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Just thinking about the physicality of this years playoffs and how some people are so quick to call for flagrant fouls, ejections and suspensions...
Forget what the NBA has defined (or failed to define in most cases) as a foul, I found this article and pretty much agree with the author.
Forget what the NBA has defined (or failed to define in most cases) as a foul, I found this article and pretty much agree with the author.
Anytime on the basketball court - and I mean anytime - if you take your elbow and you intentionally throw it at a guy's face, his head, his jaw, or his neck, it is a cheap, punk, bush league, dirty, gutless play. It is no different than sucker punching a man in his face.
You steal a guy in his face with your elbow or you sneak somebody with a shot to the jaw? You are a punk and a dirty player. Maybe not all the time, but at that particular moment, you are.
Why? Because he doesn't expect it, and he is defenseless. You will shatter teeth, break jaws, and give concussions. You deliver that on the basketball court, and you are a punk. Period.
Dwight Howard's elbow to Dalembert's head? Dirty. Kobe's elbow at Ron Artest? Dirty. Doesn't matter if it wasn't called or not. A blow toward his face, toward his head, whether it lands or not, is a punk play.
Derek Fisher's? Whole different situation. Yes, he threw it high, but it was more a hard body shot. He saw the bigger Scola coming, loaded up and fired. Intentional? Absolutely. Ejection and suspension? More than fair. Dirty cheap shot? Not quite the same. He was sending a message for sure, but got a little over aggressive.
How about Rafer Alston's slap on Eddie House's head? Another completely separate issue. Eddie House talks too much trash - too loud, too profane, too much body language. The NBA let's way too much of this go on. There is a line that players understand exists between competitiveness and disrespect. City or suburbs, white or black, there is an acceptable level of talk that is allowed - at the park, in the gym, in any basketball environment. When someone goes beyond that, someone will take issue.
That's what Skip did. He smacked House in his head to get his attention - letting him know he had gone too far. Alston was ready to square off if that's what it took. Was that a smart play in an NBA playoff game? Absolutely not. Was a suspension warranted? Certainly. No place for that in the NBA.
But at the park? That's at least a ball thrown in your face, if not a fight. You're running your mouth too much and you deserved it - what are you gonna do? Settle it and check ball.
Rondo's hit to the head on Brad Miller? Another separate issue. It was a desperate play to try to win the game. It should have been a flagrant foul and Chicago should have gotten the ball back after the free throws. You could make an argument for a suspension; yes, it was to the head. But, in this case, I don't agree. Short of undercutting a player while he is in the air, I would try to hit Miller wherever I could to keep him from scoring. And, I could accept that as the player taking the hit - I get it. If he rears back and throws a punch? Again, that's a different story.
I know this: someone on my team better knock Rondo on his back on his next drive to the basket. Rondo should expect it. And accept it. That's what players do.
Rondo's play on Kirk Hinrich was a different situation all together. Hinrich was making a basketball play, Rondo didn't like getting boxed out, so he grabbed Hinrich and threw him into the scorer's table. Hinrich got him frustrated and got in his head. That's the ultimate as a player - when you can make a guy lose it like that and make him do something stupid. You own him. It should have been a flagrant. No ejection. Right call. Hinrich should have been clapping his hands and laughing all the way to the foul line.
For everyone who has played, I think these distinctions are pretty clear. And in my opinion, the NBA got most of the calls, penalties and suspensions of the last few weeks correct. I think the league has gotten it right.
Thoughts?