Odom may not be suspended since he never went onto the court. He was still out of bounds when he took a few steps off the bench. Lakers play Houston next, we need Houston to lose. Dont suspend Odom!
Honestly have you seen how much of a dipwit Odom is? If you want Lakers to win.. suspend Odom. Guy takes more away from them than he adds about 3/4 of the time.
not surprised, to me Ariza went for the ball. refs did the right thing to eject him though as they could argue at the time it seemed like a flagrant II...the building would have been a madhouse had he not gotten ejected. the bynum shot to crash was more intentful IMO and he didn't get suspended i think.
Agree 100% I dont think Ariza intended to hurt Rudy at all.. but it was about keeping order.. the teams would have come together again I think they didnt take control of the game.
Regardless of if you are "make an aggressive play for the ball" if you put a guy on a stretcher you deserve to go take an early shower.
He was nowhere near the ball, unless he thought that (A) Rudy shoots the ball with his head, or (B) Rudy doesn't have a head. Typical Laker-loving by the NBA. Of well, Ariza's still a douche.
It's funny. We get all bent out of shape when basketball players fight, yet everyone's cheering and high-fivin' rooting players on in a hockey brawl
To be fair, Odom was actually playing peace-maker when he did get involved, so I don't really see the need for a suspension in his case. BTW, did anyone see Kurt Rambis throw one of the ball boys out of the way to get into the melee? Literally picked him up and tossed him.
I am pretty sure I saw Odom in Roy's face in the highlights.. I could be wrong though, but I thought thats what I saw.
Michael Ruffin would be a hero in Portland had he left the bench, ran across the court, and clocked DB Ariza one-on-one. Nobody in hockey cheers cheap shots, just like, with the apparent exception of Laker fans and their forum poll condoning the foul, fans in the NBA don't cheer cheapshots either.
To be fair, Odom must be teaching Ariza how to be a douche bag. <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Q4ZN2KOaN30&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Q4ZN2KOaN30&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
I don't think thats true. I saw a kid once get blocked and when he landed he snapped his Tibia and Fibula in his leg, and had a compound fracture. All the other kid do was just block his shot. There are exceptions.
Wasn't talking about the cheap shots. I'm talking about the fighting stigma as a whole. It's just odd. I know I'm comparing apples to oranges in regards to the sports, but the idea that it's okay to do it in hockey, but not in basketball from the fans, press, etc is funny to say the least.
Doesn't matter. I remember a game back in the 90s when Strickland got into a fight with another player, Clyde jumped off the bench to pull Strick back and got suspended. Leave the bench, get suspended. Rule makes no exceptions (unless maybe an exception for a Laker).
Totally irrelevant. The rule on flagrant fouls doesn't consider intent. Ariza committed a reckless, dangerous act that put another player at risk for serious injury. He deserves to be suspended at least one game for his actions - not his intent. This is bullshit. How is this any different than Al Horford taking down TJ Ford from behind last season? It's not. Horford was not trying to injure Ford, he was visibly shaken after the play and truly remorseful (spent several hours atthe hospital at Ford's bedside), but he was still suspended one game. Why? Because he committed a dangerous act that put another player at risk for a serious injury. The fact that Ariza did the same thing (take down a player from behind after he had left his feet) means he should get the same treatment as Horford - one game suspension. BNM
Duncan left the bench and didnt get suspended. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs2007/news/story?id=2872357
