[76lsjumb]

I know that the general impression on the Board is that Murakatete committed an act that was just short of attempted murder, so maybe I'm the only one that feels differently.  However, a review of the tape sure seems to confirm what I thought at the time, which was that it was likely a foul, but also that Brink got the "intentional" call with a pretty good acting job.  My reason for concluding that is that, almost immediately upon Jump coming to her aid, Hannah broke out in laughter, which was promptly followed by Cam herself and then others on the bench.  That reaction  seemed much more consistent with having just done a very good job of getting a call to get an admittedly annoying opponent out of the game on a fifth foul than having just been subjected to a significant foul -- defined earlier in this thread as a "criminal assault".  In addition -- and I readily confess that slo-mo video can be misleading -- the slo-mo replay of the incident sure looks to me like there is a delay between the contact and Cam's rather dramatic response.  Finally, I'm reminded of the physics lesson in an earlier post about watching how the head moves in trying to figure out if it's a flop or not.  Cam's head doesn't seem to move the way I would have expected it to had the contact been as forceful as everyone seems to assume.

I agree it was far from an assault. I think it may have legitimately been hard enough to be an intentional under the rules. Especially since the rules leave whether the contact is "excessive" to the ref's judgement.

in addition to being hard and to the breasts, the blow was not part of the flow of the game. neither player was near the ball. they were not jockeying for position. brink clearly had achieved position near the basket, and bella was fronting her; both were standing still while cam awaited an entry pass. murakatete was not trying to move cam out of position; bella whacked cam instead of trying to mover her out of position.  thus the contact was clearly "excessive." perhaps similar to the famous draymond green blow to lebron's crotch. draymond was lying down. lebron stepped over him disrespectfully. draymond struck/flailed upwards with his hand (not particularly hard; bella's blow was much harder and included a wind-up) but to a vulnerable area and not in the flow of the game.

link

Look, I agree it was a foul; I agree it was intentional; and, I agree it was "excessive," although that is a subjective description.  I don't agree that it was ENTIRELY "out of the flow of the game," however.  Per the replay, it's clear that immediately before the whack, Cam had her arm resting high on Murakatete's shoulder and pressing against the side of Murakatete's head.  I think it's reasonable to assume that Murakatete was responding to that and trying, in "the flow of the game," to get Cam to back off.  I don't think by any means that it made the whack a legitimate response, but I also don't think it was out of the blue... or, for example, as wholly removed from the moment as Draymond Green's most recent haymaker.

As for the laughter, I might have interpreted it as "surprise laughter" if it hadn't continued for so long into the timeout and been shared during that time by so many of the players.  But, hey, I could be totally wrong, since I was several hundred miles away and watching it on a TV screen...  :-)

[76lsjumb]

I know that the general impression on the Board is that Murakatete committed an act that was just short of attempted murder, so maybe I'm the only one that feels differently.  However, a review of the tape sure seems to confirm what I thought at the time, which was that it was likely a foul, but also that Brink got the "intentional" call with a pretty good acting job.  My reason for concluding that is that, almost immediately upon Jump coming to her aid, Hannah broke out in laughter, which was promptly followed by Cam herself and then others on the bench.  That reaction  seemed much more consistent with having just done a very good job of getting a call to get an admittedly annoying opponent out of the game on a fifth foul than having just been subjected to a significant foul -- defined earlier in this thread as a "criminal assault".  In addition -- and I readily confess that slo-mo video can be misleading -- the slo-mo replay of the incident sure looks to me like there is a delay between the contact and Cam's rather dramatic response.  Finally, I'm reminded of the physics lesson in an earlier post about watching how the head moves in trying to figure out if it's a flop or not.  Cam's head doesn't seem to move the way I would have expected it to had the contact been as forceful as everyone seems to assume.

I agree it was far from an assault. I think it may have legitimately been hard enough to be an intentional under the rules. Especially since the rules leave whether the contact is "excessive" to the ref's judgement.

in addition to being hard and to the breasts, the blow was not part of the flow of the game. neither player was near the ball. they were not jockeying for position. brink clearly had achieved position near the basket, and bella was fronting her; both were standing still while cam awaited an entry pass. murakatete was not trying to move cam out of position; bella whacked cam instead of trying to mover her out of position.  thus the contact was clearly "excessive." perhaps similar to the famous draymond green blow to lebron's crotch. draymond was lying down. lebron stepped over him disrespectfully. draymond struck/flailed upwards with his hand (not particularly hard; bella's blow was much harder and included a wind-up) but to a vulnerable area and not in the flow of the game.

link

Look, I agree it was a foul; I agree it was intentional; and, I agree it was "excessive," although that is a subjective description.  I don't agree that it was ENTIRELY "out of the flow of the game," however.  Per the replay, it's clear that immediately before the whack, Cam had her arm resting high on Murakatete's shoulder and pressing against the side of Murakatete's head.  I think it's reasonable to assume that Murakatete was responding to that and trying, in "the flow of the game," to get Cam to back off.  I don't think by any means that it made the whack a legitimate response, but I also don't think it was out of the blue... or, for example, as wholly removed from the moment as Draymond Green's most recent haymaker.

As for the laughter, I might have interpreted it as "surprise laughter" if it hadn't continued for so long into the timeout and been shared during that time by so many of the players.  But, hey, I could be totally wrong, since I was several hundred miles away and watching it on a TV screen...  :-)

[81alum]

With regard to Brink's reaction:

If you listen carefully you can hear Brink exclaim as soon as the arm hits her, then she turns and bends, and then she smiles and laughs it off.

I think the foul surprised Brink and it took her a split second to figure out that she was not seriously hurt or in pain.  I don't think this was acting so much as it was a normal delayed reaction.  The first exclamation was not calculated or planned, for example, and I know it always takes me a little time to assess myself when I am hurt.

She might have been smiling and laughing because she knew that Murakatete had just fouled out--and perhaps M had been doing stuff like that to Brink before.  Smiling with relief or pleasure that M finally got her just deserts.

[81alum]

With regard to Brink's reaction:

If you listen carefully you can hear Brink exclaim as soon as the arm hits her, then she turns and bends, and then she smiles and laughs it off.

I think the foul surprised Brink and it took her a split second to figure out that she was not seriously hurt or in pain.  I don't think this was acting so much as it was a normal delayed reaction.  The first exclamation was not calculated or planned, for example, and I know it always takes me a little time to assess myself when I am hurt.

She might have been smiling and laughing because she knew that Murakatete had just fouled out--and perhaps M had been doing stuff like that to Brink before.  Smiling with relief or pleasure that M finally got her just deserts.