I HIGHLY, HIGHLY DOUBT that Stoudemire will be suspended..

[gridironguy]

I recorded the game and watched the play 3 times again. It was a bang, bang play. Stoudemire was on the bench and started to walk briskly towards the area where the altercation was taking place. Several Phoenix coaches grabbed him and pulled him back to the bench.

In my mind, given the stakes and the circumstances, this is not enough to suspend a player. Emotions were high, Amare made a move towards the scene, and was quickly stopped by his coaches who are obviously aware of the rule.

Much ado about nothing is the way I see it.

On to game 5, with no suspensions on either side..

[onlooker]

Horry deserves a suspension.

I really hope the NBA don't go by the book on this one with Amare and Diaw.

[rjt721]

Guess I'm the only one, but I think Amare and Diaw are definitely out for Game 5. And Horry, without question, will not play on Wednesday.

[Dark Horse]

From a Suns forum. Not neutral, obviously, but some good points:

There is no way that the league office can enforce the letter of the law here and not suffer very negative repercussions. Basically they would be sending a message to every other team in the league that the way to win a tight playoff series is to send a goon after the other team's star player, hope to either injure him or incite a riot to get players on the other team suspended. Whether or not the Suns players should have stayed on the bench is immaterial: what would have happened if Horry had really injured Nash? You wouldn't expect the other players on the Suns to have some kind of immediate emotional reaction to that?

I would say it might be a different story if Amare and Diaw had run on to the court and started scuffling, but that didn't happen here. And the NBA might have a better leg to stand on for playing hardball with the Suns if they had been tightly enforcing against the dirty play of Bowen from the get-go. Again, that didn't happen.

I'm not saying that Stern and Stu Jackson aren't foolish enough to do the wrong thing here, but they must know that they would be opening up a whole Pandora's box by suspending anyone beyond Dumbass Bob Horry. Again, it might be a different matter if Amare and Boris had taken some kind of overtly aggressive action, but this is definitely a situation where much more harm will be done by enforcing the letter of the law.

[wrongturn]

Will be very surprised if Horry is not suspended for at least a game. Because there was no real fight occcurred and league's concern of rule abuse in the future, my guess is Horry two games, fine on Diaw and Amar but no suspension.

[Seattle Slew]

Horry should get booted for a few games and that might stop this type of play.

A few years ago, Rick Fox was trying to bait some Trail Blazers into taking a shot at him late in Game 6 of that series with the Lakers. Fox was sacrificing himself to get Wallace or Pippen booted from Game 7.

Horry was probably thinking the same thing.

[DrunkenLullaby]

Stern is a whore. He won't suspend Stoudemire....and if that turn out to be the case then he needs to re-write his precious little (ever-changing) rulebook.

Certainly it's not fair to suspend Stoudemire, but if you are going to write this retarded rule in the first place, you cannot selectively choose not to enforce it because it's a star and it's game 5 of the playoffs.

[Tchocky]

Guess I'm the only one, but I think Amare and Diaw are definitely out for Game 5. And Horry, without question, will not play on Wednesday.

Suspensions would hurt Phoenix much more than San Antonio. Of course, you're hoping Amare & Boris are suspened for tomorrow. Let the boys play...no suspensions. Although Horry does deserve to be suspended. I remember last year when Stackhouse got suspended for that hard foul on Shaq. His suspension hurt the Mavs and changed the complexion of that series.

[gridironguy]

Stern is a whore. He won't suspend Stoudemire....and if that turn out to be the case then he needs to re-write his precious little (ever-changing) rulebook.

Certainly it's not fair to suspend Stoudemire, but if you are going to write this retarded rule in the first place, you cannot selectively choose not to enforce it because it's a star and it's game 5 of the playoffs.

DL, I am rooting for the Suns but I generally agree with what you are saying here.

They can't pick and choose when to enforce it, but I believe the "spirit of the law" is in order here. Amare and Boris did not make it even close to where the mini-altercation was taking place. They were stopped and turned around. It's very tough to expect bench guys (who were playing in the game and had adrenaline running) to not get up and walk towards the play when their star player (the 2nd smallest guy on the court, next to Parker) gets slammed into a table next to the court.

Let's be real.

[Dark Horse]

Stern is a whore. He won't suspend Stoudemire....and if that turn out to be the case then he needs to re-write his precious little (ever-changing) rulebook.

Certainly it's not fair to suspend Stoudemire, but if you are going to write this retarded rule in the first place, you cannot selectively choose not to enforce it because it's a star and it's game 5 of the playoffs.

Steve Kerr on Yahoo:

... if the league decides to suspend Diaw and Stoudemire, it may have to suspend Tim Duncan and Bruce Bowen as well.

In a play that went entirely unnoticed until well after the game was over, both Duncan and Bowen actually left San Antonio's bench early in the second quarter after Francisco Elson and James Jones were entangled. Replays clearly show Duncan walking several steps onto the court as Elson and Jones appeared to be ready to get into it. Bowen then followed Duncan onto the floor, grabbed him and led him back to the bench. If the league does indeed follow the letter of the law, both Spurs players would also be suspended for Game 5.

I watched the video of this myself. Duncan and Bowen certainly cross the line, albeit not in a heated manner at all, and only barely over the line. And at the time they did, it looked like this might turn into an altercation. If anyone is going to use the "a rule is a rule and that is that" argument, this would certainly diffuse it. Which means, I guess, we are now 100% in the land of a David Stern judgment call.

[Seattle Slew]

Unfortunately, the decision is in the hands of Stu Jackson, who polices the NBA as well as he coached in it and in collge (lousy).

[gridironguy]

Great find Dark Horse.

[Breaker]

And then there was this from ESPN:

The Suns have a new, and to my mind better, rationale for why Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw should not be suspended: there was no fight.

The rule about leaving the bench only applies if there is not an altercation. Who decides whether or not it's an altercation? My quick examination of the rule book reveals no answers -- although I welcome your research and input.

I did notice one handy fact, though: lucky for the Suns, as far as I know no one was assessed what the rule book considers a "fighting foul." If Raja Bell's technical had met that description, he would have been ejected -- and there would have been a clear-cut case that there had been an altercation.

[rjt721]

[QUOTE=Tchocky;268794]Of course, you're hoping Amare & Boris are suspened for tomorrow.QUOTE]

Not at all. I've said in a couple threads on here that I hope they aren't suspended because it would only ruin a great series. Just because I think they WILL be suspended, doesn't mean I think they SHOULD be suspended.

I do have a futures bet on SA, but I'm far from a Spurs fan. I'm actually a Lakers fan, so I have disliked SA for a long time.

[wrongturn]

It was kind of fortunate for Suns, or for both teams, that Nash got bumped. It would be nasty if it was Bell or Amare.

[Big Razorback]

How about Stoudamire is GONE and Horry for 2 games!!

[gridironguy]

Yes, I was wrong Big Razorback, but at least my takes arrive BEFORE the results are in.

Please show me where you posted your opinion on the subject PRIOR to hearing the suspensions announced.

TY.

[GamblingMike]

The NBA has to stop suspending players during the playoffs.

Suspensions should be taken care of at the start of the regular season, not the playoffs.

This situation reminds me of my Knicks getting screwed in the 97 Eastern Conference Semi-Finals against Miami.

Fines during the playoffs yes, suspensions no.

[DrunkenLullaby]

OK, Stern is still a whore....but at least he's a consistent whore.

[austintx05]

amare is gone for the entire series?

[DrunkenLullaby]

amare is gone for the entire series?

Yes, and all of next season too.

[gridironguy]

amare is gone for the entire series?

Austin, he has been thrown out of the NBA for life. He is banned..

I'm kidding, and so is Drunken Lullaby. He is only out for 1 game.

He and Diaw will be back in San Antone for Game 6.

[KC]

terrible job by the nba to suspend these players and put a damper on this series

[Willie Bee]

Excellent job by the NBA! I don't pay much attention to the NBA, rarely watch or read anything about it, couldn't tell you much about professional basketball at all. But I'm happy to see a league commissioner actually enforce their rules to the letter.

[wrongturn]

NBA better changes the rule. It is highly advantage to the team who initiates the hit, especially if they have told their bench players before it happens. Don't think SA was intentionally trying to use this strategy to win a series, but sooner or later some teams will.