Holy shit! I youtube'd Z-Bo punch. I was surprised at the long list of people he's sucker punched throughout the league. Also, I came across this video: [video=youtube;BtbUbORf4UQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtbUbORf4UQ[/video] Makes me respect Barnes for not even flinching and just smiling as Z-Bo charged him.
Dumb, but compared to some of the things Howard gets away with it was hardly suspension worthy. As Mo Lucas liked to point out, this sort of thing used to be a $50 fine.
The only thing dumber than Zach Randolph are the apologists that continue to defend this moron. The guy is a 13-year veteran and his team's leading scorer and rebounder and he let a rookie who had scored a total of 2 points in the entire series get under his skin? Seriously, he threw away the entire season for his team, his franchise and the city of Memphis all so he could take a swing at Steven Adams in the 4th quarter of a 20 point blowout? What a fucking idiot. And, I REALLY don't get why anyone in this forum is: a) surprised by this b) is defending this idiot Some people here act like the guy is an all-time Blazers great. He's not. During his 6 seasons in Portland, he won a total of 3 playoff games and never advanced past the first round. His best season as a Blazer, by far, was 2006-07 when he put up a PER = 22.8, 23.9ppg and 10.2 rpg for a Blazers team that won 32 games and finished 12th in the Western Conference. The year before that, he led his team to 21 wins, the year before that 27 wins. In Zach's entire time in Portland, he never started for a team that had a winning record. With Randolph as a starter, the Blazers were 105-161 during his time in Portland. Many of Randolph's biggest supporters are LaMarcus Aldridge's biggest critics. Aldridge put up comparable numbers (PER = 21.8, 23.3ppg, 11.1rpg) on a 54-win team that just advanced to the second round. Through 6 games, Aldridge was the leading scorer among all playoff teams. He has a playoff PER = 28.0, with 29.8ppg and 11.2 rpg. And, he managed to do all that without getting himself suspended for punching a no-name rookie. If Damian Lillard would have missed that shot last night, Aldridge would be ready to lead his team into Houston for Game 7, not watching his team's season go up in smoke from the sidelines. Randolph is a loser and a fool. Always has been, always will be. The guy has talent. No doubt about it. If he only had a brain... BNM
It's an old joke. The line was "Come to the Dark Side, we have cookies." His line is, "welcome to the Dark Side, we lied about the cookies."
I am not defending Randolph, and I'm not sure anyone is. But DHo did stuff that should have gotten him suspend. Then, DHo did it again. The league response: Bad call on Howard's last foul. Randolph pushed a guy, but he did it with a closed fist. He gets suspended. Anyone who can square these facts without suggesting bias is full of shit, period. I have no idea nor do I care if you're in this camp. However, it sucks.
It boils down to this: The NBA wants the Thunder and the Pacers in the second round. Randolph got a suspension. George did not. It's that simple.
It's simple. Randolph made a violent move that was not couched in a basketball move. Howard made a violent move but was smart enough to do it via exaggerated defensive moves, making it not as obvious that he was trying to swing and connect. Also, and this is important, face vs gut. I'm not saying Howard isn't a ass and that he didn't intend to hurt RoLo, just that he was smart enough to not swing at robins face with a closed fist.
Markets? No. Superstars? Yes. It was Kevin Durant and Paul George moving on, not OKC and Indiana. The NBA isn't about teams anymore. Its about stars, and they dammed sure weren't about to see the new MVP bounced in the first round.
The rule and the precident is clear. Contact above the shoulders with a closed fist is a suspension. There is no ambiguity. The is no gray area. Closed fist above the shoulders = suspension. Randolph has been around long enough to know this, but he still chose to risk his teams' entire season by punching a rookie with 6:42 left in a 20 point blowout. Stupid is as stupid does. His action is indefensible. If I was his teammate, his coach, his GM, his owner, or a fan of his team, I'd be pissed as hell at Randolph and want him gone. BNM
Paul George left the bench and stepped on the court during a scuffle. The rule is clear. There is no ambiguity. There is no gray area. He was not suspended though.
Wrong! You may want to actually read the rule before making such blanket statements: “During an altercation, all players not participating in the game must remain in the immediate vicinity of their bench. Violators will be suspended, without pay, for a minimum of one game and fined up to $50,000.” It doesn't say anything about setting foot on the court. Players step over the sideline all the time and don't get suspended for it. George stepped on the court, but thanks to Popeye Jones, never left the vicinity of the Pacers' bench. He was never more than 3-feet from the Pacers' bench and his actions did nothing to escalate the altercation - which is why the rule exists. He violated neither the intent nor the letter of the rule. The NBA was correct in their decision not to suspend him and it wasn't even close. I wanted Indiana to lose too, but suspending George would have been completely unwarranted. He didn't break the rule, he didn't participate in an altercation, he didn't throw a punch and he never left the vicinity of the Pacers' bench. BNM
Actually there is plenty of ambiguity there. The guidelines don't state that a player can't step on the court, they state they can't leave the bench area. But that area is never defined. Edit: boob beat me to it.
It is my not-so-subtle reference to the bait-and-switch nature of this season. In the end, I guess they really did serve up the cookies!
When Stu Jackson was in charge of discipline it was treated as a zero tolerance rule. Now it has been creatively re-interpreted.
Define "essentially the same". "Jackson added that Stoudemire and Diaw, in the league's estimation, were "about 20 to 25 feet away from their seats" and headed "towards the altercation" before Suns assistant coaches scrambled them back to the bench." 20-25 feet is NOT "in the immediate vicinity of the bench". Paul George was never more than 3 feet from the Pacers' bench. That's a big difference. He stood up and took one step forward. Stoudemire and Diaw rushed the court in an aggressive manner. Stoudemire even admitted it: "I admit I stepped on the court, and that I should have had some more restraint, but Tim Duncan did the same thing but just not in such an aggressive manner." BNM
