Artest suspended For the Season, Jackson 30 Games, JO 25 Games, Wallace 6 games

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting iamme:</div><div class="quote_post">why punish the entire Pacers organization? because Artest is part of that organization. how do you punish Artest and not the organization?</div>

Read what I said. Instead of taking Artest out of action the entire season and playoffs, suspend him for 40 regular season games this year and 40 regular season games next year. So you can at least allow the Pacers to recover in mid-season and give the fans some hope of playoff sucess. You can also ban him from winning any league honors like All-star team, All-NBA teams, all-defense teams, defensive player of the year, MVP, etc. But instead, this punishment is indirectly punishing Indiana fans and rewarding Detroit fans, which is ridiculously unfair.

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">i won't even comment on the "last year" comments. :shakehead</div>

Last year Indiana's best player was injured. Indiana, at full health, was probably a better team. I'd say the same thing this year. Sorry, but that's my honest opinion. It's just a shame that we can't see an Indiana-Detroit playoff series where both teams are at full strength.

 

this is too harsh but there no excuse to go into the stands

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting durvasa:</div><div class="quote_post">Read what I said. Instead of taking Artest out of action the entire season and playoffs, suspend him for 40 regular season games this year and 40 regular season games next year. So you can at least allow the Pacers to recover in mid-season and give the fans some hope of playoff sucess. You can also ban him from winning any league honors like All-star team, All-NBA teams, all-defense teams, defensive player of the year, MVP, etc. But instead, this punishment is indirectly punishing Indiana fans and rewarding Detroit fans, which is ridiculously unfair.
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why accomodate him? why dumb down the punishment? Artest = Pacers organization. they are one and the same. Artest is a part of the Pacers organization. The Pacers enjoy his accomplishments as well as his failures.

Artest did something that is unprecidented in the NBA. Stern's punishment was very harsh. however, i think he's made his point.

Artest is lucky he's still in the NBA, imo.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting durvasa:</div><div class="quote_post">Last year Indiana's best player was injured. Indiana, at full health, was probably a better team. I'd say the same thing this year. Sorry, but that's my honest opinion. It's just a shame that we can't see an Indiana-Detroit playoff series where both teams are at full strength.</div>

It's a shame you fail to realise that Sheed, Chauncey Billups and big Ben were all injured at that same time. They battled through the pain and got on with it. The better team always wins in a best of 7 series, and that was what happened..the better team won even though Indiana had homecourt they couldn't get the job done.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting AllNet:</div><div class="quote_post">It's a shame you fail to realise that Sheed, Chauncey Billups and big Ben were all injured at that same time. They battled through the pain and got on with it. The better team always wins in a best of 7 series, and that was what happened..the better team won even though Indiana had homecourt they couldn't get the job done.</div>

The better team does not always win in a best of 7 series, if one of the teams has a serious injury, or their key players are forced not to play.

What were their injuries, and how did it compare to the injuries the Pacers had? Anyways injuries are part of the game; I never held a grudge against Detroit for their success last year. But after what has happened, and the raw deal Pacer fans are getting, I'm starting to sympathize a bit more with their problems compared to the Pistons.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting durvasa:</div><div class="quote_post">The better team does not always win in a best of 7 series, if one of the teams has a serious injury, or their key players are forced not to play.

What were their injuries, and how did it compare to the injuries the Pacers had? Anyways injuries are part of the game; I never held a grudge against Detroit for their success last year. But after what has happened, and the raw deal Pacer fans are getting, I'm starting to sympathize a bit more with their problems compared to the Pistons.</div>

Rasheed couldn't jump, I can't remember the condition but his left foot was giving him alot of pain and couldn't get much arc on his shot, Billups had a serious ankle injury which he suffered near the end of the season which kept getting worse. Ben's back was giving him trouble, meaning he wasn't as effective on defense as he would normally be.

If you can find me a series where the best team didn't win in a best of 7 series from the past few seasons, be my guess. The Pistons had the best record after Sheed arrived and went into the playoffs the hottest team. Indiana had the best record but Sheed didn't arrive til february. Had he been in Detroit from the start, the Pistons would of likely had the best record and 60+ wins. So I don't buy that the Pacers were the better team last season, If they were they would of proved It.

anyways back to the suspensions.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting 44Thrilla:</div><div class="quote_post">Wow, come on Henacy, you're taking this way out of context. Think of what these guys did. Sure, everything was out of control, but there is no excuse for how far Artest crossed the line. He had beer thrown at him, you can't justify his reaction based on that. I, like Artest, am not a level headed individual, but if I ever crossed the line like that I would expect a similar punishment.

I think that the fans involved will get whats coming to them. I don't think the league is sending any kind of bad message here. The NBA dosen't have control of its fans like it does its players, so yes, the players were the first to suffer.</div>

I dont think Iam taking it out of context at all, you dont think their are some fanatics in the sports word that will take a punch for their favorite team, if they knew it could get a teams best or 2nd best player suspended for the season. And eliminate their biggest competion. I think there are alot of crazy fans out their that would view something like the Stern ruling as an acceptance of such wild behavior by fans.

The Pistons' fans got a reward for their negative actions. And when ever you send that type of message, it can never be positve.

And everybody that says well, they still got to deal with Miami.hmm...as solid as Miami is they are still a bit off from playing at a Pistons/Pacers level because while the Heat got alot when they gained Shaq, you can still see they are missing a few parts from them becoming an elite team. Iam not for sure if they will get those parts by the playoffs.

 

i think the suspensions are way harsh. Basically they're rewarding the Detroit Pistons fans by taking the Pacers out of the rest of the season. They'll be hard pressed to make the playoffs with those 3 gone for 25 and 30 games!!!!
So to those fvcking fans that were involved...congratulations....David Stern just handed you an Eastern Conference Title.

Ben wallace started the whole thing and he only gets 6 games!

ridiculous


PS - i hate Detroit so i guess i am now going to get Ben Wallace and Hamilton to flip out and punch me.......thus giving my Raps a better chance at winning the title. ok maybe i go to far.....but the PACERS ARE NOW SCREWED!

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Jurassic:</div><div class="quote_post">You are naive and ignorant. He had a point, it actually has quite a bit to do with race and if you took your shades off you'd realize that the whole thing might not have happened if it wasn't for some of the things that fans were (allegedly) yelling.

It never ceases to amaze me how certain people think that race plays no role in anything .

I was watching a replay of the fight in the lobby of my dorms, and everyone was acting all crazy simply because they players were black. Trying to talk in ebonics saying crap like "Oh snap son! Homey got punked, Thug life!!!!" For you to automatically assume that there is no validity to the racial issues shows that you are oblivious to world issues.</div>



WHATEVER!!!!
i hate when people do this crap. Its not race.....the Pistons fans were and still are being referred to as THUGS...did you see the fans involved...how many were black.....not many...and not the main ones. Dont yell out discrimination over the smallest things that are totally ridicoulous to begin with.

 

Dumbass Artest finally got what he deserved. I was hoping he gets kicked out.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Ancientmtk:</div><div class="quote_post">Dumbass Artest finally got what he deserved. I was hoping he gets kicked out.</div>

You, sir, <font color="Red">EDIT.</font>

<font color="Red">Watch your language, please read the guidelines.

AllNet</font>

 

^ indeed

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting SupraJames:</div><div class="quote_post">You, sir, are a moron.</div>

:thumbsup:

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting yanix:</div><div class="quote_post">the proper authorities should have taken care of the situation before things got out of hand. that fan shouldnt have been allowed to throw the cup at the first place.</div>

lol what? How are the aurhorities supposed to know when someone is going to throw a cup? They aren't exactly mind readers! unless you are saying that the perhaps if the fans were yelling obsenities that he should have been escorted out. I agree with that.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting 02civic:</div><div class="quote_post">i think the suspensions are way harsh. Basically they're rewarding the Detroit Pistons fans by taking the Pacers out of the rest of the season. They'll be hard pressed to make the playoffs with those 3 gone for 25 and 30 games!!!!
So to those fvcking fans that were involved...congratulations....David Stern just handed you an Eastern Conference Title.

Ben wallace started the whole thing and he only gets 6 games!

ridiculous


PS - i hate Detroit so i guess i am now going to get Ben Wallace and Hamilton to flip out and punch me.......thus giving my Raps a better chance at winning the title. ok maybe i go to far.....but the PACERS ARE NOW SCREWED!</div>

A few thoughts. Ben Wallace may have been the instigator to this whole thing, but that's all he did. After shoving Artest and talking some smack, he did nothing else. I didn't see him walking to the stands leveling someone cause he threw a cup, of all things, at you. What Ron Artest did was beyond the realms of unprofessional. He's getting paid millions of dollars to play the game and keep his temper in check. If he can't keep his temper in check, go play hockey or football, a sport where you can't get penalized for it. But, he doesn't play either, he's a basketball player. In this sport, you need to keep the emotions in. You can't just go pegging someone cause he threw a cup at you. Sure, what the fan did was wrong, but what Artest did was worse. Artest got what he deserved. By no means do you go hit numerous fans, by no means. I believe O' Neal and Jackson also got what they deserved, as they were also part of this brawl, just not doing to the extent of what Artest did. The Pacers got fair punishment. I don't see how you can argue against what they did.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting shapecity:</div><div class="quote_post">Easily. There was 46 seconds left in the game. As soon as the fight broke out security should have surrounded the arena floor the same way they do when a game normally ends. They become a barrier between the fans and the players and react immediately to any trouble makers. It's standard procedure, but in this case the security was very unorganized and late to respond to the situation. Running out onto the court armed with mace once the melee was already over with was a clear example of how ineffective this group of security personnel was.</div>

Not that there wasn't enough security at the game. Though, they were very unorganized it seemed. Immediatley the security should have escorted All of the players out of arena and into the lockers. A lot of security for Arenas is off duty Police Officers. That's what we do in Chicago here.

The fans deserved nothing less then a beat down by security. And believe me, they would have got it. I was at a White Sox game this year and there was around 8 fights in all. I saw "fans" getting slammed against fences by security. Security pushing fighters down the stairs. It was rough. Though I don't know if how Chicago Police officers handle things translate in to how Detoit handles things.

 

Artest should have gotten 30 games max
O'neal and Jackson's suspension should have be around 15
Wallace started the whole thing and threw a towel at Artest which probably encouraged the fan to throw his drink at Ron-Ron
he deserves 15-20

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting The_Legend_23:</div><div class="quote_post">Artest should have gotten 30 games max
O'neal and Jackson's suspension should have be around 15
Wallace started the whole thing and threw a towel at Artest which probably encouraged the fan to throw his drink at Ron-Ron
he deserves 15-20</div>
WHAT!! I'm just going to assume pacers fan that also hates Ben Wallace, because he deserved nothing of the sort, and Stephen Jackson shouldnt have been around 15, more like the justly 30 because he went into the stands and beat on more than one fan...Jermaine beat on a fan on the floor and went into the stands but barely so i think maybe 25 was a little bit sharp maybe 20

 

Maybe Artest got a harsh punishment,maybe he didn't.

However,what's done is done and not one of us can do anything about it.Like I Said before Artest and Wallace and the others are not the ones who are to be blamed,the Fans have to be held accountable too,and nobody here or there who was involved within the ruccus is no angel in the matter.all of these factors played in it,and that what we had here...total kaos.

The punishment is going to be debated,but if you can't do anything about,Don't worry about it.