Posted by Teddy Panos, Sun Staff
The immediate public reaction is to condemn the combatants. The NBA will undoubtedly come down hard on the ten players ejected during last night’s Nuggets-Knicks brawl at
When it does happen, you will not hear a peep of protest from this corner. But the NBA better have a little something in the suspension goodie bag for
In my mind, the entire incident was Karl’s fault. There was absolutely no reason for the Nuggets to have their starters, including Melo on the court during the last minutes of a blowout contest. NONE!
Not to excuse the players’ actions, but what did Karl expect the Knicks to do? He didn’t think they’d take exception to having their noses rubbed into it on their home court? He’s been in the game long enough. You telling me he wouldn’t have told one of his backups to do the exact same thing Collins did, committing a flagrant foul on J.R. Smith the first time an opportunity arose?
If I’m Nuggets ownership, I think long and hard about why I’m paying this guy big bucks to coach my team. Speculation has Karl rubbing it in Isiah Thomas’ and the
Good move…jeopardize the health of your players as a show of support for a friend who’s being paid a ridiculous sum of money to sit at home. And if that’s not the reason he still had starters on the court that late in the game, then he’s a worse coach than anyone ever imagined.
Forget about the fact he's facing a lengthy suspension. How would Nuggets fans feel if that was Carmelo getting taken down hard on the breakaway attempt? What if that hard foul caused a torn ACL that led to the NBA’s leading scorer never being the same player again? Would Larry Brown put on the uniform and toss in 30+ points a night over the next decade for his good buddy Karl?
Last night’s incident was an embarrassment to both organizations and the entire NBA. And the biggest disgrace of all is that George Karl will still be allowed to sit on the bench the next time the Nuggets take the court.
That’s my take…what’s yours? Whose fault was the basket brawl? What penalties are appropriate for all individuals involved? Should Karl get off scott-free?
George Karl is at fault? That is almost comical. This is the NBA, not a 12 year old rec-league. If the Knicks cannot take the embarrassment of losing by 19 or whatever it was, they should either suck it up or play better. Isiah Thomas should be more worried about getting the highest paid team (that he assembled) to perform better as opposed to mouthing to Carmelo that he should stay out of the lane. Ridiculous.
Is this a serious piece? Blaming George Karl for the fight? In my opinion this fight is all Isiah's fault. He was the one who told Collins to go in there and commit the foul. I have a great Idea... if you do not like to get embarrassed at home, start playing better! I'd like you to tell all the fans who pay good money to goto a game and see a bunch of scrubs on the bench play because Isiah can't field a good enough team. We are talking about the NBA. These are paid professionals. They should be able to act like professionals when they are winning and losing. What I would like to address is how ridiculous stern has gotten with all these lengthy suspensions. He has to realize that basketball is a physical sports and fights are going to be a by product of such play. I mean if there was no passion, then most fans would not even watch the game. I think the fans are not concerned with this new attention being paid to all these incidents. What I think is at work here is the business side of the NBA and sponsorship's the NBA does not want to lose. Actually, that would be a good piece for another blog. Has the game become more violent, or has the NBA gone corporate!
Very serious piece. I did not blame George Karl entirely for the brawl, but his fingerprints are all over it. You can't talk about athletes playing passionately, then expect them to sit there while another team runs up the score. That stuff doesn't fly in high school, never mind the NBA. Anyone who's played and coached the game, or any game, knows running up the score is like holding a match next to a stick of dynamite. Sooner or later, it's going to explode. Even worse, Karl wasn't doing it because of something done to him or his team, but because of something done to a friend who's abondoned every other team he's ever been associated with anyway. What...was he mad the Knicks canned Brown before he could leave them?
As for Stern, yes the league has gone corporate. Unfortunately, the players have to understand that if they want the fancy cars, the mansions, and all the money that goes with playing in the NBA, then they have to act a certain way. That way does not include fights that spill into the front row...a front row where people are paying thousands to sit in.
Ask the players if they'd rather return to the days where fighting wasn't so heavily penalized, but they only made a couple of hunderd G's a year. I think we both know the answer to that one!
Understood about Karl and the fact that he ran up the score because he possibly wanted to rub it in Isiah's face, but can you really tell me that Isiah should not have been fined for essentially starting the fight. He was even caught telling Melo to stay out of the lane before the fight started. Do you think a player like Collins would comit such a foul if not told to by the Coach? The argument about even highschool players do not run up the score, etc to me is like saying that its ok to fight if someone disrespects my mom.. even highschoolers know that the proper thing to do is ignore it and move on. As far as running up the score, if you see the game the Knocks definately did not throw in the towl and I thought Karl's explanation about how his team has blown big leads was a reasonable explanation and from what I have heard, Karl had players ready to sub in. All in all, if you want to say someone's fingerprints was all over this I think you should say Isiah's fingerprints were all over this.
I actually think we're in agreement on this T4. I'm in no way condoning Isiah's actions. He should have been fined and suspended, too. I've personally disliked him since his Larry Bird comments and the despicable way he and his Pistons teams played the game and helped ruin basketball. I almost feel guilty over how much pleasure I get watching him fail in venture after venture.
However, that doesn't mean Karl shouldn't take some responsibility. We all know the "proper" thing and what actually happens are often two different things. Yes, the smart thing to do is walk away when someone insults your mother. However, I shouldn't be surprised if you slug me for doing it. Same way Karl should have known what was coming and never put Carmello in that situation in the first place. He got lucky with only a 15-game suspension. Had it been a year ending injury because someone sucker punched Melo and broke his face (ask Rudy Tomjanovich what happens in brawls), do you think Karl might be in some trouble with Denver ownership?
As for his explanation about fearing a Knicks comeback, check out his substitution patterns before and after that game. His starters are nowhere near the court during blowouts.