Markieff Morris is one of the dirtiest players in the NBA, and if the NBA isn't going to take steps to minimize his behavior, I am not surprised other players are taking matters into their own hands.
Which doesn't excuse Jokic in the slightest. And sadly, his reputation is becoming similar to Morris'
Jokic is too good at basketball to not control his emotions. Part of the price of being a superstar is that other teams will cheap-shot you, knowing that your retaliation is far more impactful than their provocation. As a big Jokic fan, he hopefully can actually seek some anger management help, so we don't see him do this again in an even bigger moment.
That said, Spolstra's comments after the game really rubbed me the wrong way. You employ Markieff Morris, you KNOW what he brings to the table when you sign him. It really hurts your credibility as a respected coach to talk about Morris as if he was the victim in this circumstance.
It's bad all the way around, Jokic should be severely punished, and the only saving grace is that the victim is one of the dirtier players in the league.
Sorry Tom but focusing the narrative on Jojic ignores that Morris did not just do a dirty foul, his move was just as dangerous and if done on a smaller guy would have also caused damage, this reminds me of people who would hit Shaq with obvious fouls in the paint but wouldn't get called. The fact that the whole media is painting this with a "Jokic was more dangerous" brush is worrying. The fouls are equally dangerous and only one is unprovoked. A take foul is not a hard shove to the ribs, you can just hold an arm or do a fake hug. Morris a noted dirty player decided he wanted to send a message, I'm glad he got one back because he should have learned years ago to not do this. Your title and narrative are weird at best, there were 2 non-basketball plays out there. One was the 2nd time a player did it, the other did it for the nth time ..
I have to agree it's a dumb play, but your last paragraph is the reason I have no problems with it. Take fouls are one (dumb) thing, this was a cheap shot by a player with a history of cheap shots and a much longer record than Jokic. Jokic took a poor decision, but Morris has had it coming for some time.
Markieff Morris is one of the dirtiest players in the NBA, and if the NBA isn't going to take steps to minimize his behavior, I am not surprised other players are taking matters into their own hands.
Which doesn't excuse Jokic in the slightest. And sadly, his reputation is becoming similar to Morris'
Jokic is too good at basketball to not control his emotions. Part of the price of being a superstar is that other teams will cheap-shot you, knowing that your retaliation is far more impactful than their provocation. As a big Jokic fan, he hopefully can actually seek some anger management help, so we don't see him do this again in an even bigger moment.
That said, Spolstra's comments after the game really rubbed me the wrong way. You employ Markieff Morris, you KNOW what he brings to the table when you sign him. It really hurts your credibility as a respected coach to talk about Morris as if he was the victim in this circumstance.
It's bad all the way around, Jokic should be severely punished, and the only saving grace is that the victim is one of the dirtier players in the league.
Maybe Morris will learn something from this, too.
Sorry Tom but focusing the narrative on Jojic ignores that Morris did not just do a dirty foul, his move was just as dangerous and if done on a smaller guy would have also caused damage, this reminds me of people who would hit Shaq with obvious fouls in the paint but wouldn't get called. The fact that the whole media is painting this with a "Jokic was more dangerous" brush is worrying. The fouls are equally dangerous and only one is unprovoked. A take foul is not a hard shove to the ribs, you can just hold an arm or do a fake hug. Morris a noted dirty player decided he wanted to send a message, I'm glad he got one back because he should have learned years ago to not do this. Your title and narrative are weird at best, there were 2 non-basketball plays out there. One was the 2nd time a player did it, the other did it for the nth time ..
I have to agree it's a dumb play, but your last paragraph is the reason I have no problems with it. Take fouls are one (dumb) thing, this was a cheap shot by a player with a history of cheap shots and a much longer record than Jokic. Jokic took a poor decision, but Morris has had it coming for some time.