Malbrough over at WWLTV.com gives us more reasons to hate San Antonio...I totally forgot those bastards tried to steal the Saints..assholes
By Ralph Malbrough
How does a city truly bond with a sports team?
History.
New Orleans and the Hornets are about to make some tonight.
We bond with our teams through either the ecstasy of the big victory or the heart ache of a crushing loss and the memory it leaves.
That’s what sports are really about.
Sure the ride with the Hornets has been fun but tonight it’ll be different.
Welcome to a Game 7.
Welcome to a Game 7.
In a sport where there are 82 games and seven game playoff series there seemingly is always a tomorrow.
Not now.
Throw in the fact the Hornets are playing a conniving city (San Antonio) and a dirty team (the Spurs) and you have the perfect villain.
San Antonio is a conniving city because after Katrina while we were flat on our backs they tried to steal our football team. Don’t ever forget that. Really the only thing keeping the Saints here was Paul Tagliabue’s conscience.
And of course the Spurs as a basketball team are incredibly dirty.
I could ramble on about Bruce Bowen and their tendency to flop to get calls but I’ll just stick to Robert Horry as my example why they are dirty.
What he did to David West wasn’t illegal but for Spurs fans and even the national media to say it wasn’t intentional is laughable.
Marc Stein of ESPN.com wrote, “Horry couldn't have known that West was going to leap for Manu Ginobili's entry pass, which appeared to be what caused West to smack so hard into Horry behind him. “
What West was doing had nothing to do with what Horry did.
Marc, if you are looking to deliver a hard foul to someone it’s really easy to do. Horry knew exactly what he was doing. He waited for his chance than pounded David West in the back.
He wanted to deliver a really hard foul to West and if West’s back injury flared up or became worse all the better.
At least Spurs fans embraced their team’s villain behavior by chanting Horry’s name as David West was helped off the court. Stay classy San Antonio.
Those fans and that team deserve each other.
Did the previous paragraphs fire you up a little more? Good, that was the point. It’s Game 7 people, fans need to be ready too.
As for the actual game, it’s all about Chris Paul.
With the Hornets it always is.
I expect this game to be filled with emotional swings, great plays, high drama, and intense pressure.
I also expect Chris Paul to respond like he always does and the Hornets to follow his lead.
The Hornets are Paul’s team and how he responds to the magnitude of the moment will likely be how they do as well.
The Hornets need Paul’s best because to expect anything less than greatness from Tim Duncan would be foolish.
As for David West, my gut says three days of rest and the adrenaline of Game 7 will allow him to play well.
The real question is which teams supporting players step up?
Which leads us to Peja Stojakovic.
The Hornets need him to play well but his history in Game 7’s with Sacramento is quite frankly horrifying.
Peja needs to shake free from Bruce Bowen and score like he did in the series first two games because Spurs won’t go down easy.
This game will be no blowout.
If the Hornets want to defeat the champs they’ll have to take every punch the Spurs have and probably a few dirty blows as well.
There will come a moment tonight where the Hornets and the New Orleans Arena crowd will be staring the end of this magical season right in the face.
Whatever the response it will bond the city to its basketball team a little tighter and make the Hornets part of the fabric of New Orleans.
Win or lose that’s a good thing.
Of course watching Tim Duncan and the rest of the insufferable Spurs celebrating in New Orleans might be more than I can stomach.
So the Hornets should just make this easier on me and win.
New Orleans can hardly wait for an NBA playoff game, who’d have thought that was possible?
Ralph Malbrough is a Hornets fan living in Houston. He can be reached at ralphmalbrough@hotmail.com
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