Wow!

Okay, so it really happened. Man, what a dumb, dumb, dumb move by Mitchell.

simply. bizarre.

Was he on a 2 year deal at Cairns? Can they replace that import spot or essentially 1 import down for season 2018? Can he go away on play in any other league?

he's not on contract

So it doesn't really impact Cairns other than they can't sign Mitchell for next season. Not a huge loss for Cairns (I assume they wouldn't have re-seigned him anyway)

Surely this would be a more appropriate time for a written letter?

Ban is only for nbl. But having averaged 9points with an outstanding suspension his value surely took a hit.

Source?

I was at this game, but missed seeing this incident. Does anybody have a link to a YouTube clip?

Statement on the Taipans' site.

What fine do you get for throwing the Special #9 San Chow Bow over an opposition supporter?

"How to screw your career in one easy lesson".

That's a shame, he had one of the better haircuts in the league.

I wonder why he did this?

What an idiot. Will definitely affect him getting another gig anywhere. Career Killer.

It was unlikely he was going to be back in the NBL next season anyway but the real killer here in the statement is the NBL's decision to pass on the info of the suspension to FIBA & the NBA to do as they see fit with the info.

That could seriously hurt him from getting a good contract in a good league in Europe.

Havent well all wanted to throw a ball at refs sometime this season?

Video of the incident:

Here's the footage of Tony Mitchell throwing the ball at the NBL ref (not seen). Bryce Cotton shocked, Damian Martin pushed TM away. pic.twitter.com/Q5ypB4rBes

— Glenn Valencich (@glennvalencich) February 24, 2017

The ball is mightier than the chair.

Better angles of the incident.

Import Tony Mitchell issued full season suspension after being found guilty of striking a Referee with game ball.

https://t.co/zG8bag4ih8 pic.twitter.com/rbxzwQF9QU

— NBL (@NBL) February 24, 2017

I wonder if he has to write a letter of apology to the ref?

Is there a YouTube video of the incident at all?

Trust me for not reloading before posting. Thanks.

That's a bullshit suspension having watched the videos.

The picture that I had in my head after hearing of the severity of the suspension was that he grabbed the ball and threw it full force into the ref's head.

That? He should appeal it even if he has no intention of playing in the NBL ever again.

"As an additional requirement, Mr Nolan also directed that the information regarding the penalty be provided to Basketball Australia, FIBA and the NBA. What those bodies do with the information is at their discretion."

It's public knowledge anyway, surely any team looking at him would google him and find a link to it.

"The picture that I had in my head after hearing of the severity of the suspension was that he grabbed the ball and threw it full force into the ref's head. "

I agree; that penalty is just another embarrassment for the league's tribunal system.

I'm told that very often teams will use a thing called 'The Googles' to gather background on players.

That such a magical digital archive exists is beyond my comprehension, and most probably the work of Wizards.

Only pass he hit all night. Time to update the box score to give him 1 assist?

http://www.fibalivestats.com/u/NBL/575001/bs.html

Proves NBL refs are a protected species

Hmmmm, was at the game and saw it. Turned to my Dad and went 'whoa, see that!!! There goes his match payment!' Not, he'll miss an entire season for that. A bit of an over reaction in my mind.

I don't see anybody defending the action but rather seeing a punishment that is too harsh for the crime.

A 5-game suspension and a fine would have been more fitting.

Yes he's a knob & from the very first minutes in the NBL you could tell he was a hot head. No loss to Snakes or the league.
BUT is that worse than deliberately push a ball into Trice's face?

Yes, worse. Agree with @Truer, 5 games and a fine would have been fitting

I don't think the league had wiggle room on the penalty going by the booklet someone posted in the Matt knight thread. Think it came under the "fixed penalties", so it's the only one to give. (Still too harsh though)

I think a full season is a little excessive. Five games plus the full two-year sentence suspended if there are any other physical incidents with referees seems reasonable.

I imagine if FIBA chose to sccept the fine then we'll see this appealed.

You take a deliberate shot at a referee after a game, well, you're going to miss serious time.

The deliberateness of it is what really nailed him though; grabbed the ball out of another player's hands and threw it at the back of Mayberry as he's walking away, post game?

Nah, mate.

You are the weakest link, good bye.

The NBL is a total joke and embarrassment.

Madgen threw a chair at the ref. No penalty.

ROFLcopter, that was when BA were running the league, it's not really a precedent this admin would consider.

Good to see the NBL isn't afraid to dish out meaningless punishments.

I think a full season is a little excessive. Five games plus the full two-year sentence suspended if there are any other physical incidents with referees seems reasonable.

Paul - they're operating under the same BA/FIBA rules so they're singing from the same hymn sheet.

They're not operating under the same tribunal procedures, though. They quite publicly overhauled the system last season, releasing a document that outlined the penalties for any given violation.

Attacking/threatening a ref is a max of 1-2 years. By definition it's attacking, although probably not the kind of attack they had in mind when they outlined that penalty, but it's also clearly worse than a threat. So a year seems pretty fair.

Madgen's occurred in the heat of the moment and may not have been intentional. This isn't at all similar, even if the same processes applied.

I couldn't disagree more. In fact, they overhauled their tribunal system last season, so in that area (and most others) they're running the NBL much different to what BA did.

Here is the information booklet they released.

I couldn't disagree more. In fact, they overhauled their tribunal system last season, so in that area (and most others) they're running the NBL much different to what BA did.

You both posted simultaneously.

My deepest apologies Kobz!

The guy fouls all the time.
I can't stand the way our refs act like they have never made a mistake in their lives, none the less this crosses the very fair and reasonable line of behaviour towards referees.

Tweet that he is a C if you want but don't make physical contact, esp with malice intended. The refs back was turned, it was soooooooooo stupid.

Good on the NBL, regardless of what people think of the refs this year, you have to show them a level of respect.

I don't believe for 1 minute any of these errors they have made this year are deliberate. Go back through all the games this year, and compare the mistakes by refs against mistakes by players, and there would be a fair chance the players have made more. One thing we get over the refs is a slow motion relay, they need to make a decision on the spot. It's not an easy job, and you will only ever keep 50% of the supporters on side.

People just like to focus on the refs to take away the spotlight from their own teams faults.

IMO it is a fair suspension, and the NBL has got this right.

It's a stupidly long suspension. This, from the same NBL that suspended Josh Childress for two games for intentionally trying to decapitate Wagstaff?

I know Mayberry is a referee, not a player, but to flip a ball at someone in disgust and to actively attempt to smash someone in the face with an elbow are two entirely different things, and you cannot seriously suggest that a one year ban for the one offence is in anything like proportion with a two game ban for the other.

It won't make a lick of difference in terms of the NBL career of Tony Mitchell - he wasn't going to be asked back, anyway - and I suppose it serves as a standard set for other, future actions... I'll bet that if a bona fide NBL star flips a ball and it hits a ref in the future, there'll be mitigating circumstances "oh, he said sorry", or "he didn't mean it."

Another example of the NBL's poor form in terms of differing standards is the "punishment" handed down to Matty Knight for pushing the ball in Travis Trice's face. What a joke.

It's a stupid decision, which should be challenged and reduced.

I'm on the record here as saying that we need to significantly elevate the respect shown to refs in the NBL for the good of the comp, but even I think this penalty is over the top.
Think of what it takes to get yourself suspended for more than 2 games in this league. Pretty severe things. Then consider what TM really did.
Going after refs is an absolute no-no. That's beyond question. But a year for that is not right.

Evidently the Australian Basketballers' Association doesn't think it's right either:

Media Statement from @AusBasketballPA CEO @jacobholmes12 in relation to @CairnsTaipans import Tony Mitchell. pic.twitter.com/uco1WJZtLA

— ABA (@AusBasketballPA) February 25, 2017

It's a stupidly long suspension. This, from the same NBL that suspended Josh Childress for two games for intentionally trying to decapitate Wagstaff?

Update:

On Saturday 25th February, the NBL received a request from Mr Todd Ramasar, agent for Tony Mitchell, seeking an extension to the time allowed under the NBL Rules for the lodgement of an appeal to the decision handed down by the Independent Tribunal on Friday 24th February regarding Mitchell.

The grounds for this request were that both the player and his agent were on flights returning home from Australia at the time the decision was handed down.

The NBL granted an additional 24 hours for Mitchell to review the penalty and lodge an appeal should he wish to do so. This extension expired on Sunday 26th February at 11:45am AEDT. No appeal was received within the newly extended timeframe.

At 1:45pm AEDT, Sunday 26th February, an official request for review and apology for not meeting the timeframe was received by the NBL from Mr Ramasar on behalf of Tony Mitchell.

As the request falls outside the rules of the NBL, a ruling is being sought from the Chairperson of the full tribunal, Alanna Duffy, on whether the appeal will be considered.

If Ms Duffy is to consider his appeal, Mitchell is required to make a AU$2,000 deposit to the NBL of which $1,000 can be refunded at the discretion of the full tribunal. For an appeal to be heard one of the following grounds must be met:

1. The decision of the Single Member Tribunal is considered unreasonable and a case can be made that no Tribunal acting reasonably could have come to that decision having regard to the evidence before it.

2. The classification of the offence is manifestly incorrect.

3. The penalty imposed is manifestly incorrect or excessive.
If one of these grounds are met, a new tribunal is convened with a three member panel to consider the appeal, Ms Duffy would be the Chair of this panel.

The NBL have no further comment until a decision on appeal is decided.

There is another time in the game that the return of the ball to the refs could be regarded as striking. Not sure if it was near the end of the third or fourth quarter. Mitchell gets pinned, then ditches the ball at the ref.

Mitchell's NBL ban reduced on appeal

Cairns import Tony Mitchell's season-long NBL ban for throwing the ball at a referee has been reduced to 10 matches on appeal.

Surely the system of a Single Member Tribunal is flawed, given the fact that all of the decisions have been subsequently downgraded.