Dirk Suspended

[Darren]

Wow, we can see JoHo, Stack, Lue, JET, Kidd on the court together this time. We've the best shooters to close the game~

[SaintofKillers]

you guys and your conspiracy theories.

It's not a conspiracy theory, it's a valid point... in my case at least.

Let's say you planted a bomb and it doesn't go off -- should you get a slap on the wrist because no one was killed? No, you'll still pay the piper. Same thing with players whacking guys excessively to prevent a foul - just because Shaq was strong enough to weather the blow, doesn't disqualify it from being unsportsmanlike which as I said, is all you need to assess a flagrant... not someone writhing in pain or actually getting injured (that's why there's a flagrant-two category)

PS: I seriously have no idea why Matt Barnes got away with what he did to Turiaf; it's the single most blatant dirty play I have ever seen yet there was no ejection, suspension, reprimand, nothing. And the NBA are up on their heads over fishfry (by comparison) cases like this one?

[Nolan]

Yah he deserved it, its going to be tough to stop the Rockets without him.

[kapak]

Everyone is focused on the delay, however this isnt anything out of the ordinary. I still think the best aspect to this whole incident is Tracy McGrady, and his influence on the outcome of this situation.

Its deffinately hard to deffend the concept that the flagrant 2 ruling would have be dealt without the additional attention lingering throughout the media due to "T-Mac's sincere concern" for justice in this situation. I find it relatively ironic that T-Mac blatently c*ck-blocked Dirk from competing in one of the biggest games of the year. Sure, one can try to defend his "sincere concern" for the integrity of the league, or even the well being of Kirilenko; regardless I think the timing of this is crucial.

Why did Tracy McGrady speak out about this situation?

---He wants to set more records. Dirk was a big threat, he aknowledged this and took action to prevent the obstruction of his teams progress. His random statement regarding this foul- of which he had not part in- was completely uncalled for, and he should be called out for being childish and using immature tactics to win a ball game.

[SaintofKillers]

Yeah, because T-Mac's petition to abolish the zone (which he guised under a clever pretext that's favorable to the league's financial palate) was great success!

[Teffer10]

Although I hate the fact of Dirk missing a game, especially when we are fighting for our lives to get to the POs, I think there are some opportunities for the team to bond and players to step up into bigger roles.

Kidd may gain more confidence in leading this team, Howard may become more aggressive on offense and Bass might prove that he is starting material for the POs if the situation presents itself.

Lets just be thankful it is only one game and Dirk is not hurt.

We actually looked pretty good in the few games Dirk missed last season.

[myconsumerclub]

I saw the play from a different angle yesterday and it looked to me that Kiri could have been the cause for Dirk landing on him the way he did as it appeared he tried to hip check dirk which would have caused him to lose his balance while in the air and instictively reach out to grab Kiri on the way down as an instinctive act to save himself from getting hurt in a fall. This aspect of the play has not been discussed here but if you look at the view from the stands facing the goal from the stands on the left it looks like Kirilenko had thrust is hip into Dirk while he was elevated causing him to fall on top of him. If this is the case then Kiri caused his own injury and Dirk is not to blame.

[Joe Kleazy]

The league cant even consistantly set the criteria on how to choose the MVP, so I dont expect them to be able to stay consistant with suspensions or anything else for that matter.


Also T-MAC may or may not have a motive for speaking out on dirk's foul but regardless of if the rockets win every game from here on out, It wont matter because that still dosen't get him out of the first round which is his main obstacle.

[JES12]

Dirk's illegitimate son has a message for Stu Jackson and David Stern...

[carrottop12]

That sucks that he was suspended, I know as a Jazz fan and agree with most Jazz fans that things like that just happen some times and and there probably wasn't any real harm meant behind it.

The two reasons I see him being suspended are 1, because of the foul the previous game, and 2 because Kirilenko is going to miss a few games now with the injury.

Good luck tonight, I hope you guys bury Houston and end their streak, and their playoff hopes.

[your_dallas_mavericks]

"Tonight is a good night for a streak to die..."

- Mark "Klingon" Cuban on his Mavs chances against the streaking Houston Rockets...

Okay, he didn't say that - but like I said, I feel it in my nearly 40 year old elbow that we will win tonight... Hey, I am nearly right 70% of the time!

[cavsfan_osiris]

Wow this is tough. There's no guarantee Dallas even makes the post-season. Every game is crucial.

[Duiz]

This loss would be terrible for the Mavs... sets you guys 1 game behind Utah and a camping spot at 7th

[your_dallas_mavericks]

The bright side is...

If we don't make the playoffs, our 2008 1st round pick is lottery protected. We would get to keep it and New Jersey would get instead our 2011 1st round pick (along with the non-lottery protected 2010 1st round pick)...

[HMFFL]

Dirk irked at NBA about suspension

Dirk Nowitzki normally speaks in a low monotone, but he had a little more of an edge in his voice Thursday.

Speaking to the media for the first time since being suspended a game for a horse-collar tackle on Utah's Andrei Kirilenko, Nowitzki took a shot at league officials.

"I don't think it was intentionally so we don't agree there," Nowitzki said. "I got caught in the air and really was going to take a bad fall. I tried to grab him and happened to grab him by the neck, so it was just a bad play, very, very unfortunate, but things happen in this league. I guess I have to take the suspension."

Nowitzki went on to say: "To me, the guys at the NBA, they make the decisions and they never played the sport in their lives. They don't know what it is, they don't know how it feels like to be out there and get caught in the air, so they really don't know what's going on in the play."

The suspension was announced by Stu Jackson, the NBA's executive vice president of basketball operations. Jackson played at Oregon for three years and coached collegiately and in the NBA but never played in the NBA.

"If they think that was intentional, then that's what they think," Nowitzki said. "Like I said, they've never played this game in their lives.... I think the unfortunate part was that Kirilenko jumped up, too. If he would have stayed on the ground and then I would have just landed awkward on his back then everything would be OK. But, it was unfortunate that he jumped in the air and I happened to, like, get him out of the air."

Kirilenko, who hurt his right hip on the play, won't play tonight and is doubtful for Saturday.

Link

[your_dallas_mavericks]

Wow, so for how long exactly did you say we would be without Dirk? 1 game? 3 games? 5 games?

Poor Dirk, he's been Cubanized...