Rising sun

If you saw the first Rocky film perhaps you wondered how real can it be when someone is battered that bad yet continues to fight on? Well, there's Hollywood and then there's Steve Nash. He's had his nose rearranged and his face bloodied that for a moment there I thought I was watching an UFC match instead of the NBA playoffs.

If other players use their championship banners as a measure of courage then Steve Nash has stitches. Lots of them. He's the literal white boy with no hops. He may not have hops but he sure got game. Plenty of it. And that running dagger on one eye at the end of the fourth quarter against the San Antonio Spurs? Cold blooded, er, bloodied.

Nash is what toughness is all about and he proved it again this playoffs. How many thought that the Phoenix Suns would be in this position -- back in the Western Conference Finals? It was just a couple of months ago when the team nearly traded away Amare Stoudemire. That meant tanking. But what do you know? The two-time league MVP has willed his body to oust the hated Spurs and throw a monkey wrench in the plans of bookies who pegged a Los Angeles-Cleveland (or call it Kobe-LeBron) Finals match up. It could very well be the Orlando Magic going up against the Phoenix Suns. Both are unheralded and look to be massive underdogs against the Cavs and the Lakers.

But that's a few days from now (and we don't even know if the Cavs will move past the Boston Celtics). For now, let's celebrate Steve Nash and his tenacity and brilliance.

photo by NBAE

NBA Notes:

I wonder if Chris Bosh learned anything about Vince Carter's departure from Toronto. When Vinsanity left the Raptors, he admitted that he didn't play hard all the time and that's why fans still boo him to this day when his team plays in Canada. And now Bosh has changed his status in his Twitter account. From his location of "Toronto" it's now everywhere. And he has tweeted about leaving. At least Vince waited to leave before he said anything (but of course the best thing would have been to say nothing) but now Bosh runs the risk of being booed out of the city even before free agency is open.

People are doubting the Cavs as they stumble through the Eastern semis against a suddenly tough Celtics team. What I've learned through the years is not to make any judgement from game to game. Or even from series to series. We've seen teams steamroll the opposition during the regular season then get into a long and protracted playoff battle in the league's second season. Analysts would say that the team is getting old and that maybe they weren't tough enough and whatnot. The simple truth is everyone just plays tougher in the playoffs. Hasn't the NBA been using "win or go home" as its selling point these past few years? I don't think teams went through an 82-game grind just to play matador defense in the playoffs. So what about the Cavs? They will be rejuvenated by their home crowd, maybe fold again in Game 6, but Game 7 -- well, all bets are off.

Names are being floated about as to who will coach the Chicago Bulls next season. I'm throwing in my two cents worth here --- bring in a winning coach. Someone who has won somewhere. It's hard to get a coach who has not won anything. What foundation does he have? What does he know to make a team succeed? Get one. That should help. And on that note, how about bringing back Phil Jackson to the Windy City?