Rudy Fernandez Injured

[Batmanz]

That looked really bad...

Ariza is gonna be villanized..he did make a play on the ball but it was dangerous..

I'm a believer in the no layup rule but when you're chasing down someone you shouldn't swipe like that.

See Tayshaun Prince, that's the difference between a good shot blocker and guys like Ariza..it was too wild

I'm a fan of BRoy now..I never liked him before, dating back to the incident with UConn.. dude is a player gets my respect

get well Rudy

[ItsDanger]

It can happen again because there is little consequence to actions from players like Ariza.

[MJ23DREAMER]

My prayers are with you Rudy!

[kingr]

Wow.... Rudy F is my favourite Euro in the entire league. Hope he gets well quickly.

In slow motion, the foul didn't look too bad, it looked like ariza swiped for the ball. However, in real-time, the foul looked terrible.

[Devon_s_biring]

Yeah i was gonna mention Prince as well. I think he's one of the few that have done that kind of block consistently.

but, if he got Reggie Miller the way Ariza got Rudy there, Prince would be the vilified player in the nba.

He'd be the nba's answer to sean avery.

[5DOM]

two things we will never see from our team happened in 1 play here.
1) hard foul
2) standing up for your teammate

[mancrushoncb4]

Am i blind here? I'm the biggest laker hater of them all, but ariza came from the side so he wouldnt plow into rudy, and swung directly for the ball..DIDNT hit his head, just his hand/ball, and thats what pur rudy off balance...

[timdunkit]

Wow what an unfortunate play, hope Rudy gets well soon. Ariza made a play for the ball, he clearly gets parts of the ball (and parts of Rudy too), which seemed to have taken Rudy's balance off and he landly awkwardly. I don't think it was intentional and no matter what the score is, you still have to play hard!

Get Well Soon Rudy ....

Anyone realize Farmar was the first one to go to Rudy?

[Free CDR]

I dont understatnd all the ariza hate. He clearly went for the ball, and got the ball plus rudys hands. This in no way was the same as the TJ play because he actually got the ball as appose to dragging TJ down just below the neck. Its a scary play and I think Ariza did the right thing by apologizing but give the guy a break it was not a dirty play

[Superboy316KING]

This is BS

Ariza went for the ball and barely even touched rudy. It's unfortunate that he fell the way he did but all the BS that the portland announcers were spewing were ridiculous.

When you're running at that speed, even a slight contact can make it look like bad but Ariza went for the ball and there was no foul play or anything like that.

[Dr Octagon]

two things we will never see from our team happened in 1 play here.
1) hard foul
2) standing up for your teammate

Exactly what I though.

When TJ was hit last year, someone should have tried to knock Hordford's teeth lose, but no one even tried. How sad.

[99 Problems]

Nothing wrong with that play at all.. Ariza went for the ball and got some of his head.. Fernandez just happened to land wrong... If he landed differently there wouldn't have been any commotion.. Ariza doesn't control how Fernandez is going to land, he just went up to make a basketball play..Who cares if it was a blowout? Do you want players to stop playing hard because of the score?

This is the NBA, hard fouls happen.. They should judged on intent and not result, and that play didn't have any malicious intent..

[RonaldArtest]

Hate seeing a player land awkwardly like that.....wish him a speedy recovery.

[SHootaR]

didn't look dirty nor that bad. it seemed obvious ariza was going for the ball. looked like he was reaching over rudy's head for the block and the middle of his arm smacked his head accidentally.

hope rudy's fine nonetheless.

[Spykes]

Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems as if Ariza mostly got ball (perhaps a bit of hand), and slightly grazed Rudy's head (emphasis on slightly). It seems as if the "block" unbalanced Fernandez, and caused the fall. I mean, I've gotten hit worse than that playing ball everyday-- . I don't think it was careless on Ariza's part, at all.

Having said that. . . I truly wish Rudy the best of luck.

Something almost no one has mentioned with regards to the foul is Ariza ripping Rudy down on the arm. According to a ex-ref, that is the reason is because a F2 foul, not just the hit on the head. The hit on the head was bad, but it was Ariza pulling Fernandez to the ground and spinning him by grabbing his arm that caused Rudy to become unbalanced and fall so awkwardly.

Anyone saying Ariza "barely touched rudy" or that it's a "clean play" clearly didn't watch the video at all. That said, I don't think it was a "dirty play", nor did he intended to harm Rudy. It was definitely a careless/reckless play on Ariza's part. I think the NBA handled it perfectly in this case. I don't believe any extra discipline was needed beyond the F2.

As for the Blazers announcers... Ya, they overreact all the time... So f***ing what? It makes for an entertaining game and livens things up. Anyone getting their panties in a bunch over the announcers needs to get over themselves.

With Odom, that's all gonna depend on if Stern wants to be consistent with his "don't leave the bench" rule. If he's sticking by the rules he set out in the Suns/Spurs playoff game, then Odom should be suspended. It's pretty cut and dry in that regard. Personally, I hope he's NOT suspended as I'd like the Lakers to have a full roster when they play the Rockets.

For anyone who cares, it looks like Rudy is going to be fine. He's going to be released from the hospital today. He'll likely miss the next game and maybe another one or two, but probably nothing longterm.