Jalen Jones's assailant gets reprieve

[PonyPride]

Mike DeCourcy of the Sporting News reports that Conference USA has caved and reduced the foul against Memphis forward Shaq Goodwin from a Flagrant 2 (meaning automatic suspension — from Conference USA, not from the NCAA) to a Flagrant 1, meaning he can play in Saturday's game against Southern Miss.

Michael DeCourcy ‏@tsnmike
Memphis PF Shaq Goodwin available to play in Tigers' big game Sat. at Southern Miss. Foul against him from SMU game reduced to Flagrant 1.

In other news, Memphis coach Josh Pastner said Goodwin "made a play on the ball" (he did?) and that it should be reduced because it wasn't a fight and Goodwin didn't throw an elbow.

I wonder what Pastner's reaction would be if it had been Jones who fouled his guy?

[GiddyUp]

Foul was out of hand - Jalen was in full air and vulnerable - the guy jacked him and not even sure he came close to the ball.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Goodwin was clearly headhunting. Ridiculous move by C-USA to protect their 1st-place vs. 2nd-place matchup.

Pastner could have easily been teed up at least twice as well during the game for contact with an official and being way past the gray area of leaving the coaching box repeatedly.

[Treadway21]

Y'all should have seen all the Memphis chatter saying it should not have even been a flagrant - that he was going for the ball. Crazy homer stuff. Don't really care if he gets suspended or not just glad he got kicked out in our game.

[GiddyUp]

Let's hope he's not hurt. In game things can not hurt initally then hurt a lot later. I imagine his back or tailbone is in serious pain right now.

[vismatt]

Here is a photo of Jalen right after the foul. The force of the foul sent him so off balance that his foot actually hit the padding on the backboard.

http://www.iconsportsmedia.com/image/22178058

[PonyPride]

Great photo! Thanks for posting.

What I found funny was that after the game, Pastner came back out of the tunnel to the visitors' locker room and approached the C-USA rep who was sitting right next to me, insisting that the foul should be reduced to a Flagrant 1 because "nobody promotes the league more than me."

What???

Memphis is leaving the league, just like SMU is! I'm sure he says complimentary things about C-USA when asked, but behind closed doors, I assume he's touting the Big East more than C-USA.

Yes, he's lobbying for his guy. If Goodwin plays Saturday, the Tigers have a better chance to beat Southern Miss than if he doesn't play. There's no question about that. But Pastner has no business acting as if he's out on the street, trumpeting the greatness of C-USA to anyone who will listen. It just isn't true.

[Charleston Pony]

if that was a play on the ball, I'd say he failed miserably on that attempt

[smudubs]

I'm in the minority on this I'm sure, but while it was a flagrant foul, I really have no problem with it at all. I've watched our guys get molested in the paint all year, and they rarely reciprocate. That is the type of foul that will make players think twice about going into the paint. Our guys foul by slapping a guys on the wrist. I would love to have a guy who is willing to give a hard foul every once in a while.

[Paladin]

I'm in the minority on this I'm sure, but while it was a flagrant foul, I really have no problem with it at all. I've watched our guys get molested in the paint all year, and they rarely reciprocate. That is the type of foul that will make players think twice about going into the paint. Our guys foul by slapping a guys on the wrist. I would love to have a guy who is willing to give a hard foul every once in a while.

Wrong sport; you're maybe thinking of ice hockey...

[Crong]

video at the 58 sec. mark.

http://www.myfoxmemphis.com/story/21018466/tigers-stave-off-mustang-for-13th-straight?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=8334584

[Duke Blue Blood]

How the HELL can anyone say he was making a play on the ball. What ball did he ever get close too!

If it was one of our guys, rather than trying to act like this did not happen, I would be ashamed and apologetic.

[hoopmanx]

right after it happened, I told the memphis roar guy on twitter it was cheap. Started a small bru ha ha. Screw those guys & Pastner is a huge question mark

[mustang1992]

I'm in the minority on this I'm sure, but while it was a flagrant foul, I really have no problem with it at all. I've watched our guys get molested in the paint all year, and they rarely reciprocate. That is the type of foul that will make players think twice about going into the paint. Our guys foul by slapping a guys on the wrist. I would love to have a guy who is willing to give a hard foul every once in a while.

There is a difference between a hard foul and a foul that could seriously injure a player. That was a bush league play, plain and simple. 100% unnecessary and he was not close to the ball.

[Dement-ed]

I hope Southern Miss slaughters Memphis today.