Has anybody else yet seen the footage of the play that caused Horford to get ejected today?
Hawks up by one point heading towards half time, there's a scramble for a loose ball, Horford falls on Dellavaladovalladovaladova (whatever his name is) and the officials call a Flagrant 2 and eject Horford.
Firstly, I challenge anybody to look at the replay and tell me that this play is not at the very least questionable, and that it is clearly obvious Flagrant 2. I don't think Horford even hits his head, I sure as hell don't think it's intentional.
Secondly, when in the history of NBA does the best player on a team get ejected for a Flagrant 2 that is anything less than a blatantly obvious intentional thug move?
This league has always had the mentality that in the playoffs you let them play - make it a flagrant one, review it later, and upgrade if necessary. Unless of course it's completely undebatable (player throws a punch, etc) then you have no choice.
Based on past history of how flagrants are usually handed out, combined with the video footage I'm seeing, I cannot look at this replay and see anything but blatantly obvious match fixing. It's disgusting, and there is no way that gets called if this was any team other than the Cavs.
The Hawks are not an exciting team, they have no superstars - this is not the type of team that's going to draw in a lot of viewers. Cleveland vs Golden State in the finals, however, would draw in the TV ratings like no tomorrow.
I'm just disgusted. Again.