Posted on 12/17/2006 11:00:40 AM PST by Roberts
NEW YORK -- About a minute or two before the Knicks-Nuggets brawl erupted Saturday night in Madison Square Garden, New York coach Isiah Thomas mentioned to Denver star Carmelo Anthony that it wouldn't be a good idea to go anywhere near the paint, according to a member of the Denver Nuggets organization.
The message was unmistakable: A hard foul was coming. And when it came, the NBA had its first full-scale fight of the 2006-07 season.
As it tries to stay in the race in the Western Conference, Denver now has a huge question to ponder: How long will Anthony be suspended? That's in addition to that other question they've been dealing with for a week: Is Allen Iverson coming aboard?
My first guess was that Anthony would be suspended for four games, a prediction I related to Denver coach George Karl after he reviewed a tape of the fight.
"I'll take the over," he said.
Anthony is likely to be penalized the hardest because he threw the punch everyone is going to see over and over again, a roundhouse right that decked Knicks rookie Mardy Collins -- the player who initiated the fracas with an egregiously hard flagrant foul against J.R. Smith on a breakaway with 1:15 remaining.
The Knicks were angry the Nuggets still had their starters in the game in the final two minutes despite a double-digit lead, including a 119-100 advantage when Collins committed his foul.
"They were sticking it to us pretty good, really giving it to us. J.R. had one dunk where he reversed and spun in the air, and Mardy didn't want to see that happen again in front of our fans," Thomas said.
Smith immediately jumped up and challenged Collins, and the fracas escalated when Knicks guard Nate Robinson ran into the fray. About 15 seconds after the initial foul, as players from both teams were clustered along the baseline just a few feet from Garden owner James Dolan's seat, Anthony threw what appeared to be a sucker punch at Collins, decking him.
Anthony backpedaled downcourt after the punch, with Jared Jeffries nearly coming out of his shirt as he tried to chase Anthony down, and various people tried to stop Jeffries. All 10 players who were on the court -- including all of Denver's starters except Nene -- were ejected.
"From what they did, keeping their guys on the court, I knew a foul was going to come. It was a good, clean, hard foul, and after that things went down from there," Robinson said. "I've never seen a team up 20 keep their starters in. They wanted to embarrass us, and it was a slap in the face to us as a team and a franchise."
Robinson is certain to draw a suspension for his part in escalating the brawl, and likewise Collins for the part his flagrant foul played. The league might come down hard on Thomas, too, if it finds him culpable for instigating the fracas by ordering a hard foul.
But the biggest penalty likely will go to Anthony, who began the night as the league's leading scorer and was just 75 seconds away from wrapping up a 2-3 road trip on a positive note.
Now, he might be out until Christmas, and he might even have Iverson as a teammate by the next time he plays, although Karl didn't sound too positive about that possible development, either.
"I spoke to [general manager] Mark [Warkentien] yesterday, and he said it seemed like it was dying down. I didn't even bother calling him today," Karl told me before heading out the locker room door for the flight back to Denver, facing an immediate future without Iverson or Anthony ... and sounding convinced things are going to stay that way for a while.
I can't work up much sympathy for Carmello "Stop Snitching" Anthony, the thuggiest thug who ever thugged.
Can it really be considered a brawl when they were fighting like girls? It's always disappointing and hilarious to watch athletes fight.
Anthony ought to get a nice long vacation for the cheap shot he took, and ought to be embarrassed (though I'm sure he won't be) that he ran away after doing so.
That doesn't change the fact that Crysiaah Thomas started the entire incident from the bench. He ought to spend some quality time away from the game with 'Melo.
And the league wonders why they are losing fans. The NBA is full of thugs.
Baseball and basketball players, yes.
But hockey players know how to fight.
Great observation.
'Melo ran away like a schoolgirl after taking his cheap shot.
How would you like to be one of the fans sitting courtside (floor seats), having paid hundreds of dollars to be there, lining the pockets of these thugs, and have a fight spill over into your seats?
The NBA had better deal out some harsh punishment.
Once a Bad Boy, always a Bad Boy. Isiah Thomas is like a Russian mobster. He'll knife you in the back while flashing a pretty smile.
The NBA will again (I predict) barely slap hands of over-paid, illiterate, ill bred, street trash for fear of starting a race riot and offending the same, aforesaid punks.
I still have the "Malice in the Palace '04" on my Tivo. It's far more entertaining than the NBA has been in years.
Carmelo... was that a pimp slap or a *itch slap?
Mostly true, although I've aways loved the film of the guy charging the mound when Nolan Ryan came inside on him. Ryan took him down like a week old calf than punched his head until he was pulled off.
Thomas created the Bad Boy mystique of the Pistons and is the reason why Rodman became the clown he is today. He ran the CBA into the ground, criticized Michael Jordan and other stars when they went to Barcelona and he couldn't go.
People think he's this nice guy with a nice smile but nothing could be further from the truth.
Yep, Nolan used Robin Ventura's head like a speed bag. Very entertaining.
"...it wouldn't be a good idea to go anywhere near the paint,"
Can anyone tell me what this means? Not really a basketball fan.
Just when I was getting interested in basketball again after the Heat won the championship and the overall level of talent began to approach what the NBA had in the early to mid 1990s...
So much for that.
And the league wonders why they are losing fans. The NBA is full of thugs.
Exactly! He was incapable of competing against them in a fair game so he resorted to the despicable act of putting his rookies in to start a fight. Despicable!!!
"Paint" refers to the colored area directly in front of the hoop. It's the area that players line up on either side of during free throws.
Thanks.
Something tells me that Zeke is gonna lose a lot of meals at Red Lobster over this...
}:-)4
It will be truly sad when Isiah gets fired at the end of the year. He is one of the worst mangers in all of sports and it's been very entertaining to watch over the years (unless he's involved with your team).
Their punsihment should be- they have to learn to read.
Why are gang type people even allowed in the NBA????
Look at some numbers === less than 10% of high school basketball players go on to play college ball. And less than 5% of college players go on to the NBA. There are 10 equally qualified players who never get a chance in the NBA who could step right in and take the places of these gangster rapper types. The NBA should be able to take only the best behaved, best citizens, best overall personalities to represent their league. The overall quality of play in the NBA would not suffer if these uncivilized types were banned. And the public image of the NBA would only increase.
Hey ! The NBA is composed of thugs,every last one of them.
I call it inventing a reason for a fight. I watch almost no professional games, including the professional college games. It's hard to take any of this seriously.
These guys are way over paid.
They will not be getting any of my money nor tv time.
The National Hockey/Basketball League.
I predict Carmelo Anthony will be out for 10 games. David Stern is trying to clean up the image of the league, but he's swimming upstream.
Only fight I ever won!
one of the least successful GM's in NBA history and he still has a job
Stu Jackson? Mr Affirmative Action of the NBA ...
As a Cavaliers fan from 1976 I can say that there is nobody I despise more in the NBA than Thomas (except for Carlos Loozer). He was the leader of the Thug Pistons and the inspiration of the disgusting basketball team from that school up north. Everything he has ever touched has been a disaster.
Once he is fired from the Knicks we'll hopefully never see him in any responsible position in the NBA.
The classy young players like LeBron, DWade and others are a new breed. The thug era is ending -- witness how little interest there is in Iverson despite his talent. Thomas needs to go.
It should be remembered that the idiots in the NBA HQ in NYC promoted the Bad Boys heavily. Stern IMHO is the most overrated Commish in the history of sports.
Looks like the NBA thugs are at it again! What ever happened to "SPORTS?" What ever happened to sportsmanship? What ever happened to decent sportsmen? The NBA is a total digrace! Anyone who thinks it is otherwise is a fool and a tool! lol
It's much more deplorable that Bush still has a job, what with 9/11, lies about WMD and everything else, Iraq, skyrocketing budget deficits, Katrina, Abu Ghraib, and Guantanamo Bay. The Knicks' .346 winning percentage is much better than Bush's and they don't even have a $2 trillion budget to work with.
I loved that incident. Nolan didn't back down, got Robin Ventura in a headlock, punched him directly 5 times, and finished with a roundhouse uppercut that snapped Ventura's head back. So much for a tough guy with a bat charging the mound. LOL!
What ever you're on, I suggest upping the dosage.
Wow! "They" can even find a way to turn a basketball thread into an attack on the President.
It's MM
If anyone is taking what she says seriously, they are already so whacked out as to not matter anyway......
Trolling again?
Nokia, McDonald's, Budweiser, The Coca-Cola Co., Eastman Kodak Co., Reebok, The Walt Disney Co ...
Thanks.
I have added them to my 'do not buy' list.
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