Weekly Countdown (cont.)

Magic coach Stan Van Gundy has never been one to hide his feelings when it comes to discussing his team or the NBA. Marc Serota/Getty Images Ian Thomsen's Mailbag Ian Thomsen will periodically answer questions from SI.com users in his mailbag. Name: Email: Hometown: Question: SEND

1. On perceptions that the Celtics are the "tougher" team:

"I don't know about the whole toughness thing. When I watch the NBA or any sport, it generally comes down to who is better, who is going to be good enough. Did we win [Game 3] because we were tougher than the Celtics, or did we win because we shot 59 percent? Did they win in Boston in Game 2 because they were tougher, or because they were draining shots? Does it take a lot of toughness for Eddie House to run off a screen and drill a [shot] in your face 11 out of 14 times, or does it take great skill?

"Everybody in sports -- I don't know what it is, fans, media -- wants to bring it down to who wanted it more. Well, they could have wanted it, but if Eddie House had gone 4-for-14, we would have been in the damn ball game. It usually comes down to who's better."

A follow-up: Was the issue of toughness made relevant by the Detroit Pistons' championship Bad Boys teams of the late 1980s?

"It certainly got heightened, and then it became the trend for a while -- Pat [Riley] in New York, with those teams beating the crap out of everybody. The NBA didn't like it, they legislated against it. Toughness is important, but you can't play that way anymore where you just beat the hell out of everybody.

"I'm not sure that's what got it done, either. You can talk about all those teams, you can talk about the Bad Boys all you want and Rick Mahorn and Bill Laimbeer -- I hate to be a non-believer, but I'm saying, Isiah Thomas, Vinnie Johnson and Joe Dumars making shots [won their championships]. It's still a skill game."

2 thoughts on injuries and suspensions

2. On the epidemic of injuries. Of the NBA's final eight teams, only Cleveland and Denver have not suffered from an injury to a leading player that has affected the postseason. Lakers center Andrew Bynum is struggling to regain form after his midseason knee injury. The Rockets are without Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming. The Celtics and Magic lack Kevin Garnett and Jameer Nelson, respectively, the Hawks were without Al Horford and Marvin Williams for part of the second-round series, and Dallas couldn't always count on Josh Howard because of his ankle injury.

This is not to mention the first-round absence of San Antonio's Manu Ginobili and the limited availability of New Orleans' Tyson Chandler.

Before the playoffs last month, I asked commissioner David Stern if he had any theory for the wave of injuries affecting star players. His answer: "I think we're putting demands on our bodies with the training."

Their fitness and athleticism could be adding stress to the joints and muscles. In addition, MRIs and other high-tech tools are enabling doctors to diagnose injuries that never would have been detected a generation or two ago; in the past, players were compelled to play through undiagnosed pain or soreness.

But it's interesting that most players from the 2008 U.S. Olympic team have escaped injury this season. It's also ironic that the NBA has grown less violent with fewer hard fouls and fights, and yet the number of injuries appears to be rising.

1. On the suspensions. People were flabbergasted by the NBA's admission that the game officials erred in permitting Carmelo Anthony to make a game-winning three-pointer after he had been fouled intentionally by Antoine Wright.

The statement was a good-faith effort to increase transparency post-Donaghy. But I also wonder if it was tacit acknowledgment that the league office has gone too far with its postseason suspensions. Apart from the dramatic games involving the Celtics, the surprise story of the playoffs has been the NBA's hardline decisions to suspend key players for plays that would have been overlooked as misdemeanors in previous eras. Was Wright afraid of fouling Anthony too hard? Did he limit his foul because the suspension police were in his head?

1 incident for perspective's sake

As his club was blowing a 23-point lead in the championship game of the Euroleague Final Four last week in Berlin, the co-owner of the Greek club Panathinaikos of Athens created quite a scene. From his seat in the stands near the court, in full view of reporters covering the event, Thanassis Giannakopoulos stood up to criticize the referees for favoring his team's opponent, the defending Euroleague champion CSKA Moscow. As the Russians charged back to within one point in the final minute, Giannakopoulos began throwing paper money toward the court, in apparent demonstration of his belief that the referees had been bribed.

He then turned to heckle Euroleague CEO Jordi Bertomeu, throwing money his way as well. To add comedy to the incident, Giannakopoulos' bodyguard scrambled to pick up the boss' money as it was being tossed.

After the game, the enraged Giannakopoulos grabbed a referee so strongly as to leave bruises on his arm. He did this even as his team was celebrating its victory -- Panathinaikos having held on to win 73-71 to conclude one of the great Finals Fours in European history.

Reports say Giannakopoulos is expected to receive an enormous fine by Euroleague standards, perhaps $136,000 or more. This is nowhere near the $1 million penalty issued by the NBA a few years ago to Mark Cuban, who never committed any violation so disgraceful as that by Giannakopoulos, who has since given an interview expressing regret for his temper.

Team officials like Giannakopoulos fail to realize the damage they do to the larger business of basketball in Europe.

On the other hand, the NBA could use some of his passion. For all of the outrage over suspensions and officiating in the NBA playoffs, the post-Donaghy world thus far has been much-ado-about-little and, compared to the goings-on in other parts of the world, rather dull.