Yes he's a dick and would probably have kept his mouth shut if the Warriors won, but isn't it obvious the NBA took advantage of this situation? There are extra millions to be made and it's not like they have to do something fishy. Just agree he's nut punch was flagrant, # of fouls exceeded = suspension. I totally agree with his take and definitely that being up or down in the series, like against OKC, was a major factor in deciding to asses these fouls and or suspend him. P.S. The film sessions and focusing on calling things in favour of the team down in a series it pretty much common knowledge by now, no?
Nothing new. Everyone bar blind people can see that the League is fixed, no matter how 'small' - certain things are dictated behind closed doors. It is sickening, but unfortunately it's been happening for a while now. Thankfully more people are going to be aware of how pathetic the League is, but it still won't change a thing.
Its not about the hit to the jewels on LeBron vs Adams, its about the accumulation of techs i thought?
You people really know how to suck the fun out of these playoffs. Pages upon pages of b****ing in these NBA Dish threads. It's getting really tiresome. There was a time when the Dish was an escape from constant negativity one had to endure in the GARM. No longer.
A sweep might've been a cherry on top of a "historic season" but it's a ratings nightmare compared to a 6 game series.
The question in my and others mind is whether when someone disrespectfully step over you and while that person is standing above you that you lightly swipe their groin area but causing clearly no visible signs of pain or discomfort warrants a foul let alone a flagrant foul. My answer is no. If James was actually hurt or if James pulled a Varajeo and pretended to be hurt and clutched his groin, then okay I can see it. But that's not what happened. In fact, it appears to me that until someone showed James the slow-motion replay that James himself didn't bring it up first about being swiped in the groin and instead emphasized on being called a b****. Had James been hurt even a little, I imagine he would have emphasized much more on being hurt in the groin as opposed to being called a b****.
Tim Donaghy's credibility is about the same as Jose Canseco. They both know what to say to keep their names in the headlines. Why is everybody so upset about Green's flagrant/suspension? This guy hits people in the nuts, he deserves it.
The point is that he didn't deserve it for THAT particular play. So unless you subscribe to the "makeup call" theory of officiating to retroactively suspend him for the Adams kick it was a bad call. Swiping someone in the groin and causing no discomfort or pain is not "hitting" James in the buts. If Green stepped over James, say, and everything happened almost in reverse, do you really think they would have called a flagrant foul on James?
My theory: pent-up frustration over the Rockets lack of success. I think it gives people some sort of release to just be like, "F' the NBA. It's all rigged!"
Really what I believe should have happened is that Green got a Flagrant 2 in Game 3 on the floor and was thrown out for Game 3 in the Thunder series. That would have been proper and Green then returns for Game 4 and I think fewer people would ask for Green to be suspended for two games after already being thrown out of Game 3. Green gets his "suspension" and you don't get all this criticism about how Green escaped meaningful punishment. At the same time it relieves the NBA the need to consider a suspension in a critical Game 4 which as we see they weren't willing to do. Not necessarily to favor the Warriors but more to avoid Thunder possibly winning in 5 games, I think. Then with the criticism largely avoided, they won't feel like they need a makeup call. Unfortunately that's not how it played out. So now you have this confluence of factors where they feel the need to finally get Green suspended and also as Warriors were on the verge of ending it in 5 games it also served that purpose as well. So it became an easy call even if objectively it was a bad call for a light swipe that was clearly meant more like a tap on the shoulder rather than any intent to hurt. Believe me if Green wanted to hit James harder, he would have and James wouldn't (and would have no reason to) hide his discomfort or pain.
It's weird how many people watch a rigged sporting event. Seems like if people already are sure they know what's happening and that it's unfair, they'd just turn off the TV.
While you're pontificating about everyone else, let's turn it back on you. What do you get out of antagonizing people who are frustrated at a league that has more than a decade of questionable officiating under its belt? A sense of moral superiority via feigned objectivity? Wouldn't it be better to just step aside and let things die down - which they would if there weren't some truth to them? Tim Donaghy is an attention w**** but he certainly has a relevant background. The NBA's treatment of certain players over others gets very irritating. This is pent up frustration at that, not the Rockets.
It's funny cause LeBron's not even complaining about the groin hit, in which the NBA suspended Draymond Green for. LeBron complained about being called a b****. That's what the NBA ultimately suspended him for.
Basketball & wrestling! I quit watching wrestling 20 years ago. I haven't been able to quit watching the Rockets yet.
That's a ... weird ... way to look at things. Every conspiracy has some truth to it if it doesn't die down? We didn't land on the moon ... because a bunch of people keep saying we didn't?
I have no confidence that things would naturally die down "if there weren't some truth to them". Its selection bias. People will remember events from a game that fit their narrative and just dig their heels deeper that the conspiracy theory must be true. Look, all I want is for the constant whining to die down some and try to enjoy some NBA discussion on here for hopefully these next two games. Its impossible to do that right now. He has all the motivation in the world to promote conspiracy theories and make the NBA look dirty. I don't care what he thinks at this stage. He has no relationship to the NBA any longer, as far as I'm aware. I'm not even saying that the NBA is perfectly clean. I wouldn't doubt that they really, really wanted the Lakers to beat the Kings when facing elimination in a game 6 in 2002, and that some refs knew this and tilted the game accordingly. But just because it may have happened in the past in one game doesn't mean it must be happening all the time. Assuming this, as a fan, is simply giving up on the NBA because you'll always find some reason to think a missed call here or there was done on purpose to affect the outcome of a game. Preferential treatment towards star players is nothing new. This notion that the NBA is fixing games specifically for the benefit of the Golden State Warriors, on the other hand, is total unsubstantiated. The Warriors get away with illegal screens? So did the Jerry Sloan Jazz teams. Were they the darlings of the NBA too? Great players and great teams find ways to take the rules, as their written, and exploit them to their very limits. How many people here complain when Harden is drawing all those fouls? Or when Shane was drawing those charge. Or, dare I say it, when Hakeem was dreamshaking his way to 40 points with 4 or 5 borderline travels being overlooked? Was that the NBA fixing games for the Rockets? Draymond Green gets away with roughing up players? Since when is that a unique thing? There have always been players who'll throw cheap shots, do stuff to get under people's skin, and know how to get their hits in while getting away with it (skirting on the edge of purposely getting in a hit vs looking like its just incidental contact in the flow of the game). You don't have to like them or how they play. I sure don't. But there's no reason to believe that the NBA has specifically directed refs to look the other way when he's up to his antics.
