So we'll wind up right back where we started. An NBA season that started with a Stephen Jackson Shot (the type with a gun, not with a basketball) will end with another Big Shot Bob Shot (cheap shot). In between, was alot of David Stern talk about cleaning up the league's image and eliminating whining and complaining. Great move! Remember All-Star week in Vegas? Remember the Kobe suspension and the subsequent "oh we'll looking to clean up the game" response? Remember the Sonics looking for a new home. Good thing hockey can't figure out how to attract viewers. Then the NBA got lucky. They got the Warriors going on an March Madness like cinderella run. They got a Phoenix/San Antonio gem of a 2nd round matchup. They got the Suns battling back and making what looked like another Spurs cake-walk into a realy series that could go either way.

Just when you thought not even the NBA could mess this up, they did exactly that. I applauded the league for not taking any action against Bruce Bowen, against Jason Richardson and Baron Davis. Hard, and cheap? Definitely. But the gray area between intent to injure and frustration and hard play was tough to interpret. I was happy the league decided not to intervene and let the series be decided on the court. Then they go and pull this.

Let's pretend the body check never happened and Cheap Shot Bob is still Big Shot Bob. We're talking about Steve Nash with two of the greatest assists of the year. We're talking about Amare Stoudemire stepping up and scoring right in Duncan's face. We're taking about the Suns finally going back the small lineup that gives them such an advantage. Playing Amare at center, Shawn Marion at power forward and a 3-guard lineup with Nash, Bell and Barbosa finally allowed the Suns to break lose and spread the Spurs defense and play the uptempo style they need to play to win. (Duncan battling foul trouble most of the 4th quarter also played a role, but Nash and Amare pick n'roll with the court spread with 3 shooters is virtually unstoppable)

Instead, we're talking about two guys who did the unthinkable: they stepped onto the court when their teammate was thrown into the scorer's table with less than 30 seconds left. Forget the fact that Stoudemire and Diaw got no more than 15 feet down the sideline, forget the fact that Duncan and Bowen did virtually the same thing in a 2nd quarter incident where Francisco Elson was undercut, forget the interpretation of the rule. This is not about the rule. It's about David Stern's greed for power. No question the right thing to do would have been to say "you know what, sure they technically they stepped onto the floor but Tim Duncan did the same thing. But the important thing is nothing serious happened so let's the guys on the floor decide this insteand of Stu Jackson and myself."

That would have made too much sense. Instead David Stern, who was critisized for not taking action against Bowen, against Davis, against Richardson, felt letting this slide would mean losing the iron fist he only thinks he rules by. After all, remember waaaaay back when he was talking about eliminating all the whining and complaining? Yeah that worked real well. For once I wish Joey Crawford was still officiating just to throw some of the Spurs out for excessive whining. Just watch them after any call. It's ridiculous.

The bottom line is the biggest and most important shot of the playoffs will be a cheap shot. I don't care that Horry's suspension is two games. San Antonio could lose Horry for the rest of eternity and still come out on top of this deal. Unless a miracle happens and the Suns can pull this series out, the Spurs will be off to the finals (the last time the Jazz won in San Antonio Thurl Bailey was still playing with them). All because of the clutch play of Cheap Shot Bob.