All right. Had a chance to get some sleep and shake off my anger at what happened. Here's what I came up with. 1) Kobe's elbow is not going to get him suspended, whether we think it should or not. 2) Artest committed a physical, blatant foul on that play and got retaliated against. The refs called the foul and missed the comeback. 3) Kobe was very sly with the elbow and it's understandable that the refs would miss it, especially with the call coming from the sideline ref rather than the basement. 4) The correct call in that situation would have been a double foul. 5) Artest deserved a technical foul. 6) Crawford was just being Crawford, looking to be the star of the game, when he threw Artest out just for yelling at Kobe. 7) Summary: Correct call = double foul. Correct call if first foul was missed = tech on Artest, he stays in the game. 8) We can't blame losing the game on one BS ejection when we were already in a deep hole.
Excellant post. The best evidence for a Kobe suspension that I have seen. I will be greatly suprised if the league has the balls to do it though. Suspending both Kobe and Fisher would almost be like handing the Rockets game three, although it still wouldn't be an easy win. But without Kobe, the lakers can't hang with the Rockets.
An elbow to your defender's neck is no doubt definitely absolutely unquestionably dirty - even if the one who swings it is Gandhi
Ron should have gotten a personal foul before Kobe's dirty elbow. That said, Kobe should have gotten a T or "if by the rule book" ejected for intentionally hitting someone above the shoulders. Lakers are playing dirty, and the league needs to do something about it. They've been going after Schola way before Fisher's dirty elbow. There's no doubt in my mind the Lakers as a team are trying to attack him. That's something Stu or even Stern needs to address. This isn't the streets of LA where gangs can be formed, this is the NBA.
No comparison was being drawn. Obviously rape is far worse. But the point is that Kobe Bryant's habitual behavior on the basketball court (e.g., bullying, intimidation and forcing his will on others by physical violence -- all the while not being punished) is evidence of a mindset and attitude that is consistent with someone who would rape a helpless teenage hotel clerk who got in over her head.
if anyone puts hands on opponent's body when fighting for a rebounding position (plus it's playoff!) should have got a person foul, Lakers will lose all of their centers by the second quarter.
Artest got ejected because he is Ron Artest. This is the same guy that went into the crowd in Detroit. His leash is way shorter than other players when it comes to being confrontational because he does have anger issues. I hate the ejection, but he ran at Kobe with the appearance of looking for a fight. Kobe didn't indulge him. Artest needs to know better, and the officials were right for sending him away, because they are trying to control the game and avoid a brawl situation that could end up in major suspensions, or injuries to players.
I think Crawford did perceive it to be a slit your throat gesture. But you do know he was actually miming an elbow to the throat, right?
Of course he is going to 'perceive' it like that. Kicking Ron out means an easier win for the Lakers... How obvious was it that the refs wanted LA to win last night.
My understanding of that was that Artest got teed up for complaining to Crawford, the world's worst ref, for not calling a foul on Kobe (which should have happened). The ejection came because Ron got in Kobe's face, literally. I mean let's face it, most of the time when a person gets their face in another's face, the odds of punches being thrown are pretty high. Crawford jumped the gun, assuming the worst but that is the downfall when you are Ron Artest. Your past reputation hurts you in those situations. With that being said, I didn't agree with the ejection but I understood why it happened.
There was no reason for anyone to think Ron was making a throat-slitting gesture when he used the same exact gesture when explaining his situation to the refs.
I don't believe that's what happened, because the Lakers only shot 1 technical foul shot, and I don't believe that was asessed till the ejection.
