Ruben Patteson Blames George Karl

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">St. Francis - In the eyes of Milwaukee Bucks forward Ruben Patterson, there is no doubt where the fault lied for the ugly brawl that erupted in Madison Square Garden on Saturday near the end of a game between the Denver Nuggets and the New York Knicks.

After practice Monday, Patterson placed the blame squarely in the lap of Denver coach George Karl, who had his starters still on the floor in the final minutes of a lopsided victory.

"There's no way George Karl should have had those guys in the game during that period of time," said Patterson, who was obtained by the Bucks in a trade with Denver last summer.

"The (Denver) organization is hurt. I know Carmelo (Anthony) is hurt. He's a friend of mine. I played with him last year. It's just crazy.

"You should know you can't be fighting. You might as well tell the guy to meet me at the bus. Or I'll see you in the summertime."

The brawl erupted with 1 minute 15 seconds left and Denver leading, 119-100, when Knicks rookie Mardy Collins delivered a flagrant foul on Denver guard J.R. Smith, who was going in for a breakaway layup or dunk.

On Monday the league announced that both teams had been fined $500,000 and that it had suspended seven players, including Anthony, the league's leading scorer, who will sit out 15 games.

While some questioned why Karl would still have his starters on the floor at that point, others wondered why New York coach Isiah Thomas, right before the brawl erupted, would ask Anthony why he was still on the floor and warned Denver players that they might get hurt if they went to the basket.

Asked about Thomas' comments, Patterson said, "(Denver is) out there slam-dunking and show-boating. I mean, that's what they get. I hate to say it like that. You're ahead 20 or 25 points and people are dunking and you've got your whole starting five on the court? You don't do that. That's just not right."

Patterson said he remembered Anthony as a "nice, quiet, funny guy" and was shocked to see Anthony punch Collins in the face before back-pedaling across the court.

"It was definitely a sucker-punch," said Patterson. </div>

Source

I guess the bus is where fights go down for the players. I remember Oden Polynice got in a fight by his player bus when he was playing for Utah. Also Chris Mills (Warriors) and some players from Portland went at it in front of the bus after a game.