The assistant coach was talking $hit. He said he was going after the him because the assistant said that "He shouldnt be flexing his muscles like that".
So? Trash talking from the bench happens almost every game, from the assitant, not withstanding. Bottom line is, Artest was out of control that game. Flagrant foul (intentional) Technical foul (intentional) Trash talking another team's coach (intentional) Bumping/brushing up against another team's coach (intentional) and to top it all off Shooting two birds to the crowd (intentional) There is no defending Artest on this one, especially given his history.
Oh, no doubt he was wrong from top to bottom. He should be fined and suspended. I am in no way saying that he shouldnt. My only argument is that I dont think he intentionally bumped Riley. I think it happened as a result of him going after the assistant.
I agree with these sentiments exactly. I don't want them as friends, but we could use some Artest/Miller attitude (capitial A-holes both) on the Rockets.
Miller, others miffed by late ruling on Artest -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Associated Press Wednesday's news of Ron Artest's four-game suspension didn't sit well with his teammates. In fact, some of the Pacers believe it is unacceptable. "You've got idiots in the office running things; that's the problem," Reggie Miller told The Indianapolis Star on Wednesday after Indiana's 106-97 loss -- their second of the season at home. Artest was suspended for his run-in with Heat coach Pat Riley and flashing an obscene gesture toward the crowd. Artest also committed a flagrant foul on Heat guard Caron Butler by pushing him into the stands in Monday night's game in Miami. The four-game suspension was handed down by the NBA and announced by NBA senior vice president of basketball operations Stu Jackson. It will cost Artest about $84,000 in pay, and the suspension started with Wednesday night's home game against the San Antonio Spurs at Conseco Fieldhouse. Pacers president Donnie Walsh, coach Isiah Thomas and other players also made reference to the impact of Jackson's last-minute announcement. "We got the information so late," Thomas told the newspaper. "That knocked the emotion and energy right out of our team. That was a tough situation." "It doesn't take all day to decide how long you're going to suspend a player," Jermaine O'Neal added Wednesday. "There's only one tape to look at. "It's the Indiana Pacers against the world." Too bad Miller didn't choose to expound on those comments. I would love to hear WHY the officials are "idiots." Because of O'Neal's comments (took a day to hand down a sentence?) or something else?
That is just about the lamest excuse for a loss I've ever heard. They should have known (like the rest of the USA) that Artest would be suspended at least one game and likely several. Even if they continued with the delusion that bumping Riley was an accident, just giving the crowd the finger is enough to get a suspension. Rezdawg, I don't see why you'd accept Artest's account of the incident at face value. If the bump was intentional, he made some effort at the time to make it seem unintentional by looking away and playing dumb. So, if he was going to take a passive-aggressive approach to the bump, why wouldn't he say it was an accident afterward? He planned for it to be an accident from the start.
