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Nets’ Jack faces potential suspension after flagrant foul

Commits Flagrant 2 Foul in Preseason Loss to Celtics

October 15, 2015 By John Torenli, Sports Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Jarrett Jack drove his shoulder into Boston’s Jonas Jerebko during Wednesday night’s preseason loss to the Celtics at Downtown’s Barclays Center, throwing his availability for the Brooklyn Nets’ season opener into serious jeopardy. AP photo
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Jarrett Jack admits the referees got it right.

He just hopes NBA Vice President of Basketball Operations Kiki Vandeweghe doesn’t get it wrong.

Jack’s second-quarter ejection for a blatant Flagrant 2 foul on Celtics forward Jonas Jerebko emerged as the biggest story coming out of Brooklyn’s 109-105 preseason loss to Boston Wednesday night in front of 10,482 fans at Downtown’s Barclays Center.

Jack, a 10-year veteran who is slated to be the Nets’ starting point guard on Opening Night against Chicago in two weeks, may not be available for duty in that contest following his admittedly uncharacteristic hard foul on Jerebko.

Just over two minutes into the second period, Jack turned the ball over to Celtics forward Jared Sullinger, who passed the ball to a streaking Jerebko.

Jack, citing his own frustration at giving the ball away, pursued the play more like a free safety than a point guard, driving his shoulder into Jerebko before he got a chance to complete the easy fast break basket.

“It was a frustration foul, and I did a little more than I intended to,” admitted Jack, who turned the ball over twice while scoring five points in seven minutes off the bench during the Nets’ third preseason loss in four games.

Referees gathered to watch a video review after Jerebko got up without appearing significantly injured.

But the ruling was a Flagrant 2, meaning an immediate ejection for Jack, and an upcoming review by Vandeweghe, who will ultimately decide whether the Nets’ playmaker will be seated for Brooklyn’s opener against visiting Chicago on Oct. 28 at Barclays.

“I hope not,” Jack stated emphatically when asked if he thought the foul would result in a one-game suspension.

“But you know, I didn’t mean to do that actually. It was a little bit of heat of the moment, a little bit of frustration more than anything, and my intention wasn’t to do that at all.”

Despite these claims, Jack did immediately agree with the Flagrant 2 judgement.

“I thought the ref did make the proper call about what happened,” he noted.

While Jack waits to see if he will be available for the opener, backup point men Shane Larkin, who actually started Wednesday’s game, and Ryan Boatright combined for 15 points, seven assists and four turnovers in his absence.

“I sat in the locker room and watched the game just like everybody else,” Jack said of what he did after getting tossed.

“They called a Flagrant 2, it’s simple as that,” Nets head coach Lionel Hollins said when asked about the foul during the postgame press conference. “Jarrett has never gotten thrown out of a game while I was coaching him. It’s not an issue.”

Jack could only remember one other incident in which he was ejected previously during his decade in the NBA, citing an incident from what he believed to be his third year in the league, the 2007-08 season as a member of the Portland Trail Blazers.

“I actually got thrown out of the last game of the season one time in, like, the second quarter,” he recalled. “We weren’t going to the playoffs at all. It actually wasn’t my fault. Somebody did something and I did something back, so you know how that goes. They threw both of us out actually.”

The Nets, who will host Philadelphia here on Sunday afternoon, did get some solid performances during the defeat.

Power forward Thaddeus Young led the way with 19 points and eight rebounds and Brook Lopez added 12 points, five boards and three assists for Brooklyn, which outscored Boston, 62-55 in the second half after sleepwalking through the first two periods.

“I thought it was a tale of two halves,” said Hollins. “I thought the first [half], we came out and were not aggressive, and they took the fight to us. In the second half, we came out, we were aggressive and we took the fight to them.”

“We’ve got to be scrappy,” added Lopez. “That being said, I thought the second half we came out and we just played a lot looser.”

Nothing But Net: F-C Willie Reed made his preseason debut after missing three games with a right quadriceps strain. He had two rebounds in five minutes off the bench. … F Bojan Bogdanovic was a key contributor off the pine, scoring 11 points to go with four rebounds and three assists. … F Andrea Bargnani (hamstring), G Markel Brown (oblique), rookie Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (ankle) and G Donald Sloan (hamstring) all sat out for the Wednesday exhibition.

 

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