I don't think it was a basketball play but more of a "normal" frustration foul. Condon's leg was kinda trapped under him and the pull exacerbated it. Bad luck but don't think the MSU player was doing something that malicious.
Strange that none of us watching thought anything of it at the time. I personally had no idea what Golden was going nuts about.
I watched the replay in slow motion and zoomed in. I really don’t think it was a dirty play, nor had any impact on the injury. It looked like Condon hurt his ankle when he planted his foot… well before any contact. He then crumpled in front of the defender. I don’t think Melendez committed anything close to a horse collar. His arm draped over Condon’s shoulders as he fell. Condon’s fall made Menendez actions look impactful. They were not.
How about that "hooked elbow" on Rueben. Yeah I know it was a technical, but that could have resulted in serious injury when you look at it.
Respectfully, in light of other recent incidents involving this specific player, I'll go with CTG's interpretation of events, especially after rewatching the clip.
It was either dirty or that MSU player is the goofiest SOB on the planet. The way he dragged his left foot underneath Condon is not normal, and it caused Condon's left foot to not plant which transferred his weight to his right foot, then he definitely pulled him backward when he saw he was off balance.
There's never a good reason to grab somebody's shoulder like that in a basketball game. That was intentional and not a basketball play. However, I doubt it was done with intent to injure. I can't watch that video and definitively claim that the pull had no impact on the magnitude of the injury. Hopefully it helps us build depth while Condo is out. Go GATORS! ,WESGATORS
I don't like the guy, but I don't think this particular play was dirty nor the cause of the injury. I have no idea what TFG's thought's actually are. I'd kinda like to think he just saw it as an opportunity to light a fire - cause he knew the team needed to focus on vengence not remorse.
i respectfully disagree with every contention made here. lol. Melendez was looking at the ball when he dragged his foot… in effort to stop and make a play. For a fraction of a second, it was Melendez’s ankle that was about to get stomped. I don’t think he’d have the incredible no-look intuition. Anyway….It’s funny how we can look at the same thing and see it so differently. But, that makes the world go ‘round, I guess.
I think for a play to be dirty there needs to be intent to injure. I do feel this play was careless and not a basketball play. But not "dirty". That said, many targeting fouls have no intent either, but they result in ejection for good reason. These type of fouls (regardless of intent) need to be out of the game. Pulling a guy down by the shoulders is not a basketball play by any measure. My son hurt his back in a similar play this season. He is fine, but it was a scary night for us.
"normal" people are not frustrated in 30 seconds I agree that Melendez did not cause the injury, but you can't convince me that he wasn't trying to pull Condo down from behind. Not a BB play, hence "dirty". I watched it frame-by-frame, not a clean play.
No way to know if Condon would or wouldn’t have gotten injured without Melendez’s actions, or if the actions made the injury more severe. However, watch Melendez’s left arm on the replay. He is clearly trying to pull/throw Condon to the ground. He couldn’t have known Condon was hurt that quickly, but what he did was definitely not a “basketball play” or a play on the ball. He was absolutely trying to throw Condon to the ground and should have gotten a flagrant 1.
Ankle rolling before contact from Melendez. What happened after is bush league, but had no bearing on the injury.
