The first incident happened with 7:59 left in the game. Paul Pierce had the ball and pump-faked James Jones to get him off his feet in order to draw a foul, which is exactly what happened. When Jones was coming down and Pierce was going up for his shot, Jones ensured that Pierce wouldn't score by grabbing his arms, nearly hugging him. Coach Rivers claimed that this was a "clear flagrant" and that he "went right for the head and grabbed." If you watch the replay, which has been shown over and over on SportsCenter, it is clear that Jones didn't make contact with Pierce's head, and it also appears that he didn't even try to. He went right for the arms to prevent a shot, just as he stated afterward. Pierce didn't like the contact from Jones, which is quite ironic, considering that his intent with the pump fake was to draw contact, so he got right in Jones' face and nearly started a fight, which was quickly broken up by referees, who hit both players with technical fouls. After watching this play multiple times, it's obvious the officials made the correct call.
The next incident occurred less than a minute later, when Pierce was setting a screen to help Ray Allen get open behind the 3-point line. Dwyane Wade, who was guarding Allen at the time, plowed into Pierce and was called for a personal foul. Once again, Pierce didn't like the contact and attempted to get in Wade's face, but was separated from the situation quickly. Once again, Coach Rivers though a flagrant should have been issued. If Wade had intentionally hit Pierce in the head or the groin, I could see a flagrant foul being called on the play, but there was no such attempt, just a hit that was called a foul as it should have. While the second incident wasn't as close to becoming a fight as the first, the technical fouls assessed to both players in this case were definitely warranted. The previous incident had happened less than one minute earlier, and the referees needed to keep the game under control, and allowing these types of situations to keep happening by not doling out punishment would have led to more problems.
In both cases, Paul Pierce was in a situation where he was trying to draw contact and a foul, and in both cases the call went against the opposing player. It's obvious that Pierce let his temper get out of control last night, and an ejection was the only way to take care of it. If he didn't want the opposing players to make contact with him, he should have made different plays in both instances. As it stands, Pierce's temper cost him 7 minutes and may have cost his team the game.
NBA Player of the Day
Zach Randolph - MEM - 34 pts, 10 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl, 12-22 FG, 1-1 3P, 9-9 FT
After Randolph's great game to close out the series against San Antonio, he came back two night later with an even better game to upset Oklahoma City in game 1. He scored 3 more points, had one fewer rebound, did not miss a free throw, and shot the exact same percentage as in the previous game. We may be looking at the first 8-seed ever to play in the Western Conference Finals.
Predictions - 2 May
Upset picks are in italics.
NBA
Hawks at Bulls - Bulls by 11
Mavericks at Lakers - Lakers by 4
MLB
Rangers at Athletics - Rangers by 3.2
Yankees at Tigers - Yankees by 4.0
Giants at Nationals - Nats by 0.5
Brewers at Braves - Braves by 1.1
Astros at Reds - Reds by 2.3
Angels at Red Sox - Angels by 2.9
Orioles at White Sox - Sox by 0.0
Marlins at Cardinals - Cards by 1.1
Pirates at Padres - Pirates by 0.0
Cubs at Dodgers - Dodgers by 2.1
Prediction Results - 1 May
NBA Playoffs: 1-1 (.500) 34-12 overall (.739)
MLB: 8-7 (.533) 143-134 overall (.516)
Upsets: 4-2 (.667) 222-152 overall (.594)
No comments:
Post a Comment