Foul Play?

You can cry foul all you like. Did Derek Fisher, haunt of Spurs fans’ dreams, foul Brent Barry on the last possession? Darn tootin’.

Cry all you like. All you’ll be is bitter. And, likely, needing some tissues.It does seem a bit convenient that the man who hit the shot with .4 also hit the Spurs player with the ball with 2.1.

It does seem a bit convenient that the man who watched the play (and, inexplicably, did nothing about it) was the same who was suspended for threatening to fight Tim Duncan after throwing him from a game for, well, laughing.

Please, do yourselves all a favor, and put all of the ironies to bed. The Spurs, as Johnny Luden of Y! Sports writes, didn’t deserve to win.

Sure, he stole my thunder. Should I have written this earlier? Yes, but, in fairness, I could’ve told you this would happen with about five and a half left in the fourth. The Spurs, plain and simple, didn’t play well enough to win the game.

The idea that they had to even run an inbounds play for Brent Barry, that we’re even discussing his name as a subject of late game theatrics, made me check my watch, just to make sure it wasn’t 1995. Brent’s had a heck of a two game stretch, but if Manu and Tony aren’t going to be even close to good enough, there’s no reason to even fly back to L.A.

The Spurs, amongst their littany of problems on Tuesday night, couldn’t make anything from downtown, where, in Game 3 they had devoured the Lakers (10-18 3PT). Last night, ice cold (7-24), and largely, open. There’s no specific tally of this, but from my own count, they missed at least four, considerably open three’s (2 from Barry, 1 from Ginobili and Bowen) that would’ve either tied or given them the lead in the fourth.

Duncan, despite gaudy final numbers, missed far too many chipees. Granted, it’s hard to knock on 29 and 17, but when you miss 16 shots, I think it’s fair to say, he should’ve played better.

After a certain amount of time, we all have to stop saying the Spurs are the better team. In my mind, I believed it for quite a while. I figured, chalk Game 1 up to a lack of legs. Game 2 is also a wash, being in L.A. Game 3, what I expected. But, for Game 4 to go the way it did, with the Spurs having to fight, claw and scratch to only get either tied or within three shows the true difference.

Are the Lakers head and shoulders better than the Spurs? No, likely not. But, after a while, that “better” team would stop missing layups (ahemmm….Tim Duncan, Tony Parker) and would actually hit open three’s (ahemmm…everyone not named Tim Duncan or Fabricio Oberto).

Maybe, it’s time for the Spurs to get younger, a process which may start as soon as Thursday night.