Portland’s Thomas Robinson calls fourth-quarter technical ‘stupid’

The Portland Trail Blazers committed many errors down the stretch of Friday night’s 103-98 loss to the Dallas Mavericks, and one of the biggest was Thomas Robinson’s technical foul that resulted in the Mavericks cutting the Blazers’ seven-point lead down to just four with a little over eight minutes remaining in the game.

On the fateful play, Robinson, who thought he had a clean block, was called for a shooting foul on Monta Ellis. Robinson threw his mouth guard in disagreement and was hit with a technical for his outburst.

The 22-year-old called the play “stupid” afterwards, admitting that he allowed his emotions to get the best of him. Head coach Terry Stotts, while not condoning Robinson’s actions, chimed in by saying it’s that emotion which allows Robinson to be such a valuable contributor:

"“He needs to play with emotion. But (throwing equipment) is one of the rules of the game. I don’t think he meant to throw his mouth guard, but those are the rules. So I don’t necessarily want him to curb his emotions, just needs to know what he can and can’t do. “When he brings energy and toughness, he can impact the game. He brings a dimension that is unique to our team. I thought the way he played tonight, our guys fed off it. He is still a young player, and he may or may not play well on a given night, but he can always give us that energy.’’"

Portland’s next game will be against the Houston Rockets on Sunday.

[Source: Oregon Live]