Celtics coach Doc Rivers comes from the old school, when men were men … and all that jazz. And as far as he’s concerned, unless someone gets murdered on the court or something (Ron-Ron, holla!), the League shouldn’t suspend its players during the postseason.
The Boston Herald reports:
“Obviously you can’t go around slapping,” the Celtics coach said prior to the league’s announcement that it was suspending the Orlando point guard for Game 3 as penalty for his slap to the back of Eddie House’s head in Game 2. “Otherwise all the players in this league would stop hitting and start slapping. I don’t believe in suspensions, personally. I know that sounds lax, but I really don’t like guys getting suspended in the playoffs.”
“That was interesting,” Rivers said of a corresponding tussle in the Lakers’ win over the Rockets on the same night. “Artest was the peacemaker. That was a hard hit (from Derek Fisher on Luis Scola). The league would never go along with it, but a suspension does affect the series at times, (like) Dwight Howard in the first round. It just changes the game.”
Doc, of course, played during a time when stuff like this happened routinely. So, he’s got a bit of a different perspective.
Unfortunately for Rivers and 80s-type hoops enthusiasts, the League isn’t likely to allow rough play with little to no consequences anytime soon. It’s bad for business, apparently.
