he said something. it wasn't like the ref called a T on pierce right away. pierce, as a veteran, should have known better. but the refs were sissies anyways; this is the playoffs let them freakin' play. EDIT: also for people who said bosh was a nonfactor, well KG was also. so that was a wash.
Yeah but to me you let the verbal thing go in that situation. This is the playoffs emotions are running so the game is even more intense. We call complain about the NBA game not being as intense and physical as the 80's and 90's well today shows us why. The refs won't allow it to get to that level.
The FIX is in people! Führer Stern has decided Miami is making it all the way to the Finals this year! The FIX is in!
It's one thing to trash talk during the game or while a play is going on. It's another thing to trash talk when two players are basically face to face and the next action can be fists flying. At that moment its no longer trash talk to get in the opponents head. It becomes trash talk out of hate/anger which can instigate to a physical confrontation.
I'm not saying he should have been ejected, but again, we don't know what he said, and the refs are basically under pressure to keep things from escalating. I know we give refs a hard time- believe me, I'm the first to yell at my TV at them- but, you know, it's very difficult to call an NBA game, especially in the playoffs. Maybe more of the blame should be directed at Stern- I think he's still living with the fear of a Detroit vs. Indiana repeat and thus goes overboard with the policing. I've seen LeBron get absolutely hammered, way worse than Pierce, and he (LeBron) might say something, but putting your face on another player? I mean, c'mon, Pierce should know better- guy's a damn veteran, for Christ's sake.
I'm telling you, I think it's still the ghost of Detroit vs. Indiana- I mean that was just a PR nightmare for the league- coupled with the fact that I feel there's a slight tinge of racism with the outcry against these things happening in the NBA (I mean, c'mon, baseball brawls are commonplace and basically laughed at) that affects these decisions. The fact that the fight escalated into the stands and that fans were involved was just such a horrific thing in the eyes of the NBA that they are still overcompensating.
can't make much from this game seeing that james jones was unconscious, and that won't happen again. bosh needs to step up and miami has to stop giving up big leads...ugh
Everything that could have went wrong for the Celtics went wrong in todays game. I expect a different mentality on Tuesday
Yeah I think that brawl is what changed the NBA. It really made David Stern feel like he had to make changes from on court behavior to the way the players dressed. You're right about the baseball thing but don't forget about the NHL. Fights in the NHL are celebrated. Fights in the NBA means these guys are thugs.
Weird that only a few people are saying the Heat played well, with everyone else making excuses as to why the Heat won. Funny stuff..
Absolutely- the real problem with the NBA brawl was that it spilled into the stands, and to the degree that it did. I mean, you had fans running on to the court, players and fans slugging it out against each other, a chair being thrown, etc. It was just extremely ugly and reinforced much of white America's fear about the "big, black man coming to get you." (just my own opinion, didn't mean to offend anyone). I mean, when I watched it at the time, I actually thought it was somewhat amusing- remember that one guy that was trying to act bad a** and Jermaine O'Neal just laid him out- but I guess in retrospect it was pretty serious.
He's only played in 2 game 7s in his career, a little early to be saying that. In fact, his last game 7 was a 45 point on 48% shooting performance, while last year's elimination game against Boston, he was the only other player on his team, beside Mo Williams and Shaq to score in double digits, while he also collected 19 rebounds and 10 assists. He's actually been fairly good in elimination games and game 7s.
