I have to admit, over the past 5 or 6 year when NBALP became a thing, I've missed maybe 2 or 3 games in the entirety of those seasons, and I probably went back and watched them on-demand. This year, I've probably missed 50% of the games after the allstar break. The game the other night I only watched the 4th quarter. This is pretty rare and should be pretty scary for the Rockets front office that the fans are this turned off by this team. The personality of the team, the style of play, the lackluster effort, etc. etc. just really a hard team to root for. This situation with Montrezl is just another check mark on a season full of mishaps. At this point I am totally fine with a complete blow up this offseason. Rebuild the team around Harden with a completely different support personnel. And someone needs to get a memo to Morey to let him know that the personality of your players does matter. Everyone is in love with Beasley now, but its only a matter of time too before that situation rears its head. Good thing about that one is that he's on a super cheap contract, but still... I think its time for drastic changes in the way we build our roster.
Dwight: But I'm telling you, you ain't gotta take that s***. If he gets in your grill, shove his ass. Montrezl: What if it's a ref? Dwight: Es-PEC-ially if it's a ref. What are you doing? Montrezl: I'm writin' this down so I don't forget. Dwight: (looking over Harrell's shoulder) Damn, you're dumb. "Shove" is spelled S-H-O-V, not S-H-U-V. And write it in capital letters, 'cause, when I say "shove", I mean, "SHOVE" that m*****f*****. Montrezl: Thanks for helping me out, DH. Dwight: Hey, I been in the league 12....13 years? You learn things. Got to help the rooks.
Yikes. Montrezl is one of those guys you would NEVER want to walk into late at night. He's a damn beast. Anyway, I'm all for a suspension. He is showing his youth and immaturity. I don't think this is an isolated incident. Montrezl has been "shoving" people for ages, including this season. We all like aggressive players, but the aggression has to be directed in the appropriate area. Personally, I'm not a big fan of his game or attitude, but that's just me. He certainly has time to grow. There are officials that are simply not qualified to be in any basketball vicinity, but I don't condone slapping the fire out of them. (Well, wait...there are two officials in the NBA that would benefit... ) And, it looks like this official was shoved as a result of anger towards some scrub. It looked like how Hibbert threw Steph all around the court...lord. Unfortunately, we don't have the best roster for leadership, especially with young bigs. There aren't guys here who you'd send Montrezl to for mentoring. If he's in Morey's long-term plans, he better find Montrezl some help.
Also, it looks like MH was running towards the locker room to "Matt Barnes" the other guy. If that's the case, my sympathy goes out the door.
Did you watch the video? I don't know if Harrell even saw the referee. The other player instigated it by shoving Harrell in the chest, and Harrell responded by attempting to shove back. Reckless? Absolutely, Harrell has to be above the fray... same logic as all the stuff with Dwight. However, I don't think Harrell directed any "anger" at the official at all. To be clear, I'm not saying Montrezl shouldn't be disciplined. He should be. However, there are a lot of folks in this thread looking for a punching bag due to their disappointment with the 2015-16 Rockets, and Harrell is caught in the crossfire.
^^this. the ref is like 4ft8, Harrell didn't even seem him and just shoved him. I'm sure he didn't intentionally push the ref. 2 games suspension and call it a day
I first thought maybe he thought he was shoving an opponent. But upon further review, imo, he knows that man is not an opponent. Opponents are in dark blue (MUCH BIGGER)...and ref was mainly in light grey. Ref immediately went to break up, and was engaged with Montrezl before either shove. Then Montrezl gets shoved and ref goes right in front of him, with no white jersey's around, just dark blue and the ref holding Montrezl wearing light colors. I'm absolutely voting he knew who he shoved wasn't a basketball player, and was a ref. Quit making excuses for someone who already shoved an opponent coach. .
i think its possible he didn't know. when you get into a certain state of mind, you just react and not think. last game, ariza damn near pushed harden when he got elbowed and wanted to let the other team know.
Here's the moment of the shove: Harrell's eyes are straight-ahead on No. 22, who shoved him hard for no real reason. The official is not "right in front of him". The official is to his right, and an OPPOSING PLAYER who had already engaged with Montrezl in an effort to diffuse the situation is directly in his line of sight. This is why it's completely logical to think that for one split-second, Harrell could have thought he was shoving a player. Harrell needs to be above the fray, certainly. However, I think your expectations of him being immediately aware of every peripheral surrounding him during a heat-of-the-moment, instinctive reaction lasting two seconds is a bit extreme.
Lol at people saying he'll get assault charges. It's not like he targeted him specifically. Ref came in the way of a raging Montrezl, he should've known what he had coming.
