I heard that Tim Duncan stepped on the court in Game 4. I thought that if you stepped on the court for whatever reason you would automatically be suspended. The rule was the rule and if you break it there is no negotiating out of it. I don't understand how Duncan got out of it.
2007-05-19 05:58:09 · 8 answers · asked by JH 2 in Sports ➔ Basketball
This is exactlly what i was saying since the suspension were given out.
2007-05-19 06:02:30 · answer #1 · answered by sunsfan#13# 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I watched game 4 and nobody in the game even noticed this at the time, but then the Phoenix Suns show this section of the game to the powers-that-be, asserting that Tim Duncan and Bruce Bowen were on the floor during this "incident" and should have been suspended.
There was a great interview with David Stern two days ago on PTI, that explained very well why Tim Duncan did not get suspended. In it, they also showed the video footage very closely. Tim Duncan initially gets up from the bench, BEFORE any contact was made between Francisco and Jones, as he is making the dunk, with his hands in the air in a celebrating manner, cheering the play. Then the contact is made with Jones (could have been a dangerous play, not called) and Francisco Elson crashes to the floor. At this point Tim Duncan's face shows concern, and he takes two steps closer before being consoled by Bowen and brought back to the bench.
At the same time on the court, Elson after colliding with the court gets up partially, looks over at Jones, lifts up his arms in a protest to the referee standing nearby, then gets up and jogs up the court as normal.
Neither of the two players said anything to each other, or even looked directly at each other for more than maybe a second. There was not only no altercation, there was not even the hint of one. This is obvious from the video, as well as Duncan's intent.
I was frankly amazed that the Suns would even try to submit video of this to the NBA, or call attention to it. The "evidence" Phoenix, and many of their fans - even some sportswriters! - show of the NBA's favoritism in this instance is nonexistent, and would even be considered comical if the stakes in game 5 weren't so high.
Stoudamire and Diaw knew of the rule preventing players from leaving the bench in an altercation, knew of the automatic penalty, and chose to go in anyway, charging off until they were restrained by officials and the assistant coaches. A clear shot of the Spurs bench at the same time shows not one of the Spurs players moved a muscle, even when Raja Bell was assaulting Robert Horry (an act he didn't get suspended for, by the way, and what also constituted the altercation). If Raja Bell doesn't get in Horry's face, there's no altercation and only Horry gets suspended, probably just for one game. Robert Horry stiffly hip-checked Nash into the scorer's table, he lay still for a few seconds (probably trying to get a flagrant called on Horry) and then hopped up real quick and went over to confront Horry, showing no evidence of injury from the play that had floored him.
After the game, Gregg Popovich called it a foul, and Steve Nash said it was "a good hip check"... yes, Horry intended to give him a hard foul on the play and was unapologetic for it. He got ejected, which was fair for the situation, given his intent. But if Raja Bell doesn't start a situation with Horry and just goes over to help Steve Nash, only Horry gets suspended. The key is that he didn't, and involved himself in an altercation. That's why Stoudamire and Diaw were suspended, and Duncan and Bowen were not.
2007-05-19 13:34:54 · answer #2 · answered by town_plagiarist 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
The reason is because stern said that when duncan stepped on the floor there was no altercation happening.
2007-05-19 13:08:34 · answer #3 · answered by Josh 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
because the nba dosen't care about fair, the ratings and viewers went way up and it was all in the media. duncan is to big a name to be suspended for a stupid rule which is bull.....
2007-05-19 13:08:48 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
i kno!!! it's sooo annoying!! i really don't like cheating games!!! i don't care if the phoenix lose by a non-cheating game but the game was riged!! i dunno how duncan got away with it!!! that's soo annoying maybe the refs jus wanted spurs to win cuz it was at their home court so i dunno but it really frustrated me!!! everyone in my school is talking about it lolz even the ppl who don't even watch basketball =P
after i watched it over and over and over again... it's true i did see duncan already in the court... but they all of the camera's focused on the phonenix bench and it was difficult to see the spurs bench!!! uggg
2007-05-19 13:05:17 · answer #5 · answered by ♥♥Jabbawockeez♥♥ 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
EXACTLY!!!!!!!!!!!
they took into account other factors............hmm ? I thought the rules were black and white?
AND HE WAS NOT ALREADY ON THE FLOOR>>>>>>>>>>>>>>IF YOU DIDNT WATCH THE GAME>>>>>>>>>>DONT COMMENT ON IT!!!!
2007-05-19 13:04:00 · answer #6 · answered by susan j 1 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Because he was already on the floor.
2007-05-19 13:04:32 · answer #7 · answered by Hi 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
their wasn't a fight at the time. he was celebrating a dunk.
2007-05-19 13:09:06 · answer #8 · answered by Dodgerblue 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋