Last night, Nate Robinson tackled Goran Dragic to the floor. Two nights before, Luis Scola was laid out twice by different Lakers in the span of mere minutes, first by an elbow from Pau Gasol, then from a full on body-check by Matt Barnes. The common thread among all three plays? As has been the case all year, and since Artest, McGrady, and Alston all checked out, no Rockets came to their teammates’ defense.
I’ve discussed this topic previously in many posts, most recently after the ‘Love stomp.’ I know I might be in the minority, but this is something that really bothers me. As I explained before, I’m not advocating retaliation; I just ask that someone stand up and get in someone’s face. Let it be known that such thuggery won’t be tolerated against one’s team.
It continues to baffle me. One staple of every dirty play shown around the league is that almost always, it’s followed up by some form of altercation. Not punches or even shoves. At the least, just verbal confrontation. It floors me when I see a Rocket fly to the floor, and without fail, watch four Rockets rush in to help him up without even giving thought to challenge the offender.
Maybe I’m off. Most of you don’t seem to be too bothered by this. The Rockets are a good, winning team. They play hard. They usually rise to the challenge and play harder after these incidents. Maybe that’s enough. Is there a correlation between the lack of an enforcer and an increase of offenses against one’s team? I always thought–from the NBA I know–that a team needed a psychological edge; a team couldn’t allow itself to be walked on. But that’s more conventional wisdom than proven data.
What do you all think? Is this lack of a response by the Rockets on these dirty plays problematic? I’m curious to hear your thoughts.
