<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Two steps onto the court might cost Nets forward Richard Jefferson one game in the first-round series against the Knicks. An NBA spokesman said the league would review a second-quarter incident when television replays showed Jefferson leaving the Nets bench area during an altercation between teammate Jason Kidd and Knicks guard Frank Williams. League rules state any player who leaves the bench during an altercation is subject to a fine or suspension. The rules leave the definition of "altercation" up to NBA vice president Stu Jackson, who handles all disciplinary action. It is a rule the Knicks know well. In a 1997 playoff series against the Miami Heat, four players -- including center Patrick Ewing -- were suspended one game each for leaving the bench during a fight between P.J. Brown and Charlie Ward. "Stu will review it," spokesman Tim Frank said last night. "If he determines it was an altercation, he can suspend (Jefferson)."</div> Full Story By STEVE POLITI
Richard Jefferson is one of the key factors in this series VS the knicks. If RJ is out one game i can gaurantee it will be a win for the Knicks or atleast an OT. RJ out will lead to bad things for the nets.
It's a good thing K-Mart and Kidd are still alright, but yeah, they're gonna need him if they're gonna stand a chance against anybody. It's not complete without him, his offense is killer, plus next year he's going to break out even more. The Nets won't be easy pickings for the Knicks but they'll definitely be losing one of their speedy workhorses.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting PS11:</div><div class="quote_post">Richard Jefferson is one of the key factors in this series VS the knicks. If RJ is out one game i can gaurantee it will be a win for the Knicks or atleast an OT. RJ out will lead to bad things for the nets.</div> False. As long as the Nets have Kidd, they can win it all. The Nets have made it to the Finals the last two years with less talent than they've had this year. If you take Jefferson out, sure you are taking out a large part of their team. However, you're not taking away a player that can determine the outcome of the game like Jason Kidd can. Alan Houston is a HUGE loss; Richard Jefferson is just a minor loss when you have Kidd running the point. Anyway, I think the suspension is crazy. Was Ron Artest suspended for leaving the bench in the Celtics/Pacers series? If anyone should be suspended, it should be Frank Williams. He got mad at Kidd, so he maliciously pushed him to the ground. If I were Jefferson, I would have done more than leave the bench. I would have knocked Williams on his ass. I used to respect Williams; I was almost a fan of his, because he went to a Big Ten school. That respect and admiration is now all gone.
They said today that RJ wont be suspended. But he would be a HUGE loss imo. He is the Nets best player off the dribble in the Half-court set. When our fastbreak game slows down, we can give RJ the ball in isoliations. And he can get to the hoop to score or draw the foul. Tim Thomas cant guard him off the dribble, so Thomas is going to be in foul trouble alot. Which will limit Thomas offensive #'s. So not only will RJ pentration give us points but it will also limit what the knicks can do on the offensive end, If one of their top offensive players is in continous foul trouble. Thats if TT plays the rest of the series from what I hear he questionable for tuesday & the rest of the series.
Richard Jefferson is a vital part of the Nets team if they are to beat the Knicks. In the last game, he got 21 points and got Tim Thomas 5 fouls in 22 minutes. He's been playing very well recently, and the Nets would find it difficult without him.
This could really hurt the Nets. He is so key to their break and came up big for them in game 1. Tim Thomas looks like he will also miss game 2 so this might just balance out.
If they suspended RJ for takin to steps on the court then Ron Artest should be suspended for a few games.
Once again the NBA dropped the ball. Instead of doing what's right in both the RJ situation and with Artest, they've cow-towed and contradicted themselves once again. Last I checked, this was a ZERO-TOLERANCE rule. Playoffs or not, rules have to be evenly enforced or it sets a bad precident. Suspending either of these players will likely not affect either series, as the Nets and Pacers are both heavy favorites to advance. Instead, the NBA is using "special circumstance" to dictate policy and that's just not cool in my book.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The question for NBA vice president of basketball operations Stu Jackson then became, was it really an altercation? Jackson decided it wasn't.</div> I don't think the NBA would decide this issue due to "special circumstances". Heck, they could've just suspended Jefferson to make the series more equal than it is right now. That would do the NBA good. It will be a closer game without Jefferson but still, Nets will win it without him.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">I don't think the NBA would decide this issue due to "special circumstances"</div> I disagree, but you already know that. If this was the regular season, the league wouldn't have thought twice about suspending either of these guys, particularly Artest, who has a history of disciplinary action against him. They would have suspended them on principle, to reinforce the fact that this rule needs to be enforced and to send a message to other players. Because it's the Playoffs, they are indeed being treated with "special circumstances", IMO. By not punishing these players, the league has indicated that when it comes to the playoffs, players no longer have to be responsible for thier own actions, because "the Playoffs" will protect them from the consequences of thier actions. It sets a bad precident, but I won't belabor the point any longer. Thanks for your thoughts.
rj basically just stood up with is toes on the court. artest actually ran 1/4 down the floor till he turned back. there was no way in hell rj would get suspended b/c all he did was stand up. he didnt make a movement like he was going on the court into the altercation that was taking place. artest jogged on the court. if they suspended rj, they would be nit-picking. you can have a stronger case against artest. but even if both those guys were suspended for 1-2games or whatever it would be, both teams would respectivly win the series anyway. i hope isiah doesn't start crying over this trying to get an edge for his team, but they already have reguarding the jc hard foul. UPDATE: Ron Artest has been suspended for Game Two for running onto the court. I heard it on Mike and the Mad Dog and saw it on the bottom of ESPNEWS. not really a shocker to me because he did run/jog onto the court, unlike rj.
They said that there was no altercation, so there's no special circumstances to even start with. Besides, he just took a couple of steps to see what's happening. It's human nature. You see something going on, you go take a better look. It's not as if he's going to walk to the court and stop/fight them.
Jefferson didnt get suspended because there was no altercation. If kidd would have taken steps toward Williams after Williams pushed him. And Jefferson step on the court then that could be viewed as an altercation. And Jefferson would have been suspended. I dont think the NBA had different rules for this situation because its the playoffs. If they did then Patrick Ewing wouldnt have been suspended when he left the bench to breakup a Knicks/Heat brawl. Pat Ewing was suspended for a game 7. And that might have cost the knicks a chance at a championship. If the NBA had special circumstances for this rule when it comes to playoffs. They mos def wouldnt have suspended the Knicks best player in the East semi, knowing that the next round the Knicks would have faced the Bulls. Which would have generated top notch ratings.
