Zaza Pachulia Falls On Russell Westbrook's Leg

We are seeing a lot of whistles this year because the refs are blowing a whistle if a shooter's feet come down on a defender's foot.  You are now expected to give the shooter space to come down.  Sometimes it's pretty ridiculous and the shooters play it up by falling down awkwardly every time to try and draw the foul.  This all started after Zaza Pachulia deliberately put his foot under Kawhi Leonard's and injured Kawhi when he landed.

Last night Zaza tried to injure another key player, this time Russell Westbrook.  Westbrook went down and Zaza fell forward onto Westbrook's knee.

What do you think of it?  What should the League do about this, if anything, especially given Zaza's history?





bob




.

He should be at least fined and/or suspended for a game. It was avoidable and he intended to cause bodily harm or injury to a player in a vulnerable position . . . like a late hit in football.

It was definitely a dirty play. And considering Zaza's history in these kind of situations, it's hard for me to believe otherwise.


KJ

I can’t stand ZaZa, kick that POS out of the league!!!

Intentionally trying to hurt or injure players should lead to lengthy suspensions. This was not a natural basketball play or a "in the heat of the moment" thing - it was deliberate with the sole intent to injure Westbrook. I wouldnt mind if this type of play lead to a 40 game suspension, you wanna protect your product? Then you should protect your product.

I want to change my no vote to yes.

It was a dirty play.  ZaZa is a very dirty player.

Now I want to change my vote from Yes to Other.

It looks like Young's leg hooked in behind Zaza's knee and brought him down.  I'd like to see a video from another angle to verify or disprove that theory that before I call this play dirty.

I will always remember the pick that KG set on Zaza in the playoffs.  I didn't like Zaza then and I don't like him now, but I won't let pure emotion color my decision making.

gyso

I voted yes because it seems Zaza flopped in a dirty way.

But now I agree with Gyso that Zaza's teammate's leg locked him in. It was a third player who triggered the collision? I want to change my vote to no or inconclusive. Pachulia either flopped or his teammate brought him down on Westbrook.

He is a dirty player, but I think this one was an accident.

Young's foot was behind Zaza's calf - and dragged him into the fall. He probably could have put his arms out to brace himself. Zaza is a dirty SOB, but I dont see this one being a big deal.

bob



.

Report: NBA will not discipline Zaza Pachulia after Russell Westbrook incident



Yahoo Sports  Ben Rohrbach,Yahoo Sports 18 hours ago




Golden State Warriors center Zaza Pachulia fell on and nearly injured Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook. Given the Georgian 7-footer’s reputation as a dirty player, complete with a history of injuring or attempting to injure opponents, many observers viewed his fall in that light.

Westbrook was one of them, saying, “Obviously it was intentional. … He tried to hurt me.”

To which Pachulia responded, via ESPN, “That’s childish. Come on. I’m not responding to that.”

The NBA, apparently, ruled in favor of Pachulia. According to The Washington Post’s Tim Bontemps, the league will not discipline the Warriors big man for his role in Saturday night’s run-in with Westbrook.

Tim Bontemps

@TimBontemps
For those hoping/wondering/expecting the NBA to discipline Zaza Pachulia in the wake of Saturday's incident with Russell Westbrook, I can report the NBA will not be taking any action against him. Pachulia and the Warriors play the Knicks at MSG tonight.

12:24 PM - Feb 26, 2018
333
257 people are talking about this


Pachulia also escaped discipline from the league office after stepping under San Antonio Spurs star Kawhi Leonard during Game 1 of the 2017 Western Conference finals, ending Leonard’s season. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich called the closeout “dangerous” and “unsportsmanlike,” suggesting Pachulia “has a history with that kind of action” and citing other incidents in which he tried to injure players.

Fellow All-Stars agreed with Westbrook’s assessment of Pachulia’s play. Thunder teammate Paul George said after the game, “That’s Zaza making a Zaza play. He’s on the end of hurting a lot of guys.” Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard called it a “BS play” on Twitter. And Boston Celtics star Kyrie Irving added on Instagram, “The league has to take a look at this man, that s*** is ridiculous.”

The league, however, disagreed.

The only defense for Pachulia from around the NBA came from his own locker room, where Warriors forward (and Westbrook’s ex-teammate) Kevin Durant said, via The Mercury News, “I don’t think Zaza is trying to hurt anybody. He is clumsy, don’t get me wrong. A lot of big guys are. But I watched the tape.”

Durant can attest to that clumsiness firsthand, since Pachulia fell awkwardly onto his left leg during a game last March, hyperextending his left knee and costing him a month of the regular season …




There is a difference between blindly being thrown to the ground by Washington Wizards center Marcin Gortat and seemingly choosing Westbrook’s leg as the best place to land upon being hooked by teammate Nick Young’s foot. The problem for the NBA as far as doling out punishment goes is determining intent versus clumsiness. But the more victims Zaza claims, the less clumsy he seems.




bob




.