The-Hogs.net - Washington Football Discussion, Redskins to Commanders Era

Throughout my life I've been a huge basketball fan and player, playing for the same club for 13 years before I graduated high school. I've always been the first to help up a teammate or opposing player, and I've preached good sportsmanship when I coach.

This series has turned into a bloodbath, and I am extremely disappointed in how the NBA is choosing to handle the situation. Let's look at some facts:

-In game 3, Bruce Bowen kneed Steve Nash in the groin, or as the analysts so tactfully put it, "the midsection." To me, that is as equally unacceptable as spitting on someone. It is currently being reviewed by the league.

-Amare Stoudemire accused Bruce Bowen of kicking him in the achilles tendon during game 2 of the series, the accusation which started all of the negative emotions in the game.

-In game 4, which was last night, Robert Horry delivered a BLATANT forearm to Steve Nash that sent him flying into the scorer's table, a blow that could have potentially very seriously injured him.

This is but a long line of bad blood between these two teams, and an even longer line of inappropriate 'extracurricular' activties by players in the NBA. Granted basketball is a very emotional sport, everyone knows that, however it is completely unacceptable to intentionally try to injure someone, regardless of whether they are a star player or not. Many have said that these instances are receiving special attention because they involved the 2-time MVP Steve Nash. I completely agree, however for argument's sake, let's turn this around. Let's say that it was a forearm from Horry to Leandro Barbosa, Nash's backup, or that Bruce Bowen had kneed Raja Bell in the groin. Would the league have cared then? They probably would have handed a one-game suspension to Horry and given Barbosa a band-aid, and as for Bell they would have told him to wear a cup. It is loathsome that the only time a "major" suspension is handed down is when it involves a star player. Role players can make or break a team (see: Chicago Bulls and John Paxson, Bill Cartwright, Dennis Rodman, and Ron Harper) and the emphasis cannot be placed solely on stars any longer.

This is why I am disgusted by the NBA. Every other ad you see on TV during one of these playoff games is an inspriational NBA Cares ad. Well if the NBA cares, why aren't they doing anything to protect ALL their players and penalize the players that decide that they are too good for sportsmanship and values, which is the cornerstone of any charity work. In my opinion, Stu Jackson took the easy road here and decided that he was too good to protect players and enhance the image of the league by handing down a more harsh suspension. Yes, he suspended Horry for 2 games. However, suspending Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw for a game each for "leaving the bench area," is ridiculous. Yes, they got off the bench, and yes, they approached the area, but neither of them got directly involved with the action, nor did they touch anyone, as they quickly retreated back to the bench after the officials took care of the scuffle. In my opinion, Horry should have been suspended for the rest of the playoffs, which is a minimum of 2 games, and Stoudemire and Diaw should have just been warned. I know what the rule says, as the rule applies in High School as well (those are the rules we played by in club), and are followed much more strictly because of the other rule which states: you may not rise from the bench while the ball is in play.

I know I am not qualified by any means to make any sort of judgement on what happens to these players, but as a fan and an active member of my community, I cannot help but be disgusted by the example that the NBA has set forth, especially for the kids who are learning the game by watching the best players in the world, and no I don't mean the Argentinian team.

And another note: Gregg Popovich--you disgust me. Saying, "It was just a foul at the end of the game and Steve just fell down. It didn't look so bad to me," when you SEE Nash's body get rocked by the whack and he is slammed into the scorer's table is deplorable. I have always thought you were a classy guy, Mr. Popovich, but I realize now that the only class on that team is Tim Duncan. Maybe the coach and the rest of the team can learn by his example, as ESPN the magazine so ironically published just this past week.

They left the bench those are the rules. 1 game suspension. Sucks but rules are rules.

i realize that, but do you think they should change the rules then?

Watching the NBA is like watching soccer. A bunch of girls flopping around on the floor like fish at the slightest shove.

NBA has really gone down hill. The are too ticky tacky with calling fouls. Whatever happened to no blood no foul?

Chris Luva Luva wrote:Watching the NBA is like watching soccer. A bunch of girls flopping around on the floor like fish at the slightest shove.

How much NBA do you watch? I see that flopping comment tossed out there quite a bit and the answer to my question is usually "Well, i don't watch a lot" or "none at all." I watch a lot of NBA basketball, the flopping thing is a problem but it is way down the list. It doesn't happen nearly as often as you suggested. In fact, for this year in particular, I've seen the refs make a point of ignoring flops and even calling the foul against the flopper. That being said, Tim Duncan is constantly rewarded for his flopping-without-falling routine but that is another point entirely.

The problem the NBA faces is that, especially of late, they officiate in a hierarchical fashion. That is, if you play for the Spurs, for example, you get away with a disproportionate level of pushing, pulling and slapping. The league has decided to turn a blind eye to the Spurs style of play because they have a loyal and wealthy fan base, they draw well both in terms of game crowds and on television and it is to the league's benefit to have a "heel" team or two. The Spurs are a very good team, that isn't in question but if you officiated every game in a truly objective fashion, they wouldn't be quite as good as they are now.

You're right FIOS, I don't watch hardly any NBA at all. When I was a kid was a Jordan fan and after he left there was no one else there to suck me into the game.

This is the 1st playoff race that has captured me and I was rooting for GS cus they seemed like underdogs.

I can only go by what I've seen from this playoff... A bunch of drama queens trying to draw fouls, the refs fall for it and the commish and his croonies suspending people for dumb stuff.

I want the Spurs to lose because they're getting too much favoritism.

The NBA is pretty strict about players leaving the bench during an altercation. Ever since the crazy event involving Ben Wallace and Ron Artest in Detroit, they've tried to cut down on the fighting and other things as much as possible.

I agree that it doesn't seem like a big deal for what Stoudemire and Diaw did, and using common sense would mean to just let them play because they didn't really do anything. But you know what? That's just the way it goes sometimes -- if you leave the bench, you leave yourself open to punishment.

I would love to see them allowed to play because the series has been great so far. The teams are very evenly matched, and now it seems like the series is in favor of the Spurs, but you just never know. If the Suns won somehow, I wouldn't be completely shocked. It's been a rough series so far, and game 5 will be huge.

Why are you disgusted with Greg Popovich though? What do you expect him to say, that he completely agrees with the punishment? He's standing up for his player, and Horry still loses 2 games for what he did, whether that's 1 more game than what's really needed. If you watched the Jazz-Warriors game, Mehmet Okur got absolutely slammed on the floor after going up for a layup, and no one was suspended for any games in that series. I'm actually glad to see a return of hard fouls unlike the last few years when it looked like a lot of players were afraid to hit someone too hard. Basketball is most definitely a contact sport, and it takes a lot of strength and determination to succeed in it. One of the more successful teams in NBA History was the Pistons teams known as the "Bad Boys." They weren't looking to win respect from opposing fans or coaches. They were looking to win games at all costs, and I think a lot of people have lost that mindset, whether it can be viewed as "good or bad."

I'd also like to comment on the seemingly endless ads for NBA Cares. I know they've been showing a lot of them, and sure a lot of it is PR crap. But the NFL does a ton of that stuff during the season, so it's really not that much different. With all of the negativity in the media for ALL sports, the leagues feel that the positives should also be viewed. I respect that no matter how it really looks.

Just to briefly comment on the whole players flopping and whining issue, I have to agree to a certain extent. I watch a ton of basketball, and there has definitely been an increase in the amount of players both "flopping" and complaining about calls. Officials are now more apt to call many charging calls, which weren't really that prevelant, say, 10-15 years ago. People have argued that players are bigger and faster now then they were then, and also that the game is quicker. That may be true. But some players these days are taught that it's easier to take a charge then go up to block a shot when they may just get called for a foul anyway. It's probably easier to take a charge then be a great shot blocker.

If you think about it, how many great shot blockers are left in the NBA now? Not really that many if you go through the league.

As far as complaining, that seems to be a trend that has increased in all sports, not just the NBA. It may seem more obvious in basketball because the calls, especially blocks vs. charges, aren't so cut and dried. Referees in the NBA really influence the game, and many players are just trying to get their point across to maybe get a call later in the game that can help their team win. It's pretty annoying, though, to see so many players who believe they've never actually committed a foul before. Even the widely respected Tim Duncan has his patented move of just staring at refs with his eyes wide open and occassinally just holding his arms out in disgust.

Either way, the playoffs have been great so far, and it would take a lot more than constant complaining from players to ruin the rest of the games.

For those of you who are fed up with the NBA, this great, great, great piece by Bill Simmons is a must-read. He's even managed to convince me on the flopping thing, if only because he watches more basketball than anyone I know.
Kids, this is how sports columns should work.

i'm disgusted with greg popovich for not reprimanding his own player after it happened. he's always been a class guy to me, but for him to say something like that just annoys me because he KNOWS it was the wrong thing to do. come on, any coach knows that you don't intentionally try to hurt someone like that, whether its the beginning middle or end of a game.

Fios wrote:For those of you who are fed up with the NBA, this great, great, great piece by Bill Simmons is a must-read. He's even managed to convince me on the flopping thing, if only because he watches more basketball than anyone I know.
Kids, this is how sports columns should work.

I agree, that was a good article. He laid it out how it's supposed to be laid out. I think he is spot on in his reasoning why the NBA has turned into the "soccer" league. Playing hard and talking trash are two elements of the game that show passion. You don't see that much anymore. Thank you David Stern.

I read Simmons's article yesterday too, and I agree with a lot of what he was saying. Just a great column....

I'd rather watch a top-level English soccer-football game than NBA any time.

There's something wrong with either/or polls.

anyone in a confrontation should be suspended for x amount of games

anyone who violates another one of the cheesy ticky tacky rules should just be fined x amount of dollars

the leaving the bench just isn't serious enough to change the outcome of games, series, and entire playoff pictures potentially. If they do this, players will get the point without jepoardizing a game if they forget or make a mistake.