There might have been a memo circulated amongst the playoff bound refs that said, “Due to recent incidents in Detroit, New York, and Phoenix, the NBA will not tolerate anything remotely resembling a fight inducing foul. This policy will stand regardless of the specific facts of the incident. If you the referee think highly charged competitors are playing too hard, immediately eject one of them.” This appeared to be the reasoning that got Ronny Turiaf ejected in the second quarter of game four of the Utah- LA Lakers conference semi-finals. The decision was incorrect and could have affected the outcome.
Assuming that this was a flagrant foul at all, the officiating crew clearly overreacted. Turiaf should not have been ejected, period. I have seen such plays in pickup, where they are totally inappropriate because nothing but pride and “king of the court” are at stake. This, conversely, is professional basketball wherein millions of dollars are at stake. Turiaf went for the ball and Price fell awkwardly. Hard foul? Absolutely. Normal flagrant? Possibly. Ejection? No way. Turiaf won’t be suspended. He’ll get off with “time served.”
Turiaf’s absence had an effect on the game (however minimal in theory) and that is lamentable. In a game that went to overtime minimal means a lot. DJ Mbenga played three minutes that Turiaf would have played. DJ committed two fouls and had a turnover. I don’t want to be nit picky (after all, the Lakers’ FT shooting was terrible), but Turiaf might have actually changed the outcome of the game. There were a number of questionable calls on this Sunday in Salt Lake City, but this one took the cake.
agree Turiaf’s ejection was uncalled for, as he did go for the ball. It’s unfortunate for the Lakers that this happened.
Flagrant? Yes ejection worthy? no, very dubious.
- Freddie Footballer
me 2 the funny thing was before he got ejected, they both kind of gave each other “ high fives “ and was like it’s all good. haha
Turiaf got screwed it’s understood that price got messed up but he was playing after the whistle just as Turiaf was. Turiaf didn’t even jump forward or anything. should have been a flagrant 1 that’s it..and you’re right, it definitely affected the game as he’s a stout defender -The Answer
It’s all a judgment call The referees have about 30 seconds to decide the outcome of a call, given the play happened in just 3 seconds. It is obvious to everyone who watches basketball and who is a Lakers fan that Ronnie Turiaf would never intentionally harm another player. He just wouldn’t.
But Price fell down hard, and had to go to the sidelines for stitches. Stitches. On his face. What the hell kind of play has to happen for an NBA player, remind you its a game where you shoot a ball through a basket, to get stitches on his face?
The referees have never seen that happen before, and there is going to be consequences. Look, if I threw someone down unintentionally on their home court, and that guy ends up needing stitches on his face on the sidelines in order to shoot his free throws, I’d expect to be ejected as well. It’s all a judgment call.
good points if Price braces himself better and doesn’t look like an empty sack of potatoes when he hits the ground then I doubt Turiaf gets tossed. can’t forget also that even though Turiaf is a bit quirky that he’s also a big dude and is probably not a lot of fun to run into.. -bB
Blood I think the fact that Price bled had a lot to do with the ejection. Blood is viewed as violent and people tend to overreact when around a bloody situation.
re: Unnecessary and excessive contact on a player half the size of Turiaf sounds about as close to a flagrant 2 as someone can get. Short of punching Price in the face, I don’t think he could have fouled him harder.
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LB23