Melo Was Right to Defend His Teammate

At the end of the Dec. 16 game against the Knicks, Melo was defending the most important player on his team besides him. If J.R. Smith is injured from the neck-tackle, or the fight, or if he, Smith, Camby, or Miller is injured in a future game because some punk copies what Collins did, or some coach orders a flagrant as the Knicks coach did, then the Nuggets season is over; they can not advance in the playoffs. Melo wants to win, not just be another Iverson who works like hell every game but whose team can not possibly win. Melo senses he can go far with this lineup.

The flagrant-2 foul on J.R. Smith was more or less ordered by the Knick's coach according to several reports I've seen, and, if true, he should be suspended for at least 7 games for that, but he won't be, because under the current system, I don't think coaches can be suspended unless they themselves assault someone during a game. As of now, coaches can coach their team any way they want, including telling them to commit flagrant-2 fouls that may result in an injury. That should change, obviously.

As for Karl having the starters in, first of all, it's a trivial thing. And it was a message to his team to stop blowing big fourth quarter leads; I think Karl is saying: "I'm gonna work your butts off in games if you keep blowing 4th quarter leads". That is reasonable and the Knicks don't have a say in how Karl coaches the Nuggets.

The game between the Knicks and the Nuggets on November 8 in Denver was the most spectacular 4th quarter Nugget collapse of them all so far. The Nuggets blew a 12-point lead and got beat by a steal and a 3-point hail mary shot at the buzzer. The Knicks had that game fresh in their heads last night and that's one of the reasons they went bonkers; they were fooled into thinking they could beat the Nuggets at home as they did in Denver. Trouble is, their win in Denver was a complete fluke. Not only was there the 4th quarter meltdown, but it was also the Nugget's first game with K-mart out of the lineup, and the team had not yet established the new play patterns for the new lineup. Najera was in for K-mart for the first time, and he is a completely different kind of forward than K-mart was. Najera himself lost the ball with 4 seconds left, costing Denver that earlier game.

Now back to the last night's fight. The situation was not at all resolved when Melo got his shot in, as some are claiming. Collins, who endangered Smith with a minute and change left in a decided game with his dangerous neck-tackle, was cussing and threatening Melo and the Nuggets when Melo got his shot in. And Nate Robinson had tackled Smith into the front rows and was still totally out of control.

Honestly, it's actually amusing to see Melo trashed for standing up for the guy he depends on for wins, it's so stupid. If Smith had been even slightly injured, there would be very few spouting off about Melo right now. Somehow, when there is no actual injury, people will say completely different things about the same dangerous incident than if there is an injury. What's up with that?

Then it's also a trip to see Melo criticised for "running away" after he got his shot in. If he doesn't run away at that point, and keeps fighting with the Knick punks,then the thug criticisms might be valid and, more importantly, he risks serious damage to his career and the Nuggets by being thrown out for the whole season if the brawl spreads into the stands or just goes on for ten minutes or something. Not to mention he risks an injury from fighting.

At least 9 times out of 10, if you are criticized from both directions at the same time, you did the best thing you could do under the circumstances. And Melo is being criticized from both directions on the net; I have read the forums.

If Melo had known the dangerous neck tackle (more or less ordered by the Knick's coach) and the fight was going to happen in advance, he probably would have planned to do exactly what he actually did. If you really think about this from all sides instead of just from one side, you will conclude that Melo was in the right and actually did exactly the right things in a bad situation created by the Knicks.

And what do you think would happen if Lamar Odom was neck-tackled with a minute left in a decided game? You think Kobe and the Lakers are going to stand around and not defend their guy? Or what if Dwyane Wade is neck-tackled and put at risk of an injury with a minute left in a decided game? You think Shaq and the Heat are going to stand around and worry about how long their suspension might be? I don't think so.

Tackling is for football, not for the hardwood. And even in football, a neck tackle is a major penalty because it's freaking dangerous, one hell of alot more dangerous than a punch.

The real problem for Melo is that the average person doing the criticism doesn't understand that J.R. Smith is as important to the Nuggets as Dwayne Wade is to the Heat or as Lamar Odom is to the Lakers. Because this Nuggets lineup is so new, most of the people criticizing Melo still have not realized that Smith is the second most important player on the Nuggets, even a little more important than Camby.

Players play on the hardwood, not on the internet, and they don't care about criticism on the internet. Nor will Melo feel guilty if Stern goes crazy and gives him more than a 3 game suspension. It won't be his fault if Stern gives out penalties that are bigger than for the same actions in previous incidents.

If it's a 3-game suspension, as it is supposed to be based on the whole history of the League, then this incident is a net plus for the Nuggets, because the rest of the League now knows enough not to engage in dangerous cheap shots to try to remove Melo and the Nuggets from the scene, so that the rest of the league no longer has to worry about being upset by an extremely talented and young team. And just as or more important, the Nuggets now know they are a real team that stands or falls, and wins or loses, as one.

So what should the league do to stop situations like this from developing? That's actually pretty easy, but it will involve changing the traditional way that the League looks at flagrant fouls. The current flagrant foul rule is a joke. When Collins did his hit job on Smith, he prevented a score. Since there is only a minute and change left in the game, he doesn't care if he is ejected, and since the game is decided, the Knicks don't care whether the Nuggets get both free throws and a score from the possession or not.

So, the new rule should be as follows: "Any player who is called for a flagrant-2 foul in any 4th quarter, or any overtime of any game, shall be ejected, and also automatically suspended for one game. And the team of the player who was fouled shall get 4 free throws and possession of the ball. Any player called for a flagrant-2 foul in any of the first 3 quarters shall be ejected from that game, and the team of the player who was fouled shall get 3 free throws and possession of the ball". I can guarantee you that that would cut way down on flagrant-2s and the Commissioner wouldn't have to figure out as many fighting suspensions.

And if that isn't enough, you can go to two game suspensions for flagrant-2s in the fourth quarter and one game suspensions for flagrant-2s in any of the first three quarters. Sooner or later, the punks will stick with ordinary hard fouls and won't go all the way to dangerous flagrant-2s. And if you eliminate most flagrant-2s, you eliminate most fights.

This would be a huge improvement, but the League can not improve its rules in this way unless it faces the reality that there are sometimes "hit jobs" done on players. However, the League is living in the past and will almost for sure stay with the namby-pamby rules it has. Since it will, it is limited to having the Commissioner-Dictator hand out arbitrary suspensions from fights. It's a stupid way to do business; players in fights assume they won't be suspended for more than a game or two or three so where is the incentive for them not to fight? They know the Commissioner can hand out only so many suspensions to one team or he will effectively kill that team's season, which in turn will cost the team and the League a whole heap of ticket and jersey sales.

The League could make a smaller improvement by being more clear about the number of days of suspension that will result from fighting, based on how many punches, whether the fight goes into the stands, whether a ref is roughed up, and so forth. At least then, the players would be on notice regarding how many games they will sit depending on how much or in what way they fight. As it is now, the suspensions are totally up to the League Dictator, and the players don't really understand or respect that process. And they know they get an appeal from their Player's Association union.

One last thing, all popular team sports have fights so this reaction that some are having: "Oh my god, the NBA is being overrun by thugs!," is riduculous. People are trying to hold basketball to a higher standard than every other sport. What about the "thugs" who have bench clearing brawls in baseball? You don't hear people saying: "Oh my god, major league baseball is being overrun by thugs!"


THE KNICKS HAVE THIS THING ABOUT CHOKING

 

I don't agree with all of your points. There was no justification to Carmello Anthony punching Mardy Collins, none.

 

"Nice" sig tremaine... I'll give you an A for effort.

 

I don't why 'Melo retreated to the Nuggets half. He would knock the fragile Jefferies 1 on 1, anyways.

 

<div class="quote_poster">P.A.P. Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I don't why 'Melo retreated to the Nuggets half. He would knock the fragile Jefferies 1 on 1, anyways.</div>

He had got what he wanted, a piece of Collins, so he did what he does after every score, he back-pedaled out of there. Melo knew that Smith was out of danger by then. He knows that if he stays in for more, he risks being suspended for half a season or more, which ends the Nuggets season for sure and messes up his career.

What he did doesn't mean he wasn't ready and willing to get it on some more, if someone wanted a piece of him. It just means he was thinking in the back of his head about the season, or his career, or both.

 

<div class="quote_poster">TheBlackMamba Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">...doesn't change the fact that he acted like a bitch after, and ran.</div>

What is he supposed to do, punch Jeffries too and risk getting suspended for 50+ games?

 

hahah...just saw the video of Anthony sucker punch. That kids a wuss. Hit and run...hahah. Robinsons pretty fiesty...haha

 

I agree with this post on a different website.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">
i dont see why people thinkin Melo should have stood his ground?

the target had been destroyed, he had visual confirmation....the mission was accomplished so he headed back to base :lol

realtalk though you just gonna stand there and get beat by 5 dudes? (nh) or are you gonna move?</div>

 

<div class="quote_poster">tremaine Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">He had got what he wanted, a piece of Collins, so he did what he does after every score, he back-pedaled out of there. Melo knew that Smith was out of danger by then. He knows that if he stays in for more, he risks being suspended for half a season or more, which ends the Nuggets season for sure and messes up his career.

What he did doesn't mean he wasn't ready and willing to get it on some more, if someone wanted a piece of him. It just means he was thinking in the back of his head about the season, or his career, or both.</div>

Dude, put down the pipe. Melo did not "do the right thing by sticking up for his teammate" - he had a MENTAL BREAKDOWN and reacted foolishly and stupidly in the heat of the moment. Two wrongs don't make a right. There is no 'street law' in a game of professionally paid millionaires, that's something they carry over into their lives from listening to too many hip-hop records IF they're immature enough to believe that that stuff actually matters to anyone over the age of 14. They are not subject to different ethics than anyone else who is a professional member of society. It is not his responsibility to exact revenge for any of his teammates being injured or fouled hard. It is his responsibility to NOT get involved as part of his contract with the Denver Nuggets and his responsibility to the fan base.

If Melo stayed back or tried to break it up in a peaceful way, the only people who would call him a p*ssy for this or a b*tch - those people are not worth looking for respect from.

If you admire Carmelo for this act, which with the photo caption "DO Not Mess With My Team" it seems like you are - you are either 16 or under and therefore immature, or you are a complete fool.

It is actions like this that stop young African American men from progressing with grace and integrity and graduating from stupid hood-ism.

I know I must sound like an old lady or David Stern right now - well I'm not that conservative, but Melo just had a breakdown and I don't think you should glamorize his mistake.

What about the kid that has tickets for his first Nuggets game next week and now he won't see Carmelo play because Melo got some noise in his brain about his "rep" that he should have stopped listening to when he first came into the league?

 

<div class="quote_poster">phunDamentalz Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Dude, put down the pipe. Melo did not "do the right thing by sticking up for his teammate" - he had a MENTAL BREAKDOWN and reacted foolishly and stupidly in the heat of the moment. Two wrongs don't make a right. There is no 'street law' in a game of professionally paid millionaires, that's something they carry over into their lives from listening to too many hip-hop records IF they're immature enough to believe that that stuff actually matters to anyone over the age of 14. They are not subject to different ethics than anyone else who is a professional member of society. It is not his responsibility to exact revenge for any of his teammates being injured or fouled hard. It is his responsibility to NOT get involved as part of his contract with the Denver Nuggets and his responsibility to the fan base.

If Melo stayed back or tried to break it up in a peaceful way, the only people who would call him a p*ssy for this or a b*tch - those people are not worth looking for respect from.

If you admire Carmelo for this act, which with the photo caption "DO Not Mess With My Team" it seems like you are - you are either 16 or under and therefore immature, or you are a complete fool.

It is actions like this that stop young African American men from progressing with grace and integrity and graduating from stupid hood-ism.

I know I must sound like an old lady or David Stern right now - well I'm not that conservative, but Melo just had a breakdown and I don't think you should glamorize his mistake.

What about the kid that has tickets for his first Nuggets game next week and now he won't see Carmelo play because Melo got some noise in his brain about his "rep" that he should have stopped listening to when he first came into the league?</div>

So if it's wrong to stand up for your teammate and the most important things are your contract and not upsetting your fan base, then why is it that the playoff seedings are decided by number of wins and, for that matter, why is the Championship decided by whoever WINS 4 games first? Why shouldn't there be a nationwide vote on which team was the most ethical and which team upset its fans the least and give the Championship to that team? No my friend, the Ring goes to the team that wins 4 games in the Championship series, and a whole lot of wins are needed to get even close to being in the Championship.

Mello is still very young, it's true, but the thing you must understand is that he wants to win more than anything else. If any more of the starting Nuggets are injured on a flagrant foul, he can not win squat and he knows it. K-mart's injury is the most the Nuggets can absorb and still be competitive and this is possible only if J.R. Smith remains healthy, confident, and productive. To Melo, the most important thing is winning, so the second most important thing is the well being of his team. His career and stats are only the third most important thing. So Melo is not going to cry if he loses the MVP over this incident, which everyone agrees was the fault of the Knicks.

The last thing he wants is to become another miserable Allen Iverson, playing for a team that has no chance in hell to be anything but a loser. What is interesting here is that I think Iverson tried to follow your philosophy for the last few years. He tried to forget about winning and just concentrate on honoring his contract and avoiding turmoil. Eventually, he couldn't do it anymore; the constant losing while he worked his butt off became too much to handle, so he demanded a trade. And now everyone can see what a poor organization the 76ers are because they can't complete a deal that will work for them in a reasonable time frame.

To give you a little background on why Melo thinks winning is more important than a contract or avoiding a fight and a suspension, consider the following biography from the site orangehoops.org. Notice how Melo was always "the ultimate team player," with a huge amount of concern for the welfare of his team:

"Carmelo Anthony put together the finest single freshman season in Syracuse basketball history, as the small forward led the Orangemen to their first NCAA tournament National Championship in 2003. 'Melo' played with a constant smile and a low key personality that allowed him to be a fan and teammate favorite. The consummate player, he could handle every facet of the game and do it well, always played within himself, and was the ultimate team player improving all those around him.

Anthony came to Syracuse has a highly recruited player, and made an immediate impact scoring 27+ points in his first three games. There were times early in the season he struggled to get the team flow working, where it was apparent his teammates were waiting for him to make all the big plays. However, as the season progressed, Anthony's team player skills became apparent, and the team started to gel as a cohesive unit.

Anthony scored 30 points against Georgetown in March, and in what would be his last home court appearance, another 30 points against Rutgers. In the NCAA tournament, Anthony was solid in the first four rounds, though heroics were required from several Orangemen for the team to advance. In the Final Four however, he raised his game to another level. Against Texas, Anthony lead all scorers with a career high 33 points, giving the Orangemen a 95-84 victory.

In the NCAA Finals, Anthony played a strong first half, both scoring and rebounding. Kansas would focus on him in the second half, reducing his scoring effort, but he contributed by pulling down more rebounds and providing several key assists. The Orangemen would win the National Championship and Anthony would be the tournament's MVP.

In his only year at Syracuse, Melo would lead Orangemen in scoring and rebounding, was on the Big East first team, Big East Rookie of the Year, and was a first team All-American.

Despite cheers of the fans for "one more year", "Melo" declared himself eligible for the NBA draft after his freshman year. He was the 3rd pick in the draft, selected by the Denver Nuggets, and improved that team from the worst team in the league to a playoff team in his first season."

So to Melo, standing up for a teammate who is in trouble is an extension of his being "the ultimate team player," which, in turn, is his way to produce a winning team. I do believe he's right.

MELO AT SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY IN UPSTATE NEW YORK

 

<div class="quote_poster">tremaine Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I do believe he's right. </div>well, if he's right, why did he feel the need to apologize to everyone for the "embarrasment" he caused? WHy did NY daily news put "Shame" of N.Y."" on the cover? Why was it constantly referred to as an "ugly" scene? The words embarrassment,shame, and ugly - tHat doesn't sound like a description of someone who was RIGHT, now does it?

 

<div class="quote_poster">phunDamentalz Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">well, if he's right, why did he feel the need to apologize to everyone for the "embarrasment" he caused? WHy did NY daily news put "Shame" of N.Y."" on the cover? Why was it constantly referred to as an "ugly" scene? The words embarrassment,shame, and ugly - tHat doesn't sound like a description of someone who was RIGHT, now does it?

</div>

Here's the statement:

"Last night's altercation with the Knicks escalated further than it should have. I take full responsibility for my actions in the matter. In the heat of the moment I let my emotions get the best of me. I apologize to the fans, the Denver Nuggets , the NBA, my mother, and my family for the embarrassment I have caused them. I ask you all for your forgiveness.

"I also want to make a personal apology to Mardy Collins and his family. My actions were inexcusable, and I am sorry for making this an even more embarrassing situation."

This is a public relations apology written by his agent and/or members of Nuggets' management. The objective is to try to stop Stern from going way overboard with the suspension. It's like a chess game at the moment. After the suspensions are announced, the next Nuggets move in the chess game will probably be to file a grievance with an arbitrator through the Player's Association. This statement can be used as evidence in that grievance, which will lead to a reduction of the suspension.

The first paragraph is neutral between your and my viewpoints. Nothing in there contradicts either my or your contentions. It's just an objective statement of what happened and an indirect apology for any "embarrassment" his punch caused. The statement does not say "I apologize for punching Collins," or even "I'm sorry I was in this brawl". It apologizes for the effect of the incident on fans of the game and others, which is different than a direct apology. The motive for this indirect "apology" is to try to persuade Stern from going crazy.

The second paragraph, the direct apology to Collins, is more on your side of the debate than mine, it's true, particularly the word "inexcusable". That word is the one that Nuggets management is hoping stops Stern from going crazy with the suspension. They know it's the word Stern himself wants to use in this situation. The last phrase, "I am sorry for making this an even more embarrassing situation," is a backhanded apology, because it's saying Collins caused an embarrassing situation to begin with. So that last phrase goes on my side of this mess.

Is Melo really sorry? Sure, anyone is sorry in general about being involved in an incident like this, it's a headache to say the least. Honestly, though, I don't think he's actually sorry he punched Collins. And he's not going to change his mind about standing up for his teammates and he isn't going to lose any sleep over what he did or over the suspension, no matter how long it is. I think he has won too many games his way to change his philosophy now over this incident. He has no idea whether, if he starts just worrying about himself, whether he will keep winning or not. Not to mention I don't think he would even know how to just worry about himself, his stats, and his contract.

No doubt fights are "ugly scenes". There are alot of ugly scenes in life and in sports. You can not avoid them. Newspapers make their money from dwelling on ugly scenes. Newspapers and news networks would be out of business if there were no ugly scenes.

No doubt, going back to your previous post, the kid in Denver should be able to see all the Nuggets play during the now ruined long holiday homestand. The solution is to start giving automatic one, two, or even three game suspensions, automatic fines in the vicinity of $100,000, and increasing the number of free throws for flagrant-2 fouls, as I explain at the top of this. That will cut way back on the flagrant-2 fouls and the resulting fights. Players know they are going to get an occassional hard foul but they do not expect and should not be subject to dangerous flagrant-2 fouls such as neck tackles. This kind of thing didn't used to happen and it's time to update the rules to try to stop this. It's time to give the refs some real power instead of having all the power in the hands of the Commissioner-Dictator.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The solution is to start giving automatic one or even two game suspensions and increasing the number of free throws for flagrant-2 fouls, as I explain at the top of this. That will cut way back on the flagrant-2 fouls and the resulting fights. Players know they are going to get an occassional hard foul but they do not expect and should not be subject to dangerous flagrant-2 fouls such as neck tackles. This kind of thing didn't used to happen and it's time to update the rules to try to stop this. It's time to give the refs some real power instead of having all the power in the hands of the Commissioner-Dictator.</div>


As for the new rule thing...that is already in play. Remember Stackhouse suspended for one game for that foul on Shaq...it could have just been a good hard foul to prevent a dunk for all we care but Stack got suspended for that. Before that, Jason Terry got suspended a game for freaking trying to call a timeout, and accidently punching Michael Finley. They were on the floor diving for a loose ball, you could barely see, you barely knew what happened, and he gets suspended for that.

Don't tell me you thought Mardy Collins wouldn't get suspended for such a foul. If there was no brawl, then to hell yes, Collins would have gotten suspended anyway. So what you said is basically redundant.

 

I also think that there was no justification for Carmelo going in and punching Mardy Collins. C'mon, Carmelo merely wants to win games, right? If that is so, he should have tried to keep the peace. He should have went in there and restrained JR Smith from doing any extra damage and getting any extra suspension time, if your youngster is really that much of an impact player on your team. Now, after punching Collins, he is going to get extra suspension time, and now his team is going to miss him more, and may end up with an even lower playoff seeding.

Basically Carmelo's emotions got the best of him, and he felt he really shouldn't have done that. Seriously, if Carmelo never ran in the fight, he might not get any suspensions and still give your team a chance.

Besides, your argument is soley based on the assumption that JR Smith is as important as DWYANE WADE IS ON THE HEAT?!

At least Carmelo backed away, I agree with that much. If he didn't back away, he would have taken more hits, be forced to fight back for self-defense, wouldn't be able to justify that he defended him self. I don't see why everyone is calling Carmelo a *****. What, do you want to see Carmelo acting like a true thug, and going in and risking suspension for an entire season. Uh, no I don't think so. Huh.

 

<div class="quote_poster">houston_owns_u Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">As for the new rule thing...that is already in play. Remember Stackhouse suspended for one game for that foul on Shaq...it could have just been a good hard foul to prevent a dunk for all we care but Stack got suspended for that. Before that, Jason Terry got suspended a game for freaking trying to call a timeout, and accidently punching Michael Finley. They were on the floor diving for a loose ball, you could barely see, you barely knew what happened, and he gets suspended for that.

Don't tell me you thought Mardy Collins wouldn't get suspended for such a foul. If there was no brawl, then to hell yes, Collins would have gotten suspended anyway. So what you said is basically redundant.</div>

Agreed, Collins would have gotten the one day suspension with no brawl, but there are some flagrant-2s not getting any suspension under the current rules, so players right now don't know for sure whether it's going to happen or not.

Right now there is an automatic one game suspension for punching and for leaving the bench during a brawl but that's it. Every suspension or no suspension is now dictated by the Commissioner except for punching and leaving the bench. There is no automatic suspension for flagrant fouls or even for fighting in general. Right now, a flagrant foul is considered an unsportsmanlike act, along with technical fouls, elbow fouls, punching, and fighting.

The Commissioner can refuse to give a suspension for a flagrant-2 called by the refs if he thinks it should have been a flagrant-1 or if he thinks the flagrant-2 was "not that bad" or for any other reason. The flagrant foul-2 (excessive and unnecessary type of flagrant) suspensions should be out of the hands of the Commissioner and completely automatic, and it's most likely necessary to go to 2-game automatic suspensions for 4th quarter and overtime excessive flagrants and 1-game automatic suspensions for flagrant-2s in the first three quarters.

If that's not enough, go to 3-game and 2-game automatic suspensions. And the fine limit has to go up from the current chump change $35,000 to an automatic $75,000 or $100,000. Fines for multiple flagrant-2s (about 4 or more of them) in the same season should go as high as $200,000, and the suspensions should double as well. And there should be 3 or 4 free throws and the ball after a flagrant-2.

Give the refs the power to generate suspensions and fines that hurt a little and you won't hardly ever see hit job flagrant-2s anymore. Here are some rules right out of the NBA official site and you can see that the refs have no power to keep the players under control beyond ejecting a player from the game, which is meaningless late in the game:

Section IX--Punching Fouls
a. Illegal contact called on a player for punching is a personal foul and a team foul. One free throw attempt shall be awarded, regardless of the number of previous fouls in the period. The ball shall be awarded to the offended team out-of-bounds on either side of the court at the free throw line extended whether the free throw is suc-cessful or unsuccessful.
b. Any player who throws a punch, whether it connects or not, has committed an unsportsmanlike act. He will be ejected immediately and suspended for a minimum of one game.
e. A fine not exceeding $35,000 and/or suspension may be imposed upon such player(s) by the Commissioner at his sole discretion.

Section VI--Fighting Fouls
a. Technical fouls shall be assessed players, coaches or trainers for fighting. No free throws will be attempted. The participants will be ejected immediately.
e. A fine not exceeding $35,000 and/or suspension may be imposed upon such person(s) by the Commissioner at his sole discretion.

Section VII--Fines
a. Recipients of technical fouls for unsportsmanlike conduct will be assessed a $500 fine for the first offense, and an additional $500 for the second offense in any one given game, for a minimum total of $1,000. If a player is ejected on (1) the first technical foul for unsportsmanlike conduct, (2) a punching foul, (3) a fighting foul, (4) an elbow foul, or (5) a flagrant foul, he shall be fined a minimum of $1,000.
b. Whether or not said player(s) is ejected, a fine not exceeding $35,000 and/or suspension may be imposed upon such player(s) by the Commissioner at his sole discretion.
c. During an altercation, all players not participating in the game must remain in the immediate vicinity of their bench. Violators will be suspended, without pay, for a minimum of one game and fined up to $35,000.

Section IV--Flagrant Foul (2)
b. If contact committed against a player, with or without the ball, is interpret-ed to be unnecessary and excessive, a flagrant foul--penalty (2) will be assessed. A personal foul is charged to the offender and a team foul is charged to the team.
PENALTY: (1) Two free throws shall be attempted and the ball awarded to the offended team on either side of the court at the free throw line extended. (2) If the offended player is injured and unable to attempt his free throws, his coach will select a substitute and any player from the team is eligible to attempt the free throws. (3) This substitute may not be replaced until the ball is legally touched by a player on the court. EXCEPTION: Rule 3--Section V--e. (4) The injured player may return to the game at any time after the free throws are attempted. (5) This is an unsports-manlike act and the offender is ejected.

 

As always, nice recap tremaine. Really liked your opinion on why George Karl kept his starters in. Everyone seems to justifying the Collins foul by pointing to that, but I personally thought it was trivial. The fact that Karl was sending a message to his own team only reinforces that belief. I can understand your perspective, but there are a few things that I can't agree with:

(1) The idea that Melo's act of aggression ensured that other teams wouldn't pull similar moves on his players doesn't make sense. This isn't hockey or football, where teams have to send messages and establish a precedent through violence. Basketball isn't as much a contact sport as those are and, just because Isiah Thomas got away with being an idiot (this is hypothetical), doesn't mean other teams would come in thinking they can do the same thing.

(2) This was an ego thing. Both on Carmelo Anthony's part and Nate Robinson's part. If safety was the issue, both players would've refrained from escalating the fight even further, just as it was beginning to settle down. Both probably heard threats and insults, but those shouldn't mean anything when the player is being held back by 2 people. The fact that they would act out of pride or anger is simply selfish.

One thing I will give you, and I think it's a damn shame that this is how it works, is that Isiah's role in this whole thing wouldn't have even been recognized if there was no fight. I find it ridiculous that this man can show no remorse for basically starting the whole thing and, in all likelihood, will not be punished.

 

<div class="quote_poster">tremaine Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">This is a public relations apology written by his agent and/or members of Nuggets' management. </div>THe key word here is "PUBLIC" in "public relations". In other words, the consensus is that the "public" would like him to apologize from an embarrassing mistake and loss of self-control.....which just proves my point about how the public at large should and do react to this incident.....

 

<div class="quote_poster">Bobcats Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">What is he supposed to do, punch Jeffries too and risk getting suspended for 50+ games?</div>
Agreed!

<div class="quote_poster">LAKERSKB8 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">hahah...just saw the video of Anthony sucker punch. That kids a wuss. Hit and run...hahah. Robinsons pretty fiesty...haha</div>

I thought he was a wuss too, but after reading some posts here, I realized that Melo did the right thing by back pedaling. Lets say if you were in that position, would you have just stayed there waiting for Jeffries to charge at you? Would you stay there to wait for 4 Knicks to come and whoop your behing? Would you stay there and fight Jeffries just to act hard and get a 50+ game suspension? No.No.No. Melo did the right thing even though it was wussy. It was wussy but it probably saved him 30+ game suspension.