Did anyone else catch that Ron Artest interview on TNT? Apparently Roy is the best player he's ever played against, better than Kobe and LeBron, except for some guy he knew from queensbridge who went to jail when he was 16/15. So now it's Roy. lmao never a dull moment with Artest
It's a shame it doesn't have the reactions from the studio because they were all laughing their asses off on the Barkley is over-rated bit, haha
hahaha that was funny shit...ron artest saying b roy is the best player he's played against?! looks like he don't wanna give any credit to lebron/wade/kobe...b roy is a tremendous talent but definitely not at the level of those 3 guys i mentioned (well not yet anyway). pretty bold statement by ron. talking shit about sir charles?? LOL that was hilarious
edit: i'd like to si chuck and artest go at it in their prime (and no im not talking about basketball)
I just want to quote Simmons as I feel he sums it up better.
Bill Simmons If Bulls fans want to whine about it, fine, just remember that (A) Boston's best clutch guy (Ray Allen) fouled out on two of the worst calls of the playoffs, and (B) Ben Gordon stepped out of bounds right as he got fouled by Tony "Why Am I In The Game Again?" Allen for three game-tying free throws in the final 30 seconds. Sweeping incompetence will eventually even out over time.
Bill Simmons If Bulls fans want to whine about it, fine, just remember that (A) Boston's best clutch guy (Ray Allen) fouled out on two of the worst calls of the playoffs, and (B) Ben Gordon stepped out of bounds right as he got fouled by Tony "Why Am I In The Game Again?" Allen for three game-tying free throws in the final 30 seconds. Sweeping incompetence will eventually even out over time.
Simmons is an admitted and devout homer who puts a pro-Celtics spin on almost everything he writes. I enjoy reading his pieces, but his homerism taints his work in my opinion. With regards to that quote, the difference between Rondo's flagrant foul and all the other miscalls that occurred is that Rondo's flagrant was so obvious and the refs saw the foul occur and still made the wrong call. I can understand if the refs simply didn't catch a foul or weren't able to see it, but they clearly saw it (as they called the foul) and just made an inexcusably incorrect call. The same goes for the DHow elbow. The refs clearly saw the elbow, as they called a flagrant, but they got the call completely wrong by not automatically ejecting him as the rulebook requires.
There's a difference between a missed call and a wrong call, the latter being inexcusable because the refs are supposed to know the rules. They saw Rondo make no play on the ball and just swipe at Miller's head, they saw DHow elbow Dalembert in the head on a deadball, and the rulebook clearly lays out the appropriate penalties for those violations. The refs (and the league, in the case of Rondo's) just got it completely wrong, and they're getting the appropriate flack for it.
A lot of calls aren't made at the end of close games. I know Simmons mentioned this and I don't want to repeat it but it was a pretty big deal in sports radio here in Boston: At the end of Game 4 when Miller took out Allen in a tip-in attempt at the end of regulation. It was a clear foul so should it be called and put the league's best free throw shooter on the line to win the game? It wasn't as it should be. Flagrant as Rondo's hit may be, they aren't going to decide the game on a call like that. There are times to not make calls despite what the rule book says. And lets not forget who reffed Game 4: two Chicago natives who had their families there, decked out in Bulls gear. Funny they missed the calls that helped the Bulls win.
On May 01 2009 02:19 Dknight wrote: A lot of calls aren't made at the end of close games. I know Simmons mentioned this and I don't want to repeat it but it was a pretty big deal in sports radio here in Boston: At the end of Game 4 when Miller took out Allen in a tip-in attempt at the end of regulation. It was a clear foul so should it be called and put the league's best free throw shooter on the line to win the game? It wasn't as it should be. Flagrant as Rondo's hit may be, they aren't going to decide the game on a call like that. There are times to not make calls despite what the rule book says. And lets not forget who reffed Game 4: two Chicago natives who had their families there, decked out in Bulls gear. Funny they missed the calls that helped the Bulls win.
Again, the difference here between Rondo's flagrant and the many non-calls that go on in late-game situations, particularly in the playoffs, is that it was not a missed call or one that the refs let slide by. This isn't the same as not calling a shove, an elbow, a grab, a slap, etc. as a foul. The refs did not treat the contact between Rondo and Miller as a non-foul.
This situation was one where there was an indisputable foul that could not be ignored because it was so obvious, the call was made, but then the refs interpreted the rules incorrectly. The refs didn't let the foul slide, they didn't accept it as just part of the rough play that goes in late-game situations or in playoff games, they recognized and called the foul. Once that is done, then you've already acknowledged that Rondo's contact on Miller constituted a foul, and that it's not just the type of "incidental contact" that is allowed in those situations. From there, after it's been identified and called as a foul, you cannot simply ignore the fact that there was no play made on the ball and that contact was made above the shoulders, thus, you cannot deny that it should have been properly called as a flagrant foul. The whole argument that "it's late-game contact that is allowed" or "it's the kind of physicality that is allowed in the playoffs" went out the window the second the refs blew the whistle and called it as a foul.
On May 01 2009 03:42 oneofthem wrote: it's ok as long as the celtics get raped next round, or the round after that.
half of the problem with rondo's foul is the apparent license he thinks he has to play that way, even admitting that he was trying to be violent.
it is obviously not ok to play that way, just imagine if the same logic was used on both sides.
No, what Rondo said was he was trying to give a hard foul and there is nothing wrong with that
I think both of you are a little off. In my opinion, Rondo's comments show that he was trying to give a hard foul that would prevent Miller from making the shot. Combined with the fact that there was no way he could have thought that he could actually make a play on the ball and that he swiped at Miller's head, he's effectively saying that he was trying to commit a hard foul that would prevent Miller from making the shot, even though he knew he was going to connect with his head and not the ball or his hand/arm.
The fact that Rondo shows no remorse for what he did, that Rivers thought it was a great foul/tactic, and that no one from the Celtics organization has given any sign that they found that Rondo's foul was not a great playoff foul, shows that Rondo and the rest of the Celtics organization think it's a great tactic to take a swipe at an opposing player's head without making a play on the ball to prevent them from scoring a basket. This may actually be true (two FTs and the ball might be preferable to giving up an open layup when you're up by two in the final seconds of a game), but they should at least acknowledge that they're committing a flagrant foul and a reckless/dirty play (since they could seriously injure a player doing so, particularly if committed on a smaller player or one that is high in the air).
On the Brad Miller topic, IF he shot it and missed it, an equal amount of people would be coming in here and saying, "Wow what an idiot; he should have drove to the basket" followed by the many reasons that it would be better if he indeed drove to the basket. It can go either way.
Because if he made the free throws and sent the game into overtime, we wouldn't be having this discussion.