He tried to go for the ball. But Shaq is so strong and big compared to Stuckey, that Stuckey makes it seem like he got tackled.
I like how Shaq brushed off Terry Porter. Their age is too close IMO, not enough respect. Shaq probably thinks he can coach just as well as Porter can. I always thought Porter would make a solid coach. But really he hasn't shown me enough.
If that had been some scrub that fouled Stuckey I bet some of the Pistons would of tried to fight him.
To be fair, there are very few players that Shaq does respect. See his tirade on Bill Walton and offseason Kobe rap from earlier this year.
The only intent I see is Shaq wanted to prevent Stuckey from getting a shot up, and he used excessive force to do so. That's a flagrant or flagrant-2. Usually, if a flagrant foul results in serious injury to the player, the NBA will choose to levy a stiffer punishment/suspension. I think that's warranted, because otherwise players may get the impression that they can foul players hard without worrying about consequences if they injure them.
do you mean if it was someone who didnt have the same name recognition as shaq? because im pretty sure the pistons wouldnt try to fight anyone 7'1 330+ pounds even if he was a back up scrub player.
I doubt Shaq wanted to deliberately hurt the guy, but the problem is the fine line that gets crossed, from wanting-to-give-a-hard-foul to giving-a-little-too-much-extra, when a big player's dander gets up and he wants to brush somebody back, intimidate them before they can become a problem. I don't think Shaq should get a suspension, but getting tossed from that game was the right thing to do. These guys are pissing on the tree a bit much lately. Barnes manhandles Alston, no call (maybe this incident is a reaction to that, don't let deliberately hard fouls that can start a melee go unchecked); then Nash gets involved and he gets all puffed up like he took too much "flaxseed oil" about getting a suspension....I don't know, too much territoriality for these guys.
exactly, this whole argument is silly IMO shaq himself has been fouled many times harder than that throughout his career just because he doesn't budge its okay right? where is your double standard now
I think he definitely meant to "send a message" with a hard foul, but not to injure Stucky. However, when you make that decision to foul hard, you have to live with the consequences if the guy hits the floor like that. I think a one game suspension would suffice. Considering that he got tossed for more than a half of this game, it would also be OK with me if he didn't get suspended. It's just my opinion that you don't go up and through a player with both hands if you're coming from the other side of the lane and honestly going for a clean block. You do that if your intention is to make a considerable amount of contact. EDIT: Looking at it again, it seems that Shaq might have gone beyond the call of duty there because he didn't want to get dunked on. It's something he's avoided very well (often by not contesting shots) throughout his career. We all know he has a huge ego, so it's very likely that it had nothing to do with hurting Stucky or having any kind of dislike toward him. He just wanted to save face.
I'm sure the memory of Shaq clearing everyone from the Suns-Rockets game was still fresh on their minds.
I think he wanted to foul him, but not that hard, maybe it was ok the flagrant foul, but not the ejection. Just a flagrant foul for me.
That's a hard foul. I think the ejection was enough, though. There's no way he's getting suspended for that. I agree with CCR, he probably was trying to avoid getting dunked on. He could have just stayed back and let the dunk happen but I guess he felt a little extra something and went for the hard block. EDIT: There IS a double standard towards big men. Naturally. Even if you get hit with the same force as a smaller guy, you won't feel it as much. Does that mean the foul wasn't committed? Of course not. But it's not as noticeable. No one except the league office/coaches who don't want to get fined will deny there is a double standard in reffing. "Superstar calls" is the biggest example of double standard. Because Aaron Brooks is not a big name, CP3 can mandhandle him and no foul?
My opinion is that Shaq didn't intend to hurt Stuckey. But he definitely intend to stop him from getting off a shot, block or foul, more likely foul. I think that's a stupid reckless play at the heat of the moment. But it's reckless nonetheless. Borderline suspension material. I think suspension isn't limited to intentional viciousness. Reckless actions should be punished too.
