Antoine Walker has been suspended for game 4 at the Celtics. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">INDIANAPOLIS -- Boston forward Antoine Walker was suspended for one game by the NBA on Friday for grabbing a referee during an angry confrontation with Indiana's Jermaine O'Neal.O'Neal was fined $10,000 for his role in the altercation. Walker, who had 14 points and nine rebounds, was ejected following his second technical Thursday night after a hard foul on O'Neal with just over four minutes to go. During the confrontation, Walker grabbed referee Tom Washington by the arm in an attempt to move him out of the way. O'Neal shoved Walker in the chest and grabbed his jersey, but no punches were thrown.</div> source Something tells me this is going to hurt Boston's chances of winning.
Lost series <div class="quote_poster">Quoting JWohl:</div><div class="quote_post">Something tells me this is going to hurt Boston's chances of winning.</div> Do you think? At least the leauge fined O'Neal. I wish Walker hadn't touched the official. The leauge might have let him off with a fine due to the altercation but I knew he was suspended with he touched the Ref. This pretty much ruins the Celtic's chances of winning this series.
^I don't know. I think this might make everyone step up. Remember, Artest and Tinsley aren't playing either.
Yeah <div class="quote_poster">Quoting MrJ:</div><div class="quote_post">^I don't know. I think this might make everyone step up. Remember, Artest and Tinsley aren't playing either.</div> Yeah, I'm hoping that Al Jefferon will step up and play great the next few games. We really need a great effort off the bench. Pierce really needs to have a few great games. Davis also needs to step up and provide instant offense I still have a lot of faith in the Celtics'.
losing Antoine is huge....but hopefully Doc gonna start Kendrick Perkins instead of Mark Blount..cuz the guys sucks....for reall....
Jefferson <div class="quote_poster">Quoting 44Thrilla:</div><div class="quote_post">Sorry! We've played just as well without Walker as we did with him. I couldn't care less.</div> Let's just hope Jefferson has a big game like he did ion Game 1. He needs to play a lot of minutes and be effective in the low post. Another big key for the Celtics' is going to be Tony Allen's play. He needs to be more aggresive on the offensive end and adapt a scoring mentality for the rest of this series. BTW, your sig is awesome 44!
How stupid can you be??? I mean really. You play your ass off for 82 games to get to the playoffs, and you're going to throw it all away to shove Jermaine Oneil. Doc Rivers should of (edit) Walker for being such an idiot. Everyone knows that Jermaine Oneil is a punk, but you can't let him take you out of your game. It's not like they were even going to fight, just your usual NBA shoving match. If he was going to do something he should of done it before everyone came to separate them. Plain Stupidity. Absolutely unacceptable from a veteran who is supposed to be a Captain on this Boston team. <font color="Blue">Edited for vulgarity.</font>
Walker got suspended for making contact with a ref. That's all. Nice rant, but you sort of wasted your time because he wasn't suspended for that. BTW- Toine isn't a team captain. (As far as I know, that is.)
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting 44Thrilla:</div><div class="quote_post">Walker got suspended for making contact with a ref. That's all. Nice rant, but you sort of wasted your time because he wasn't suspended for that. BTW- Toine isn't a team captain. (As far as I know, that is.)</div> The point is that when your team is fighting in the playoffs is not the time to start fighting on an NBA court. I did use some vulgarity but only to accentuate my point. I know I would be steaming mad if Walker was one of my best players getting suspended for such a stupid thing. And even though he might not be the "official" captain of the team he is a leader and should act like one.
Another wonderful double-standard ruling by the league, suspending Walker for his actions in game 3, while ignoring JO's purposeful contact with the referees in game 2. The league should be ashamed of it's referees conduct and decisions during this series. To date, they are a complete joke. When TNT, NBATV and ESPN are all questioning and even making jokes at the way the series is being called, maybe the idiots in the league office should take some notice. Dumb move by 'Toine to get suspended, but worse move by the league to pull the double standard. CONTACT WITH THE OFFICIALS IS CONTACT WITH THE OFFICIALS. CALL IT BOTH WAYS. Regardless, we'll win tonight, which will be good for the team, but likely cause a stem of anti-'Toine sentiment. A win will give some people just the reason they need to think this team is better without 'Toine, which it isn't IMO.
hagrid, yes, making contact with an official is a punishable offence, but Antoine Walker deliberately shoved a refferee out of the way. Jermaine O'Neal simply touched the reff on the arm in a very non-voilent way.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Voodoo Child:</div><div class="quote_post">hagrid, yes, making contact with an official is a punishable offence, but Antoine Walker deliberately shoved a refferee out of the way. Jermaine O'Neal simply touched the reff on the arm in a very non-voilent way.</div> I don't think Walker meant to be violent about it. Someone was holding him back and he was just reaching to the official he was fed up with. I think he knows better than to do it deliberately.
Deliberate or not, literally throwing an official out of the way and getting a one game suspension is lenient to say the least.
You shouldn't touch an official in any way, it's as simple as that. It shouldn't matter if you pushed him or just touched his arm. the refs really don't have to interact with the players that much. They are there to call the game and that is it. Any player should be suspended for touching an official. I disagree with you Voodoo Child. O'Neal grabbed the Ref's arm and that should have also resulted in a suspension. Like I just mentioned, no player should touch any official in any way. Walker isn't stupid enouh to go after a Ref intentionally but none the less he did make contact with him. This suspension might actually help the Celtic's. If we can get a win tonight it will give the team a huge confidence boost and show the Pacers that Boston will not roll over and let them win.
I really don't know how anybody could try to dismiss hagrid's post. A rule is a rule. If you are going to enforce it for one player then enforce it for everybody. Even if you want to look at circumstances, JO's ordeal was worse. JO disagreed with a call that a ref made. His beef was with the official and he acted upon it. He grabbed the ref by the elbow, stopping him in his tracks, so that he could plead his "case". Is that, or is that not, contact with an official? Walker's beef was with JO, who he thought gave a cheapshot to Delonte. The official in question was holding him back from his side. Walker was obviously not focused on that ref, and most likely had no idea that he was even there. He probably just assumed that it was one of his teammates. My favorite thing about the situation was the way Doc reacted. Anybody else agree that, had Doc been the coach of the Pacers, the whole Artest brawl in Detroit wouldn't have happened?
Completly agree <div class="quote_poster">Quoting 44Thrilla:</div><div class="quote_post">My favorite thing about the situation was the way Doc reacted. Anybody else agree that, had Doc been the coach of the Pacers, the whole Artest brawl in Detroit wouldn't have happened?</div> I completly agree. That was one of the first things that I saw when Walker touched te official. Doc was extremelly mad. Rivers is a great coach that won't accept that kind of behavior. IMO, he controls the players on his team as well as any coach in the leauge. If Doc was the coach of the Pacers he would have had Artest calmed down and away from the situation, which would have prevented the brawl from occuring. I completly agree with you.
You Celtics fans have a way of twisting things to suit your case There's just a world of difference between grabbing an arm and effectively shoving a ref. a WORLD. And please, dont get into the whole 12-year-old shouting match about being a Pacers supporter/Boston hater :[ I sympathize with the Reggie nonsense, but this suspension was surprisingly light all things considered. I don't suppose you all recall Tim Duncan 'accidentally' shoving the ref to the floor after a jump-ball, and then getting T'd up and suspended for the next game? I'd say Walker's offense was similar (and in my eyes, since it was after an altercation as opposed to a random act of fate in Duncan's case) and warranted similar punishment..
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting tradebark:</div><div class="quote_post">You Celtics fans have a way of twisting things to suit your case There's just a world of difference between grabbing an arm and effectively shoving a ref. a WORLD. And please, dont get into the whole 12-year-old shouting match about being a Pacers supporter/Boston hater :[ I sympathize with the Reggie nonsense, but this suspension was surprisingly light all things considered. I don't suppose you all recall Tim Duncan 'accidentally' shoving the ref to the floor after a jump-ball, and then getting T'd up and suspended for the next game? I'd say Walker's offense was similar (and in my eyes, since it was after an altercation as opposed to a random act of fate in Duncan's case) and warranted similar punishment..</div> I'd like to tell me one fan base that doesn't twist things to make their case. Hell, all I have to say about that is that Pacers fans actually think that Reggie's game is not only legal, but worth watching. Which it's not, and never has been, and thank GOD he's retiring. And there are a million cases anyone can think of that make both points, so no one's really twisting anything, it's just the way this kind of conversation goes. How about when Magic made his comeback, and in his second game back, he held onto an official's arm, to keep his attention, just like Jermaine in Game 2, and was suspended for three games? It doesn't matter who says what, or this or that about it. We all know that the officiating has been a joke, we all know that NBA refs are the laughingstock of professional officials, where's the argument here. We're all on the same side. If it's not something now, any fan will eventually come up with some instance that made sense now, and didn't make sense then, and won't make sense in another ten years, it's all kind of just a matter of time. And besides, we saw some stellar play out of a driven team, and some REMARKABLE make-up calling in game four, so who's complaining now? In another two days we'll see some other set of bozo officials with a totally different agenda and someone will cross a line somewhere, because it always happens when the C's face the Pacers, and something else stupid is going to happen. Such is the NBA playoffs. May as well get used to it.
