For all intents and purposes it is over. The Jazz just completed the most impressive win of this years playoffs. In one game the Jazz accomplished:
1. A rebound from the game three blowout
2. A win in Golden State where the Warriors are “unbeatableâ€
3. And by accomplishing points one and two, completely ripped out the hearts of the Warriors
All that is left to do now is closeout the series at the ESA on Tuesday.
And make no mistake, it is going to be over on Tuesday. The Warriors looked completely stunned and dejected as they walked off the court. And after their fourth quarter melt down, which saw two of the most unbelievable cheap shots that I have ever seen (more on this later), the Warriors have already thrown in the towel. Game five is simply a formality. All the Jazz have to do is absorb a couple more body blows and deliver the knock out punch.
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Back to the cheap shots. We knew the Warriors were a volatile bunch, but did anyone think that we would see what we saw tonight, especially in the fourth quarter? The league should look carefully at this game, and there should be at least one, if not two suspensions. In order of least offensive:
1. Al Harrington taking Boozer’s head off in the third quarter. It was violent, aggressive and malicious. Most importantly, he swung at his head and in the regular season that warrants an automatic one game suspension.
2. Jason Richardson with the dangerous take down of Memo as he drove to the basket with just over a minute to go in the game. I was absolutely disgusted to listen to Doug Collins talk about how you shouldn’t go to the basket late in games.
So if I understand his logic correctly, just because it is the end of a game and the home team has thrown in the towel, it is ok to intentionally do physical harm to the other team if they go to the basket. It is ridiculous. Didn’t we learn this lesson in New York earlier in the year when the Nuggets and Knicks had a convenient little brawl.
And, more importantly, did someone forget to tell Jason Richardson that it is round two of the playoffs? Did he forget that he plays for the most offensively potent team in the NBA? Who in their right mind wouldn’t want to run to the finish line against that type of opponent? Memo was trying to finish the game strong by putting is foot on the gas. I can not believe that he was trying to rub it in.
Regardless of Memo’s intent, he could have been seriously injured by that throw down by Richardson and he should at very least be fined.
3. And without further ado, we have the grand champion of the night with Baron Davis throwing a blatant cheap shot to Derek Fisher’s head. Not only was it NOT during the course of a regular basketball play, but it was to the head of a former teammate. And just to refresh everyone’s memory, Derek Fisher is having a rough couple of weeks.
If there has ever been a worse PR move, I have not seen it. I mean talk about kicking a guy when he is down. What was Davis thinking? Furthermore, what was going through his head as he saw Fisher laying on the court clasping his head?
He should be suspended.
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My guess is that nobody gets a suspension. The league will ride the last California wave as long as they can. If any one of these three players get suspended it puts the final nail in an already closed coffin. That is not good for ratings and league popularity. But someone needs to be punished for trying to turn this game into a UFC.
I for one would like to see Davis be the guy, and not because he is the best player for the Warriors, but because he threw an elbow to Derek Fisher. It was to his head, and it was during the course of a non-basketball play. In the regular season that is an easy call for the league office; Davis gets a suspension. Let’s just see what kind of consistency the league office has.
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In the end, it does not matter to the Jazz. Golden State is mentally finished.
May 14th, 2007 at 3:27 am
I followed the game on Game Cast and just watched the highlights on espn.com..Rediculous!!! I believe Davis should be suspended not only for the cheap shot to Fish, but also for that flagrant foul he got away with when he and Richardson tag-teamed to slam Okur to the floor! On the other point…What about Davis’s dunk on AK when they were up by like 20 in the fourth with two minutes? I didn’t see any Jazzmen react jungle ball-like! I had respect for them ’til tonight. The Boyz from Utah finally got the tempo right… Jazz takin this series Tuesday night at ESA..where?!! Salt Lake City Mayn!! Hey maybe Richardson Davis can get together with Bowen on their time off Tuesday night and go to a sportsmanship 101 class at BYU…hahaha Sick ‘Em Jazz!!
May 14th, 2007 at 7:14 am
Bold statements, but I agree with you 100%.
I don’t think the NBA wants to help finish off the Warriors by suspending any of the three, though all three players deserve a suspension or fine.
Of course, if the Warriors want to play physical, and play that way in Game 5, I’ll start preparing for the Suns or Spurs.
May 14th, 2007 at 10:25 am
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,660220502,00.html
Great comments from Fisher about the fouls. He’s such a class act. And I do think it was mostly frustration. Pistol Pete brings up a good point about Baron’s throw-down on AK when the game was long since finished, too.
The thing is, you take your cues from the other team. In Game 3, the Jazz clearly hadn’t given up yet, which was why The Dunk wasn’t a big deal, sportsmanship-wise. In Game 4, the Warriors were clearly still trying to foul to force free throws and get the ball back. So naturally, the Jazz should take any points they can get.
Looking at the replay of the Okur foul, I’m pretty sure I heard whistles BEFORE Okur went up for the dunk. I think the refs were about to call a foul away from the ball. If that was the case, maybe Okur shouldn’t have tried to dunk. Dunking after the whistle is a technical foul in some cases. So I can understand Richardson’s frustration. But that doesn’t excuse him from clotheslining Memo, who landed square on his back and could definitely have been hurt.
Play should have stopped when the whistle blew. That’s on both teams. But there’s a difference between a slight disrespect (which, given the Warriors’ continued intensity at that time in the game, even down by eleven points, is debatable) and trying to hurt a player.
In any case, great win by the Jazz. Golden State shot poorly, they had no answer for Booz, and perhaps most important, the Jazz shot free throws VERY well. No reason we can’t close this thing out tomorrow and have a nice wait for the Spurs or Suns.
May 14th, 2007 at 10:52 am
Baron Davis should be suspended!!! I hate that the media has turned him into the darling on the cinderella team. He has always been a hot-headed player that isn’t coachable. Who gets kicked out of a playoff game? I was rather suprised that the cheapshot did not get more attention from the local or national media. I hope that everyone that has jumped on the Golden State bandwagon has realized that these guys are a bunch of thugs that were exposed for what they really are last night.
Fear the beard–he throws bows!!!
May 14th, 2007 at 3:06 pm
GSW Fan here, and I can understand your frustrations about the Warriors flagrant fouls on your team. BUT
1. Al Harrington was trying to go for the ball, albeit he was too slow and missed it completely, but he immediately went over and extended his hand to Carlos to help him up and accepted the blame for his foul. Al is the one of the nicest guys on and off the court, he would never purposely intend to hurt someone like that.
2. Jrich laid a VERY VERY hard foul, it wasn’t necessary for him to foul that hard… but it wasn’t a cheap shot. Okur could’ve been seriously hurt and I’m glad he’s ok, but the game was over at that point and obviously the Warriors had just been trying to play the freethrow game, Nelie raised the white flag…. Okur looked as if he was about to emphatically dunk it, aka JR Smith at MSG. If roles were reversed and Jrich was trying to do that at Energy Solutions and AK47 laid him out, I honestly wouldn’t mind. Players have pride and the Warriors were beaten pretty thoroughly by that point in the night, frustrations were clearly visible and Okur should’ve realized that when he decided to attempt to dunk the ball.
3. Baron Davis’s cheap shot elbow??? It was a light forearm shove and Derek Fisher totally over-exaggerated it and “sprawled” out all over the floor acting as if he got clobbered. Yes, Baron was frustrated and cleared out for space, since Derek was playing very good defense on that particular trip down, but don’t say Baron Davis laid a cheap foul on Fisher. Matt Harping does stuff like that EVERY game behind the scenes, and I’m fine with that and I don’t complain about that.
If anyone should get suspended it should be Jrich for his unnecessary foul, but there is no need to demonize players in your posts when their fouls are not as drastic as you claim for them to be. You’re misleading and influencing plenty of readers, that might not know as much about the game, about something that is entirely untrue.
I know the league is entirely different now, but if you want to see hard/flagrant fouls/cheap shots, watch playoff basketball film from the 80s, back in the day when Larry Bird and Magic used to battle it out for supremacy. The “cheap shots” of game 4 are nothing compared to the real cheap shots you can see back in the days of the Celtics/Lakers.
May 14th, 2007 at 3:16 pm
Doug Collins is a moron. I couldn’t believe his comments either. What was Okur supposed to do, hold the ball until the 24 second clock ran out and let GS get a shot at a miraculous finish? He basically blamed Okur for Richardson’s clothesline.
Having said that, I don’t have the ability to re-watch it and listen for the whistles that theshums mentions.
Fisher earned his entire contract with that one game.
May 14th, 2007 at 3:32 pm
GSW fan here, just providing some insight, if you choose to ignore me that’s fine.
Honestly though, two of the cheapest shot’s you’ve ever seen? Do you not watch Bruce Bowen play? Have you never watched playoff basketball in the late 80s early 90s?
1. Al Harrington was not purposely trying to take off Carlos Boozer’s head, he was trying to go for the ball… he was just extremely slow and missed it entirely. Al is never the type of player to intentionally harm another player. Didn’t you notice how immediately afterwards he realized he messed up and went over and extended a hand to Carlos to help him off the ground?
2. Jrich ’s hard foul was unnecessary, but it wasn’t a cheap shot. The game was already done at that point and it was VERY obvious that the Warriors were demoralized and ready to just head into the locker room and the refs were not whistling when the Warriors were obviously trying to foul that entire possession. Okur could’ve done a number of things, pull up for the jumper, a layup, a bank shot, etc. A dunk is a very emphatic way to score and whether you want to accept it or not, it is very demoralizing when used in the scenario Okur found himself in last night. The situation Okur was in… happens A LOT every year, every season, every postseason, and in almost every situation I’ve seen like the one Okur was in, players swing it out for a jumpshot or take the jumpshot themselves.
3. Referring to UFC moves with Baron’s elbow? Baron slightly shoved his forearm out to clear space because Derek Fisher was unnecesarily bodying him (I actually don’t mind that Derek was doing that, it’s a really effective way to defend) and Derek Fisher totally over-exaggerated Baron’s shove. It was almost as if Ginobili was out there on the floor. Derek Fisher was sprawled out all over the ground, holding his head as if he just got CLOBBERED when he obviously was just trying to get the attention of the refs because they didn’t see it. Yeah, everyone knows Derek has had a rough week and I wish him and his family all the best, but what is Baron supposed to do? Not even dare to touch Derek because he’s been going through such a rough time? Should Baron have just handed the ball to Derek in consideration of Derek’s feelings because he’s had such a hard week? Matt Harping uses his forearm, more destructively than Baron did in that incident, every game, and I don’t mind that at all. It’s all part of the game.
McSean, you’re post’s intent is to demonize Al, Jrich, and Baron and it clearly influenced and misled readers, who might not know that much about the game, into thinking certain Warriors are “thugs” when they are not.
May 14th, 2007 at 9:09 pm
Okay, I’ll give credit back to Harrington, if he’s as slow as you’ve described.
BD and J-Rich both made some dirty plays. Not completely unlike our Bully Brothers, though, and I doubt the NBA takes any action.
May 14th, 2007 at 9:19 pm
Hey GSW fan,
You make a good point, but i don’t think that you watched the same Baron DAvis elbow that everyone else in the media watched. Charlie Rosen (Fox Sports) wrote a great article about the game. I suggest you read it. Derek Fisher is not one to flop, Baron Davis on the other hand, not to mention Stephan Jackson, those gutys know how to flop. What did you expect Memo to do friend? I know he didn’t have to go up for a dunk, and probably shouldn’t have, however he did, and rather then grabbing and wrapping him up, Jrich Through him down..Hard, and deliberitley. I had major respect for the Warriors, especially JRich and Baron, i knew Al Harrington was a great guy on and off, and he did do the right thing after accidentally clonking Boozer in the head. I picked the warriors to beat Dallas (break down that stats and the run they were on, Dallas didn’t have a chance) but i lost it when the two stars of your team took those cheap shots. As Pistol Pete said up above, did Kirilenko react when Baron Dunked on him when they clearly had the game? No… He is a class act, Baron was, til he elbowed his friend. You guys have AMAZING TALENT, but now you just need some character.
May 14th, 2007 at 9:26 pm
I will give you Al Harington, that was no cheep shot, just a hard basketball foul. But Davis is a punk a$$ and should be suspended. We already know that Richardson is clear, but I think it is pretty obvious that the league is not going to suspend davis, even though they should.
May 15th, 2007 at 1:03 pm
lol @ testifyan
“Derek fisher is not one to flop”
Quite possibly the funniest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. Er, maybe delusional is the word I meant to use. Either way, you clearly haven’t watched a lot of basketball in your short life time.
May 15th, 2007 at 4:26 pm
Hilarity ensues.
I’m laughing right along with you, Gamesix. Derek Fisher? No flop? First of all, this is the playoffs. Experienced players will do whatever they need to to compete and get an edge. I watched that play a million times. If you lay on the ground that long you better be unconscious. Fish launched himself on that flop and Baron playfully called him on it afterwards. Fisher just laughed.
Jrich’s foul was hard and most definitely not within the rules of the league, but inside the rules of game. Okur had every right to try and dunk at the end of the game (37 seconds left, by the way) and that’s what happens. Cause and effect.
Al’s foul doesn’t even belong on the radar screen. Every Jazz move to the basket, rebound and defensive play includes hard push offs, fouls and elbows. Harpring thrives on contact. Every player in these playoffs is cheating as far as he can to win games. Some get caught, some don’t. Don’t blow it out of proportion. Heart eating is
As for Kirilenko, he’d already been dunked on. Nothing to do about that. If he’d been there quick enough, you can guarantee he’d have fouled as hard as necessary rather than get posterized like that. At least, I hope so. Kirilenko’s my favorite Jazz player.
As for league consistency, they’ve got rule of thumb for this: let the players decide playoff games.
May 15th, 2007 at 4:46 pm
I can’t wait to see who is laughing tonight when the Warriors walk off the floor dejected after being eliminated from this years playoffs. My guess is that the jokers above wont be listed among the bunch.
Go Jazz!
Why don’t you tell Raja Bell, James Posey or a host of other players that have been suspended from the playoffs in the past about the leagues supposed rule of thumb for the playoffs. I think they would disagree with your take.
May 15th, 2007 at 5:11 pm
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