DRAYMOND GREEN SUSPENDED

This is crazy. Why the heck didn't they do this against OKC??? No , they waited for the drama queen to cry and they feel and kissed his feet.

I hope Curry and Thompson go off for 60 plus points and GSW still wins. I cannot stand the NBA when they pull this stuff. LeBron started this
whold incident. And look what he did to Curry a few plays later. He deserves to lose.

The suspension was mandatory because it was Green's 4th flagrant of the playoffs. Green's groin kick in the OKC series did not trigger an automatic suspension sine he hadn't reached the limit.

Whether he should have been suspended is another question.

My problem with it all is what took place before the kick. LeBron was so angry that they were getting beat by this team again that he just felt he had the right to do whatever he wanted. His comments after the game triggered alot of this. Watch what the KING does to Curry close to the end of the game. He pushed him. There is no doubt this team gets under his skin.

I don't understand a backhanded swipe at a guy stepping over you being a flagrant foul, but the fact remains that Green put himself into a vulnerable position by accumulating the prior flagrant fouls. Green also brought it on himself by this being the third instance of hitting someone in the groin in these playoffs, even if this instance wasn't anything at all like the prior two against Steven Adams.

If others can read into Green's action that he intended to hit LeBron in the groin, I can read into LeBron's action that he intended to provoke Green into doing something to get suspended. LeBron getting all offended over Green calling him a "bitch" after doing the walkover stunt is also ridiculous.

I also think the Cleveland reporters showed no class by running to the Cavs players right after the game and showing them super slo-mo replays of the incident to rile up the players, because at that point, LeBron was unaware of any strike to his groin area. Joe Vardon, the Cleveland.com reporter who asked LeBron a question about it in the post-game interview did so in a misleading and inciteful way, and he has continued to do so afterward, calling what Green did a "punch" to LeBron's groin.

Green, LeBron, the reporters, the league -- they all look bad here. Way to take the spotlight off of the basketball, guys.

Outside,

You are correct. As Eddie Murphy said in one of his routines, "You bought that shit on yoself. Don't make me do it again." Draymond, as good of player he is, some of his actions come from about the 3rd grade. I don't believe it is going to matter.

Rosalie,

You will see Curry and Thompson go off for about 60-70 in Game 5 and it won't matter. I don't know who they will start, but GSW has won the series. They've gotten in LeBron's head and that is and will be the end.

db

P.S. If GSW wins tomorrow, where is Draymond? Can he join the team for the celebration?

Rosalie,

It should be HIS team that gets under his skin.

db

Dbrown, according Ethan Strauss, an EXPN beat writer for the Warriors: "After speaking to NBA officials, word is that Draymond isn't allowed in during the game, but is allowed in after"

Not sure what that means, because typically being suspended means not being allowed in the arena, but to be allowed in for any post-game celebration, he'd need to be nearby. Maybe being in the clubhouse at the baseball field (literally next door) satisfies the restriction of "not being in the arena."

Before all this, I of course wanted the Warriors to win, but now I hope they kick their butts. If LeBron thought he was offended before for someone calling him a "bitch," then he needs to get ready for three hours of being offended because the fans in Oakland will be calling him that starting in warmups.

Make no mistake, though. Draymond is an idiot for this. He knows the rules.

db

I seem to recall GSW went without Curry for quite a few games in these playoffs with no real affect. Even though Draymond is their motivational leader, I think they will be just fine. And maybe they will see like CLE did when Love went out for Game 3 that hey really didn't need him in the short run.

db

I do not defend Green in the sense that yes he did put himself in a position to be suspended by previous actions. My thinking is, they disregarded completely LeBrons culpability in this whole scenario. And his actions toward Curry at the end of the game. He just was so ticked off (big girl words!!). He showed no class in his interview. What did it get him? Nothing except a chance to go back to Cleveland.

It is not going to happen. Steve Kerr will have an answer to this. This is the last game of the season. LeBron is going to lose. GSW is in his head the way the Celtics were years ago. The only difference is he is alot older now and may not be able to single handedly beat a team with 40 plus points, 10 plus assists and ? rebounds. Those days are gone by for him.

This whole thing has angered me for the way the NBA handled the whole thing. In the OKC game the kick was so blatant that it should have been called. But, because of the NBA wanting television ratings, this was not a good call for them. They dropped the ball.

Green will have to learn to get his temper in check, this is hurting his team more than anything and if he wants to be taken seriously he will have to smarten up. Charles Barkley was proud of the way he handled himself!!!! What do you think of that?

Green should have been suspended for this same type of action already in this year's playoff regardless of how many technical fouls he had accumulated.

His actions would have rightfully resulted in him getting his head pretty near knocked right off his shoulders in years gone by.

Foul an opponent and even fight an opponent, but purposely hitting or kicking him in the groin is about as cowardly as you can go.

dbrown4 wrote:Make no mistake, though.  Draymond is an idiot for this.  He knows the rules.    

db

Taunting and baiting to instigate a fight - as old as the hills - I know that it goes back to at least 1946 because I still remember, as a a 14 year old, my football coach on the 1st day of practice giving a lengthy speech about the consequences of reciprocating when one is the object of baiting etc. Some things never change. Like you said - he knew the rules.

swish

I'm not defending LeBron. He just handled the punking much better than Draymond did. Yes he stepped over him in a move of appeared dominance. A sign of disrespect. No matter what was going on in LeBron's head or under his skin, he showed his displeasure in a way that did not involve punching another man in the wiener and in turn was not on the NBA's radar for suspension.

It's still a dumb move by the NBA and they know it. The analysts were commenting throughout how physical the game was and how they were letting both sides go at it and get away with a lot of stuff. Now, if a Kevin McHale clothesline broke out, well, that's a different story. But in the context of that game, that upgrade should not have been done. They should have gathered the refs together after Game 4 and have them call a much tighter Game 5.

db

This is a make up call by the league, I don't care about intent or not, you kick anyone like the way Green kicked Adams in the groin, you gotta get a suspension for that....understandable right. So possibly if Green didn't have so many previous dirty plays documented, on this play he may not deserve to be suspended, but since he kept on pushing the limits/boundries, he took a swing, he should have been suspended this time....and the last time for sure.

Who's going to be starting for Green? Would Speights work since he is the most rested? They may lose some of his points. Or Ezeili?

db

db,

Kerr has a choice whether to go big or small. The most logical replacement initially is probably Iguodala, but he'll need someone else to take up minutes that Green would normally have when both Green and Iguodala are in together.

They'll probably use centers more than they normally would -- in the last game, Bogut played 10:06, Varejao 4:02, Ezeli 1:19, and Speights a whopping 0:06, for a total of only 15:33. Kerr seems to have lost some confidence in Ezeli and Varejao is dangerous in anything other than limited doses, so I'd expect Bogut and Speights to get more minutes. Speights is hot or cold, and if he's not making shots, Kerr yanks him pretty quickly (though not usually 0:06 quickly).

But they'll also need something from a non-center. The trick is rebounding, so using a guy like Barbosa as a replacement for Green doesn't really work. Livingston is long and pretty crafty on the boards, and another dose of James Michael McAdoo is probably in the cards. Maybe Brandon Rush.

Probably a combination of all that. It will be interesting to see. I'd think that Kerr would lean more heavily on small lineups to keep Tristan Thompson off the floor. A small lineup is also more likely to be a high-energy lineup, and if they're going to win without Green, it's going to be riding big games from Klay and/or Curry, a boost in scoring from the role players, and lots of energy from everyone. The game could go several ways, but the Warriors are all pissed, I know that, so one scenario is to use that to jump on them from the start and keep them on their heels, and at that point, it doesn't matter much who plays as long as they keep the tsunami going.

Barbosa, when he is on, is such a threat. He is all over the place so he would make a good substitute at times. Inquodala is the important key here. He was doing a great job on James when he was in the game the other night. He is not afraid of James size, a real tough ballplayer and that is what they are going to need. The also need to take JR Smith out of his game early because when that happens he starts taking wild, crazy shots. As great a shooter as he is he can kill them sometimes.

I am really looking for Kerr to pull something out of his hat.Thompson can be a force rebounding if he has to
Interesting night ahead.

GO GSW! i can never root for James, there is just something there that stops me.

Rosalie