As far as NBA conspiracies go, the latest are comparatively lame.  David Stern orchestrating the San Antonio Spurs to the NBA finals?  To what end? 

Most great conspiracy theories  revolve around some sinister purpose that ultimately benefit those in the highest seats of power, so in what way are the Spurs fortunes aligned with David Stern and/or Stu Jackson’s? 

For a good conspiracy, look back to over two decades ago (has it really been that long?) when Stern and his cronies froze an envelope to land the New York Knicks the most cherished prize in all of basketball: the franchise center.  Some rumors have also revealed that Stern once engineered such a center in his lab, pumping the specimen full of steroids and HGH in its infancy and then manipulating his career towards Los Angeles.  After all, the NBA’s two flagship teams must always have one in the wings. 

And if those are not enough to quench your thirst on all of Stern’s shady under dealings, stuffing two Asians in a Houston Rockets jersey or attaching magnets to the basketball to guide it towards the rim were brilliant discoveries by David Blaine.  But to claim that the league headquarters is fixing the playoffs for the Spurs is not just asinine, it’s sour grapes.

While it may be understandable to have “the blinders on” when it comes to officiating and the home team, ultimately fans have to understand that referees are only human, and we all make mistakes.  Even the greatest players turn the ball over, or blow a defensive assignment (in Phoenix’s case, make that a lot of defensive assignments).  That said, whether you want to accept it or not, there are always bad calls that go against both teams in each game and eventually they even out.

Now, while blown calls are usually fairly distributed among both teams, do not fall under the common misconception that foul discrepancy should be even.  Perhaps the greatest flaw in fan’s rationale when discussing horrible officiating is the number of free throws one team attempted versus their opponent.  A fair game does not necessarily mean an equal amount of trips to the charity stripe. 

Suspensions aside, Phoenix fans were already crying foul – terrible pun intended – over star center Amare Stoudamire’s continuous foul trouble compared with Tim Duncan’s lack thereof.  Indeed, many were wondering what Stern was up to when the Spurs built any sort of lead in the free throw attempts statistic.

But examine the Suns trends during the Steve Nash era and you will notice that Phoenix is a team that routinely has difficulty getting to the line.  In a system with only one player capable of creating offense (Nash) and the rest thriving off of open three-pointers or dunks, opportunities to get fouled are few and far in between.

Juxtapose this with the fact that the Spurs, the league’s most disciplined defensive team, committed the fewest fouls during the season and the discrepancy should be that much wider.  Put simply, bad defensive teams commit more fouls than good ones do.

In the case of the Utah Jazz, the number of fouls called in the fourth quarter should hardly come as a surprise as they committed more fouls than any other team this season.  As the NBA’s most physical team, the Jazz led the league in both fouls for and against.  So when a team like the Jazz and Spurs meet, it simply is a matter of which team imposes their will.  Being the more experienced, and disciplined team, obviously that has been the Spurs thus far as they have allowed Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer to score without fouling.

The Jazz’s foul difficulties are further compounded by their glaring lack of an athletic shooting guard.  Look back at the regular season, the Jazz troubles with keeping elite shooting guards off the line are nothing new and have been a glaring hole for quite some time.  In Manu Ginobili, the Spurs are primed to take advantage of this deficiency because his ability to seek out and thrive on contact.

Carlos Boozer’s block of Duncan aside, the Jazz really have not had any shot blockers protecting the rim as their lone stud is also their primary perimeter defender.  Utah is built in a way that if AK47’s defensive attention is centered on stopping a perimeter player, the Jazz must halt all penetration at the point of attack or they are vulnerable to committing fouls at the rim.

Ginobili took a lot of free throws last game, but he took a lot of hard fouls too.  Watch the tape, not the box score.  All this being said, given their season long trends, how has the outcome come as any surprise to fans? 

SIDE NOTES:
Suspensions: While the suspensions of Amare Stoudamire and Boris Diaw were unfortunate, they were hardly unwarranted.  Go back to the Knicks-Heat melee when the better half of the Knicks lineup was suspended for leaving the bench, probably costing them their best chance at a title.  Where was the outrage then?

The law stands for a reason and is laid out in black and white and REPEATED for all players at the beginning of both the regular season and playoffs.  Those who break it are not compassionate, as many pundits have claimed for Amare, they are thick headed.

Watch the tape and it is obvious that Amare never intended to check on Nash. His gaze and posture suggested he was heading to confront Robert Horry the whole time.  Indeed, the only difference between the Knicks and Suns incident is that Phoenix’s assistants are a lot bigger than Jeff Van Gundy.  Make no mistake, Amare did not stop himself, he was physically restrained.

If suspensions should be levied only by the actions taken once on the court, then perhaps teams can raid the Jerry Springer show and hire Steve as assistant coach.  Imagine Amare taking the same action against the Warriors with Stephen Jackson on the floor, that is what Stern is trying to stop.

Cheap Shot Bob: Was it a cheap shot? Of course.  Was it the worst cheap shot in the history of the league, or even these playoffs? Hardly.  Nor was it enough to alter the perception of Horry’s career.  Sure Horry gave Nash a little check, but the reason it looked so bad was because of Nash’s momentum.  He was never in danger of being hurt and any reasonable person knew that Horry was gone as soon as Nash hit the floor. 

The league handled the situation by suspending Horry and assessing a flagrant two foul.  Justice, concerning Horry, was served.  So again, unfortunate: yes.  Unfair: hardly.  The rule is in place to allow the league to handle punishments, not players to take it into their own hands. 

How Do You Spell Utah: I-R-O-N-Y: Perhaps the most amusing moment of these playoffs is watching Utah Jazz fans complain about flopping and dirty plays.  These are the same Jazz fans that watched Malone, Stockton, Hornacek and Ostertag put on a clinic of the very subject.

Malone easily had the sharpest elbows in the league, which he used quite well.  And I recall a Stockton interview in which he admittedly stuck his knee into players setting screens against him to discourage them from doing so.  If you believe in the conspiracy theories spewing out of Utah, perhaps you could also believe in karma.  Isn’t it ironic?  Ah hell, now I’ve gone Canadian.