A Quick Question About the Fight

By Craig Kwasniewski

By now y'all have seen the Nugs-Knicks fight from Saturday night. So I'm not going to go into any descriptions about it or even break it down blow-by-blow. Instead I just have one simple question:

Why the hell were the Denver Nuggets starters playing the final seconds of a 19-point blow-out?

Seriously, the Knicks called it quits and cleared off their bench, so why did George Karl keep in his starters. Is this a North Carolina thing? Are they just really bad winners? If you remember, Larry Brown kept his starters in the end of a blow-out in the famous Pistons-Pacers brawl. So is Karl just coaching "the Carolina way?"

Lost in all of this will be the obvious blame to all ten players on the court. Believe me, a lot of it will be deserved, but George Karl shouldn't escape this incident unscathed. You'll see the creative New York media go after Isiah, well just because it's Isiah Thomas. But they really should go after George Karl.

If he cleared his bench and pulled Anthony and Smith, this fight would not have happened. So along with the active players in the fight getting suspended (and rightfully so), George Karl should at least get a fine for his place in the brawl.

Now go back to the media grand-standing that will happen the next few days... at least until Iverson gets traded. And don't tell me that Iverson to Denver is a good idea. I'll save my takes on this until it happens, but just remember, Karl is not great at handling egos and it WILL backfire if the trade goes through.

Comments

[G/]

They were in the game because Karl hates Isiah. Earlier in the year, Isiah took a swipe at Karl, and ran...kind of like he did last night after the game..

The Knicks couldn't land a punch in this mess just like they couldn't land a jumper if they needed one.

LOOK for Isiah to get suspended for at least 5 games for ordering the foul.

[Kate]

Are you kidding me? That's your concern after that shameful fiasco. George Karl is a head coach and that means he decides who's on the court. End of story. If he wants to beat the knicks badly more power to him. You're totally justifying completely unacceptable behavoir on the part of the Knicks who suck anyway. But no, Isiah is too good to suck. Althought that's not the word on the streets of New York. Losers!!

[dave]

there is definately some kind of bad blood between isiah and george. i don't think anybody likes isiah thomas. karl is guilty of trying to embarrass the knicks. one game suspension for being immature. isiah is guilty of ordering the hard foul (he warned carmelo to stay out of the paint). one game suspension. nate robimson tackled smith and went into the front row. two game suspension. jr smith threw a punch. one game suspension. melo threw a punch, connected with a cup handed slap?, and then back peddled toward the nuggets bench like a little bitch. three game suspension. all of this, and fines all around.

[kate]

the bad blood has to do with the fact that Isaih is nothing but a sore loser. Oh, boo friggin' hoo my team is playing so badly I'm going to order one of my players to try to hurt them. He should be sent to Iraq. Then he'll really have something to whine about.

[Pimp Dice]

I dont think someone like Isiah Thomas is going to Iraq anytime soon, but he'll go to the losers bracket all season long for the moves he's made in the Knicks organization. The Knicks... heh, what a joke they have become. Patrick Ewing would be rolling over in his grave if he wasn't still alive.

[nike]

george karl was wrong in leaving his starters late in a blowout game .' we have to salvage our respect somehow ' said the knicks .
but 1st , you have to look for what's left of it , knicks ! .

[Dan]

The best part oabout teh brawl is the fact that after "Melo" sucker punches him, he could of been a corner back. I have never seen anyone back peddle so fast in all of my life.He wasnt on any camera. What did he do hid behind Karl of his teammates on the bench or was his mommy at the game and he hid behind her mini skirt?

[coach]

cnn news asked ' who is marty collins ? '
i suggest the knicks contact the nba and include collin's name in the all star ballot .
n.y. may finally have a rep in the the annual game after a long wait !

[jenni]

Why is the punch Carmelo threw the only thing anyone is talking about. Many more punches were thrown. And when you make millions of dollars a year, learn how to take a damn loss!! Really. Who cares why the starters were in the game, this is PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL!!!!! Its not high school, or recreational basketball! There are and should be no feelings of "the poor knicks are loosing! let's not hurt their feelings and pull out all of our key players" No gives a rats ass when the nuggets lose by 30 points and the other team has their starters in. So craig...get over it. Stop the hatin dude!

[Dan]

Now Jenni-

What is "MELO" sprained an ankle or tore his MCL when he was onthe court with two minutes to go in the game up 19 points.That is why teams have 12 players on thier team. SO when you are winning or losing by 15 or more points you can play your scrubs so your stars do not get hurt. Also a team might have to play back to back games where you can rest during a blow out as well.

It is called common sense not Hattin as you put it.

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[dave]

so i was way off with my suspension and fine predictions. don't f**k with david stern! i think stephen jackson and ron artest got one game just because stern felt like it, bitch! i have to side with the commish on this one. i do think isiah thomas should have been suspended, though. you can obviously tell what he is saying on the video. i don't care what stephen a. smith says.
maybe the knicks will take part of the 1/2 million out of isiah's paycheck.

[dave]

oh yeah, i forgot. george karl is my new hero.

[geebs]

i'm only disappointed that melo's awkward hard-slap (which, coming from melo, floored an NBA player) didn't find it's way to Nate Robinson's temple instead. Had it not been for his napoleon complex issues, the fight would not have reached the level of insanity that it did.

[Cringe]

Well now Allen Iverson can join the Nugget's brawls, I'm sure he has a stow away shank for just such occasions.

[fire stern he is "for profit and not for game"]

FIRE STERN THE "MONEY MAKER FOR THE NBA" - WHERE WILL THE $$$$$'S GO??? ROGTHJ INTOHIS POCKETS!!!! STERN IS BAD FOR THE NBA AND THE NBA SHOULD BE BANNED!!!! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HISSSSSSSSSSSS

PLEASE!!!

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[fire stern he is "for profit and not for game"]

FIRE STERN THE "MONEY MAKER FOR THE NBA" - WHERE WILL THE $$$$$'S GO??? RIGHT INTO HIS POCKETS!!!! STERN IS BAD FOR THE NBA AND THE NBA SHOULD BE BANNED!!!! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HISSSSSSSSSSSS

PLEASE!!!

STERN IS BAD BAD BAD FORF THE NBA!!!! BAD BAD FIRE HIM!!!!! BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

[basketball]

There is no reason to have the starters in at that point except for Karl to teach Thomas a lesson. Period.

[netpup]

Some of these posts are funny as hell. Why is everybody focused on Carmelo's punch? Because he threw a sucker punch while standing behind someone then ran away like a BEYOTCH, and he is supposed to be a superstar. Nate Robinson is Napoleonic? Ummm...duh. He's 5'7" at best, in the NBA. If he wasnt at least a little Napoleonic, he'd be selling hot dogs instead of playing. That being said, Smith practically bum rushed Nate, and nobody has anything to say about his complex, the one that makes him so sensitive to what Napoleon says that he turns into a professional wrestler.
As for all the talk about the coaches part in the whole thing, the NBA was right not to fine wither of them. George Karl was acting like a 12 year-old by running up the score as a form of payback for Larry Brown being fired...did anybody see or hear Brown last year? He was awful, and he made almost no efforts to coach, teach, or show respect to the team. People can blame it on the immature players or the decline of society all they want (ironically, that line is so old it was used by Socrates in ancient Greece. look it up) but the coach still has a responsibility to try to get through to his players and Larry Brown was too busy acting like his players' ages instead of his own to get through to anyone. Still, this is the NBA, not grade school, and running up the score shouldnt be an issue. Even though it IS childish and petty, anybody who has watched George Karl over his coaching career knows that being childish is one of his favorite pasttimes. As for people being pissed over Isiah ordering a hard foul, here's a little known fact; that happens ALL THE TIME at all levels of coaching and oftentimes it is the right call. Given the overlooked fact that the foul wasnt dirty by any standard outside of the special olympics, Isiah made the right call. Karl pretty much forced the issue, which would prompt 99% of good coaches to call for a hard foul. Isiah probably wants to teach his players, labeled by most of New York and the world as soft, not to bend over and take it up the HooHoo when the other coach purposely decides to try to humiliate you because his old coaching buddy did a crappy job last year. I remember Karl Malone giving an intentional elbow that opened up Isiah's forehead on a hard foul in the early 90's, when Isiah was embarassing John Stockton in a game. Isiah just went to the locker room, cleaned up the blood, had 40+ stitches put in, and returned to play the rest of the game. How was he supposed to know that Denver's players would react like chumps to a hard foul that didnt even hurt anyone? I think he gave Denver too much credit...kids these days...