Hands down, it was a def. flagrant foul and it was called as such - Tim Thomas get over it!
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Thomas not happy about flagrant foul
By Jerry Brown
East Valley Tribune
May 29, 2006
Suns forward Tim Thomas made it plain he didn’t appreciate or respect the flagrant foul from Dallas’ Josh Howard late in the second quarter of Sunday’s loss to the Mavericks in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals.
Howard hit Thomas in the face on a drive to the basket. Thomas then walked through Howard and Dallas teammate Jason Terry on his way to the free throw line, and he and Terry exchanged shoves before each was hit with a technical foul.
Thomas said he plans no retribution against Howard or Terry (“I’m not going to pick on the little guys; I’ll go after a 7-footer or 6-11-plus guy”), even though the opportunities are plentiful.
“Their little guys are constantly going to the lane and it would be easy to take someone out,” Thomas said. “But that’s not me and not the way you play the game. I don’t know if it was trying to set a tone or a message, but it does absolutely nothing.”
Thomas recalled a 2004 playoff game when he was with the Knicks in which he was carried off the court on a stretcher after being hit by Jason Collins of the Nets while in the air. Thomas demanded retaliation from his teammates that time — he did no such thing Monday.
“I’ve been in situations like that before — being paralyzed from the waist down for 10 minutes,” he said. “When a guy is going up and is vulnerable and you come across his body for a hard foul — it’s not a good play.”
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Thomas not happy about flagrant foul
By Jerry Brown
East Valley Tribune
May 29, 2006
Suns forward Tim Thomas made it plain he didn’t appreciate or respect the flagrant foul from Dallas’ Josh Howard late in the second quarter of Sunday’s loss to the Mavericks in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals.
Howard hit Thomas in the face on a drive to the basket. Thomas then walked through Howard and Dallas teammate Jason Terry on his way to the free throw line, and he and Terry exchanged shoves before each was hit with a technical foul.
Thomas said he plans no retribution against Howard or Terry (“I’m not going to pick on the little guys; I’ll go after a 7-footer or 6-11-plus guy”), even though the opportunities are plentiful.
“Their little guys are constantly going to the lane and it would be easy to take someone out,” Thomas said. “But that’s not me and not the way you play the game. I don’t know if it was trying to set a tone or a message, but it does absolutely nothing.”
Thomas recalled a 2004 playoff game when he was with the Knicks in which he was carried off the court on a stretcher after being hit by Jason Collins of the Nets while in the air. Thomas demanded retaliation from his teammates that time — he did no such thing Monday.
“I’ve been in situations like that before — being paralyzed from the waist down for 10 minutes,” he said. “When a guy is going up and is vulnerable and you come across his body for a hard foul — it’s not a good play.”
