[drelo]

The Spurs are lucky to have won even without Diaw and Stoudemire in there. I'm rooting for a Suns vs Cavs finals.

[heavyjeffd]

Eh. It was just a reversal of game 3.

In game 3 the Suns played like shit for 42 minutes to just rally for the last half of the 4th.

That's exactly what happened this game. The Spurs played like shit for about 42 minutes to just rally up at the end and win it (almost exactly) like the Suns did.

Don't have to thank David Stern, it's an ironclad NBA ruling; enter the court during an altercation and you get suspended, no exceptions.

[drelo]

Originally Posted by heavyjeffd

Don't have to thank David Stern, it's an ironclad NBA ruling; enter the court during an altercation and you get suspended, no exceptions.

The rules are there for a reason and I agree with the suspensions. I would have been pissed had they given the Suns a pass. It would have been bullshit.

[heavyjeffd]

Right off the bat, I said all three should be suspended and, fortunately, the NBA did the right thing.

Letting the Suns off would just set poor precident for future cases.

[rummy]

Originally Posted by drelo

The Spurs are lucky to have won even without Diaw and Stoudemire in there. I'm rooting for a Suns vs Cavs finals.

LOL you post here, too?

[Azyiu]

Originally Posted by drelo

The rules are there for a reason and I agree with the suspensions. I would have been pissed had they given the Suns a pass. It would have been bullshit.

You agreed with the ruling?! I am totally speechless...

Yes, the rules are there for a reason, but the rules also don't solve any gray area issues either. By the rule, players MUST stay within the IMMEDIATE VICINITY of the bench. Please define IMMEDIATE VICINITY. Diaw and Amare took literally two or three steps from the bench, and they were like 20 ft away from the incident!

And here is the bigger issue underneth this ruling. The league wants its players to play a clean game and all, and they are doing everything and anything to prevent another big brawl. However, the way with all the new rules are, the league also wants to make them more like emotionless robots! Let's face it, with the current rules in place, you can't commit a hard foul, you can't trash-talk another player, you can't pull your shirt up after a roof-raising dunk, AND NOW you can't protect a teammate who just got knocked into a press table!

I mean, your team leader just gets body-checked into a press table for no real reason on an especially cheap play. You're standing 20 feet away. Instinctively, you run a few steps toward the guy who did it -- after all, your meal ticket is lying on the court in a crumpled heap -- before remembering that you can't leave your bench. So you go back and watch everything else unfold from there. Twenty-four hours later, you get suspended for Game 5 because your instincts as a teammate kicked in for 1.7 seconds.

Think about how dumb this is. What kind of league penalizes someone for reacting like a good teammate after his franchise player just got decked? Imagine you're playing pickup at a park, you're leading a game 10-3, your buddy is driving for the winning layup, and some stranger clotheslines your buddy from behind and knocks him into the metal pole. Do you react? Do you take a couple of steps toward him? I bet you do. For the NBA to pretend it can create a fairy-tale league in which these reactions can be removed from somebody's DNA -- almost like a chemical castration -- I mean, how stupid is that?

[GH0STrider]

^
This man speaks truth.

[The Dark Wolf]

It's called 'Pacers-Pistons Avoidance Syndrome'.

[heavyjeffd]

Originally Posted by Azyiu

By the rule, players MUST stay within the IMMEDIATE VICINITY of the bench.

Actually the rule states that "during an altercation, players NOT on the court in play when the infraction occured that ENTER the court WILL be suspended".

Diaw and Stoudemire jumped off the bench and ran onto the court.

Even the Suns head coach knew. In an article posted shortly after the game, the Suns assistant coach was seen on video tape pulling Diaw back and telling him "you just got suspended".

Simply put, if there's any sort of a fight (even just shoving/pushing/name calling) and you are NOT in play at the time and enter the court, you will be suspended.

I personally don't see any gray area.

[Azyiu]

Originally Posted by heavyjeffd

Actually the rule states that "during an altercation, players NOT on the court in play when the infraction occured that ENTER the court WILL be suspended".

Diaw and Stoudemire jumped off the bench and ran onto the court.

Even the Suns head coach knew. In an article posted shortly after the game, the Suns assistant coach was seen on video tape pulling Diaw back and telling him "you just got suspended".

Simply put, if there's any sort of a fight (even just shoving/pushing/name calling) and you are NOT in play at the time and enter the court, you will be suspended.

I personally don't see any gray area.

Amare was not entering the altercation, not even to pull people away. He stepped out onto the court, in what looks like an attempt to see the action. Same thing for Boris Diaw. Keep in mind, Stoudemire and Diaw never made it near the scrum!

I do not want to bring this up, but earlier in the game there WAS a near altercation (second quarter, when Jones commited a hard foul on Parker, I think) in which Tim Duncan stepped several feet onto the court to see the action, and Bruce Bowen stepped after him to pull him back... and what about that?

I think Stu Jackson needs to apply some common sense into his decision, because honestly, and I don't think I am alone here, this suspension makes no sense and is totally bias against the Suns IMO.