Hoops

Cairns Taipans v Perth Wildcats - SemiFinal Game 1

I think situations where a) the player is especially vulnerable to contact (i.e. it's more likely that the foul will cause the player to lose control), b) the contact is excessively forceful, or c) the foul is not a realistic attempt at the ball, the penalty needs to be harsh enough that it is a clear deterrent rather than just a penalty.

I don't think U'u is at all a nasty player, but the instinct for defenders to try something like that in that situation ought to be stamped out.
It really sucks to have important players missing from your team at the business end of the season. Some injuries aren't realistically preventable, but potentially serious injuries like Craig's are.

Maybe they should start awarding an automatic 2 points and possession for Unsportsmanlike fouls where the player is on a breakaway.

Worthy of an ejection, but nothing more. I too think there has been a bit of over-reaction.

Poor form by Gleeson condoning that foul also. Man up admit your player did wrong and council him so he understands what is acceptable in the future.

Does anyone know what the update on Craig is ? Is he ok or injured ?

Don't really know the extent of the damage to Craig's wrist/arm, if there is any at all, but if he couldn't play in the next game would it be right for U'u to be free to play?

I've watched the replay of the foul a few times this morning, I've changed my stance on it somewhat since last night. While I doubt that U'u intended it to be as bad as it was it was pretty hard. I'm still undecided if it should of been a DQ foul or if a ban should be imposed but I do think that the NBL and the refs have a duty of care to protect players.

It's all good to say it wasn't intended and all but Craig could be injured and miss games and to be honest it could of ended a lot worse than what it did. What if the contact was a fraction later when Craig was in full flight and he landed on his head or damaged his spine? Players need to have the players safety in mind when doing for a hard foul like that. I hope the NBL have reviewed the play thoroughly before making their decision on not imposing any further sanctions .

Having said that I don't think people should brand Drake a thug. Very poor decision on by when you take into account the result of the gave was well and truly decided.

Well said Bear.

My opinion on THAT foul is not about either player or their character, it is purely about the act. Oh, showed my kids too and they play at a high level, they were not impressed by the foul either.

So, what do I think, not that my opinion matters, but I see absolutely zero room for that kind of act in the game of basketball. I see it as a direct ejection, a report and potentially a long suspension at the very least.

If we can't protect ANY player, from going to the rim without being bashed and risk serious injury, then we all may as well just lay artificial grass on the court and put helmets on.

Any suggestion, for me, that makes excuses for any part of the action (slow motion reply assisted or not) is just that, a poor excuse!

U'u foul:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UWTsVM0TGM

The U'u foul was ugly and crude. Lucky that no injury occurred.

I think if you asked U'u, he would agree it was a booboo

KJ, agree, wrong call, but that was also before FIBA changed the rules about challenging from behind on the break.

'ON another issue, why didn't Cairns shoot 4 then possession? They were dudes out of two shots (not that it mattered). But yet another poor umpiring effort.'

Thought the umpiring was fine. What does the rest of this mean XY?

Also the Luke Martin recruitment now in hindsight could have been better. They need big guys that can score! Perth way to thin to win this series. Put Redhage out there last night & that would have been very interesting!!

The basketball gods looking down on FNQ right now...

KJ, agree, wrong call, but that was also before FIBA changed the rules about challenging from behind on the break.

ON another issue, why didn't Cairns shoot 4 then possession? They were dudes out of two shots (not that it mattered). But yet another poor umpiring effort.

Having not seen the Uu foul, and relying only on the previous comments, it would seem the only similarities between the Uu and Childress actions is that both reflect badly on the game via the controversy that follows.

The Uu incident sounds like it carried a much greater likelihood of a player being severely injured, the Childress incident not so much. Nevertheless both detract from the spectacle.

It also sounds like Damian Martin went "full Damo" last night. Irrespective of who you support, you gotta love his hustle.

Sorry Perth fans but without Hire, Redhage, Ross and possibly Uu I can't see this series going to game 3. Perhaps it would have been more apt for red cross t-shirts to be distributed to patrons attending game 2. That said, I do hope both semi final series and the grand final series all go to three games.

It had to be a disqualifying foul - it was an automatic unsportsmanlike foul being in the open court, from behind, without a proper position.

The level of danger taking someone out of the air like that and into the backboard support, whilst not a high impact perhaps, demanded something more than an Unsportsmanlike. Not reportable though IMO.

I cringed when I saw it. Reminded me of Brad Hill's injury going for the fastbreak dunk.

Train, I didn't say the childress foul was not any of those things and he was suspended accordingly, but it was not as dangerous - it had nowhere near the potential to cause serious injury that this foul did. What is the point in the comparison? It is a completely different situation?

A lot of Wildcats fans are saying they have seen a lot worse go without being called an unsportsmanlike? Can't think of too many myself. If somone like Worthington did exactly the same play to Beal on a fast break with 4 seconds left in a game, you can't tell me Wildcats fans wouldn't be yelling for anything short of capital punishment....

The fact is this foul risked serious injury to a player and should never have happened in the context of the game - this type of play has to be heavily punished for that reason.

Uncle Phil : The Childress incident on Wagstaff was a brutal and premeditated. Drakes was a reckless and hard foul. Comparison is justified.....and I've seen a lot worse in the NBL where no DQ was given.

Um did anyone just hear Savage sing 'Mother f****r burn' with out it being edited at the conclusion of the telecast... truly a weird basketball experience tonight!

It was a hard foul. Seen plenty worse ones over the years. People need to calm down

Agree.

Playoff foul - series ain't done - no showtime yet!

Great game & no one hurt.

Nothing to see here people...

Great close game from both sides.

Wilbekin and Martin fantastic!

UU incident was a brain fade in the heat of the moment. It was reckless and may have caused very serious injury. Taking someone out on the dunk is probably the most dangerous foul and Craig landed badly because of it.
Definately a disqualifying foul and worth a game! We love the dunks and the players MUST be protected.

Hope the sixers game is as fierce and as close.

even if it was a Taipan player that did that I would be calling it the same...just dumb !!

He should be suspended,way too dangerous..it could have ended really really bad.

If that foul results in putting a player at a high risk of injury - like the play tonight, then why shouldn't it result in suspension?

The Childress foul on Wagstaff was dirty and an unsportsmanlike play but this play was more dangerous and carried a far higher risk of injury due to the momentum Craig had and the fact he was in the air.

Bringing up the Childress Wagstaff incident as some sort of precedent for this incident is a pretty weak argument really. They are two very different situations.

Kobe24 : yeah I brought up the same question with my partner lol Very strange broadcast. Watching NBL TV , I also heard a lot of explicit language exchanged between teams. Not that I have a problem with that :P

I was at the game tonight, pressure cooker...roller coaster...peaks & valleys are a few things that describe it...except what a dumb foul Uu Uu did on Craig when the game is basically over.
Believe me,I'm all for 'leaving it all on the court' to win but when its over?? seriously risky shit up in the air like that & I hope to Christ he regrets it.

Thankyou UPhil.

Greybuoy said it all. If he's got any sense U'u will be ashamed of himself for that.

Childress's foul on Wagstaff was much much more dangerous than that foul. Yet very few saw much wrong with that. U'u's foul was hard. Unsportsmanlike maybe but The way Craig fell made it look a lot worse than it was. I don't agree with it but I doubt very much that Drake was intending to create that much damage.

I'm gonna try to not instigate anything here, but I just don't like the U'u foul. In saying that, I understand the intent, and gather there was no intent to injure. But the game is over, you have lost, you're playing away and the guy is just trying to end the game on a high for the fans.

Personally, I'm not fouling him, no amount of psychological edge of no easy points, or denying home fans something to cheer about is worth jeopardizing a players health, or my own potential involvement in future games. This being said, I have definitely observed worse looking fouls of a similar nature.

While U'U's play may not have inteded to be dirty, it was an extremely stupid decision at the end of a game. He was way too far behind Craig to get anywhere near the ball safely. If I was a Cairns fan and Craig was out injured for the rest of the series, I would be seething. Its not a good look when a player who gets really only spot minutes takes out a key player for the other team with 4 seconds left. I would hope for a suspension as plays like that need to be phased out from the NBL. The Cats rightly or wrongly currently have the tag from most opposition fans as the dirtiest team in the NBL and plays like this certainly don't help that reputation.

Struggle to understand how anyone can be offhanded about U'u's foul. Only a few of the comments here condemn him outright, most implying what he did was just part of the game.
What he did was risk a player's career.
As he relives those microseconds where he decided to rip Craig out of the sky and hurl him to the floor with maximum force I hope the shame of his ejection and the abuse of the crowd haunt him and shame him. If he is the nice guy that others have suggested he is, then he will cringe at every memory of the moment and reject forever any notion of 'whatever it takes'.
That foul brings the game into disrepute, and if Wildcats and supporters can rationalise that, then what others have been saying about the 'culture' in Perth is altogether too true.

I can look at better aspects of this game that's Sixers147 does. The sheer brilliance of Wilbekin , the clutch of the taipans , the awese comeback from the cats . You can't help but look at this game but anything than an awesome finals matchup
. Bring in game 2 of both series !!

2nd and 3rd Quarters:

What even?

On a serious note though, I hope Torrey Craig is OK. It would be unfortunate if he was to miss anytime as a result of that incident.

Martin got 1:05 of rest that game. Beal got 0:00

Well, sixers147, it's just an unfortunate fact of life that we often can't enjoy our sport without some tosser dampening the experience. I'm sure you'll fight through it just as I do.

Sixers147: nothing you said changes the fact your a moron. Just stop being a tool. What are you 12 ?

"There's the correctly spelled way ;)"
Probably , blame it on the vodka ;)

> There's no other way to tell you that

There's the correctly spelled way ;)

Whatever you think of Drake's foul, it was a pretty safe option by the refs to toss him given the game was over.

Sixers147: your a dick. There's no other way to tell you that but seriously your a moron. You never have anything positive to say apart from your hate to the cats or when the Sixers win. Your a complete waste of time and you contribute nothing positive to this forum. Just get lost, your an embarrassment to 36ers fans.

that last play was disappointing... sure you don't want the exclamation dunk at the end of a game but it was an unnecessary hard foul, if UU had not held on and attempted to go for the ball then all good, but it did not look pretty. Hope Craig is ok, could be fiery in Perth on Sunday!!!

In the end cats had their chances, we were up with a few minutes to go after being down by double digits earlier and we did well with 7, but once again could not get over the line

Well played Taipans. Proud of the cats effort.
Bit of a disappointing end to the game- hope Torrey is ok. As for U'u, if anyone thinks there is dirty or malice in the foul that Drake did, yes it was unsportsmanlike but he didn't go out there to injure him. It's not in his personality. Drake has never been a dirty player, just one who tries and plays as hard as he can for his team. It did not deserve the ejection from the game.
Hope the boys can bounce back on Sunday, but to be honest with the status of Hire and basically a rotation of 7 players, I don't think it's gonna happen. One thing I do know, the boys will give 100%, which is what I expect the red army to do too!

Seemed to be his hip the way they were working on him. Either way, the fact that he didn't return is not a good sign.

Nothing wrong with Kobe's post. Pretty clear who the tosser is.

Anon104: in Kobe24 defense he hadn't said anything in this thread to warrant being called a tosser. He's just called it as it is.

Well, I didn't think the Cats were ever going to win if this series went to 3.
Now it's just a matter of whether there's enough left in the tank and on the bench to compete in game 2.

Hard foul yes - certainly not a DQ foul . Looked way worse than it was

Crowd yelling out "Uuuuuuuuu" in support of Drake