Should Turiaf Have Been Suspended?

Above is the picture of the hit that Ronny Turiaf laid on Ronnie Price in Game 4… after the whistle blew.

More pictures (and thoughts) below…

Above now is a picture of Price after he hit the ground.

And here is a picture of No Knees playing doctor, like we all used to do when we were young ones growing up.

If you want more images from the game, click here. Amongst them are more views of the Turiaf flagrant, plenty of pictures of Pau Gasol complaining, pictures of Kobe on the deck (Price was pushed to the ground, Kobe pushed AK and then hit the ground… just saying), and even pictures of the cast of High School Musical 3. 12 pages worth of pictures. Enjoy as you desire.

Anyhow, onto the foul. Price doesn’t think Turiaf should’ve been ejected from Game 4. Some stupid logic from Phil Jackson makes it seem like he thinks the same thing. And now we know that Turiaf will not be suspended for Game 5. Or at least, Steve Luhm does. And he disagrees with the decision.

Turiaf was ejected from the game by the officials for hammering Price, but NBA disciplinarian Stu Jackson apparently decided running through a player who has already left his feet, leading with a left forearm to the chest, making a feeble wave at the basketball as the two collided and knocking an off-balance opponent awkwardly to the floor is not a big deal.

If you compare Turiaf’s foul with a couple of others that have resulted in suspensions during the playoffs, you will see just how arbitrary Jackson’s decision appears.
Washington’s Darius Songaila was suspended for a looks-bad-in-slow-motion blow to LeBron James’ face in the first-round series between the Wizards and Cavaliers. Meanwhile, Atlanta’s Marvin Williams was suspended for the first game next season after pulling down the Celtics’ Rajon Rondo from behind in Game 7 of the Boston-Atlanta series.
If you look at all three incidents, I think it’s easy to see that Price was put in far greater jeopardy than James or Rondo. Yet, Turiaf skates.

By the way, Phil Jackson had this to say after the game…

“I thought the kid was out of control when he went in, and Ronny did go up to block the shot, but I thought he entirely played the ball,” Jackson said. “I haven’t seen a call like that. I was very surprised that he was put out of the game.”

Now, I’ll admit that I didn’t see the game (or at least not this part of the game), so I’m probably not one to comment on this. In fact, I know I’m not one to comment on this… so I’m not going to. For those that saw the play… should he be suspended or not? Is Luhm right… or losing it? Should a hit like that (whatever it was like) after the whistle be enough to warrant a suspension?