Inside the NBA Western Conference Playoffs

— Although the Phoenix/San Antonio series was mired in controversy, the outcome was fair and square. Though many throughout the media were claiming that Phoenix got a raw deal in regards to the suspensions of both Boris Diaw and Amare Stoudemire for coming off the bench during an altercation, the NBA did nothing scandalous.

The rule could not have been much clearer. If a player leaves the bench area during an altercation, he is to be suspended for at least one game. Both teams knew this going into the game and the NBA followed this rule to a tee. Whether or not the rule is stupid or unnecessary is irrelevant. It's the rule and only if an exception to this rule was made would one be able to logically argue that this series was somehow tainted.

San Antonio was not rewarded for a cheap shot. Robert Horry was suspended for two games for his body check on Steve Nash. Instead, Phoenix was penalized for its lack of composure. A few years back, during the Western Conference semifinals between Sacramento and Minnesota, Sacramento's Anthony Peeler smashed Minnesota's Kevin Garnett in the face with two forearm shivers. Even though Garnett got belted, he kept his composure and didn't retaliate. Peeler, like Horry, was suspended for his cheap shot. Garnett, however, had the presence of mind to understand his importance to his team and to the series and did not react and thus was active for the deciding game in the series.

Unlike Garnett in 2004, Stoudemire and Diaw were not even involved in the play. They didn't take any forearm shivers to the face, nor were they checked into the scorer's table like Steve Nash was. They were bystanders who lost their cool for a second and it cost them. A cheap shot didn't help decide the series. A stupid reaction to a cheap shot may have.

— Speaking of San Antonio, we've now reached the point of the season where Tim Duncan receives all the credit for how good the San Antonio Spurs are while all of his teammates take a back seat. It's time to put an end to this.

During the Spurs' last title run, the best player in the entire playoffs was on the San Antonio Spurs and his name wasn't Tim Duncan, but Manu Ginobili. The Finals MVP that Duncan received that year was a sham and anyone who watched the entire 2005 NBA playoffs should know that.

This year, the Spurs are again making their run and while Tim Duncan has been playing outstanding ball, the team's fortunes rise and fall largely with the play of Ginobili and Tony Parker. Parker's quickness and ability to penetrate has made him almost unguardable and his jump shot is virtually automatic these days. Ginobili is doing nothing but making big play after big play. He steps on defense and he's the offensive catalyst of this team, hitting big threes, and driving to the hoop for back-breaking buckets at the most crucial times. He is the one player on the Spurs that most often livens up the San Antonio crowd or takes the opposing crowd out of the game. This type of contribution is priceless.

Add the stellar individual defense and big-time clutch-shooting of Bruce Bowen and the surprising play of big man Fabricio Oberto and it's crystal clear that this team is much more than just Tim Duncan. Don't get me wrong, Duncan is a fantastic player, but he's a fantastic player on a fantastic team and this has been the case since the day he stepped into the league. We all know what he can do, so let's start noticing some of the players around him. After all, basketball is a team sport.

— While we're discussing team play versus individual play, please allow me to vent about the NBA MVP voting. First, in light of league-MVP, Dirk Nowitzki's, postseason meltdown, let me say that I don't think the award should be voted on at the conclusion of the NBA postseason. It's a regular-season award, so I don't think the postseason should play into it.

What I do have a problem with, however, is that too many voters are deciding to vote for the best player on one of the best teams. Let me ask a question: what did Dirk Nowitzki do differently this year to make himself the MVP? I don't know the answer to that, but what I can tell you is that the players around Dirk improved and Dallas became almost unstoppable in the regular season. This shouldn't have any affect on the MVP voting, though. Josh Howard improves and that raises Nowitzki's MVP profile? How does that make any sense?

In the last three years, Steve Nash has won two MVPs and Nowitzki has won one. Both are great players who play on great teams, surrounded by other great players. Although I can make a better argument as to why Nash should have won an MVP, the truth is that I don't believe that either Nowitzki or Nash should have won any. Not only is each surrounded by a ton of serious talent, but neither is really adept at playing defense, which is half the game.

Although I've never been a huge proponent of Kobe Bryant and his ball-hogging ways, he changed his game this year and single-handedly propelled his team to the playoffs. There are no great players on the Lakers besides Bryant. Lamar Odom shows glimpses, but that's it. In the past, Kobe would get his stats while shooting horrible percentages and the Lakers lost most of the games he put up monstrous scoring numbers. This year, when Kobe scored outlandish amounts of points, his shooting percentages were actually pretty good, and more importantly and perhaps, not so coincidentally, his team usually won those games. Add to Kobe's all-around offensive play his defensive excellence and it's clear to me that Kobe Bryant should have been the 2006-2007 NBA MVP.

— It may be pretty tough for the Utah Jazz to win it all this year, but this team is for real. Yes, they do not have a low-post presence that scares opposing players, but Carlos Boozer is on his way to becoming that guy. Moreover, Mehmet Okur is an all-star big man that gets it done in many ways and although Paul Millsap is just a rookie, he's absolutely nasty on the boards and should improve over time.

Andrei Kirilenko is one of the best and most versatile defenders in the league. When he's feeling it defensively, there is not a more disruptive force in the entire NBA. Matt Harpring defines "scrappy," and seems to always come through when it's most needed. Derek Fisher is a fantastic defender and a guy who hits the shots that break the opponent's heart.

The team's best player, however, is point guard, Deron Williams, who's only in his second-year, but is playing the same way he played in college at Illinois — dominant. The only difference is that he's now schooling NBA players, not college kids.

There's plenty of reason to be optimistic in Utah. Few teams, if any, can boast not only the front line depth, but talent that Utah has put together. Few teams have two young players that are as exciting to watch as Deron Williams and Millsap. Utah can run or they can play in the half court. They can kill you offensively or defensively. Although, they don't have the "experience" of the Spurs, there are guys on the team that have played in the big games.

Derek Fisher was the number three scorer on those Laker championship teams from a few years back. Okur was a contributor on the Pistons team that won it all by stopping the Laker dynasty. Let's also not forget that Deron Williams was the key cog on the University of Illinois team that made it to the NCAA championship game. Yes, it wasn't the NBA Finals, but one can make a legitimate argument that the NCAA title game is as big, if not bigger than the NBA Finals. One way or another, these guys have got it done on the biggest of stages and if they don't pull it off this year, they'll be more "experienced" for next year's title run.

... and with that, I'm outta here.