What do they do with Rajon Rondo after this? The shot he took at Miller doesn't warrant a suspension, but it did warrant a flagrant, as he just took a shot at Miller's face, with the ball 3 feet away, so it was in no way a play on the ball. Do you suspend him to make up for the ref's mistakes? And Vinny should have taken Miller out, and put Tyrus Thomas at the line.
Rondo was scrambling to get into the play so that Miller wouldn't get a layup. He took a swipe and just happened to hit his face. It all went down way too fast to be intentional.
I don't fault the refs. Gordon may have had his foot on the OB line when he was fouled for those 3 FTA. Refs weren't going to let an over the top call affect the game. They fouled out Ray Allen, too. Brad Miller deserved better. He seems like a really good guy, and that missed FTA is something he's going to remember for the rest of his life. He probably should have been in sooner; he didn't get to work up a sweat.
You know what, Miller was hit in the head hard. The rules say that is a flagrant foul. I'll be pissed if he doesn't at least get fined. He should get suspended. If Miller had pulled a Big Baby and flopped a little more it would have been a flagrant.
I don't think you can do that. If Miller had to leave due to injury, the C's get to pick who takes the FT's.
Should have been a flagrant still. Still, props to Boston. Paul Pierce matching Gordon's potential game winner in regulation and then hitting what ended up being the game winner in overtime. Brad Miller with the triple sucktitude. First not finishing the layup. Then missing the first free throw. And then not hitting the rim on the intentional miss. Hopefully the Bulls just blow out the Celtics in game 6. I'm not sure I can take another one of these close ones (and definitely couldn't take a Boston blowout). Regardless of the winner (I had Boston in 7 before the series, and after they took this game, I think that will probably be the outcome), it's hard not to be happy from this series just from a pure basketball entertainment standpoint. 4 out of the 5 games have been great. Ben Gordon might be arriving as a star in the NBA this series. He's averaging somewhere around 25 points a game, has hit clutch shot after clutch shot. I think mission accomplished with that series, and that is, that Gordon has played so well, that there is no way the Bulls let him walk. It would be a PR disaster, letting a guy averaging ~25 PPG in a series, especially in the manner with pure clutchness, and a big game with a torn hamstring.... And Rajon Rondo, damn. Kid is so good. It's not like game 1, 2, 3 or whatever, in where Rondo was just abusing Rose, one of the worst defenders in the league. This game, the Bulls met Rondo with a double with a big, and Rondo still abused the Bulls. Major props to him.
Oh, and after Brad got a tooth knocked out (I can only imagine how much that hurts), Vinny should have put in Tyrus Thomas. I know that's putting Thomas in a tough spot, as he would get all sorts of hate if he missed one or two, but he's a near ~80% free throw shooter, who doesn't shy away from big moments, and it would have been the right basketball move to make.
Brad Miller's just been terrible this series. But then again, Tyrus Thomas has been pretty bad too. Noah at center and John Salmons at power forward seemed to be our best lineup...which is sad. At least we know we have a keeper in Noah. But the one way for Brad Miller to get everyone to forget about this? Win the next two games, then no one will care. No one would give a damn about Steve Bartman if the Cubs had still won the game, or the series.
I thought they changed the rule this year, from that you could only do that on a flagrant, to any foul where the injury is too bad...but you just can't bring that player back into the game after doing it.
[video=youtube;5TzGrzs7-AI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TzGrzs7-AI[/video] Rondo should be suspended. He didn't make any play on the ball, and just took a shot at Miller's face.
If the refs called that properly, Ben Gordon is at the line for 2 free throws, and Bulls get the ball back. Ben Gordon likely would have hit both free throws, and the Bulls either win or it goes into double overtime. Because of the blatant affect on the outcome of the game, Rondo should be suspended, for what should have been a Flagrant 2.
In the end, I think it was a flagrant, but I think BG stepped out too. So that's a push. Kind of like Vinnie's coaching. I was surprised and delighted with the final inbounds play that sprung Miller. I absolutely did not expect them to break form and go away from Ben or Derrick. Yet... boy, is there any doubt Tyrus or Noah would have jammed that puppy home? Brad is just S-L-O-W and that killed. And, um... Pierce was the only guy left at the end and we persisted in allowing him oa one-on-one showdown against Salmons after we'd done a nice job of trapping him in the first half. What the hell.
The video evidence was inconclusive as to whether Gordon stepped out...and the refs can't go back and check that on video on anyhow. They can go back and change the call based on video replay for a foul though, and they even looked at it on video, and still made the wrong call. That's going to be some bad ref scores for this crew for blowing that call.
