I hope everyone had a great Christmas with the ones they love. However, it’s so great getting back to work! Sorry, I know many of you can’t say that about your job, but I am an exception to the rule. I happen to love what I do, and I was indeed itching to power-up my laptop and start plugging away at my next article. I’m glad that I resisted the urge to work prematurely because it gave me a chance to watch almost every single NBA game from this past Tuesday, all the way up until Thursday’s double header on TNT.
I observed most of these games somewhat closely; I say closely because I really didn’t pay too much attention to the game between the Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets. Sorry Brooklyn, but the Nets are just horrendous to watch right now. I’m Brooklyn all day, every day, but I am in no way a fan of the Nets. Believe it or not, when I choose to support a team, I usually begin with how the front office brass operate, and then work my way down to the dedication of the players. With that being said, Billy King has proven to be a horrible GM over the years; not just with the Nets, but during his time with the Sixers as well. However, that’s another topic that I’ll discuss in my next article.
I primarily enjoyed most of the games during the Christmas week in the NBA. There were a lot of competitive games mixed with some snoozers, but as I watched the Denver Nuggets host the Lakers, something jumped out at me and I immediately became sick to my stomach.
Courtesy: Bloguin.com
Dwight Howard’s flagrant foul against the “Manimal” (Kenneth Faried) was absolutely unnecessary and cowardly to say the least. This guy is increasingly becoming my least favorite player in the entire league right now. From the fiasco that led to him being shipped to Los Angeles (Coach being fired, insane trade demands, etc.), to his horrendous free-throw shooting, and now his over-the-top fouling, he is an ejection away from becoming the modern day J.R. Rider; a player with so much talent and potential, yet a distraction nonetheless. In his mind, he has done nothing wrong thus far and even the media, officials, and his teammates have got it all wrong. Really? Kobe Bryant didn’t even go to bat for him when asked about the flagrant two that led to his ejection. Bryant responded, “Of course it was unnecessary,” when asked about the foul against Faried.
For those of you who are not up to date on the NBA rule book, anytime a player fouls another player and does not make a play on the ball, it’s automatically deemed a flagrant foul. The level of the foul is usually determined by a replay, so Howard’s ejection was well deserved.
Thursday night in Los Angeles, Boston Celtics’ rookie Jared Sullinger attempted to stop Blake Griffin’s dunk attempt; nothing too unusual, except that Sullinger, like Howard, didn’t make a play for the ball. Instead, he opted to wrap Griffin up around the neck and chest areas. He was charged with a flagrant one and Griffin was awarded two shots and possession of the basketball.
During the post-game show with Ernie Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith, and Charles Barkley, Barkley made a ridiculous comment saying that the foul was not that serious. Under normal circumstances, I would never question a first ballot Hall of Famer and probably the third best power forward of all time, but this isn’t a normal circumstance and Sir Charles was out of line.
Courtesy: LA Times
When someone doesn’t make a play on the basketball it can lead to other things happening on the court that don’t belong. The offensive player’s body becomes vulnerable to season or career-ending injuries. You cannot, under any circumstance, not make a play on the ball and expect to get a pass; it simply doesn’t work like that.
As a former player, I take offense to the media when they think that these fouls should be handled as “hard fouls.” I feel that the defender is being cowardly because he simply cannot stop the offensive player. Yes, there is a difference between hard fouls and flagrant fouls. That’s why the rule book explains these differences.
So, it’s my opinion that Mr. Barkley should spend more time learning the current rules of the NBA, and less time giving his asinine opinions about a very sensitive matter. You can make a play on the ball and have it be a hard foul, rather than go for a player’s head or hitting them up high.
Whatever happened to good old sportsmanship? I guess it was ushered out with knee-high socks and cornrows. Oh wait, while it’s hard to believe, those two things are still lingering around the league on some teams, just like flagrant fouls
