Known in the NBA for being a punk, Stiemsma had this coming for a while now. |
You see, Jackson's Warriors were getting lit up from 3-point by the Rockets in Houston last week, to the tune of an NBA-record tying 23 makes from distance that contributed to a 140 spot on the scoreboard. Towards the end of the game, however, when Coach Mark caught wind of Houston being one 3 shy of setting the record, told his players to intentionally foul the Rockets so as to put them on the line and avoid getting the record set against them. After the game, Jackson had this explanation to offer:
"We're not going to lie down," Jackson said. "I was an old-school basketball player. I'm an old-school coach. If you can't appreciate that, that's on you.
"If you're going to try to get the record, we're going to stop you. ... I would expect nothing less if I was on the other side."
Jackson signalling Draymond Green to injure a Rockets player. |
Okay, I can't disagree with any of that. You can't 'lie down' against anybody. Gotta play hard to the end. And if guys are jacking up 3's trying to set the record on you, especially when you're already down by 30, you just can't let that happen. But the way you stop them from getting that record is by playing hard defense throughout the ENTIRE GAME; not intentionally fouling at the end so that the other team has to shoot free throws. That's not 'old-school basketball' Mark, that's bush league. That's like if a guy is coming up to bat in a blowout with 4 homeruns already and then you intentionally walk him. Can you imagine Chuck Daley ordering Bill Laimbeer or Dennis Rodman to intentionally foul at the end of a game to stop a team from setting a 3-point record? No, you can't imagine it. Why? Because those Detroit Pistons never would have let you sniff the record to begin with. Because they played 'old-school basketball' the whole game. Mark Jackson, you're a bad person for what you did, and you should feel bad.
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