NBA Basketball: On Rajon Rondo's Elbow
by Glenn Logan on May 9, 2011 7:14 PM EDT
in Commentary
Email
Print
I got to watch my first playoff game of the NBA season on Saturday, and naturally it was the Boston Celtics vs. the Miami Heat. In the second half of that game which the Celtics ultimately won to take the series to 1-2, Rajon Rondo suffered a gruesome dislocated elbow when Heat guard Dwyane Wade pulled him to the ground.
I thought at the time that was a dirty play and should have resulted in at least an intentional foul, if not a flagrant foul. After review, the focus was so much on Rajon's elbow bending in an unnatural and horrifying manner that I all but forgot about my anger toward Wade. Fortunately, the injury to Rondo was not as serious as it might have been, and it certainly isn't as bad as it looked on replay. Rondo went on to pull a Willis Reed and returned to finish the game effectively using only his right hand, it was a rather incredible thing to watch.
Bradford Doolittle of Basketball Prospectus reminds me of my first impression that Wade made a dirty play:
The way I saw it, Rondo moved in behind Wade, they got their feet tangled and Wade went down. He had his right arm behind him, hooked around Rondo. As Wade fell, he wrapped his arm tighter around Rondo and actually jerked him to the ground, as if he were Louden Swain from "Vision Quest". Wade might not have meant to take out Rondo's elbow, but when you behave negligently, bad stuff happens. If you don't see the play that way, that's fine. We won't be suppressing any points of view here. But I will say that Wade has done little to earn the benefit of the doubt, and if I'm Doc Rivers, I might send Big Baby Davis in to take a chunk out of the increasingly insufferable guard. (Seriously, what was with the 1950s frat boy look Wade and James were sporting in the postgame presser?) Davis is not doing anything else of value, so why not?
That's exactly what I thought I saw. Now, I don't advocate sending Davis in to rough up Wade (although Wade unquestionably deserves some consequence for his reckless acts), but it wouldn't shock me to see a Celtic set a really hard screen on Wade if the opportunity presents itself.
21 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Wade definitely meant to pull Rondo down
but I am not sure actually injuring Rajon is what he had in mind. I think “reckless” is a fair enough description. That said, the sooner Miami is out the better.
The team that went out like a bunch of punks is Los Angeles. Talk about having no class. There aren’t any admitted Lakers fans around here, are there…? :-)
.
"I watch (UK) every night... I am going to support them for the rest of my life. I'm a Wildcat for the rest of my life." -- JWall, 2/8/11
by HSLex on May 9, 2011 8:21 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Not here.
But how long before the Cal to LA rumors?
I woke up feeling BLUE this morning. It's gonna be a great day.
I hadn't even thought of that, wineman
.
But you’re right. My guess is “not very long”.
I am staying in the camp that isn’t too worried about Cal moving on until No. 8 is up in the rafters. I just think he wants that accomplishment, and staying at UK gives him the best chance at it. (Hopefully he wants at least two.)
After that, all bets are off.
.
"I watch (UK) every night... I am going to support them for the rest of my life. I'm a Wildcat for the rest of my life." -- JWall, 2/8/11
HSLex
I gave you a rec. The Lakers are punks. After running there mouths,they didn’t have enough backbone to back it up. They would like to make some changes but they have several wothless players on long term contracts. Could not happen to a nicer bunch.
The Lamar Odom hit on Dirk
was out of line, but I was actually a little surprised he got tossed for it. I guess the refs could sense the frustration rising and wanted to cut things off early.
The Andrew Bynum clothesline on Barea was a pure punk move. Straight out of pro wrestling, where at least the other guy knows it is coming. And then tossing his jersey walking off the court- what an absolute joke… and unfortunate lasting image for (potentially) the Zen Master’s last game.
.
"I watch (UK) every night... I am going to support them for the rest of my life. I'm a Wildcat for the rest of my life." -- JWall, 2/8/11
That is actually who I was
planning on having to run and hide from…
I think maybe she has moved on to Sac with Boogie now….
.
"I watch (UK) every night... I am going to support them for the rest of my life. I'm a Wildcat for the rest of my life." -- JWall, 2/8/11
oh, hi there.
Yeah, I would have commented sooner, but you see I’ve been in an alcohol induced coma since the shit-show on Sunday. : ) No, really, I’m actually in the process of moving right now and sort of in between houses and the internet. I’m reading (and currently responding on my Droid) comments these days mostly on my phone and just haven’t had a chance to reply until now. But, yeah, I’m a Laker fan and the events that took place the other night, even with as vile as they were certainly won’t change that fact. I was born a Laker fan and consider myself an extremely loyal fan. Love for life or hate for life type of thing. I’m obviously ashamed of some of our players’ behavior the other night, but there is a lot of pride in being a Laker fan, too and it’s going to take more than one night if dumb shit to erase it.
Sorry for all the typos and grammar errors that I’m sure are in this post— like I said, I’m on my phone…
by BigSkyCat on May 10, 2011 7:52 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Hope your move is going smooth!
.
And I give you tons of credit for commenting using a phone… it would take me a month to type out a comment on one. Looks like I may be pulling for Dallas this year if Rajon doesn’t make it.
.
"I watch (UK) every night... I am going to support them for the rest of my life. I'm a Wildcat for the rest of my life." -- JWall, 2/8/11
I'm afraid our dear Sky Cat is a huge Laker fan - sorry Sky for the humbling of your team
A man is nothing more than a summation of his scars!
I was watching that game at the time
which is kinda weird, because I don’t watch much NBA, and my 1st impression was that it was a flagrant foul and that Wade’s wallet would get a little lighter. And, not because it was Rondo. Wade wrapped his arm around Rondo and took him to the floor as he, Wade, fell.
God Bless Our Troops............Especially Our Snipers!
FYI ...
Did everybody notice both Josh Harrellson and Wayne Turner graduated this last weekend. Congratulations to both – putting the student in “Student Athlete!”
So Did Wayne Turner
"I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes." Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776
by Wild Weasel on May 10, 2011 1:22 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Oops!
"I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes." Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776
by Wild Weasel on May 10, 2011 1:23 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Now as to the foul...
How many times have we seen a player grab and hold another when going for a loose ball – enumerable. Have we ever seen the act earn a technical even if it was undeniably intentional – I never have. Granted Rondo was injured but I don’t think anyone thinks Wade intentionally did so.
My call is, “Inadvertant injury when fouled going for a loose ball” – shoot free throws – play on.
I think the foul was intentional at minimum.
That’s why the intentional foul call exists.
A Sea of Blue -- Kentucky Sports for the Discerning Fan
+1
God Bless Our Troops............Especially Our Snipers!
by bigbill992001 on May 10, 2011 6:39 AM EDT up reply actions
Glenn...
You’re right, it was intentional.
My point is it has always been treated as a common foul, never an intentional foul, in the past. We all understand that refs call the game with a great deal of latitude and we have heretofore expressed relative satisfaction with a situation where calls are consistently made on both ends of the court. The lack of an intentional foul was consistent with the way that game, and the vast majority even if not every single game, had been called up to that point – how many hundreds of grabbing and holding fouls had been totally ignored during that game? Stare decisis - you have to have a more than arbitrary reason for changing how the game was being called up to that point.
If Rondo hadn’t been hurt partisans would have undoubtedly groused about the lack of an intentional foul call but still without the weight of precedent on their side. The injury was gruesome but inadvertent imo. Would there be this load of emotion about the call if Rajon had only gotten a bloody nose? My contention is the injury, being unintentional, is irrelevant to the foul call. That leaves a normal grabbing and holding foul to be adjudicated. Maybe unsatisfying to ‘Cat fans but still ’fair.’
The way I saw it ...
… it was not a basketball play. I don’t agree wit your conclusion that the hurt was the only reason I am suggesting that it should have been otherwise.
There was no reason for Wade to tackle Rondo, and I don’t accept the excuse that it was a reflex. I watched the replay many times and it did not look inadvertent or reflexive to me, it looked deliberate.
Your mileage may vary.
A Sea of Blue -- Kentucky Sports for the Discerning Fan
Their feet were tangled.
Isn’t it a natural reaction to reach for the person next to you to keep yourself from falling, and to hold tight when you do fall?
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Community Guidelines
[UPDATED 01/18/2012]
Related FanPosts on A Sea Of Blue
Related FanShots on A Sea Of Blue
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
