Toronto's Amir Johnson @ Portland - What was he thinking?

[Nate Dogg]

Doesn't he know referee NBA basics 101 ?

[video=youtube;6uqfaEnLlgM]

He even throws his mouthpiece.

What a fool. I bet he will fined 10k and be suspended 2 games?

Another angle.
[video=youtube;erFIDT9D_0A]

Amir's response.
[video=youtube;2_RqDLYG1Zc]

 

[Nate Dogg]

Regardless if he likes to massage the ball as part of a ritual the point is the referee had the ball first. I can understand if the ball bounced towards Amir Johnson off of a bad free throw shot I can understand, but it clearly shows that the referee walked over to the ball first.

 

[VanillaGorilla]

Regardless if he likes to massage the ball as part of a ritual the point is the referee had the ball first. I can understand if the ball bounced towards Amir Johnson off of a bad free throw shot I can understand, but it clearly shows that the referee walked over to the ball first.

I think almost every team has at least one big man that does this. LaMarcus does it all the time. And they don't get it by the ball bouncing towards them, they take it from the ref and give it back just like Amir was going to do. I've never seen a ref have a problem with it at all.

 

[julius]

Slight overreaction by ref

 

[deception]

amir is good guy, ive never seen him like that. the coaching, mgmt in toronto have treated the good guys on the team which includes amir like crap and have put unproven divas like bargnani, derozan and lowry to a lesser extent on a pedestal. i think thats where amir's frustrations stems from.

 

[Wheels]

I think almost every team has at least one big man that does this. LaMarcus does it all the time. And they don't get it by the ball bouncing towards them, they take it from the ref and give it back just like Amir was going to do. I've never seen a ref have a problem with it at all.

This.

This is just a ref who is taking offense, and feels the need to show how big his wang is/ flex his muscle.

 

[BBert]

I wish the league would speed up the freaking free throw process. Why does everyone leave the line and wander around between shots, and in this case, feel the need to molest the ball? The only people who should be touching the ball between shots are the ref and the shooter. Also, it's always puzzled me why every player has to give the free throw shooter a high five and a slap on the ass between free throws. WTF? I'd hate that if I were trying to concentrate on making a shot. Just shoot the fucking free throw and get back to the game already.

 

[GriLtCheeZ]

This.

This is just a ref who is taking offense, and feels the need to show how big his wang is/ flex his muscle.

So what if the ref is bald and shit and his head looks like a tit. When the ref wouldn't give up the ball Johnson should have just complied, but he then flexed his arms and snatched the ball away which was out of line. That technically may be assault and battery of something.

 

[Pinwheel1]

When the ref wouldn't give up the ball Johnson should have just complied, but he then flexed his arms and snatched the ball away which was out of line.

This ^. Not sure he should have been thrown out of the game, but he went over board IMO trying to get the ball from the ref. Then he threw his mouth piece at the ref and after all of that the Blazers only got to shoot ONE free throw? I think Toronto got off easy.

 

[jlprk]

I think almost every team has at least one big man that does this. LaMarcus does it all the time. And they don't get it by the ball bouncing towards them, they take it from the ref and give it back just like Amir was going to do. I've never seen a ref have a problem with it at all.

Many players do it, with refs cooperating. Now that I think of it, they shouldn't. Dumb little habit. But pulling the ball from the ref shouldn't get you 2 technicals.

 

[Pinwheel1]

Many players do it, with refs cooperating. Now that I think of it, they shouldn't. Dumb little habit. But pulling the ball from the ref shouldn't get you 2 technicals.

He didn't get two technicals. he got one. You can get tossed after only one. He should have gotten two when he threw his mouth piece at him though.

 

[Boob-No-More]

Many players do it, with refs cooperating. Now that I think of it, they shouldn't. Dumb little habit. But pulling the ball from the ref shouldn't get you 2 technicals.

He didn't get ANY technicals for pulling the ball away from the ref. If you watch the replay, the whole ball tug-o-war was over and the ref was walking away when Johnson got the technical and subsequent ejection. Two technicals, for any reason, is an automatic ejection, but you can get tossed with a single technical, at the ref's discretion. There are certain magic words that automatically get your ass tossed. I suspect Johnson muttered one of those magic words within ear shot of the ref as he was walking away.

And, throwing his mouthpiece and hitting the ref was just plain stupid. If he would have let it go and left the court, there wouldn't be any suspension. Any physical contact with a ref, directly, or indirectly by throwing something at them, is going to warrant a suspension. Seems silly enough to get tossed by getting into it with a ref during a dead ball situation, but to get suspend over it shows a remarkable level of immaturity on Johnson's part. Too bad, Johnson seems like a good, hard working player, but he's been in the league long enough to know better.

BNM

 

[Wheels]

So what if the ref is bald and shit and his head looks like a tit. When the ref wouldn't give up the ball Johnson should have just complied, but he then flexed his arms and snatched the ball away which was out of line. That technically may be assault and battery of something.

I agree that it shouldnt have escalated from there. Johnson lost his cool for sure. But I cant for the life of me see a reason why the ref would have a problem with him touching the ball as a routine.

 

[jlprk]

I wish the league would speed up the freaking free throw process. Why does everyone leave the line and wander around between shots, and in this case, feel the need to molest the ball? The only people who should be touching the ball between shots are the ref and the shooter. Also, it's always puzzled me why every player has to give the free throw shooter a high five and a slap on the ass between free throws. WTF? I'd hate that if I were trying to concentrate on making a shot. Just shoot the fucking free throw and get back to the game already.

I think that this touching stuff (sharing "the force") became standard in the 80s. In the 70s, only players on the bubble (who stayed in the league with enthusiasm and cheerleading) did it. But free throw time wasn't more brief than now, because players still took their time, catching their breath.

If Stern prohibited it, I don't think the game would move faster, because the players would still stall to get in a little rest. It's like a free little time out.

 

[GriLtCheeZ]

I agree that it shouldnt have escalated from there. Johnson lost his cool for sure. But I cant for the life of me see a reason why the ref would have a problem with him touching the ball as a routine.

Yeah it's pretty routine with all the knuckle bumping n stuff.

 

[jlprk]

They ought to make it like baseball, letting the players lick it, hold it behind their butts, etc.

 

[THE HCP]

That slomo replay was DOPE!!!!!!!!

 

[Haakzilla]

The NBA has suspended Raptors F Amir Johnson one game without pay for throwing his mouthpiece at an official last night vs Blazers, welcome to the SterNBA!

 

[Boob-No-More]

The NBA has suspended Raptors F Amir Johnson one game without pay for throwing his mouthpiece at an official last night vs Blazers, welcome to the SterNBA!

He deserved to be suspended. It was a dick move, totally uncalled for and unprofessional. I can't stand Davis Stern and can't wait for him to retire (although I suspect Adam Silver will just be his puppet on a string), but this time the league office got it right.

BNM

 

[Boob-No-More]

From Toronto Star beat writer Doug Smith:

"If you had asked me which of the Raptors would throw a mouthpiece at a referee I would have had to go far down the list before I got to Amir Johnson.

That was so totally out of character it’s not even funny.

But out of character or not, you cannot throw things at officials, and you can’t hit them with what you’ve thrown and you can’t get to the point where you’re physically restrained from going after him.

Now, no one knows what was or wasn’t said – Amir said there were no words spoken, but I suspect a couple might have been – and David Jones, the referee, is not blameless in this at all.

But throwing stuff?

I’m thinking Amir’s lucky if all he gets is a two-game suspension and three or four might be more likely."

At the time, I was thinking Johnson would probably get two games, but given this appears to be an unprecedented incident for Johnson, I think one game is appropriate.

BNM

 

[jlprk]

Not allowing ball-rubbing would save only 1.75 minutes (= 105 seconds = 21 times per game times 5 seconds each).

If we assume a more reasonable 5 seconds of ball-holding in-between free throws, that’s 1.75 minutes saved.

http://thedissnba.com/2012/12/11/amir-johnson-stop-touching-the-ball/