Do you guys think Bell will get a one-game suspension?

[az1965]

Absolutely. He even slapped Kobe on the face while tossing him down.

Cool! I hope he slapped hard...

 

[Maximus]

He will be suspended...MARK IT.

Seriously, come on. Put yourselves in Stern's shoes. If he does not suspend Raja, this series is about to reach a whole new level of physicality, and the NBA is going to look worse for allowing the cheap shots without punishment.

I think the league has a greater chance of suspending when it is seen by a lot of people, and this was just seen by a ton of people because it was Kobe.

He will be suspended.

But we'll win regardless.

Maximus

 

[mribnik]

LOL, this is hilarious. The Lakers want Raja Bell to play in the next game so it ignites the fans. This is funny.

 

[Chaplin]

Barkley basically said that whether Bell plays or not he cost the Suns the series. That LA and the LA fans will be so jacked up itll be hard to match their intensity. Personally thats what I fear more than Raja being suspended.

Also if Raja does play, Im wondering if he'll get killed every time he has the ball.

See, Barkley thinks that the LA fans are THAT good. He is simply wrong about that. Will the Lakers as a team be fired up? Most likely. But their fans? I don't see how this foul changes anything with them. They'll boo when Raja touches the ball, but since when can't Raja handle that?

 

[tobiazz]

LOL. Kobe: "I didn't get a chance to see the foul"

 

[bko32]

He grabbed him by the arms and then him down from behind. How is that a non comparable cheap shot?

It was intentional and deseved a flagrant. A cheap shot is a cheap shot is a cheap shot in my opinion. I don't give a damn about the maliciousness it was still a stupid cheap shot where Luke was lucky that TT landed on his butt and not on his neck or head

i remember the play one way, you remember it another. like i said, the way i remember the foul, i thought it looked worse than what it was. i'm going to try and find the replay of that foul and watch again. maybe you're right.

 

[jbeecham]

Someone will retalliate against Bell if he plays and they'll be ejected so hopefully Bell plays.

 

[Suns_fan69]

it's like if you undercut a guy and he lands on his head. usually undercutting a guy isn't a big deal, but if the guy lands on his head it looks a lot worse.

You lost me there. ANYTIME you change someone's center of gravity while they're in mid air is extremely dangerous. I agree, a head injury is the worst case scenario, but there's any number of other injuries that could result from an undercut from broken wrists, to torn ligaments and all sorts of things inbetween.

Just because an injury does not occur the majority of the time a player is undercut does not mean that it "isn't a big deal"

 

[F-Dog]

no, i just don't want you guys to use the excuse that the suns lost because bell was suspended

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No way the Lakers win this series without that. What other excuses do Suns fans need?

 

[elindholm]

It sounds to me like, even if Bell isn't suspended, the Suns will be better off not playing him.

 

[jbeecham]

i remember the play one way, you remember it another. like i said, the way i remember the foul, i thought it looked worse than what it was. i'm going to try and find the replay of that foul and watch again. maybe you're right.

The showed it over and over on the UPN 45 broadcast and TT is going for a dunk and Walton hits him with both arms in the high shoulder lower neck area when he was in mid-air. In real time, the play looked really bad and TT was lucky not to b injured.

 

[Suns_fan69]

I don't think Bell getting suspended necessary costs us the series. I would put James Jones on Kobe. JR is a capable defender. If the Lakers focus on exploiting that matchup, it could disrupt what they've been trying to do all series.

On most players, I would agree, JR would be the right man for the job. In this case I'm not so sure. JR just doesn't have the lateral speed to keep in front of Kobe. That's part of the reason that Bell does such a good job with Kobe; he's able to stay with him for the most part and help funnel him to help. JR, on the few times that kobe's been switched on to him, has just been abused.

Besides, JR is another one of those guys that is a better off the ball defender. He's great with his rotations, and has a knack for bothering shots with his length off the weakside.

 

[JS22]

what do i need to give up at? i'm not trying to convince anyone on this board of anything. i stated in a previous post that i don't want bell to be suspended. i can't simply disagree with someone on this board?

Sorry. All of the Laker trolls coming are starting to blend together in my mind.

Maybe some will clear things up.

 

[bko32]

You are simply wrong about the Luke foul. It was within the first 2 minutes of the game! Granted, he probably didn't mean it to be that hard, but it was, and since when to reasons matter to the higher-ups in the NBA when throwing out suspensions?

NOBODY is arguing that the foul that Raja did on Kobe was bad, nobody is really saying that he SHOULDN'T be suspended if all things were normal. But all things are NOT normal. Luke Walton clotheslined Tim Thomas as he was flying in for a layup. Right after the game started. That is absolutely suspension worthy, when you look at James Posey and what HE was suspended for. And that's without even mentioning Kwame Brown.

posey's foul wasn't that bad, but the context of the foul, imo, is what got him suspended. he body checked hinrich from the blindside in the open court for no reason. it was a good hit, but in the wrong sport.

 

[tobiazz]

I would rather have someone punch me than undercut me, if I had NBA hops.

 

[Chaplin]

Nash: Parker
JR: Walton
Marion: Kobe
Thomas: Odom
Diaw: Kwame

Print it.

 

[mribnik]

On most players, I would agree, JR would be the right man for the job. In this case I'm not so sure. JR just doesn't have the lateral speed to keep in front of Kobe. That's part of the reason that Bell does such a good job with Kobe; he's able to stay with him for the most part and help funnel him to help. JR, on the few times that kobe's been switched on to him, has just been abused.

Besides, JR is another one of those guys that is a better off the ball defender. He's great with his rotations, and has a knack for bothering shots with his length off the weakside.

That's true of course. But Kobe went off on Bell during the regular season and we beat them 3-4 games. If Kobe wanted to score 40 against bell this series he could.

 

[Chaplin]

I would rather have someone punch me than undercut me, if I had NBA hops.

I'm sure Shawn Marion would agree with you.

 

[Chaz]

The Lakers have made this a physical series.

The Suns responded.

Not a good move on Raja's part but kudos for stepping up and admitting his mistake.

 

[Chaplin]

The Lakers have made this a physical series.

The Suns responded.

That's a huge point that will get ignored by the collective minds at the NBA front office.

 

[baltimorer]

They are too comparable...and if none of your Laker's got suspended for the Walton clothesline, or the Kwamie elbow-knock-down...then Raja shouldn't either.

Come on. I know what you mean, but if Bell gets suspended, will you really be angry at the league? This series has been a very tough one, with rough play on both sides (more from the Lakers though, probably), but those plays were a little different. Walton's was a flagrant foul, nothing more, nothing less. Tim Thomas took the ball to the basket and Walton flagrantly fouled him. Was it a bit of a dirty play? Yes. But it certainly didn't warrant a suspension. As for Kwame's foul, that was probably worse - maybe it even warranted an ejection - but you couldn't expect the league to suspend him for throwing an elbow. Hell (don't ban me, they're allowed to say this on TV and George Carlin says it's not a curse), if you were going to do that, Kobe Bryant and Raja Bell would both be suspended for the playoffs and the first 10 games of next season, with all the elbows they've thrown at each other in the last 5 games.

One thing to keep in mind, however, is that Bell's headlock was premeditated. The clock was stopped, the Lakers inbounded the ball, Kobe tried to drive, and Bell grabbed him and threw him to the floor. It wasn't like they were wrestling in the post, Kobe hit him with an elbow, and so Bell retaliated in the heat of the moment. Bell was angry from a play that happened 10 minutes prior, and he retaliated. That's a big difference. I'm not saying it makes it automatically worthy of a suspension, but it's something to think about.

 

[Evil Ash]

posey's foul wasn't that bad, but the context of the foul, imo, is what got him suspended. he body checked hinrich from the blindside in the open court for no reason. it was a good hit, but in the wrong sport.

They have let so much go it has gotten out of hand. Like I said in game 3, the inmates now run the assylum

If Reggie Evans doesn't deserve a suspension, no one does

 

[nathan]

Raja has been doing some flopping this series and I think this was Kobe doing a little bit of acting and taking advantage of Raja being out of position. Raja did not intend to closeline Kobe rather he wanted to give him a bearhug to stop him, but he had a poor angle (bad decision on Raja's part to try to foul).

Looked a lot worse than it really was.

 

[bko32]

You lost me there. ANYTIME you change someone's center of gravity while they're in mid air is extremely dangerous. I agree, a head injury is the worst case scenario, but there's any number of other injuries that could result from an undercut from broken wrists, to torn ligaments and all sorts of things inbetween.

Just because an injury does not occur the majority of the time a player is undercut does not mean that it "isn't a big deal"

what i mean by it not being a "big deal" is that a player typically wouldn't get a technical foul if they undercut another player or be suspended for doing so.

 

[Mike Olbinski]

Come on. I know what you mean, but if Bell gets suspended, will you really be angry at the league? This series has been a very tough one, with rough play on both sides (more from the Lakers though, probably), but those plays were a little different. Walton's was a flagrant foul, nothing more, nothing less. Tim Thomas took the ball to the basket and Walton flagrantly fouled him. Was it a bit of a dirty play? Yes. But it certainly didn't warrant a suspension. As for Kwame's foul, that was probably worse - maybe it even warranted an ejection - but you couldn't expect the league to suspend him for throwing an elbow. Hell (don't ban me, they're allowed to say this on TV and George Carlin says it's not a curse), if you were going to do that, Kobe Bryant and Raja Bell would both be suspended for the playoffs and the first 10 games of next season, with all the elbows they've thrown at each other in the last 5 games.

One thing to keep in mind, however, is that Bell's headlock was premeditated. The clock was stopped, the Lakers inbounded the ball, Kobe tried to drive, and Bell grabbed him and threw him to the floor. It wasn't like they were wrestling in the post, Kobe hit him with an elbow, and so Bell retaliated in the heat of the moment. Bell was angry from a play that happened 10 minutes prior, and he retaliated. That's a big difference. I'm not saying it makes it automatically worthy of a suspension, but it's something to think about.

I probably wont be mad at the league if these suspend him...because I think he deserves one, and probably so does Kwamie...and especially Reggie Evans.

But I will be upset as a fan that this happened