20 replies to this topic

[NatetheGreat]

http://thebiglead.fa...8/nic-batum.gif

This happened in the France-Spain game. Afterward Batum insisted he "wanted to give Navarro something to flop about", and said that he didn't care if his actions weren't in the olympic spirit since spain tanked a match which wasn't in the "olympic spirit" either.

Honestly, this kinda shit really makes me lose respect for him. You can see from his face right after he punched him, there was no attempt at a foul at all--that was pure malice. He wanted to hurt a guy in the Olympics, and did so. And since his team's now lost, he won't really face any punishment for it.

[The Allented Mr Ripley]

Strange, I've gained a lot of respect for him.

[TheShynessClinic]

Punching another man in the dick is worthy of respect?

[The Allented Mr Ripley]

Every time.

[fairlee76]

Between this and the incident with 'Melo, ball-punching is becoming an epidemic at the Olympics! And what the hell is the "Olympic Spirit?" Is that the spirit where we suddenly have to pretend to be transfixed by the likes of Lochte and Phelps?

[NatetheGreat]

And what the hell is the "Olympic Spirit?"

the spirit of not being a complete asshole

[The Allented Mr Ripley]

I'd say it's the spirit of punching someone in the balls really, really hard.

[jon abbey]

http://thebiglead.fa...8/nic-batum.gif

This happened in the France-Spain game. Afterward Batum insisted he "wanted to give Navarro something to flop about", and said that he didn't care if his actions weren't in the olympic spirit since spain tanked a match which wasn't in the "olympic spirit" either.

Honestly, this kinda shit really makes me lose respect for him. You can see from his face right after he punched him, there was no attempt at a foul at all--that was pure malice. He wanted to hurt a guy in the Olympics, and did so. And since his team's now lost, he won't really face any punishment for it.

I don't think you can talk about this and not mention the previous play. France was already frustrated because they couldn't buy a basket for the whole 4th quarter, but they still had a small chance, and so they took a pretty routine foul on Fernandez (Spain up by 5 at that point, I think). Fernandez literally flung himself to the ground so hard that HE HURT HIMSELF FLOPPING, and the game had to be halted for a bit.

[fairlee76]

the spirit of not being a complete asshole

Well, does one assholish move (Batum) outweigh a lifetime of being an asshole (Lochte)? Obviously, I have no evidence that Lochte has always been an asshole. But he has certainly been one since these games started. And will be held up as the embodiment of the Olympic Spirit by many entities.

[dolomite133]

Compared to the antics of on-court asshole players like Artest, this is nothing. I personally like that Batum gives a shit. As long as Batum doesn't make this a habit, I view this as being in line with McHale clotheslining Rambis.

On the Olympic asshole scale of zero to Hope Solo, I give Batum a five.

[the1andonly3003]

Ronny Turiaf made a pretty hard hit earlier in the minute to start the fracas...it's good to see some grit in international basketball

[collings94]

I just classify these kind of thing as goofy european stuff. Weird things like this happen fairly often in Europe, not just in basketball but in soccer and other sports.

[fairlee76]

I like that the French are showing a little fight in defeat!

[simplyeric]

I laughed out loud, but seriously that's fucked up.

[Mystic Merlin]

I just classify these kind of thing as goofy european stuff. Weird things like this happen fairly often in Europe, not just in basketball but in soccer and other sports.

Tell us more. /Gene Wilder

[BigSoxFan]

I laughed out loud, but seriously that's fucked up.

Yeah, I guess I was expecting to see a little ball tap or something. That was a lethal blow to the junk.

[Ed Hillel]

Looked like all ball to me.

[Ed Hillel]

Balls don't lie.

[simplyeric]

that's just not good basketball



you gotta be subtle!

Edited by simplyeric, 10 August 2012 - 12:38 PM.

[Bernie Carbohydrate]

"As a pro basketball player, Cowens lived by a firm personal code of right and wrong. Essentially he believes there's no excusing shortcuts or cheating at your craft.
He thought a player who flopped to the court to draw a charge is the worst kind of cheat. So he once flattened Houston Rockets guard Mike Newlin in a violent but poignant demonstration.

Newlin was a master at stepping in front of a moving player, then hitting the court as if flung there by contact. Twice in a game in 1976, Newlin drew charges on Cowens this way. So later in the game, an irate Cowens sprinted at Newlin, slamming him blind-side with both forearms and splattering Newlin along the floor.

``Now that's a foul!'' Cowens announced to referee Bill Jones.

Cowens was branded a savage for that stunt, so he followed it up with a lengthy letter to the editor in the Boston Globe. Cowens wrote that ``fraudulent, deceiving and flagrant acts of pretending to be fouled when little or no contact is made is just as unsportsmanlike as knocking a player to the floor. ... This, in plain words, is what I call `cheating.' ''

http://www.highbeam....1-18331568.html

[bbc23]

I was waiting for someone to bring up the irony of Celtics fans deriding a player for an intentional hit while Cowens is lauded for that hit