Playoff BS

I know that you’re supposed to keep your cool no matter what the situation, but I hate how it always seems to happen in NBA playoff series that a team will have a scrub instigate something with a star player on the other team.  Even if Quentin Richardson had been suspended along with Garnett for Game 2 of the Celtics/Heat series, the Heat would have the advantage.

It actually seemed more like Richardson was trying to instigate something with Pierce who led the Celtics comeback in Game 1, but Garnett stepped in and instead he’s the one who ended up getting suspended.  With 40 seconds remaining in the game, there’s no doubt that this is the tactic that Richardson had in mind when he was standing over Pierce after he had been knocked down on the sideline.

Luckily for the Celtics it was Garnett and not Pierce who ended up being suspended.  The Celtics still stand a chance in Game 2 without Garnett, but they wouldn’t have a shot without Pierce.  Richardson may have done something very stupid though.  The Celtics were a team struggling at the end of the regular season.  They haven’t played up to expectations even though they won 50 games.  The last thing that you want to do is give them something to rally around and wake them up.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see huge games from Pierce and Allen in Game 2 and then a big game from Garnett when he returns in Game 3 to take that game in Miami.

I really wish that David Stern would do something about these kinds of antics, but improving the level of officiating and fairness of calls during games hasn’t been high on his list of things to do.  A team can win a game with 6 players on the court and have that win stand without the referees even reviewing the video.  Stern is all about the image of the league and has put more emphasis on things like players dressing well.  Unfortunately, you can easily conceal guns under dress clothing.  When all is said and done, I wonder if Stern’s legacy will have more to do with the decisions that he made or the fact that the most popular player in the history of the league was drafted the same year that he became commissioner and joined Magic and Bird who saved the league.  The popularity of the league under Stern sometimes overshadows the bad things that have gone on such as the weapons charges, the fights in the stands, the crooked referees, allegations of fixing the NBA Draft and Bill Simmons’ favorite rumor of the super secret suspension of Michael Jordan for gambling that led to his time playing minor league baseball.  Meanwhile, Stern has made sure that players don’t commit such serious transgressions such as Tweeting during a game.

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