After Ron Artest almost blew the game with an ill-advised shot, he ended up winning it for the Lakers. With 1:01 remaining and the Lakers up three, Ron Artest bricked a 20-foot jumper. Pau Gasol cleared the offensive rebound and passed it out to Artest, who (ponderously) took a three with 0:56 remaining. Phil Jackson gave him an earful during the timeout, and after Jason Richardson banked home the game-tying three with 0:03 to play, it looked like the game was heading to overtime, barring a Kobe Bryant miracle shot, of course.
Bryant got his shot, but it was a terrible look, and there was enough time left on the clock for Artest to collect the rebound and put it back in. It sure seems like there is so much attention paid to Kobe that everyone’s watching him shoot instead of getting into position for the defensive rebound. It was Richardson who failed to box out Artest.
Has Artest finally validated the Lakers’ decision to sign him instead of re-signing Trevor Ariza?
There has been much discussion about the three technicals called on Kendrick Perkins (2) and Rajon Rondo (1) in Game 5 of the Magic/Celtics series. Here are my thoughts on each one:
1. Perkins elbows Gortat. It looked to me like Gortat was checking on Pierce who took a hard fall and Perkins felt the need to throw a little elbow into Gortat’s chest. Gortat also deserved a technical for knocking the ball out of Perkins’ hand after the elbow. There’s no need for any after-the-whistle shenanigans, and Perkins lost some credibility with the officials when he said that he “didn’t do anything.” Yeah, right. Verdict: Justified
2. Perkins upset after a foul call. (1:10 mark) I thought the foul call was iffy, and Eddie Rush compounded the problem by overreacting to Perkins’ overreaction. I think officials should give a little more leeway to a player after a close call like the one in question. That said, Perkins wouldn’t have been called for a “T” had he handled the call better. Verdict: Unjustified
3. Rondo called for a technical. (3:00 mark) First of all, Rondo was dead wrong on the call. Jameer Nelson’s feet were outside of the restricted area, though the video doesn’t show it. He continued to complain through the timeout and tried to get the attention of the official who made the call. An always emotional Joey Crawford stepped in and told Rondo to go to his bench and gave him a warning. Rondo said something — we don’t know what — and that’s what led to the technical. Since we don’t know what he said, we don’t know for sure if the technical was justified, but Rondo needs to understand his audience. Joey Crawford once tossed Tim Duncan out for laughing on the sidelines, so everyone knows he has a short fuse. Don’t mess with him by continuing to talk to him after he’s already given you a warning to go to your bench. If Rondo hadn’t said anything over his shoulder, he wouldn’t have gotten the technical. Verdict: Justified
Note: I don’t really care who wins this series, so I consider myself an objective observer. I do feel that there is too much complaining to officials during NBA games and it needs to be curtailed. As for Crawford and Rush “having it in” for the Celtics, I don’t buy it. Two technicals were called on Orlando as well (Gortat, Matt Barnes).
Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen will never bite his tongue —- and in this case he won’t hold back his pen —- when he gave a fan his opinion on LeBron James and Cleveland’s unlucky sports history.
On ChicagoBreakingSports.com, it was learned that before he was ejected during the second inning of the Indians’ 5-4 loss to the White Sox on Wednesday, Guillen had some fun with an Indians fan.
Guillen signed a baseball with these messages:
“Bye Bye Lebron!! LOL”
“When are you going to win anything in sports? Please”
The LeBron message is kind of funny. The other one about Cleveland not winning anything is drenched in douche-baggery. (Not that Ozzie cares either way.)
Second-year guard Goran Dragic opened some eyes with an amazing performance against the Spurs in Game 3 of the Western Conference Semis, and he had another good game against the Lakers in Game 4, featuring this whirling-dervish layup.
I wonder if it would be better to say you just got Goran’ed!
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