It is pathetic to WIN on such a play but I did not see it . .. so I dunno . .. but if it happened like reported that is SAD Rocket River
I can imagine if someone was stupid enough to do to Ron what was done to Miller and Dalembert. I know Ron has been on his best behavior but I still think you can almost guarantee Ron knocking someone out in that situation.
i didnt see the howard play but i was amazed that the rondo play was not called at least a technical if not a flagrant 1 that was just inexcusable he wasnt even close to the ball the ball was in miller's left handed extended when rondo was coming in from the right and behind.
I thought it should have been called a flagrant right when it happened. It was obvious he wasn't playing the ball at all. If this game was being played in Chicago, there's no question in my mind that they would have called that a Flagrant 1.
Rondo's foul was obviously a flagrant foul. It's a joke that the refs said Rondo went for the ball. Rondo just wanted to whack B Miller to prevent the layup. His hand was at least 4 feet away from the ball and he hit Miller at the jaw.
It was really more of a sucker punch. The NBA is a joke with reffing and rules like this. It's just plain sickening. I often choose not to watch games because of this. It's a waste of my time.
btw, these refs are just terrible. Miller was using his left hand for a layup. Rondo was at the right side of Miller. There's no freaking way Rondo could make a play on the ball at Rondo's position. So, a smaller player could whack the f**k out a bigger player and said he was going for the ball!? These refs didnt make f**king sense.
It is a shame Rondo wasn't called for a flagrant foul and it is another shame Howard wasn't ejected. The NBA disgraced itself with those two non-calls. The referees involved should be fined and sanctioned.
It's just BS. You can get suspended for walking two feet away from the bench, but if you smack a guy in the open court from behind in the face you can win the game. *shakes head* what a stupid league.
How ironic that Doc Rivers is the one crying about the officials There's no excuse for not calling that a flagrant foul, they were actually late with blowing the whistle. If I were a job as a NBA ref, I would be having a blast. You can just call the games anyway you want to and not get reprimanded. How cool is that ? No matter how bad you do, you still get to keep your job and Stern fines the one saying you're not doing your job. Really messed up if you think about it. Maybe they should hire a chinese ref and have him do the Rockets games, you can bet your ass we will beat the championship with the way Yao is defended. If the refs were fair, we could beat the Lakers easily.
If someone in that Hornets/Nuggets game fouled someone like Rondo did last night I bet they would have called it since that series has been so chippy. Honestly I think the reason the refs did not call it is because it was at the end of the game and Miller had a chance to send it to OT. It might not be right but I believe that is the case.
I think for such a long time there's been a huge emphasis on letting the players decide who wins the game and the refs swallow their whistles when it comes to star players and hard fouls at the end of games. The nba has to make a decision on this, because it's getting worse every year. Either you let the guys play ALL THE TIME (ie, no bail out foul calls for superstars) or you call it tight ALL THE TIME (fouls,flagrants, suspensions,etc are the same for everyone...at any point in the game). I wouldn't mind Rondo's foul not being flagrant if it wasn't a flagrant for any other player at any other time...but we all know if Miller had fouled him like that say late in the 3rd quarter it would have been a different story. Consistency is all i ask for.
Agreed w/ the general sentiment. Should've been a flagrant, but the refs chickened out. We have coaches complaining, they get fined, and then the next day two flagrant fouls with major game implications get totally dismissed (ok, Brad got the FT's, but there's no way they couldn't at least call that). Fantastic. The NBA should fine itself (donate the money to charity) for this blunder.
Just read on ESPN where they aren't going to do anything to Rondo. So, like others have said, you can step off the bench and go like 15 feet and do nothing (like Amare Stoudemire did a couple of years ago) and get suspended for the next game. Or you can be like Rajon Rondo who flagrantly swipes at a guy driving in for a lay-up, admits that he wasn't even trying to go for the ball, and have NOTHING DONE TO YOU, not even get a retroactive flagrant foul?? I am like the last person who wants to say "conspiracy theory" but this decision that the NBA has made on the Rondo thing (and especially considering that they have decided to suspend Dwight Howard 1 game which IMO is the right thing to do) is just absolutely mind boggling. It is a load of flaming bull****. Only the Celtics and probably the Lakers and Cavs get away with that stuff. Unbelievable. Here's the link by the way: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4112697
Doc Rivers is such a ****ing hypocrite for saying at the press conference "Oh what a good play by Rondo, such good awareness... no layups!" Kind of like Kornheiser said on PTI... Reverse the situation. If Brad Miller swiped at Rondo like that KG's jaw would have jumped off the Celtics bench and shoved him to the floor, Doc would have been gyrating up and down on top of all 3 officials, then Miller would have been ejected, hit with a 50k fine, called for a flagrant 26 and handcuffed for assault and battery by the Boston police before Rondo ever shot the first free throw. God I hate Doc Rivers. What a whiner. Such an overrated coach too.
It's really hard to enjoy the NBA with this bull**** going on. I'm so glad I don't waste money on cable. What a joke. A ridiculous joke. I give up.
