The NBA can be a physical game at times. Especially in the play-offs. And most of the time, we’d prefer if the officials would just let the teams play. Don’t let them get too rough, but don’t be quick on the trigger.
There are times though, when the hammer needs to come down. And in situations recently, the hammer didn’t move.
First up, the Rajon Rondo face slap of Brad Miller. If you saw the game, you know that Rondo slapped Brad Miller in the face HARD in Tuesday nights game. Rondo was called for a foul, but not a flagrant foul. The crew of Mark Wunderlich, Sean Corbin, and Joe DeRosa ignored the fact that Rondo was no where near the ball in his attempt to block the shot. If you’ve seen the video, it is CLEAR that Rondo’s hand was a good 3 feet from the ball. He intentionally hit Miller in the face. He wasn’t going for the ball. He even admitted as much after the game. How this was not called flagrant, I’ll never understand. And to this point, the league has taken no action against Rondo or against the officials who refused to make the correct call.
The second incident is Dwight Howard’s elbow landing square on Samuel Dalembert’s head. This incident is a little different in that the crew of Marc Davis, Joey Crawford and Derrick Stafford at least made sure Howard got hit with a technical. However, they failed to eject Howard. How many times have we seen guys ejected for punching another player? Countless times. But Howard was allowed to stay in the game. The league has at least dealt with Howard in the correct way by suspending him from tonight’s game.
Another aspect to consider in this is that the players involved are both high profile players. Rondo is probably the best all-around PG in the league and the best player on the reigning champion Celtics. Howard is one of the best big men in the league and THE marquee player for the Magic. Did they get lenient treatment because of their star status? Maybe. But that’s another article for another time.
In the end, all I can hope is that the officials will be more strict in their calling of physical fouls. I’d like my basketball games to stay basketball games and not become MMA events.
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