Barnes, Nash Suspended; Shaq Fined

[mpsniper101]

SAN ANTONIO – Rockets guard Rafer Alston received a two-game suspension on Friday for his role in the scuffle in the third quarter of Wednesday’s game in Phoenix, forcing him to miss tonight’s game against the Spurs and Saturday’s against the New Orleans Hornets, Rockets general manager Daryl Morey said.

Alston went after Suns forward Matt Barnes after Barnes hit him while Alston set a screen for Tracy McGrady. Both were ejected from the game.

Barnes also received a two-game suspension. Suns point guard Steve Nash was suspended for one game for his role in the shoving that followed the confrontation.

Suns center Shaquille O’Neal was fined $35,000 and McGrady received a $25,000 fine. O’Neal, Nash and McGrady received technical fouls.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6112585.html

[harshey1388]

ok please tell me that this isnt going to be for the sunday game against detroit!!! i am driving all the up from tucson for that game and i have my tickets already and i dont think i wanna go to see a team without 3 straters....

[Cruel_Ruin]

Nash will play against Detroit. Barnes will not.

[harshey1388]

yup just got the text from KTAR and said tonights game. phew. well the times couldnt be rougher for us...

[rsavaj]

No Nash, Barnes, Barbosa OR Tucker tonight?

Wow....what's our lineup going to be?

Dragic/Singletary
Bell/
Hill/Diaw
Amare/Sweet Lou
Shaq/Fropez

hahaha...that's weak.

[scootfu602]

Maybe sign Strawberry to a 10 day contract

[mpsniper101]

No Nash, Barnes, Barbosa OR Tucker tonight?

Wow....what's our lineup going to be?

Dragic/Singletary
Bell/
Hill/Diaw
Amare/Sweet Lou
Shaq/Fropez

hahaha...that's weak.

Enough to beat the Kings IMO.

[suns12345]

the nash suspensions wrong it think. i know i am biased but i reckon he only tried to help out

[HootieRules]

Nash was suspended 1 game for getting shoved by McGrady. Makes sense Stern

Might as well suspend TMac and Shaq too. Give me a break. I can see suspending Barnes for the cheap shot. I can see suspending Alston for sucker punching Nash. But a suspension for pushing and shoving? Are you kidding me? We need this game tonight too before the schedule turns brutal...

[Vernon Maxwell]

the nash suspensions wrong it think. i know i am biased but i reckon he only tried to help out

no way. no one tries to makes peace or break up a fight the way nash rushed into the crowd.

[Gorilla Warfare]

No Nash, Barnes, Barbosa OR Tucker tonight?

Wow....what's our lineup going to be?

Dragic/Singletary
Bell/
Hill/Diaw
Amare/Sweet Lou
Shaq/Fropez

hahaha...that's weak.

Enough to beat the Kings IMO.

No Nash, Barnes, Barbosa OR Tucker tonight?

Wow....what's our lineup going to be?

Dragic/Singletary
Bell/
Hill/Diaw
Amare/Sweet Lou
Shaq/Fropez

hahaha...that's weak.

Enough to beat the Kings IMO.

The man brings up a strong point. we are only weak at SG, but i think we will be fine, I've been waiting to see more Singletary and i guess this is the only way he can get some solid PT. Shaq and Lopez will own Miller and Hawes in the paint, but something tells me Salmons and Beno are gonna have good games against our guards.

[Sun Scorched]

Any Suns fan could have called this action by the league.

Are we biased? Sure, it's our team. Do we have a reason to expect this action from the league? Given recent history, of course.

Listen, if someone in the league office thinks that a 6'3" white canadian guard with chronic back problems is going to "escalate the situation".... my God. McGrady was more physical than Nash, he threw him to the ground for crying out loud.

Might as well suspend Porter for running out to break it up, he did get out there pretty quick... he could have confused the poor players and escalated things further....

It's all so rediculous...

[barnsleyman123]

Nash was suspended 1 game for getting shoved by McGrady. Makes sense Stern

Might as well suspend TMac and Shaq too. Give me a break. I can see suspending Barnes for the cheap shot. I can see suspending Alston for sucker punching Nash. But a suspension for pushing and shoving? Are you kidding me? We need this game tonight too before the schedule turns brutal...

Seems fair, Barnes caused the whole thing, Alston reacted to it. Nash escalated it and actually ended up humiliating himself as he looked like a rag doll out there.

[Miklo]

My take on this thing is yes Barnes instigated it but there had been a few pretty rough screen run-ins and yes standing alone he would have gotten a technical, but there is a big difference between an inappropriate, rough play and running at someone when the clock is stopped with your fists up. I think Barnes should be suspended, but I think Alston is the true thug in this situation. Hell, Alston charges at Barnes to start an after-the-play fight, strikes back at Nash which that part is actually excusable, and then he actually makes a move at Porter for gods sake! When I saw this fight I thought Barnes for 5-10 games, TMac and Nash and Shaq for 2 or 3, and Alston for give or take 20 games.

I know this isn't the popular opinion, especially not with you barnsleyman lol, but I stand by it and think it was more serious than many others think and I feel that image-wise, after Pacers-Pistons you need to put any player tries to start an extracurricular altercation on the bench for at least 10 games.

[barnsleyman123]

My take on this thing is yes Barnes instigated it but there had been a few pretty rough screen run-ins and yes standing alone he would have gotten a technical, but there is a big difference between an inappropriate, rough play and running at someone when the clock is stopped with your fists up. I think Barnes should be suspended, but I think Alston is the true thug in this situation. Hell, Alston charges at Barnes to start an after-the-play fight, strikes back at Nash which that part is actually excusable, and then he actually makes a move at Porter for gods sake! When I saw this fight I thought Barnes for 5-10 games, TMac and Nash and Shaq for 2 or 3, and Alston for give or take 20 games.

I know this isn't the popular opinion, especially not with you barnsleyman lol, but I stand by it and think it was more serious than many others think and I feel that image-wise, after Pacers-Pistons you need to put any player tries to start an extracurricular altercation on the bench for at least 10 games.

R u kidding me 20 games?!?!?!? Barnes made a dirty play and Alston reacted in a way that any person would..... All he did was get in his face he didn't even throw a punch for gods sake. And why would t-mac be suspended, he was just reacting to nash's reaction...

[Miklo]

Yeah, you're actually right Nash should in my hypothetical situation get more than TMac.
Maybe more like...
TMac no suspension
Nash and Shaq 3 games
Barnes 10 games
Alston 15 games

I mean, I'm not trying to instigate anything (I don't want a fine haha) but that's just my take as I have done a lot of work in my sports management studies with league images as far as the Vick situation and the Pacers/Pistons and the distinction in my mind comes between a really dirty play (which is entirely inappropriate and warrants a suspension as I mentioned above), and as I said before an after-the-clock charge at a player. Barnes and Alston in my mind are equally responsible for what happened - Barnes for elevating emotions and Alston for getting 5ish other players and the Suns coaching staff involved. I just think its a whole different animal.

This is my opinion based off of the work I've done, and in no way intended to attack the Rox - I don't hate Skip to my Lou for what he did, I'm just speaking out of the league office setting a precedent for starting a brawl "not being that bad anymore".

[mkot]

What a crock of sh*t. Why is Nash getting suspended exactly? For getting thrown to the ground by McGrady? And McGrady gets off scott-free.

And two games is very harsh for Barnes. Horry only got 2 games for his body check + forearm shiver to Raja. Thank you Stern. F you.

I don't know why I should've expected anything else from that smug ass.....

[HootieRules]

This was my favorite quote of the day...

Kerr said he was also told by NBA executive vice president Stu Jackson that Barnes would have only received a flagrant foul, level two, had Alston not charged at him.

Makes a ton of sense, doesn't it?

[Guy986]

Yeah, you're actually right Nash should in my hypothetical situation get more than TMac.
Maybe more like...
TMac no suspension
Nash and Shaq 3 games
Barnes 10 games
Alston 15 games

I mean, I'm not trying to instigate anything (I don't want a fine haha) but that's just my take as I have done a lot of work in my sports management studies with league images as far as the Vick situation and the Pacers/Pistons and the distinction in my mind comes between a really dirty play (which is entirely inappropriate and warrants a suspension as I mentioned above), and as I said before an after-the-clock charge at a player. Barnes and Alston in my mind are equally responsible for what happened - Barnes for elevating emotions and Alston for getting 5ish other players and the Suns coaching staff involved. I just think its a whole different animal.

This is my opinion based off of the work I've done, and in no way intended to attack the Rox - I don't hate Skip to my Lou for what he did, I'm just speaking out of the league office setting a precedent for starting a brawl "not being that bad anymore".

I hate Barnes for this but 10 games for a dirty shove is just stupid.
15 games for Alston for confronting Matt Barnes is equally as insane.

You, sir, are bat s*** crazy.

[Purple Palace]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMNAOApKGSE

HAHAHA. Watch Nash....what did he do?????? NOTHING. Amazing. I wonder what Stu Jackson/David Stern saw on this one..