Remember Josh Howard tripping Yao early in the season? One could argue it looked like he was just taking a normal stride. Remember the countless times Bowen landed under the feet of shooters? Remember the time Bowen kicked Amare in the achilles? One could argue he was just taking normal strides or landing normally. I just think some players are better at disguising dirty plays. I'm not going to say with certainty that Ariza was trying to inflict some pain, but there are some nuances of that play that make me lean heavily in that direction. My guess is the NBA fines him and suspends him for a game or two.
LOL. So suddenly, when it's a 28 point game, he's "pissed off" and his attempt was a "wild swipe". If the game is on the line, it's none of the above. Gotcha...didn't know you could read his mind.
definitely dirty. i dont see how anyone could say it was a clean play. ariza did a roundhouse to his head... didn't even attempt to go for the ball. his intention was to foul the whole way... maybe he didn't intend for Fernandez to get injured, but he was trying to foul the whole way. Ariza is a dirty player. He's the Lakers equivalent of Matt Barnes... he tries to intimidate the other team.
If that was the Rockets against the Blazers and Shane did that same play against Rudy with the same score and situation, I bet the reaction from here would be different.
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/aS25dibHOR0&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/aS25dibHOR0&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> Pretty much the exact same play except that Ariza clipped Fernandez's hands.
No, his attempt was a wild swipe either way. As far as reading his mind, i'm just using common sense and my sports background. Players do not go hard after breakaway dunks even if they stand a good chance of stopping them in blowouts. it wouldn't happen in your local rec league, nor in the NBA. ask yourself what difference does blocking his shot do when you are down 28 at the end of the 3rd quarter? answer: nothing With the game on the line, he has to take that risk regardless of the potential consequences.
although ariza took a wild swipe, he did somewhat go for the ball. there have definitely been much dirtier fouls this season. the whole foul situation was compounded by rudy getting hurt and carried out on a stretcher. ariza pretty much hit rudy across the arms and not the head or body.
Did you watch the slow-mo? Ariza hit Rudy's head with his arm/elbow, then clipped the ball and hands as he came down. Don't tell me you didn't see the head get knocked.
I have seen people swipe at the ball like that just playing streetball because they wanted a monster block.
At first I thought he didn't hit him in the head but watching the super slo mo, while you can't see the actual contact, you can see Fernandez's head fall to his left. So I'll assume there was contact in the back of the head. But it was the contact with the hands while he was going for the ball that made Fernandez fall awkwardly. If Fernandez doesn't fall that way, there's no way it gets called a flagrant.
BS, his hand goes for the ball and it gets the ball. I don't get how anyone can say he wasn't going for the ball when he actually got it. Yeah, he made contact with Fernandez in the process but there's nothing there that indicates it was intentional. There's nothing there that says he wasn't going for the ball. It's not like he grabbed him around the shoulders. Look at the slo mo and watch Ariza's hand. It's going for the ball the whole time. It's a foul but hardly a flagrant one. The aftermath of the play is what determined the call, not the act itself. It only got called a flagrant because Ariza caught Fernandez's left arm which spun him around and caused the sprawl. If Fernandez somehow maintained his balance, there's no way that get's called a flagrant.
Everyone seems to have preconceived that Ariza is a dirty player; therefore, the play is dirty. We should just stop trying to be rational.
It looked to me like a "I'm pissed off that we're getting emberrassed frustration foul." The guy just took a wide open swing and looke like he wanted to make contact with Rudy rather than the ball. Hopefully the Rudy's injuries aren't as bad as they looked. He is definately a fun player too watch.
it's pathetic how many Lakers fans/homers we have on this board.. calling that play anything other than a dirty piece of $h#t play is plain ignorant.. and LMAO at the guy posting the Hakeem 100% clean block and comparing it to this dirty treacherous play.. Ariza should be penalized big time for this, I just wish Roy would've caught him with a punch to the jaw to let that jerk know what's up.. typical, go after the European player and everything would be cool.. that was a karate move, not a basketball move.. I hope karma takes care of Ariza just like it did of Bynum.. anything less than a torn ACL would disappoint me..
Right this is just a haven for Laker fans. The Clutchfans BBS. Laker haters, however, different story around here.
