Kobe Bryant, and Baron Davis all have complained about the calls quite a bit. I know you are focusing on Tim Duncan and the Spurs and it's a so-called art form. Whatever!

If the worst thing you can accuse the Spurs of is whining...so be it.

mhhm0831: May 04, 2007 9:13 PM

Again it's very interesting to read the replies from Spurs fans. Still not one person has told me I'm wrong about the whining. I'll give you that the "disgrace" comment was a cheap shot. I mostly threw that out there to drum up a reaction, which was probably counter-productive since my intent for writing this was to raise awareness to an irksome problem. You see, to your point, this has become so common place now that it's almost over looked. The league needs to step in and do something. They have taken steps, i.e. Duncan, Davis, and Jackson, but there is more to do. These players, especially the Spurs, are better than that. These antics detract from the game and the player. They are capable of stopping as I pointed out in the USA basketball story. Much like small children they are only doing what the parent (the league) lets them get away with. It's got to stop.

Aaron Blaylock: May 05, 2007 9:05 PM

Great post and article and even pictures to go along with it! I particularly loved the one with Manu with a wide open mouth and finally the group of crying babies...fantastic! Great humor and specific examples. Please publish this article all over the NBA, and send a copy to Stern by federal express.

Vash_ebas: May 08, 2007 9:14:55 AM

Bruce Bowen is the dirtiest player in the league. Here's the latest example.

Click Here

Aaron Blaylock: May 10, 2007 9:34AM

For K and Country

The Spurs aren't alone in this, but they are the masters, that's for sure.