No takedown shakedown
Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks owe Jazz coach Jerry Sloan a big, fat thank-you.
In the aftermath of Nowitzki's takedown of Andrei Kirilenko, which forced the Jazz's best defender from Monday night's game against the Mavs and resulted in a trip to the hospital for precautionary x-rays, Sloan downplayed the incident.
Saying Dirk's tackle didn't look intentionally nasty to him, Sloan added, "I don't think Nowitzki is that kind of player."
I agree.
But I also know that some coaches would have watched Kirilenko hobble off the court and started screaming for Nowitzki's immediate ejection. After the game, they would have campaigned for a suspension.
In this case. Sloan stayed out of it, let the officials run the game and actually threw water on the potential fire during his postgame interview. As a result, I think the league would look silly if it suspends Nowitzki.
An interesting turn of events, actually, since Sloan is not a big fan of Mavericks' owner Mark Cuban and a Nowitzki suspension would actually help Utah.
(Does anybody else remember Cuban blowing kisses at Sloan from the safety of the fourth row during a Utah-Dallas playoff game in 2001?)
Fact: If the NBA suspends Nowitzki for Thursday night's Dallas-Houston game, it could end up being a huge factor in the glove-tight Western Conference.
Currently, the Rockets, Mavericks and Jazz are bunched within one game of each other. One win or one loss at this point in the season could end up clinching or costing any of the three teams playoff seeding and/or homecourt advantage.
If Nowitzki was suspended for Dallas' upcoming game against the Rockets, it would clearly benefit Houston and Utah. Instead, Nowitzki will almost certainly play, in part perhaps because Sloan didn't lash out at him.
-- Steve Luhm
In the aftermath of Nowitzki's takedown of Andrei Kirilenko, which forced the Jazz's best defender from Monday night's game against the Mavs and resulted in a trip to the hospital for precautionary x-rays, Sloan downplayed the incident.
Saying Dirk's tackle didn't look intentionally nasty to him, Sloan added, "I don't think Nowitzki is that kind of player."
I agree.
But I also know that some coaches would have watched Kirilenko hobble off the court and started screaming for Nowitzki's immediate ejection. After the game, they would have campaigned for a suspension.
In this case. Sloan stayed out of it, let the officials run the game and actually threw water on the potential fire during his postgame interview. As a result, I think the league would look silly if it suspends Nowitzki.
An interesting turn of events, actually, since Sloan is not a big fan of Mavericks' owner Mark Cuban and a Nowitzki suspension would actually help Utah.
(Does anybody else remember Cuban blowing kisses at Sloan from the safety of the fourth row during a Utah-Dallas playoff game in 2001?)
Fact: If the NBA suspends Nowitzki for Thursday night's Dallas-Houston game, it could end up being a huge factor in the glove-tight Western Conference.
Currently, the Rockets, Mavericks and Jazz are bunched within one game of each other. One win or one loss at this point in the season could end up clinching or costing any of the three teams playoff seeding and/or homecourt advantage.
If Nowitzki was suspended for Dallas' upcoming game against the Rockets, it would clearly benefit Houston and Utah. Instead, Nowitzki will almost certainly play, in part perhaps because Sloan didn't lash out at him.
-- Steve Luhm
11:05 AM
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3 Comments:
I'm not sure I agree that Dirk out would help the Jazz. A Mavs loss and a Houston loss are almost equally beneficial here. That's not to say I'd not like Dirk to be suspended, but I'm not sure I agree with the logic here.
By the way, I agree with Sloan on not arguing that one. It was a bonehead play, but not a dirty one.
Actually, looks like the suspension came down.
I thought this was an obvious 2/ejection at the game. On TiVo it is obvious that he not only pulls him down on his hip and back, but follows through with his arm, to complete the take down. I'm glad the NBA reviewed this. This kind of crap could leave someone in a wheel chair paralyzed for the rest of their life with a spinal injury.
Jazzaholic
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