Suspensions

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

Mase is still sitting at home doing nothing; and I was kind of hoping that Petrie would grab him...

 

[JayBird]

Looks like the Pacers are going to go from first-place to bottom-feeders, really quickly.

 

[AceKingSuited]

I don't think that it is fair on Wallace. All he did was to shove Artest, which accounts for 2 game suspension. That was the end of his part. But if you are suspending 3 Pacers they have to suspend atleast one Piston. Just trying to give some condolence to the Pacers.

My feelings exactly.

I view the Wallace incident as a seperate incident from the brawl in the stands. Basically, by the time the cup of beer was thrown, the refs were close to wrapping up the face shoving situation. However, like BW said, I think the league will probably hand out a heavier suspension for Wallace than I think he deserves, reason being: public relations.

Artest is the main culprit, IMO. Well, him and the guy who tossed the beer on him. The fan should get what the law mandates, and frankly, Artest should get the same. He brought the streets to his job, and that's just not acceptable.

I don't think Jackson's actions were as bad as Artest's, but he still should not have followed him into the stands and started punching.

I think a few people will strongly disagree with me, but I really don't have a problem with what Jermaine Oneal did. I'm serious! Those two guys had no business going down onto the court, and it's obvious they were looking for trouble. And trouble is what they found.

 

[KingKong]

It seems that Big Ben was an inadvertent catalyst to the fracas. I'm sure that is the way the league is looking at it right now. That being said I would be surprised if Wallace ends up getting more than a 7 game suspension.

 

[iheartBrad]

i agree though with what Ben Wallace said...something to the affect of "i was just playing basketball" i guess meaning...that kinda thing...pushing/shoving which then involves into a fight happens in basketball and in sports..

i mean it does obviously show bad sportsmanship...but lets be honest....fights happen...but the after fight is whats absolutely ridiculous not part of sports

i agree with Superman in that Wallace will get suspended for longer than he deserves but thats what the leagues gonna have to do prove that kinda of behavior is unacceptable...inappropriate...and inexcusable

i have a feelings the fans are gonna get off free and clear in this one...i mean i don't think they are gonna be able to prove who did what and blah blah blah

 

[quick dog]

Courtney Alexander may get a call.

Wallace was a big fool.

Did everyone see the college football riot today? Now some of those were legit punches.

 

[VF21]

The fact people say "let's be honest...fights happen" is part of the problem. Fights should NOT happen and if and when they do, the league should and does come down on the players.

After that debacle, they're going to come down much harder because it's clear things have gotten out of control.

Ben Wallace is a fool. He wasn't "just playing a game"... he decided to make it personal when he went after Artest. I don't give a rat's patoot about any bad blood or anything else between them. If they can't control themselves, they need to find another line of work.

It's a bleeping game, for God's sake.

 

[Bibby_Is_Clutch]

Steve Kerr thinks the 3 pacers invovled will have at least 15 game suspensions. That is going to hurt a lot of peoples fantasy teams. And its going to put the Pacers in a world of hurt and might ruin their playoff shot.

 

[Bibby_Is_Clutch]

It seems that Big Ben was an inadvertent catalyst to the fracas. I'm sure that is the way the league is looking at it right now. That being said I would be surprised if Wallace ends up getting more than a 7 game suspension.

I wouldnt... Lets see... Ben overeacted (Ben gave artest a hard foul a minute earlier to artest giving ben the hard foul... what goes around, comes around), artest tried to calm down and stay out of it, ben was still going crazy, yelling, throwing towels, pushing other people, and pumping up his team and taunting the other pacers basicly into fighting by not calming down. Ben not a catalyst? give me a break...

 

[Evenstar]

ok on sportscenter tonight they had their legal analyst on who said that if ron artest tries to use self defense as his defence in court, that won't cut it. he also said there would be a lot of civil suits.

also on sportscenter, they had the oakland county prosecutor on who said that the police are doing an investigation, reviewing all the tapes, talking to witnesses, all that good stuff. they also said that jermiane o neal threw a punch at another person in the tunnel off camera.

i don't remember exactly where i heard this, but i did hear that the 3 from the pacers who threw the punches at the fans could be facing criminal charges and possibly jail time.

and we could know as soon as tommorrow what the suspensions are.

 

[Evenstar]

oh and i forgot to add ( from sportscenter)

ron artest "feels badly" about what happened

ben wallace wants to apologize to artest, but due to the possiblity of court, their lawyers thought it best that they don't speak to each other at this time.

 

[VF21]

ron artest "feels badly" about what happened...

I was watching Fox news, and they showed some clips from Artest back in February, 2004. He said he felt badly about what he had done then, too, and that he wanted to stay in the league and follow the rules...

This guy just doesn't have a clue.

The real shame is that he has a lot of talent and he's going to end up out of the league because his brain cells apparently never communicate with each other.

 

[Insomniacal Fan]

Well, he's had stretches, whole months even, without suspensions. A brawl like this is aberrant.

 

[KingKong]

I wouldnt... Lets see... Ben overeacted (Ben gave artest a hard foul a minute earlier to artest giving ben the hard foul... what goes around, comes around), artest tried to calm down and stay out of it, ben was still going crazy, yelling, throwing towels, pushing other people, and pumping up his team and taunting the other pacers basicly into fighting by not calming down. Ben not a catalyst? give me a break...

If you had actually read my post, you would notice that I said that he was a catalyst, albeit an inadvertent one. Wallace could not have expected a full out brawl to take place. All the things you have stated in your post happened during the game, the hard foul, the shove, the taunting and the towel throwing, which although in itself is inexcuseable behaviour, these things happen in the NBA. It is unfortunate that they do, but you cannot say that Wallace expected a full out melee where fans and players were being attacked. In this scenario, everybody is to blame.

 

[AceKingSuited]

I wouldnt... Lets see... Ben overeacted (Ben gave artest a hard foul a minute earlier to artest giving ben the hard foul... what goes around, comes around), artest tried to calm down and stay out of it, ben was still going crazy, yelling, throwing towels, pushing other people, and pumping up his team and taunting the other pacers basicly into fighting by not calming down. Ben not a catalyst? give me a break...

I don't see how Oneal deserves a 15 gamer for hitting that guy who attacked Artest on the court. Those two guys left the stands to pick a fight. I don't see how Oneal gets 15 games when V-Max gets 10 for going into the stands and swinging first.

 

[6th]

I fully expect Artest (who started the whole melee in the stands) to be suspended by the league for the rest of the season. I think Stern wants to send a strong message, to the fans as well as the players, that the fans will be protected from this behavior by the league. He cannot afford to lose fan base over this.

Jackson and O'Neal will get stiff penalties. Big Ben's will be pretty stiff as well since he could be considered someone who incited his fans (particularly the drunken ones) by his behavior.

The league penalties may be nothing compared to the legal penalties that may lie ahead for some of these guys. Suffice it to say, losing control like this is going to be extremely costly for all of them.

Hopefully, any legal penalties that are forthcoming for these players will also hit some of those fans who deserve it at as well.

 

[albeitrue]

Artest To Get 30-Game Suspension, Station Reports
WDIV-TV In Brawl Says 4 Players Suspended

POSTED: 10:24 am EST November 21, 2004
UPDATED: 12:03 pm EST November 21, 2004

The National Basketball Association suspended four players involved in Friday night's fight at The Palace of Auburn Hills.


WDIV-TV in Detroit is reporting today that Ben Wallace of the Pistons and Ron Artest, Stephen Jackson and Jermaine O'Neal of the Pacers will be suspended for the following number of games:

Ron Artest -- 30 Games
Stephen Jackson -- 20 Games
Jermaine O'Neal -- 20 Games
Ben Wallace -- 5 Games

The NBA is expected to formally announce the suspensions as early as today for their roles in the ugly brawl at the end of a Pacers-Pistons game.

Indiana's Ron Artest, Jermaine O'Neal and Stephen Jackson, and Detroit's Ben Wallace were suspended indefinitely by the NBA on Saturday.

League officials continue to examine videotapes of Friday's fight.

It all started in the final seconds when Wallace went in for a layup and was fouled hard from behind. Wallace then spun around and pushed an Indiana player in the face. The benches emptied and punches were thrown. Fans got involved by throwing popcorn, beer and even a chair.

"No one can condone the level of incitement and violence we all witnessed. Clearly, there's a need to institute measures and safeguards to improve the safety of players and fans alike, to ensure that an incident like this never occurs again," said G. William Hunter, executive director of the NBA players' association.

 

[albeitrue]

Here is where I got my info:

http://www.thekcrachannel.com/sports/3937171/detail.html

If this is true, then my predictions were pretty close...Wallace 2 or 3 games, Jackson and O'Neal significant games and Artest out until All Star break (close, anyway).

 

[Insomniacal Fan]

"so that fans can continue to attend our games unthreatened by events such as the ones that occurred last night."

Seems like the players are the ones who need more protection to me.

 

[iheartBrad]

if those suspensions are true i think they are pretty fair..especially if you think of how Latrell Spreewell got 68 games for that PJ Carlismo(sp?) incident...and then didn't even end up playing anywhere that whole season

 

[Twix]

"so that fans can continue to attend our games unthreatened by events such as the ones that occurred last night."

Seems like the players are the ones who need more protection to me.

I agree....fans also need to know not to be throwing things at players, walking onto the court, etc. The players deserve their suspension, but fans also need to know.