Fine or No Fine, Jackson Makes a Point

NBA director of basketball operations Rod Thorn has yet to say anything or fine Laker Coach Phil Jackson for his critique of the referees after Shaquille O’Neal’s ejection in Portland.

Whatever Thorn does, however, Jackson says, it was something he had to do.

“I don’t know if any other coach would do it but for me, yes it is, it’s part of the role of who I am and what I believe in, as far as the players that I coach. I have to protect them and they need to know that.”

As many teams do, the Trail Blazers were fouling O’Neal intentionally but Jackson contends that perhaps three of those should have been flagrant.

“I just need to say something to the effect that on flagrant fouls, it doesn’t matter who’s fouled,” Jackson said, “it’s the intent of the foul. That’s the statement I wanted to carry.”

Jackson hoped to carry that statement Saturday night, himself, rather than having Shaq say or do something and get himself kicked out in the fourth quarter. Jackson didn’t like that either.

“We felt like he had a responsibility to the team,” Jackson said. “He didn’t uphold that. His first technical, regardless of whether it was a technical or not, put him in jeopardy and he had to watch himself from then on out. That’s his responsibility to the team, regardless of the referees, he’s got to carry himself with a certain amount of demeanor that provides us with some insurance, that we can go down the stretch and have him to count on.

“That’s a pretty inconsequential technical to get himself thrown out, to push the ball into a guy’s chest. But we all know what the rules are in this league and that’s part of the rules, that you don’t shove the ball in somebody else’s face.

“I’d like to have gone down the stretch with Shaq and seen how we’d do in that situation. We didn’t have him, we didn’t make a game of it in the last quarter.

“The upside of it is, we played a rather conservative, controlled game, did relatively well in the game up to that point in the game, I felt, playing without making our free throws, and the way we went. We had a chance to be in the ball game. I think that’s the positive thing, carrying the game to Portland and having the ability to play with them on their court at this time in the season.”