Cheap Shot Charlie

Luckily for Robert Horry, his birth name isn't actually Charles, or Chuck, for if it were, his nickname would be forever known as Cheap Shot Charlie after last night.

Most casual fans of the NBA (which I consider myself) are big Robert Horry supporters. He always seems to be on elite teams that go deep into the playoffs. Once there, he tends to be in the right spot at the right time and more often than not hits not big, but HUGE clutch shots in the most important and dramatic moments.

I, on the other hand, have never been able to stand the guy. He was good on the Rockets in the mid-90's, but besides that, I don't see him as anything more than a smug, average role player, at best, who gets traded or signed to really good teams and has continually reaped the benefits. I can't deny the fact that he is clutch. Time and time again he amazes me with some of the shots he hits in big spots. Besides that though, what does he do? What does he bring to an NBA team? For his career he has averaged 7 pts and 5 rebs per game! On top of that, he always seemed, at least to me, that he was a little too big for his britches.

Unfortunately, up until last night, there was no evidence or anything I could say about him which lead him to be a bad guy. I had no legitimate reason to tell people not to like him, and couldn't really argue against being his fan. However, after last night's game, I now have some ammunition for this argument. Is he serious with that hip check? I mean, come on. I understand your team just blew a 10 point lead in a critical game 4 of a series, in all likelihood, the NBA Champions will come out of. But to make it that obvious, in the open court, to the smallest guy on either bench who has taken hit after hit in this serious (cheap or not) and not said a word. Not to mention, the two-time reigning MVP. The more I watch of Nash the more of a fan I am becoming, but that's a whole other post. Horry has now become a legitimate punk/bad guy and I couldn't be happier.

Last night's game was the icing on the cake for me when it comes to these Spurs. I hate them, I can't stand them, and I wish someone/some team would finally stick it to them (LOVED it last year when Dirk single handily took Game 7 away from them, but that should never had happened in all honesty because Ginobli should have never fouled Dirk, but I'm just being picky).

Finally, the boring, dirty Spurs are being exposed. Teams and individual players have complained in the past about the Spurs being a dirty team, but there was no concrete evidence for this. It looked like the complainers were just being bullied around fairly in playoff style basketball they weren't used to. Now, with Bruce Bowen (don't even get me started on him), who has already admitted to clipping Amare Stoudamire from behind in Game 2, and his knee to Nash's groin being upgraded to flagrant foul, to go along with Horry's antics from last night, maybe these teams and individuals in the past had a point.

Horry is looking at at least a 2-3 game suspension with that obvious dirty play, as well as the elbow to the face of Raja Bell in the scrum after. But I am interested to see how the league treats Amare and Boris Diaw for coming off the bench to defend their superstar after being checked into the boards (ironic how that works with Nash being from Canada and all). I know it is an automatic one game suspension for leaving the bench, but I think everyone would agree no harm was done and they didn't even end up getting involved. I personally don't think they should get suspended, particularly after how lenient the league has been with Bowen admitting to his dirty play and his knee to the groin. However, a rule is a rule and honestly don't know how the league will handle it.

I don't know how this series is going to turn out, but I do know, as always, I will be rooting for the team that is trying to knock off the "mighty" Spurs. Fortunately, Cheap Shot Charlie (formally Big Shot Bob) will most likely be in street clothes for the upcoming critcial moments throughout the rest of this series.