Last night the Clippers went to New Orleans and took on the Hornets; the first time CP3 has returned ‘home’ since the trade that landed him in L.A.
In the 4th quarter the Hornets’ Jason Smith was ejected after committing a flagrant 2 which literally took Griffin off his feet. It looked like something you’d see in a football game and not on a basketball court.
It’s clear that Griffin has been irritating numerous players around the league as he seems to have a bounty on his head but a play such as this is uncalled for. I’d be embarrassed if I were Smith… I’d be more embarrassed if I were the classless fans that cheered as Smith walked off the court.
Did you see the play as it happened live; what are your thoughts on the subject?
There’s a part of me that misses old school tough nosed basketball, where you just don’t let a guy dunk on you. But Jason Smith definitely went in too hard on that one.
On the other hand i keep watching the play over and over and Smith seems commited to bump him, while BG seems pretty certain that there’s going to be little to no contact because he doesn’t even look to his right. I think that if Blake was expecting that type of hit, it wouldn’t have looked so nasty.
Also, the hit was right behind the shoulder and as any basketball player will tell you, that’s a scary hit. Its not square in the shoulder, its not in the back, but in a place where it can actually pop your shoulder out (and Blake was getting ready to lower his shoulder and go in for the finish, again completely oblivious that there was a defender to his right going full speed.) Anyway, I think BG realised what sort of hit that was and his or anybody’s natural instinct would be to go down right away, as quickly as possible, and then allow the brain to asses the extent of the “injury”. If he’d been hit more so in the back, the fall wouldn’t have looked so emphatic, but more like falling from an out of balance shove. At least that’s my take. There’s always a psychological element involved. And when you’ve played for long enough, you can pretty much tell what somebody’s thinking on the court.
So on that bombshell, all I can say is that that’s terrible court awareness from Blake… :))
Well i wouldnt blame his awareness, no way he couldve known that he was about to get bulldozed. I miss the rough and tough play as well but this was a cheap shot IMO. A hard foul is one thing but dipping your shoulder and plowing through a guy is completely different.
Ouch, good conditioning on Blake’s part for taking such a hit. There should be no room in the NBA for these kind of fouls. This and Bynum’s cheap shot on Barea last playoffs. Smith should be suspended for a number of games.
I agree, def should be suspended for a couple of games.
Are you saying a guard or a quick forward wouldn’t have been perfectly aware of Smiths presence, speed and angle of attack and either switched gear or waited for his teammates? You’ve seen how Blake plays. Once he makes his mind up, he doesn’t really do adjustments midplay. I’ve never seen him pass out of a drive to the basket once he got going. Maybe he’s got a bit of tunnel vision? All I’m saying is that the only way Blake could have scored on that play was if both defenders were as intimidated as Belinelli, who probably felt it wasn’t the best day to get in a poster and started to get out of the way right before Smith ran BG over :))
I do think Smith looked genuinely surprised that he managed to hit Blake that hard. But yes, the one game suspension is pretty justified. It was reckles, he lowered his shoulder and it’s not the super bowl.
This, a quote from him after the game: “I think it looked a lot worse than what it was, but that’s still not a play that you ever want to do to another player like that,” Smith said. “I apologize to Blake Griffin. I didn’t want to hurt him at all. I just wanted to try and cut off his lane to the basket.”
When you put it that way i do agree slightly. I was trained to keep my head up and always look back when in a fast break… But that is for a Guard. Its possible that all players should do that but like you said, Blake has tunnel vision, and with his size i can see why… His freakish athletic ability has either intimidated players or made him nearly unstoppable like LeBron.
I like how there was an apology however, it was clearly intentional. And whether its not as bad as it looked is irrelevant since it looked bad and he threw the shoulder down. If it were me, id have wrapped him up not take him out.
He own up to his mistakes which is good. You know something is up when your former teammate CP3 looks disgusted as he should be.
Nightwing do you think Blake Griffin will be more aware of players doing hard fouls on him from now on?
Thanks for your input.
I agree.
I think if Blake hasnt expected to be targeted by now then he’s in denial lol.
Jason Smith is a two sport athlete he is also on the New Orleans Saints, but I’m not sure if he will get his bounty pay since Blake stayed in the game.