5/16 Cheap Foul-Trouble for Hornets in Game 7?
The situation: It was game six between the Hornets and Spurs. The Hornets were leading the series three games to two. The Spurs had to win the game to stay in the playoffs. The Spurs were starting to pull away when all of a sudden, Robert Horry of the Spurs, committed a cheap offensive foul. He jammed his arm into the back of David West while setting a screen. West went down and had to leave the game with a back injury. West already had aggravation in his back in game five and this hard foul from Horry, in game six, did not help his cause.
With game seven approaching, the Hornets could be significantly affected by this injury. West provides many advantages for the Hornets and match up problems for the Spurs. West is a starter and provides scoring in the post for the Hornets. He also has the ability to hit big shots when the Spurs have gone on runs in this series. In addition to this, he is a tough player to guard for Duncan, Oberto, and Horry, the three main post players for the Spurs. West also plays relentless defense. Duncan has been frustrated by this in previous games.
For all these reasons, West will be an important factor in game seven. If his back is bothering him, he will not play his best basketball. This is what could be problematic for the Hornets. In the games that the Hornets have won this series, West had 30 points, 10 points, and 38 points. So as you can see he is a big part of the offense and can really put up points. In game seven, West needs to come out and play aggressive like he did in games one and five. The Hornets will win if he is close to full strength and playing game one and five caliber basketball.
As for Robert Horry, the foul on West was extremely cheap and unnecessary. When you watch the replay, it is evident how Horry leaned into the screen and jammed his arm into David West. The foul was very deliberate and was no accident. Some people are saying it was a veteran savvy move by Horry to almost deliberately injure West, who was giving San Antonio fits in the post. This is an absurd comment because any real veteran wouldn’t do that deliberately. A real veteran plays the game with a little more respect. I don’t care how long Horry has been playing in the league (fifteen years), but he is not a veteran.
In fact it was just last year in the playoffs that the comments of “dirty player” were swirling around Horry. Last year against the Suns, Horry hip-checked the Suns’ point guard Steve Nash into the scorers table. Nash had a terrible looking gash on his nose and there was blood everywhere. Players from the Suns’ bench started running onto the court to defend Nash, one of them being their star player, Amare Stoudamire. The NBA has a rule that players are not allowed on the court that are not in the game. Stoudamire left the sideline, unfortunately for the Suns, to defend Nash and got suspended for the next game. The Suns lost the series. Many people blame the Suns’ series loss due to the flagrant foul leading to Stoudamire’s suspension. The point here is that Horry has no class and is a dirty player. The NBA should step in like last year and should at least fine Horry.
You’d love to have a champion like Horry playing for your team! Admit it and we’ll move on.