Blazers' Gerald Henderson on Warriors' Anderson Varejao: 'He tripped me on purpose'

Thank you for your insight.

 

Makes me real curious what Monty McCutchen saw/heard. He's usually pretty lenient and gives guys a lot of rope before hanging themselves and getting a T or ejected. He's not exactly Jake O'Donnell when it comes to giving players the quick heave ho.

BNM

 

My recollection of the incident, Henderson approaches AV - BUT it was AV that initiated the actual chest bump.

 

Leaving the bench area during a fight is.

 

No such luck. Varejao is a well trained goon. He knows better. He didn't leave the bench. Henderson was in the game, in the corner right in front of GSW's bench. Varejao was sitting on the bench heckling him. Henderson responded and BAM double technicals, both players ejected.

BNM

 

Seen it a million times. Even with the foul call Hendo would respond the same way.

 

Exactly. It's the playoffs. Give them one final warning before you throw them out

 

Monty is one of the best. My take is there would have to be a lot that was said to warrant an ejection. Knowing those techs DQ the player for the game should be on the forefront of the referee's mind. I wonder what was said. If it was a threat... All bets are off.

 

If the refs would have seen and called the trip on Varejao, based on Henderson's reaction, would that be a foul they would review as a possible Flagrant 1? Again, Varejao is a crafty vet. Most flagrant fouls are up high - a blow to the head, an elbow, etc. But, in watching the replay, it's very obvious Varejao intentionally swept Henderson's legs out from under him. Just because it wasn't up high, I don't think that disqualifies it from being unnecessary contact. Varejao clearly wasn't making a basketball play. It was a deliberate and intentional act, but I know that rule is open to interpretation. What's your interpretation in this instance?

BNM

 

Yep, that's what I was thinking. If they're just jawing and trash talking, no big deal. But, if there is a threat, then it crosses a line and needs to be shut down.

BNM

 

If Dame or Davis had landed on Gerald and turned an ankle, we would be calling for Varejao's head.

 

Varajao stood up, leaned toward Henderson on the sideline, said something, then sat down. Henderson responded, the ref on the other side of the court T'd them up and threw them out.

 

The penalty is the same. I think calling it a technical foul is better than F-1 because it sends more of a "stop this shit now" message. But IMO there should be no such thing as a Flagrant 1 anyway.

 

Stotts addressed the Henderson/Varajao dust-up today:

"Varejao made a dirty play," Stotts said. "It was a leg whip and I thought it was a dangerous play. I thought Gerald's reaction to being tripped like that was appropriate, otherwise no one would've seen it. So, it was unfortunate that he got tossed on the second [set of double technical fouls], but you have to defend yourself, especially when somebody makes a dirty play."

http://espn.go.com/nba/team/_/name/por/portland-trail-blazers

Nice job by Stotts to stand up for his player. I suppose the league will feel the need to fine him for it, but Stotts is right on this one.

 

Just FYI, the official who threw them out was on the opposite sideline. Hendo said there was no way he could have heard it, and Hendo doesn't even remember what he and flopper were saying.

 

I love having a coach who has the balls to publicly use the word "dirty." I know everyone knows this, but a leg whip is a foul (penalty) in the NFL, for crying out loud.

 

Don't you guys remember the discussion from the "hack-a-Jordan" thread?

Several people sternly informed me that a foul is NOT a violation of the rules. And please - don't embarrass yourselves trying to argue "that's different!" The Brazilian wax job was quite prepared to get caught and pay the penalty established by the rules - just like the players involved in "hack-a-whoever."

They need to establish stronger penalties for ALL intentional fouls.

 

When I was a kid a friends mom fell, hit her head, and died. What Varajao did was dangerous and he should have been ejected right then and there. I am 100% confident that if a Blazer had done that, followed by the chest bump, he would have been tossed. Thank god we don't have players like Varajao on our team.