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Suspension CentralIt was a busy day for the NBA head office yesterday with news filtering that the league had handed down suspensions totalling 11 games. Ron Artest of the Indiana Pacers was suspended for four games for his actions during the Pacers-Heat game, the official charge reading "confronting and making physical contact with Miami coach Pat Riley, taunting the Heat bench, committing a flagrant foul on Miami's Caron Butler and making an obscene gesture," according to Mark Monteith of the Indianapolis Star. He is set to lose $84,000 of his $1.9 million salary and will return after All-Star break. It is the second time Artest has been suspended this season, the defensively talented forward already missing three games after smashing a high definition tv camera at Madison Square Garden after a loss to the Knicks. "I'm very disappointed," Artest said in a prepared statement. "I don't think the suspension comes close to going with my actions. I thought I might get a fine, but not a (suspension). I don't think four games is fair at all." Pacers President Donnie Walsh said the penalty "kind of kicked me in the stomach." Pat Riley, who was appauled at Artest's actions at the time of the incident, hinted he too thought that punishment might be slightly on the excessive side. "I don't want to say it was excessive or not. But if I was them, I would be absolutely beside myself," said Riley. Stu Jackson's other victim was Jerry Sloan, the head coach of the Utah Jazz. Sloan was suspended for seven games after shoving a referee during Utah's victory over Sacramento on Tuesday night. It was not the first time Sloan has been involved in such an incident, the ex-Bull committing an identical offense earlier in his coaching tenture. Jazz players believe that Sloan's situation was two-sided, and videotape seemed to support that Sloan acted as if being provoked. "That's the reason this league is falling apart," center Greg Ostertag said. "Jerry protested the call and the official came and got in Jerry's face. I'm going to get fined if I keep talking." "I doubt you can get a reaction from someone that much without doing anything to him. Even Jerry," Jazz forward Matt Harpring said. "There's got to be an action to set off the reaction, you just don't go off without something happening." Sloan was not available for comment after the game but reports on ESPN.com state that he is expected to talk about his suspension today. Jackson, however, defended the league's stance on the length of the suspension, stating that the punishment fitted the crime. "Obviously his behavior was out of line, and the message is clear that that type of behavior cannot be tolerated" Jackson said. "The level of the suspension is in line with the behavior." Read the Full Story Discuss Send Feedback Buy Tickets Riley still ripping refs' callsHeat coach Pat Riley is frustrated with the officiating in the NBA and he repeated his criticism of what he feels is a bias against his team yesterday. Harvey Fialkov of the Sun-Sentinel reports that Riley labeled the officiating during Monday’s loss to the Pacers as "absolutely one-sided". Riley said that his team drove hard to the basket 32 times to Indiana's 19, yet the Heat finished 18 of 23 from the line to the Pacers' 26 of 39, including a 16-7 attempts edge in the fourth quarter. His Miami team is 27th in the league in free throws attempted, ahead of only the Sonics and the Knicks. "We can't overcome the inconsistencies of those calls when the games are equal," Riley said. "Both styles are equal, so it's perplexing for me. I can stand here and complain about it, but unless the officials make a consistent effort to call the game collectively or equally, we'll be on the short end of the stick." After Miami’s loss to the Sixers on Saturday in which Philadelphia out-shot the Heat from the line by a 35-17 margin, Riley only smiled and said, "I'll tell you one thing, Caron Butler was fouled just as many times as Allen Iverson." In both games, which were lost in the fourth quarter, Indiana and Philadelphia combined to take 74 free throws to the Heat's 40. "We can't win that way," Riley said. "I'm not saying we don't deserve it. We deserve the calls and last night's whistle was one-sided, absolutely one-sided." Riley was fined $50,000 in December when he criticized the officiating and referee Steve Javie in particular. "It's giving us absolute delight to watch you and your team die," Riley said were Javie's words during a disagreement. Miami Heat, Indiana Pacers, Philadelphia 76ers Read the Full Story Discuss Send Feedback Buy Tickets Artest "Riles" HeatRon Artest did his best to shake the Heat last night. His antics helped fire up his Pacers and led them to a come from behind 102-95 victory in Miami. Israel Gutierrez of the Miami Herald reports that Artest’s inappropriate acts may have left a bad taste in the mouth of the Heat, but their collapse in the fourth quarter hurt even more. In the first quarter, after a technical foul called on Heat rookie Caron Butler who was protesting Artest’s physical play, Artest walked over to the Heat bench and had words with Pat Riley. The coach did not take kindly to what Artest had to say. In the fourth quarter, after picking up a flagrant foul for shoving Butler out of bounds while chasing a loose ball, Artest got into more trouble with the Heat bench. After hitting a layup while being fouled by Brian Grant, Artest walked in front of the Heat bench flexing his right arm. Miami assistant coach Keith Askins had some words for Artest. When Artest turned to confront Askins, Riley steped in and a crowd gathered. Artest was assessed a technical foul for his display. ''I just flexed my muscles,'' Artest said. 'I'm 250 [pounds] -- I should be able to flex my muscles when I want to. [Askins] said, `Don't come over here doing that.' '' Riley was not pleased with Artest’s act. ''The league ought to deal with that,'' Riley said. ``That's crazy. I mean, I scream like crazy. I scream at officials and I scream at my players. I never have ever talked to an opposing player, and I don't want anybody talking to me or coming over to my bench. That's not the way it is, and the officials are supposed to take care of that. That's how things get out of control. If they don't handle it early, it can get really ugly. From that standpoint, I think it's wrong. After making his free throw, Artest raised both hands and held up his middle finger. ''It's just a bunch of [junk], really,'' Grant said. ``Ron just needs to play. We have the same agent. I respect his hard work and hard play, but he just needs to cool that out. Ain't nobody buying it.'' Read the Full Story Discuss Send Feedback Buy Tickets Pacers Jan 2003 Archive
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