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ehh, tough one. to me, the foul didnt look intentional at all
Atlanta’s Al Horford Suspended
Posted Dec 13 2007 5:50PMAtlanta's Al Horford Suspended
NEW YORK, December 13, 2007 – Atlanta Hawks forward Al Horford has been suspended one game without pay for committing a Flagrant Foul Penalty Two by striking Toronto’s T.J. Ford on the head, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President Basketball Operations.
The incident occurred with 1:32 remaining in the fourth quarter of the Hawks 100-88 loss to the Raptors on Tuesday night at Philips Arena. Horford will serve his suspension Friday against the Detroit Pistons.
That is bull , how was it any different than what Josh howard did to Ginobili on his dunk the other day? I guess people can keep doing this to Ginobili (and other players) until he gets decapitated before they will throw out any suspensions for it. in Ridiculous.
ehh, tough one. to me, the foul didnt look intentional at all
It wasn't intentional, and he repeatedly tried to explain what happened. And he even visited TJ in the hospital and spent some time with him.
Completely uncalled for suspension, IMO.
that . Especially against Detroit. I don't know if this one was Stern or Stu Jackson's call, but , I just don't get the NBA's decision making?
The NBA is sensitive about any contact above the shoulders. Kobe got suspended even though he wasn't trying to hit Manu in the face. Same situation here. Doesn't make sense but it's in the rulebooks.
A flagrant 2 means an automatic one-game suspension. The league will always uphold a flagrant 2 if contact was made to the head.
Even Pop and Manu said that Kobe did not mean to hit Manu in the face but Spurs fans surely called for his suspension.
A flagrant 2 carries an automatic ejection from that particular game. A flagrant 2 is not an automatic one game suspension. I recently was reviewing the flagrant foul rules in a different discussion thread. Suspensions for either a flagrant 1 or a flagrant 2 is still at the discretion of the commissioner.
http://www.nba.com/analysis/rules_b....av=ArticleList
"A flagrant foul-penalty (1) is unnecessary contact committed by a player against an opponent.
A flagrant foul-penalty (2) is unnecessary and excessive contact committed by a player against an opponent. It is an unsportsmanlike act and the offender is ejected immediately.
The offender will be subject to a fine not exceeding $35,000 and/or suspension by the Commissioner. "
Nope.
Most Spurs fans thought the suspension was bogus.
Dumbest. Suspension. Ever.
That is really dumb, he felt awful about it. In the post game interview he was almost in tears. He wanted to get the outta there + go to the hospital and visit TJ.
This is pretty weak, but I accept the logic behind the decision. Even though the chances of mandatory suspension influencing un-intentional flagrants is like 0.15%
Weak sauce. I mean everybody feels sorry for TJ Ford, but they're trying to punish somebody for what was a freak occurrence. Stu Jackson and co. just need to realize that these things happen and there is nothing they can do about it. The discipline in this league sucks.
Terrible decision.
it's all politics. this story was huge, it was the lead story on ESPN, and it looked bad for the NBA. that's the ONLY reason Horford was suspended.
Meanwhile Carmelo grabs Vujacic by the throat and nothing happens, only because ESPN didn't feel the need to give a about that one.
They suspended him because he's a rookie.
Bogus.
I don't think it was a punitive suspension. It was more of a future preventative measure so that other players are extra wary and cautious in similar situations where they are trying to block a shot over the head of a guy in transition. I don't have a problem with the suspension because I think that's the purpose behind it. The league is generally pretty good at giving an appropriate suspension or not giving a suspension at all.
I don't see how Kobe's elbow was twice as impactful as Harford's slap.
If you want to go with intentions, neither seemed intentional and suspensions in either would be stupid.
If you want to go with results, sending a guy to hospital is definitely not 1/2 as damaging as ..... nothing.
This was a terrible decision... glad to see Stu is back up to his old tricks. I guess this was an "unnatural move" like Kobe to Manu last year... honestly, I don't even think it was worthy of a flagrant 2 since it was clearly not intentional and the refs ruled based on the result (Ford hitting his head) instead of the actual play.
This is surprising especially with TJ making it back to Toronto the next day to sit on the bench without a brace or anything on his neck, I thought the announcement would be that they were downgrading the foul. Then again, Stu Jackson is an idiot.
Suspended? Really? The NBA had the gall to suspend Al Horford for his flagrant foul on T.J. Ford?
I get the fact it looked bad. I get the fact it was horrific. I get the fact T.J Ford spent the night in the hospital. I get the fact no one wants to see this kind of incident happen.
But does anyone out there think Horford intentionally tried to hurt Ford? He felt horrible about it after it happened and even went to the hospital to spend time with Ford in Atlanta. He explained the foul, too, to anyone who would listen after that game on Tuesday.
"When it happened with a minute and a half left, we were still down by eight [92-84]," Horford said. "He got the steal. I just tried to go and block the shot. When he went up, I went up too. He tried to use the rim and I thought he was going to stay on [one] side so I went up and tried to hit the ball and I hit his head.
"He just made a good move and fooled me."
That quote has been seen repeatedly. And, if you ask the Raptors, they also won't say it was intentional. Heck, even T.J. Ford understands it wasn't intentional.
"It wasn't a dirty play at all," Ford said. "I think I just kind of tricked him with the move and he got caught in a bad spot. He's a good kid. I told him I'm not holding anything against him."
During those hours in the hospital, where Horford talked to Ford, it was Ford picking up Horford.
"I know that Horford feels awful about it," Colangelo said. "He spent a couple of hours at the hospital with (T.J.) last night and, true to T.J.'s form, he was probably doing more of the consoling. I think the kid (Horford) was pretty shaken up about it. He felt awful. I don't think there was any intention to do harm."
So, with these multiple accounts of no intent of harm on the record, again, why did Al Horford receive a one-game suspension? Is it because of how bad it looked? Is it because of the fragility of Ford given his past issues with his neck and spine? Is it because this could have been much worse than it was?
Honestly though, that's going to be true going forward too. No matter what anyone says, basketball is a contact sport. Sure, contact is regulated by the calling of personal fouls, but players get fooled all the time. To be real clear here, this is no different than a player going for a steal on a dribble and accidentally hitting the player with the ball in the groin. It happens. Fouls are called. Basketball moves on. Sometimes players have to leave games with injuries.
This is the reality of the sport. When a player drives to the hoop he is going to do whatever he can to avoid the defender getting a hand on the ball and for many players the result can be putting themselves in awkward positions. Allen Iverson does it all the time and that's something most people respect, one of the big reasons why he is so successful.
What has happened here is Al Horford, a rookie still learning the tendencies of players in the NBA, is being penalized for getting fooled on defense. A one-game suspension for getting fooled? Come on now. Most coaches wouldn't even take a rookie out of the game for that – yes, some would for sure – let alone give him a one-game suspension.
Here is what the league defines a Flagrant 2, the kind assigned to Horford:
"A flagrant foul-penalty (2) is unnecessary and excessive contact committed by a player against an opponent. It is an unsportsmanlike act and the offender is ejected immediately.
"The offender will be subject to a fine not exceeding $35,000 and/or suspension by the Commissioner."
Is that what Horford did?
The league came down hard on Horford because of T.J. Ford's past. We know Ford's past and recognize the issues he plays with, but if something bad happens on an accident the other player involved shouldn't be held responsible.
Horford is being penalized not only for being fooled, but for Ford's injury history and neuron-fragility (yep, that's a word now). And that's not fair to Horford.
http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=6474
And I suppose Amare did not intend to go onto the court and get suspended either.
If you hit a guy in the head while he is in mid-air, you get a suspension no matter what your intentions are or how bad you feel afterwards. It is not because he's a rookie or TJ has a history. It would not matter who did it, he would get suspended for hitting any guy from behind in the face and pulling his head backwards when he is in the air and defensless regardless of whether it was an accident or what the outcome was.
Those are the rules that everyone understands when it comes to contact above the shoudlers. Ask Kevin Willis.
there has to be a suspension. this is not about al horford or tj ford. this is about protecting the players from harm.
So why wasn't Josh Howard even called for a foul on Manu last week?
Manu was in midair, Josh Howard hit him in the head when he was defenseless.
The part I don't get is, how can this protect the players from harm? Is the NBA telling the players to be extra extra careful and avoid all contact in breakaway situations or I will suspend you?
These situations are freak accidents and unavoidable, unless players make a conscious attempt NOT to challenge shots.
Can't wait to see the day when players go for uncontested layups after layups because defenders are scared less that they will be suspended for challenging shots.
the rule is simple: avoid the head.
you hit a player on the head while he's in the air, he's gonna get acquainted with the floor. hard.
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