Kori Ellis
04-25-2006, 01:31 AM
Buck Harvey: Crazy possibilities — who does the suspension help?
Web Posted: 04/25/2006 12:00 AM CDT
San Antonio Express-News
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/columnists/bharvey/stories/MYSA042506.1D.COL.BKNharvey.spurs.4e14eba.html
If I'm the Spurs, I'm on the phone to the league office Sunday, and I've got something to say about Ron Artest.
Don't suspend him.
Give him a flagrant foul to add to his ever-expanding rap sheet. Give him notice that David Stern is still watching. But don't give the Kings a nothing-to-lose game tonight, as well as an emotional rebirth in Sacramento for Game3.
If I'm the Spurs?
I question who this suspension helps.
I don't question the suspension itself. Artest's elbow to Manu Ginobili's head wasn't the hardest blow of the evening, nor was it shocking considering the owner of the elbow. On the Artest Crazy Meter, this one ranks somewhere below Artest once flashing an obscene gesture to a section of fans in Miami.
Why below that? Because earlier that season, Artest had announced there ought to be a mandatory ejection for cursing "because kids are watching."
He has a screw so loose, it doesn't have any threads. "They better not put me in the All-Star Game," Artest once said. "I won't shoot, but I'll dominate that easy game. I'll be foulin'. I'll be flagrant fouling. Everyone will be like, 'What are you doing?'"
Which is, of course, what everyone always has asked. He can smash a camera, flex his muscles at Pat Riley and ask for time off to work on his CD. He also can attend anger-management class — then shortly after, snarl for a magazine cover with the headline "The Scariest Man in the NBA."
So when he's down by 30 points? With his mouth bloodied? Artest edged closer to that night in Detroit, when he took his act to another place altogether, striking Ginobili as well as Tim Duncan.
Maybe every player would have been suspended for the same. After all, Duncan had to sit out a game two years ago after a brush with an official. The Spurs argued the contact was incidental, that the ref was in the wrong position, and Duncan's spotless record didn't save him.
But Artest's history matters, just as it did several years ago. Then, two news organizations felt comfortable reporting that Artest had been in a fight during All-Star weekend in Atlanta — when he was actually in Orlando.
This time, the NBA had the goods: the tape, the flagrant-foul guidelines and the motivation to suspend. Artest and his leap into the stands, after all, is primarily the reason the league has aired about 4,603 "NBA Cares" commercials this season. Did Stern want to let Ron be Ron, then have to approve for next season an "NBA Cares, Seriously" campaign?
The Kings plead ignorance to all of it, because they hadn't seen this side of Artest yet. But this is part of the package they traded for. Had Sacramento gambled on a guy with chronic knee pain, they wouldn't be surprised if the knee was swollen today. They can't be surprised, now, that Artest's anger puffed up Saturday.
But there's another side to this, and it's about whether the Kings could have rebounded from a 34-point loss with Artest.
No matter how much Rick Adelman worked his team over the past few days, were they ready to recover?
Artest didn't look ready, not with his mouth and jumper so sore. And if the Kings were to have lost with Artest tonight, with the pattern of Saturday, the Kings would have gone home ready to be swept.
Now they come into Game2 without expectations. They likely will lose, still, because the Kings had little depth with Artest. But what if Mike Bibby starts stroking, and Brad Miller gets involved, and the Spurs relax?
If the Spurs can lose to Atlanta, which they did this season, they can lose to Sacramento.
But even if the Kings are awful without Artest, they head home with a sense of promise. They can see Game1 as an aberration and Game2 as a lost cause without their star. They can believe the Spurs have only held home court, and now it is their turn, and their crowd will be there with cowbells.
There's something else, too. Walking back into the series Friday, his lip smaller and his energy back, will be someone who can do a one-game suspension standing on his head. If Artest hits back with defense and his talent, the Kings would head into Game4 believing the momentum has changed.
Crazy?
This time, without Artest.
Web Posted: 04/25/2006 12:00 AM CDT
San Antonio Express-News
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/columnists/bharvey/stories/MYSA042506.1D.COL.BKNharvey.spurs.4e14eba.html
If I'm the Spurs, I'm on the phone to the league office Sunday, and I've got something to say about Ron Artest.
Don't suspend him.
Give him a flagrant foul to add to his ever-expanding rap sheet. Give him notice that David Stern is still watching. But don't give the Kings a nothing-to-lose game tonight, as well as an emotional rebirth in Sacramento for Game3.
If I'm the Spurs?
I question who this suspension helps.
I don't question the suspension itself. Artest's elbow to Manu Ginobili's head wasn't the hardest blow of the evening, nor was it shocking considering the owner of the elbow. On the Artest Crazy Meter, this one ranks somewhere below Artest once flashing an obscene gesture to a section of fans in Miami.
Why below that? Because earlier that season, Artest had announced there ought to be a mandatory ejection for cursing "because kids are watching."
He has a screw so loose, it doesn't have any threads. "They better not put me in the All-Star Game," Artest once said. "I won't shoot, but I'll dominate that easy game. I'll be foulin'. I'll be flagrant fouling. Everyone will be like, 'What are you doing?'"
Which is, of course, what everyone always has asked. He can smash a camera, flex his muscles at Pat Riley and ask for time off to work on his CD. He also can attend anger-management class — then shortly after, snarl for a magazine cover with the headline "The Scariest Man in the NBA."
So when he's down by 30 points? With his mouth bloodied? Artest edged closer to that night in Detroit, when he took his act to another place altogether, striking Ginobili as well as Tim Duncan.
Maybe every player would have been suspended for the same. After all, Duncan had to sit out a game two years ago after a brush with an official. The Spurs argued the contact was incidental, that the ref was in the wrong position, and Duncan's spotless record didn't save him.
But Artest's history matters, just as it did several years ago. Then, two news organizations felt comfortable reporting that Artest had been in a fight during All-Star weekend in Atlanta — when he was actually in Orlando.
This time, the NBA had the goods: the tape, the flagrant-foul guidelines and the motivation to suspend. Artest and his leap into the stands, after all, is primarily the reason the league has aired about 4,603 "NBA Cares" commercials this season. Did Stern want to let Ron be Ron, then have to approve for next season an "NBA Cares, Seriously" campaign?
The Kings plead ignorance to all of it, because they hadn't seen this side of Artest yet. But this is part of the package they traded for. Had Sacramento gambled on a guy with chronic knee pain, they wouldn't be surprised if the knee was swollen today. They can't be surprised, now, that Artest's anger puffed up Saturday.
But there's another side to this, and it's about whether the Kings could have rebounded from a 34-point loss with Artest.
No matter how much Rick Adelman worked his team over the past few days, were they ready to recover?
Artest didn't look ready, not with his mouth and jumper so sore. And if the Kings were to have lost with Artest tonight, with the pattern of Saturday, the Kings would have gone home ready to be swept.
Now they come into Game2 without expectations. They likely will lose, still, because the Kings had little depth with Artest. But what if Mike Bibby starts stroking, and Brad Miller gets involved, and the Spurs relax?
If the Spurs can lose to Atlanta, which they did this season, they can lose to Sacramento.
But even if the Kings are awful without Artest, they head home with a sense of promise. They can see Game1 as an aberration and Game2 as a lost cause without their star. They can believe the Spurs have only held home court, and now it is their turn, and their crowd will be there with cowbells.
There's something else, too. Walking back into the series Friday, his lip smaller and his energy back, will be someone who can do a one-game suspension standing on his head. If Artest hits back with defense and his talent, the Kings would head into Game4 believing the momentum has changed.
Crazy?
This time, without Artest.