Goodbye playoffs, Pacers

[endtroducing]

Pacers forward Ron Artest will be suspended by the NBA for a record 30 games, according to Fox Sports Radio ... Jermaine O'Neal and Stephen Jackson will be out of action for 20 games ...

HAHAHAHA.

[dude1394]

If this is official, it's not nearly enough.

[rakesh.s]

their team can still beat the bad teams without these three guys..

plus they're in the east, so they still have a shot at the playoffs

[Dirkenstien]

Originally posted by: endtroducing
Pacers forward Ron Artest will be suspended by the NBA for a record 30 games, according to Fox Sports Radio ... Jermaine O'Neal and Stephen Jackson will be out of action for 20 games ...

HAHAHAHA.

have you found a link to anywhere also claiming this?

[Dirkenstien]

If true I still think they have a good shot a making the playoffs albeit somewhere in the 6-8 spots.

[Dirkenstien]

Here is a link to an article discussing the punishment I found.

Link

[grndmstr_c]

Yeah, this probably won't knock them out of the playoffs, but going into the season I felt they were probably the most talented team in the East. If this costs them home court, which it almost certainly will, it could have a major impact on the outcome of the playoffs this season.

[Murphy3]

It's not enough..but, I'm proud with the decision by the NBA. They didn't swallow their nuts on this one.

[FishForLunch]

So what the F are they going to do about the Fans who caused this in the first place.

[grndmstr_c]

So what the F are they going to do about the Fans who caused this in the first place.

I'll ignore the misguided wording of the question and respond with another question (or three): what, exactly, are you expecting the league to do to the fans? Suspend them? Is it not obvious that dealing with the fans is a police matter?

[Murphy3]

Originally posted by: grndmstr_c

I'll ignore the misguided wording of the question and respond with another question (or three): what, exactly, are you expecting the league to do to the fans? Suspend them? Is it not obvious that dealing with the fans is a police matter?

I would expect the Pistons to revoke some season tickets from some people. But yeah, for the most part, the fans will be dealt with by the law as will Artest, Jackson, and probably O'Neal.

[ames7]

Shorter time than I expected for Artest at least. Indiana is clearly screwed.

Also? I can go ahead & kiss goodbye to one of my fantasy leagues. It's a deep league too & I gotta replace JO? SIGH.

[Big_Dog]

this may be irrevelant, but when a french soccer player named Eric Cantona who played for Man Utd in England few yers ago, charged into the stands and kicked a fan in the chest, he got banned from playing for 8 months. That incident was very ugly but not nearly as violent as the one that happened in Detroit.

[Big_Dog]

.

[dirno2000]

As bad as this incident looked for the Pacers, I could see it having a galvanizing effect on the team and wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to see them win the East. They may have been wrong, but when it came down to it, they’re three best players were in there swinging together.

The 1st round is now 7 games and it’s been proven that a team playing at a high level doesn’t necessarily need home court advantage. I wouldn’t count them out.

[digit]

Cantona attack

[Bayliss]

As bad as this incident looked for the Pacers, I could see it having a galvanizing effect on the team and wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to see them win the East. They may have been wrong, but when it came down to it, they’re three best players were in there swinging together.

I agree completely. Kind of a circle the wagons type of play. The Pacers could very easily have a winning record for that time because the team will play with more intensity/fight/energy than previously. Sometimes a wounded animal is a lot harder to kill than a healthy one.

[grndmstr_c]

The 1st round is now 7 games and it’s been proven that a team playing at a high level doesn’t necessarily need home court advantage. I wouldn’t count them out.

Whether or not they could make it out of the first round without homecourt could depend on matchups, though you have to figure as long as they aren't 7th or 8th the odds would be in their favor. Still, we're talking about a team that was expected to compete for a title this year. Even if they make it out of the first round they'd probably be looking at road series against Miami and Detroit in rounds 2 and 3 if they continued to advance. Those are tough matchups with home-court. The real difference could be in the finals if they made it that far, though. Without the suspensions I'd have put money on the Pacers to end up with a better record than whoever ends up representing the West because of the number of strong teams in the West. Such a scenario is extremely unlikely now even if the Pacers managed to overcome the odds to get that far. Add it all up and you have to admit this puts them behind the 8-ball at the least.

[Murphy3]

Who's going to circle the wagons? Austin Croshere and Fred Jones?

[Bayliss]

Who's going to circle the wagons? Austin Croshere and Fred Jones?

I haven't seen their schedule. But how many teams in the East can "beat" them? In the next 20 or 30 games, how many times does Indiana play Atlanta and Charlotte and New Orleans?

There is definitely hope that they can hold down the fort until the cavalry arrives.

(Btw, I got to quit using Western metaphors.)

[grndmstr_c]

Assuming the suspensions hold as reported, the Pacers are looking at the following 19 games till JO and Jackson come back:
Boston
Minnesota
Charlotte (2nd of back to back)
@Seattle
@Clippers
@Sacramento
@Golden State (2nd night of back to back)
Milwaukee
@Milwaukee
Sacramento
@Atlanta
Toronto
@Chicago (2nd of back to back)
Philly
Detroit
New Orleans
@Charlotte
@New Jersey (2nd of back to back)
Milwaukee

The next ten till Artest comes back:
@SA
@Dallas
@Phoenix (2nd of back to back)
@Memphis
Phoenix
Orlando (2nd of back to back)
@Houston
@New Orleans(2nd of back to back)
@Miami
Washinton(2nd of back to back)

With their current injury situation and the suspended players there are a lot of losses waiting to happen in there, the Pacers talent base is simply decimated right now.

[FilthyFinMavs]

Originally posted by: FishForLunch
So what the F are they going to do about the Fans who caused this in the first place.

That's exactly what I want to know. Their punishments should be just as severe as these players. If you don't punish these fans than that tells me when the Spurs come to town I can just grab a chair and hit Duncan in the head and nothing will happen to me but Duncan will get suspended for 30 games which will knock the Spurs out of the playoff hunt. Something better be done to this idiots.

[grndmstr_c]

Something better be done to this idiots.

No doubt. And I'm sure something will be done. The NBA is in damage control mode at the moment, but you can bet they also want to protect their players. Their lawyers will certainly be in touch with the Detroit prosecutors to see that an example is set for both sides. It's just that the only recourse against the fans has to be legal (outside of banning them from attending another NBA game, of course), and that's of necessity a more time-consuming process. Be patient.

[dude1394]

They should prosecute the fan who was stopping artests fist with his face for endangering him.

[grndmstr_c]

Official report on the suspensions just came down via ESPN. Artest is done for the year. Jackson's out for 30 games, JO's out for 25. Ben Wallace for 6. Anthony Johnson for 5. Four others who's names I haven't found yet suspended for one game.

[harsh euro barge]

Billups
Campbell
Reggie Miller
Coleman

[MavKikiNYC]

N.B.A. Suspends Artest for Rest of Season
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: November 21, 2004


NEW YORK -- Ron Artest was suspended for the rest of the season Sunday as the NBA came down hard on three members of the Indiana Pacers for fighting with fans as a game against the Detroit Pistons degenerated into a melee.

Nine players from the teams were banned for a combined 143 games, including some of the harshest penalties the league has ever issued. Artest is the first player to be suspended for nearly an entire season for a fight during a game.

Indiana's Stephen Jackson was suspended for 30 games and Jermaine O'Neal for 25. Detroit's Ben Wallace -- whose shove of Artest after a foul led to the five-minute fracas -- drew a six-game ban, while Pacers guard Anthony Johnson got five games.

Four players were suspended for a game apiece: Indiana's Reggie Miller and Detroit's Chauncey Billups, Elden Campbell and Derrick Coleman.

All the suspensions are without pay.

Artest, O'Neal and Jackson -- who all threw punches at fans in the stands or on the court at the end of the nationally televised game Friday night -- began serving their suspensions Saturday. Indiana, limited to just six players because of the suspensions and injuries, dropped an 86-83 decision to Orlando.

[dude1394]

Sounds about right. Proud of 'em.

[MavKikiNYC]

These penalites will be appealed and may end up being reduced. Regardless, it's the correct message by the NBA to say that it will NOT permit its players to assault fans with impunity--as Artest, Jackson, and O'Neal did.

Let's see if the NBAPA has the gumption to back the league in this punishment.

[dude1394]

If they are appealed maybe the league should then counter-sue by doubling them. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

[madape]

Indana was once a nice organization. I used to be a fan. Well I'm not any more. This is the most classless organization in the history of the NBA. Much worse than any of those Trail Blazer teams. I'll be watching closely to how the franchise responds to this. If they have any class (which I'm beginning to doubt). They will quickly sever ties with all the players involved and re-biuild the franchise with good, level headed, sane players.

It was a strict penalty handed down by the league. It sent a clear message that this kind of behavior won't be tolerated in the NBA. Now the question is, will this kind of behavior be tolerated by the Pacers? I guess we'll find out soon. But considering how often they've looked the other way with Artest, I doubt we'll see much of anything other than endless whining about the suspension.

[MavKikiNYC]

I've always had the sense that the Pacers were somewhat under the gun with Artest. They couldn't allow his behavior to dictate a release, and he was too valuable an asset for them to just cut and allow a conference rival like the NYKs to pick up.

These suspensions are a big blow to the Indiana franchise, and they will have to be very resourceful to negotiate the damage done to their team by Artest.

I think Walsh and Bird and Carlisle deserved better.

[toucandave]

Well this is great news. I'm glad to see the league nut up and do something about this. Some of the fans should be punished as well, but like what one of our lawyer friends said....what the fans did was maybe a class A misdemeanor, what the Pacers did was a felony. I think one of the worst things about this whole mess, was having to listen to those ESPN guys stick up for the Pacers. Maybe ESPN will get rid of those morons like KLIF got rid of FISH.

[rakesh.s]

i think it is safe to say that artest will either be bought out or traded at the end of the season

they should've made the artest for peja deal over the summer..sure they're kicking themselves now

[FINtastic]

On the plus side, Artest has plenty of time now to promote his new CD.

[bernardos70]

Being he has a vast vocabulary on his arsenal of weapons to use on his rhymes (words such as integrity, which I'm sure he'll have plenty of time to look up the meaning of now), I'll be the first in line to buy it....... not.

[DubOverdose]

I think Ben Wallace should be suspended longer. He pushed Artest from the start, then threw a towel in Artests face. You could tell Artest was trying to hold back until Wallace started getting fans to throw stuff at Artest.

[FilthyFinMavs]

Originally posted by: grndmstr_c
Official report on the suspensions just came down via ESPN. Artest is done for the year. Jackson's out for 30 games, JO's out for 25. Ben Wallace for 6. Anthony Johnson for 5. Four others who's names I haven't found yet suspended for one game.

Those are insane suspensions. For the year? Jackson get's 30 games? Shouldn't that be reversed? Ben Wallace 6? Looks like the league is basically saying we are on the side of the fans on this one and believe it's okay to jump on the court and hit an NBA player just as long as they don't hit back. I'm surprised Tinsley didn't get any suspension. I saw him swinging on some guys also.


BTW, why exactly was JO suspended for 25 games? Was it when he got the chair thrown at him or was it the Mortalk Kombat-esque hit that he gave the one guy who jumped on the court in the first place?

[rakesh.s]

ben wallace is the nba's golden boy so they'll have to get him back on the floor as soon as they can..he should be sitting out 10-15 games

maybe artest can play RB for the dolphins or CB for the cowboys?

[toucandave]

JO got 25 because he was close to getting 25 years for manslaughter. That dude he hit was NO threat to anybody.