Neither Odom or Bynum remorseful

Well, as easy as it would be to torch the Lakers, Bynum, Odom and Phil here, when we ran up a 40 point lead on them in '08, I don't remember them reacting this way.

When your whole, under the floodlight season has been geared toward winning a 4th 3-Peat for Phil and to have Dallas pull the carpet out from under you in 2nd Round of all places, an mind you this is Dallas, the current Minnesota Vikings of the NBA, the Kings of bowing out early and snapping like a toothpick to the slightest of playoff challenges or pressure, you're going to be po'ed.

I excused/defended LeBron for not shaking hands because it really didn't hurt anyone. Odom's pick was moving, shoulder lowered and intentional. Clearly a Flagrant II plus ejection. (BTW, do FII and ejection go hand in hand or can they be separated?) We've seen picks like that before. It may have been payback for something Dirk had said to Odom while he was bricking his free throws earlier, but Bynum's was clearly out of character. The league will review and act accordingly. Will probably send a message ala Ron Artest given that the game was over at that point and it was completely unnecessary, could have easily been avoided and could have broken Berea's ribcage. Ruling should/better come pretty quickly for the sake of the rest of this season's playoffs. Should also make it non-appealable, but that won't happen under CBA. At least a multiple/double digit game suspension going into next season will suffice.

Bynum will have to recover the same way Artest has through the seasons to mend his reputation now.

Players in general will react the same way LeBron did to the world's backlash and stake their ground when it pushes back at them for something deemed out of character. Sadly, don't expect remorse or even a hint of the fact they may have done something wrong. The bad and good news is millions of kids saw that behavior live and it will leave us parents with numerous great teaching moments if we so choose.

This could have happened to any team. The Lakers and the league will sort it all out. All we have to worry about here is tonight and leveling the series going back to MIA. Won't be easy. MIA wants to be Dallas II and complete the official changing of the guard. We'll have something to say about that. That we can control.

I thought the ejection of Odom was an overcall. Foul? Obviously. Flagrant? Perhaps, but I've seen as bad many, many times without an ejectiion and Odom's hit on Dirk was not one that was likely to hurt Dirk seriously. Dirk was jogging downcourt, both feet on the ground, and took a shoulder to the shoulder. I guess the ejection was the refs way of saying "this game/series is over, this is going to start getting ugly as players realize their seasons are over, we gotta head their frustrations off at the pass". His comments afterwards explains why he's married to a Kardashian. He has no sense of proportion or self-respect. What we expect, Lamar, is for you to act like a responsible professional and not like a spoiled, self-centered rich person.

Bynum's foul, on the other hand, was despicable. A much smaller player, vulnerable in the air, and Bynum clearly aimed his elbow into his unprotected ribs. Cracked ribs, falling down off balance and landing on his back, head or hip were all possibilities from the way 280# Bynum cheap shotted 175# Barea. Bynum should be suspended for multiple games for that. I'd give him another game or two suspension after that just for his lack of remorse. If a coach can get fined for mouthing off about the refs in a post-game interview, why shouldn't players who play dirty like Bynum not pay a price for at least saying the right things later. Bynum took his jersey off, while he was still on the floor but heading to the locker room. Nice try asshole, but we already know what uni you're wearing and what your name is.

Kudos to Kobe and even to Mr. Clothesline, Ron Artest, for showing some class after that and not ratcheting up the animus. It would have been easy for Ron-Ron to start throwing elbows too.

bob

.

Hey, we got over the McHale clotheslining of Rambus that ushered all these current Flagrant Fouls in years ago. LA will get over the Odom/Bynum RibCage/Sternum incident. It's now forever a part of who we and LA are, hopefully a very small part.

Good memories. Especially the taunt by Cornbread.

You can't get away from playoff coverage each season without seeing the McHale clothesline at least 1,000 times.

I was looking for that Maxwell taunt on youtube a couple of months ago but could not find it. If anyone can please post.

Thanks

I'm with you bheck. That's why I asked if FII's and Ejections are separable. Didn't think Odom would have been tossed in any other game situation like that but given the status of that game and that series at that point, tossing him was the best idea at that time. The next thing that should have been done was immediately pulling the DAL starters off the court, one by one, starting with Dirk.

But this all led to the Bynum rib and lung crusher, so tossing Odom really didn't achieve what the refs were hoping for.

Also, unrelated, but what's the deal now with refs reviewing their own calls after games (CHI and ATL) and publicly stating they made a mistake?!! If the gag order applies to coaches and players, it certainly needs to apply to the refs as well. That may be the stupidest thing I have ever seen so far to date. We know these guys make mistakes. Are they now going to confess each and every bad call after each game? That could take forever. WTF!!