Green suspended for game 3

Watching that angle of the fall and stomp, I just don't see any ankle holding by Sabonis.

What I see is Sabonis being knocked down by Klay and then rolling over on his side and protecting his head from Draymond kicking him in the head. Any ankle holding would be Sabonis turning his body over and on top of Draymonds foot (inadvertently) to protect himself.

From this angle of the incident, Sabonis shouldn't even had been called for a technical let alone Warrior fans justifying the curb stomp as Sabonis's fault.
 
Watching that angle of the fall and stomp, I just don't see any ankle holding by Sabonis.

What I see is Sabonis being knocked down by Klay and then rolling over on his side and protecting his head from Draymond kicking him in the head. Any ankle holding would be Sabonis turning his body over and on top of Draymonds foot (inadvertently) to protect himself.

From this angle of the incident, Sabonis shouldn't even had been called for a technical let alone Warrior fans justifying the curb stomp as Sabonis's fault.
Well he does pull the leg when he's moving his arms to protect himself. But he never saw who's leg it was.
 
Watching that angle of the fall and stomp, I just don't see any ankle holding by Sabonis.

What I see is Sabonis being knocked down by Klay and then rolling over on his side and protecting his head from Draymond kicking him in the head. Any ankle holding would be Sabonis turning his body over and on top of Draymonds foot (inadvertently) to protect himself.

From this angle of the incident, Sabonis shouldn't even had been called for a technical let alone Warrior fans justifying the curb stomp as Sabonis's fault.
I've been saying this for two days now; however, anytime you give someone this take it's like you've contributed to the mass murder of babies. I do get how someone (including the refs on game night) could watch that replay, and say "look, it's debatable but I think Sabonis knew what he was doing".... if the roles were reversed, maybe I would say that, but this whole thing has now blown to such epic proportions of hysteria.
 

funkykingston

Super Moderator
Staff member
When it happened I assumed Draymond would be ejected but not suspended.

Personally I wish the whole sequence hadn't happened because it just takes away from what the Kings have done so far. And while a suspension was iffy and likely happened only because (a) it's Draymond Green and he has a history of dirty plays and (b) he ran around yelling at/inciting Kings fans, making it clear it was intentional with Adam Silver there to watch, I'd rather have him available for Game 3 because he's now become the biggest story.

Not only that, if the Kings lose tonight while he's out, it's a huge blow. It gives the Warriors all the momentum for game 4 at home where they've been dominant.

Hate the situation and that people will now view this as tainting the Kings success so far this postseason, but the team has to block out all the noise and win tonight.
 

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
When it happened I assumed Draymond would be ejected but not suspended.

Personally I wish the whole sequence hadn't happened because it just takes away from what the Kings have done so far. And while a suspension was iffy and likely happened only because (a) it's Draymond Green and he has a history of dirty plays and (b) he ran around yelling at/inciting Kings fans, making it clear it was intentional with Adam Silver there to watch, I'd rather have him available for Game 3 because he's now become the biggest story.

Not only that, if the Kings lose tonight while he's out, it's a huge blow. It gives the Warriors all the momentum for game 4 at home where they've been dominant.

Hate the situation and that people will now view this as tainting the Kings success so far this postseason, but the team has to block out all the noise and win tonight.
None of this is wrong but what he did he had to be suspended. 1 game is like the bare minimum. For everyone in Dub Nation complaining this could swing the game, Dray TRIED to take Sabonis out of the series and he's going to lose one paltry game because of it.
 
I've been saying this for two days now; however, anytime you give someone this take it's like you've contributed to the mass murder of babies. I do get how someone (including the refs on game night) could watch that replay, and say "look, it's debatable but I think Sabonis knew what he was doing".... if the roles were reversed, maybe I would say that, but this whole thing has now blown to such epic proportions of hysteria.
To be fair, if I were to fall down near the feet of a volatile person like Draymond, my first reaction would be to reach up and protect my head, because Draymond could very well kick me in the head on purpose. It's really a primal survival mechanism to protect your head in that instance and if my arms gets tangled up with his legs, then so be it.
 

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
To be fair, if I were to fall down near the feet of a volatile person like Draymond, my first reaction would be to reach up and protect my head, because Draymond could very well kick me in the head on purpose. It's really a primal survival mechanism to protect your head in that instance and if my arms gets tangled up with his legs, then so be it.
I think a reasonable person could conclude, hey Sabonis was maybe taking a professional foul to stop a break but it's also 100% plausible he was trying to protect himself. Thus the free throw awarded to Golden State was fair, and had it ended there Golden State would have likely got +1 and the ball.

Keep hearing this oh but the Kings got two shots and the ball. Uh, aside from the assault, did anyone not see Sabonis's two free throws? They were about what you would expect from someone who was down on the floor for 15 minutes while his attacker pranced around the arena trying to bait fans into doing something, just anything to make him look like a victim again.
 
Watching that angle of the fall and stomp, I just don't see any ankle holding by Sabonis.

What I see is Sabonis being knocked down by Klay and then rolling over on his side and protecting his head from Draymond kicking him in the head. Any ankle holding would be Sabonis turning his body over and on top of Draymonds foot (inadvertently) to protect himself.

From this angle of the incident, Sabonis shouldn't even had been called for a technical let alone Warrior fans justifying the curb stomp as Sabonis's fault.
Absolutely. The only reason Sabonis was given a technical, was because of how Green reacted. Most other players in that situation and it's a play on, with no fouls either way
 
Look, Draymond was suspended for one reason and one reason only: he embarrassed the league, and he did so right in front of the commissioner himself, who was present in the building. If he had stomped on Domas, waited for him to get up off the court, and gave him a little a** slap and a "my bad, the game is heated," he doesn't get suspended; the flagrant 2 and ejection would have been sufficient punishment. Instead, Draymond jumps on a chair and starts acting far outside the bounds of professional behavior, jawing at fans, using profane language that the cameras had no trouble discerning, and generally making a fool of himself in front of commissioner Adam Silver. Sure, I understand that Dray's over-the-top personality has been so central to the Warriors' success over the years, but these playoffs games are nationally televised. Hardcore NBA fans are watching, but so are casual fans. So are those fans' kids and spouses who may not be as interested in NBA basketball. Draymond lost his mind in a $$$nationally televised$$$ game, embarrassed the league, and now he's paying for it.
 
If you block out the noise you have: 'Green stomped on Sabonis, was ejected, suspended 1 game.'

You can also block out the noise and say: 'Green has started 2 games of a best of 7 series and lost both.'

I personally think the suspension is too light. The decision should have cited precedent (e.g., Kevin Love's 2 games for stomping) and should have made less of Green's past, as it implies there was a good deal of discretion available and this plays into all the anti dubs bias nonsense. I prefer the soccer model of a red card = 3 games out, regardless.
 

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
Red card is usually one out plus the remainder of the game you are off and team plays down a man unless there was an attempt to injure which there certainly was here. That's when we typically see multi-match bans.
 
Dillon Brooks isn’t getting suspended for the groin shot on LeBron from yesterdays game.

Brooks just walked off the court after he was called for a Flagrant 2 and ejected. Total opposite of lunatic Draymond instigating the crowd.

Draymond needs to look in the mirror and stop blaming others, but he will never accept responsibility for his actions.