Brawlers got what they deserved
David Stern got it right.
The punishment the NBA commissioner handed out for Saturday night's brawl during the Denver-New York game at Madison Square Garden was even-handed and just.
It would have been easy to dismiss the cowardly punch thrown by Carmelo Anthony with a slap on the wrist. But Anthony, the NBA's leading scorer, got pinched for 15 games, which he deserved.
Denver's J.R. Smith, whose overreaction to a hard foul by New York's Mardy Collins triggered the entire brawl, got 10 games.
Yes, Smith was flagrantly fouled. But if he had walked away and allowed the officials to do their job, the whole incident would have been avoided.
Instead, Smith jumped up, went chest-to-chest with Collins, took offense when the Knicks' Nate Robinson got involved and started fighting.
This was Smith's fault.
No initial confrontation, no brawl. Simple as that.
If the Nuggets want to blame anyone -- and they are trying hard to pin this on Knicks' coach Isiah Thomas -- they need to start with Smith.
The guy who might have a beef with Stern is Collins, who got tagged the most for doing the least.
He committed a hard foul at the end of a lopsided game, and it was rightfully called flagrant.
But Collins did not retaliate when threatened by Smith and was standing with his hands at his side when Anthony threw his punch.
For his part in the incident, Collins was suspended for six games, even though he probably wouldn't have even been ejected had the melee not followed his flagrant foul.
One other thought.
Anthony's suspension will coincide with the coziest stretch of the Nuggets' schedule. Denver will play 12 of its 15 games without Anthony at the Pepsi Center. That translates into 30 percent of the Nuggets' home season.
I wonder if the Nuggets' season-ticket holders are entitled to a 30-percent refund?
-- Steve Luhm
The punishment the NBA commissioner handed out for Saturday night's brawl during the Denver-New York game at Madison Square Garden was even-handed and just.
It would have been easy to dismiss the cowardly punch thrown by Carmelo Anthony with a slap on the wrist. But Anthony, the NBA's leading scorer, got pinched for 15 games, which he deserved.
Denver's J.R. Smith, whose overreaction to a hard foul by New York's Mardy Collins triggered the entire brawl, got 10 games.
Yes, Smith was flagrantly fouled. But if he had walked away and allowed the officials to do their job, the whole incident would have been avoided.
Instead, Smith jumped up, went chest-to-chest with Collins, took offense when the Knicks' Nate Robinson got involved and started fighting.
This was Smith's fault.
No initial confrontation, no brawl. Simple as that.
If the Nuggets want to blame anyone -- and they are trying hard to pin this on Knicks' coach Isiah Thomas -- they need to start with Smith.
The guy who might have a beef with Stern is Collins, who got tagged the most for doing the least.
He committed a hard foul at the end of a lopsided game, and it was rightfully called flagrant.
But Collins did not retaliate when threatened by Smith and was standing with his hands at his side when Anthony threw his punch.
For his part in the incident, Collins was suspended for six games, even though he probably wouldn't have even been ejected had the melee not followed his flagrant foul.
One other thought.
Anthony's suspension will coincide with the coziest stretch of the Nuggets' schedule. Denver will play 12 of its 15 games without Anthony at the Pepsi Center. That translates into 30 percent of the Nuggets' home season.
I wonder if the Nuggets' season-ticket holders are entitled to a 30-percent refund?
-- Steve Luhm
7:54 PM
| 
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home