Rafer's very lucky. There is no room for this kind of stuff no matter how much provocation is going on.
First impression, I thought Shaq's punishment should have been switched with Nash's. Shaq pushed everyone from behind, including Yao and we know Yao was doing nothing wrong at that moment. But the punishments seem fair. Barnes sounds pretty immature, especially if you listened to his post game interview. He takes a jab at Rafer saying "He THINKS he's tough." He basically said he was getting revenge for the hard screens the Rockets put on Nash. Seriously, if you watch the T-Mac screen on Nash, there is seriously barely any contact. Nash must have pinched a nerve before that. Sadly, T-Mac is probably right when he said he never set a hard screen. Also, Barnes' push on Rafer - there was nothing basketball-like about that. Rafer wasn't even completely there to set the screen yet, and he got the forearm shiver. It's one thing to fight through a screen and another thing to blatantly shove someone. If you watch the replay when Nash runs in, he's already falling back as he tugs on Rafer's jersey. This kind of exaggerates T-Mac's push on him. Nash is stupid to say who are they to judge if he's an instigator or diffuser. Pretty much spells out G-U-I-L-T-Y right there. He says he was trying to separate Barnes from 3 Rockets, but Barnes was behind the 3 Rockets. T-Mac and Yao had already separated Rafer and Barnes. Then Nash runs in tugging on Rafer's jersey and already falling down. Bottom line - he made the situation worse when it was already cooling down.
Nash ran straight at rafer AFTER tmac and yao came to seperate him from barnes, which they had practically done already. What would you do if you saw your friend/teammate get leveled right in front of you for no reason, you come to get HIM off the opposing person, only to have some other guy come charging at your friend? Exactly. I'm sure Nash wouldn't have done anything, but he shouldn't have ran and grabbed at rafer, period. The fact that it further escalated the situation makes him a whole lot more accountable than T-Mac reacting to what seemed like an aggressive act.
I buy that shaq was trying to break it up over Nash was. Shaq held back until Nash went down then he pushed people out of the way. Nash grabbed onto another teams jersey.
it goes without saying that Nash wasn't interested in de-escalting the situation. he went after rafer because he saw rafer nailing a teammate. neither was tmac interested in de-escalating or rafer or shaq or barnes. the only people who were actively de-escalating were yao, the coaches and artest, who to his credit was not anywhere near the scrum. I dont think anyone takes seriously that nash shouldn't have been fined or suspended. he did go after another player. if you've played team sports or have friend IRL it's totally understandable and even justified in a way what nash did. but no one is buying that nash was trying to diffuse the situation, to argue that idea is stupid to even discuss the question is where is shaq's suspension? and where's the punishments for the refs. whether or not the penalities on nash, rafer etc are fair can only be measured by the fairness of the overall resolution to all parties. justified or not in an individual case, if you only punish some of those involved it's a term called selective enforcement and that's illegal
What I expected was Barnes 4-8 games, Alston 2, Nash 1, Mcgrady 1, Shaq 1. But overall this seems fair. I put that in order of severity so I think how this all turned out was fair. I'm surprised the suns coach didn't get anything. I thought if your the coach your not allowed to lay a hand on the opposing teams player under any circumstances.
I also think that Barnes should be penalised more. A suspension of 2 days and a fine of $200,000 to Barnes would be about right (the fine will make him think twice about being dirty).
I think what made it worse was that Nash slipped on Rafer’s foot, tried to keep from falling by grabbing on to Rafer. That’s when McGrady came in and looks like he slammed Nash, when in reality Nash was already on his way down.
I like Nash, and I don't think he should've been suspended. He is a good teammate, so IMO Rafer and Barnes suspeneded. McGrady, Shaq and Nash fined. Shaq fined the most of course.... I hope he knows NBA doesn't need a linebacker at the court. Their defense are not necessary......
lol, this league has become a sissy's league. 2 games suspension for just that? wow. anyhoo, time for ab to shine some more. a full 48-minute game back-to-back, haha.
Lol wow must have missed that. I was watchin it though but wasn't paying attention. Was 2 busy laughing once Shaq started pushing people around. Like chuck hayes told McGrady " Mac in the weight-room " He should have told Yao the same thing
I think the decision made was rather fair. However, I also think that Steve Nash's suspension might have been a bit harsh. I think he escalated the situation as much as T-mac did. Although T-mac might have not made much contact between him and Nash, it seems as though T-mac had some intention of a fight. In contrast, I'm pretty sure Steve Nash didn't mean to start a fight. Just my 2 cents...
The real question is when is the NBA going to man up and discipline an officiating crew that completely missed Barnes pushing Rafer? It was right where the ball was, you think someone would have been watching and seen that happen.
This might be the best thing to happen to the Rockets so far. Rafer being suspended, I mean. This will show how Brooks does in a pressure situation, in a starting role. This will show how Brooks' chemistry is with the starters. This is Brooks' time to shine. Game on!
to rafer: you dumb****, dont ever get suspended again, this team can't seem to run ONE proper play without you...
