You wanna know why you haven't had the impact you wanted Marky-Mark? Because everyone hates you...David Stern had your picture glazed into the inside of his toilet bowl so that he could take commissioner-sized dumps on your stupid haircut. I know they say that the squeaky wheel gets the grease, but in real life, when people think you are a whinny annoying little bitch they do their best to ignore you."I'm proud of our guys, the way they kept on fighting back. I'm not so proud of the NBA. I'm not proud of my inability over the last 10 years to have the impact like I want to have, so I kind of feel like I owe fans an apology," Cuban said. "But, that's just he way this business goes. But congratulations to the Spurs."
Joe (NY): I know I am looking ahead but are the Suns better equipped than they were a few years ago to beat the Spurs in the playoffs??Ummm...with Lopez out, I'm not seeing how the Big equation is more equal, seems to be that it's about the same as last time...Amare ain't exactly the same player he was when he "torched" Timmy
John Hollinger (12:07 PM): Well, they're no longer trying to imitate the Spurs, so that should be a big help, and Duncan isn't the dominating force he once was so the match-up against the Suns' bigs won't be as problematic. Plus, they'll have home court and the Mavs will have softened the Spurs up a bit in terms of wear and tear. I think a lot of things favor Phoenix this time around, assuming both they and San Antonio take care of business tonight.
Andrew (Dallas): Both Dallas and Denver trail 3-2 despite having positive Point Differntials, thoughts?Can't say anything about the Jazz/ Nuggets series, because I don't care yet...but Game 5 pretty much screwed the hell out of the averages between the Spurs and Mavs.
John Hollinger (12:18 PM): Slightly odd but not altogether unusual for the home-court team after a fifth game due to the 3-2 home-road split, and the fact that a team like the Spurs or Jazz in Game 5 has some incentive to white-flag early when things get out of hand.
Brian (Providence): Which series are you more looking forward to; CLE/BOS or potential (and likely) SAS/PHX?I think it will be another awesome series like this one has been...don't know why anyone that likes basketball would think otherwise
John Hollinger (12:25 PM): Spurs-Suns, absolutely. Not only because of the history, but because I think the winner will be this year's Western Conference champion.
Steve (Utah): Should Spurs and Jazz fans consider their game 6's at home in essence their game 7's?All I'm saying is that I really hope that the Spurs TCB tonight and that Portland does too...having a little extra rest ain't gonna hurt nobody
John Hollinger (12:36 PM): No, I think each team has a decent shot at winning a seventh game on the road. But you'd much rather not get to that point.
Mav wrecks nation (Dallas, TX): What Texas BBQ sauce do you recommed for the Crow we are going to eat tonight?
John Hollinger (12:40 PM): Easy, now. Dallas looked pretty good the other night and I'm a little worried that Manu's nose is holding him back.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said Blair was unshaken, but physically unharmed.
Jean (ny)
Does crawford have 6th man locked up?
John Hollinger
Yes. There's been a late push for Manu, who has better overall stats, but if you look most of Manu's damage has come as a starter -- Crawford has nearly 1,000 more minutes as a reserve and his off-the-bench stats rival Ginobili's.
Such is the nature of homerism John, that’s just the way the cookie crumblesmicah (san antonio)
thank you for being one of the few picking the Spurs (in 6 no less) to beat the Mavs. I have come to trust your mathematical wizardry over the years and I'm putting my trust in your selection (even though only 3 out of the 12 of ya'll picked the Spurs).John Hollinger
I love how I'm a mathematical wizard if I pick in favor of somebody's team and just some computer nerd if I pick against them.
I too think it was a smart move, but not so much because of the “rest” factor, but because it was almost a given that the Spurs and Mavs would be seeing a lot more of each other in the first round, and if either Timmy or Manu got hurt then it would be time to cue the Fat Lady…as it is Hill turned a ankle and that could have your Mom tuning up her vocal chords as it is.micah (san antonio)
Was Pop smart to concede to a Spurs/Mavs 1st round by resting Timmy and Manu last night?
John Hollinger
Yes, because that was preferable to playing Utah or Phoenix. True, San Anto lost two of three to Dallas heading into last night, but they went a combined 1-6 against Phoenix and Utah. The fact the Spurs nearly beat them on the road with their backups has to make them feel good about their prospects.
Johan
(Portland, OR)
Lakers road to the finals will look like this: OKC, Jazz, and Mavs. That sure is a lot easier than the Cavs: Bulls, Celtics, and Magic. Don't you agree?
John Hollinger
I think it looks more like OKC, Jazz and Spurs/Suns, and I think it's a lot harder for them to get out of the first two rounds than it will be for Cleveland. Not sure if you've seen Boston lately but they're a spent force; at this point Miami might scare the Cavs more than playing the Celtics does.
Matt (San Antonio TX)
So I am guessing you still think the mavs wont make it far correct?
John Hollinger
That's correct, although they played much better in that five-game streak to end the season. They didn't get a real friendly draw either, despite landing the No. 2 seed they would have to face the two hottest teams in the conference back-to-back to make the WCF.
Bill (PA)
if you had to bet on 1 first round upset, what would it be?
John Hollinger
Spurs-Mavs. Just think San Antonio was playing at a really high level to end the season and they can do a lot of damage if their creaky vets are in good health.
Josh (Knoxville, TN)
A couple years ago you had LA beating the Spurs in 5 games b/c that's what the numbers said. I thought you were crazy, but it went 4-1 LA. Of course, the series was actually much closer than that (Spurs falling apart in Game 1 and Joey Crawford exacting his revenge on SA), but I had to give you props. Think you nailed the Spurs losing to Dallas last year too. And I also remember you hitting the Spurs spot on for their last Championship when everyone else said Dallas. So I say you're a wizard whether you favor the Spurs or not.
John Hollinger
I've had an inordinate amount of success picking Spurs' series for some reason, with one exception (had the Hornets beating them in 7 two years ago; it went 7 but Spurs won). Let's see if it continues this year, I do believe they'll beat Dallas but after that the match-ups are pretty much 50-50 propositions.
Brock (Dallas)
You talk above about how the Spurs were smart for sitting Tim and Manu but yet you forget to mention Dallas sat Caron and Jason Kidd was on the bench for most of the game
John Hollinger
Butler played 39 minutes, Kidd played 28. Not sure what game you were at.
Steve (Washington)Only way that RJ opts out is if he thinks he’s getting married to the Spurs, then he’ll drop-out one day before the deadline and send a parting gift to boot
I heard RJ might opt out in San Antonio? Could the Spurs really be that lucky, and
what would that do to their summer?
John Hollinger
Better chance of a Bulls-Thunder Finals than there is of RJ opting out. Not believing that story for even one second.
Sebastian (Krakow, Poland)Again, We all hope you’re right on this time again
Who did you have last year in the Mavs-Spurs series? As a Mavs fan I need to know whether to start worrying.
John Hollinger
I had Dallas in six, and then in the second round I had Denver in seven.
Matt (SA)
After last nights performance, would you say dejuan blair is gonna be a factor in the Spurs Mavs matchup?
John Hollinger
Not sure. He was playing center, and the Spurs already have a pretty decent one with Tim Duncan, even if we're not allowed to publicly acknowledge that he's a center. So I'm not sure Blair gets more than 10-12 minutes. Can he be a factor in those minutes? Absolutely. But he's not going for 20-20.
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