Basketball: Rough--or dirty--play in the playoffs

I grew up in the 1980's, and back then there were some dirty players. Bill Laimbeer basically invented the flop; his teammate Dennis Rodman perfected it. There were also a lot of players who played rough--guys who didn't hesitate to lay a hard foul on somebody. I think immediately of Rick Mahorn. In the new era, we don't see those hard fouls as often. However, in this year's NBA playoffs we have see plenty of cheap shots and dirty play.

Ron Artest laid a forearm shiver on Manu Ginobili. James Posey shoulder-blocked Kirk Hinrich to the floor. Reggie Evans crotch-grabbed Chris Kaman, who then shoved Evans to the floor. And most recently, Raja Bell collared Kobe Bryant and pulled him down. Why this sudden outburst of cheap shots?

You know, I think these guys need to get themselve a video of the Pistons back in the Bad Boy days: Laimbeer, Mahorn, Rodman, and Salley. They knew how to lay the lumber on you, but within the rules. Michael Jordan had to fight for every point against them as they just beat him up. They fouled hard--sometimes too hard--but rarely cheap shotted anyone. Well, I guess Laimbeer did.

There was always cheap shotting and dirty play in the NBA. In reached it's peak in the early 90's when Pat Riley took the Knicks to a new level of defensive "intensity." After that they instituted the hand checking rule and called games differently. Things get intense in the playoffs, and these are human beings. The Raja Bell incident was over the top, but Kobe was pushing Bell around all night. Now Phoenix is at a disadvantage in game six, so that should be interesting. One thing I've noticed is you don't see a lot of fights anymore (especially after Artestgate). I could find some really good ones from back in the day when players took full swings at each other. If anything things have become tamer today, and I blame everything on the refs.

Add another one of those rough plays to the list with Jerry Stackhouse's mugging of Shaquille O'Neal in Game 4. How many guys have been suspended for at least one game this year in the playoffs? I know Artest and Bell did, and I believe Evans did (not sure about Posey, though). And then that Mavs player (I think it was Devon Harris) punched Michael Finley in the Spurs-Mavs series; I know he got a one game suspension. That's five, maybe six one-game suspensions. Stu Jackson really has been busy.