Monday, December 18, 2006

NBA Dishes Suspensions for MSG Brawl:
Melo Gets 15 Games (Wow)

What did I say earlier: An over/under of 50 games total for suspensions handed out by the NBA for Saturday night's MSG brawl?

I was close: It was 47, including 15 for Carmelo "Stop Snitchin' Sucker Punchin'" Anthony, the 6th-longest suspension in NBA history. Nate Robinson and JR Smith got 10 games each. Mardy Collins, the original instigator, got 6. Jared "I Will Chase You Down!" Jeffries got 4. Jerome James and Nene got 1 each for leaving the bench.

For those counting at home, that means that there were several of the 10 players ejected from the game who weren't punished, which simply means they weren't trying hard enough.

(As for Isiah, there were fines levied on the organizations, but nothing specifically for the coach who may or may not have actually instructed Collins to lay a smackdown.)

Any reactions to the punishment? Specifically: How about that 15 for Melo?

PS: Good day for punishments! The NFL fined T.O. $35K for spitting in DeAngelo Hall's face. But the talking-point value is priceless, along with the emasculating effect on Hall's career.

27 comments:

BLUE said...

15 games is way too much, and to respond to another post on the previous string, Stern has had his suspensions reduced by a mediator in the past. Stephen Jackson and Jermaine O'Neal didn't serve the full suspension that Stern handed them, neither did Latrell Sprewell. I think Melo missing 7-10 games would be about right.

Anonymous said...

at this point, i'm scared what it would take in a knick's game to surprise me...

Allen Wedge said...

Shouldn't Melo at least get more based on how badly he was at this? He didn't even fully connect on a swing he took while no one was even paying any attention at all to him and then sprinted away.

Unknown said...

I only care in that Carmelo is on my fantasy team.
Maybe Baron Davis and Tim Duncan will cover the slack....

ugh

Anonymous said...

Here's my issue: Melo wasn't 33% worse than everyone else in the fight, but that's how the punishment was doled out. If you give Melo 15, you need to up everyone else.

The biggest issue, in my mind, is that Thomas gets nothing. Without him ordering the cheap shot, there is no brawl. Then again, suspending him might be a favor for the Knicks.

Brian in Oxford said...

If Stern really is the NBA's version of the Mafia....and he's a lifelong Knicks fan...how does he not "pull the strings" to get Isiah fired?

Anonymous said...

Fire-siah! Fire-siah! Boom-boom clap-clap-clap Fi-re-siah! Fi-re-siah.

Anonymous said...

15 games is a gift, considering that what he did was an arrestable offense anywhere but on an NBA court.

It pisses me off that TO didn't get suspended a game, though. How can you spit in a guy's face and be cleared to play in the team's immediate next game? How is he being penalized, again? Either fines should be a percent of your salary (unless you're baited by a lower salary player) or they should always be suspensions. Let the players hurt their teams, not their pocket book--then we'll have fewer TOs.

Anonymous said...

i think its funny that a bunch of white guys can charge the mound in baseball and all it creates is a replay on sportscenter, but for the NBA it becomes a point of social impact.

I do have issue with isiah's indifference to the matter.

Ftrain said...

15 games sounds just about right for someone that continued to keep fighting.

I think the media is blowing this waay out of proportion. Page 2 "we're just glad nobody pulled out a firearm." Give me a break!! It's not like anyone got hurt or injured. It was NOTHING like the "Battle for the Palace", where if you saw it live you actually were worried about the safety of the people in the area.
Baseball brawls are much worse but I guess since it's a suburban whitebread sport the media gives it a pass.

Anonymous said...

I wonder: had 'Melo had directed his frustration towards the true instigator of all this nonsense and clocked Isiah Thomas, would he have gotten any disciplinary action?

BLUE said...

15 games is a gift, considering that what he did was an arrestable offense anywhere but on an NBA court.

You're right, but you forget that athletes can stab, kill, rape, and rob people and not get suspensions even remotely in the same vicinity. So don't be ridiculous, it was a slap that Mardy Collins had coming, he should have shut his mouth.

Brian in Oxford said...

If Bud Selig threatened 50-75 game suspensions, maybe basebrawls WOULD have more social statements to them.

The point is that Stern does a much better job of policing his league's image. So it means more because Stern WANTS it to mean more. If this brawl led to nothing but a one-game suspension for two guys, they'd become more commonplace and laughed off.

Personally I'd like the first batter who charges a mound to be taken down by the riot police from the dugout.

Anonymous said...

Brian in Oxford said...
If Bud Selig threatened 50-75 game suspensions, maybe basebrawls WOULD have more social statements to them.

The point is that Stern does a much better job of policing his league's image. So it means more because Stern WANTS it to mean more. If this brawl led to nothing but a one-game suspension for two guys, they'd become more commonplace and laughed off.

Personally I'd like the first batter who charges a mound to be taken down by the riot police from the dugout.

________

Im not sure that this is the difference...my point is that the general public doesnt look down on baseball fights the way they do basketball fights. so, the irony isnt in the way that stern handles it vs. selig, rather than the general publics perception.

Frankly, I find a 90 mph fastball to the head much more dangerous than a melo punch, no? I mean a fastball can seriously damage you, a melo punch evidently just bounces backwards 50 feet to midcourt.

Anonymous said...

Good point, ben.

I do think that a wind up punch should get more than ten games, simply because of Kermit Washington-Rudy T., but shoulds and coulds don't win arguments.

On the other hand, my beloved Bulls have the Knicks' first pick this year! In the name of the Ewing Theory (or maybe Lawrence Frank is more apt)--stay, Isiah, stay!

Anonymous said...

Melo needs to go to the Greg Kite/Bill Laimbeer School for NBA Fighting...his limp-wristed "haymaker" reminded me of Lamar Latrell in Revenge of the Nerds

Anonymous said...

I bet Stern pulls strings to get A.I. traded tonight or tomorrow, so everyone forgets all about a fight that shouldn't have such a big deal in the first place.

Anonymous said...

Carmelo should never have gotten 15 games -- the one who should have gotten the 15 games of suspension is Isiah Thomas. He says that they were behind so that they had already given up!! When exactly do Isiah and the team decide that it is okay to give up? When they are behind 5 points? 7? 10? 15? Maybe that is why they do not win any games. Isiah should be slapped 15 times across the mouth for his stupid comment. If the Knicks are going to give up, they should not bother to come and play ... oh, that's right, they usually do not come to play which is why they lose so many games!!! Isiah should be gone, gone, gone.

Trey (formerly TF) said...

Carmelo got 10 for throwing the punch and 5 for running a way like a vagina...

Listen, after Rudy T in the 1970s a sucker punch should be taken seriously. Sorry Carmelo got what I think is an equitable suspension.

Joe (Dayton)

BLUE said...

Why do people keep calling it a sucker punch? For one, Mardy Collins was right in front of him and saw it coming. He was jawing at 'Melo, so the sucker part is out. It's not like he ran up behind him and smacked him. Second if you watch the replay he ends up with an open hand. So it's a slap. That being said, the wuss is the guy who fell down from slap. I agree 'Melo realizing what he did and running away isn't very tough, but imagine if he'd have stood there how much further it would have escalated. If 'Melo would have hit him with a fist that hard, not only would Collin's jaw be broken but 'Melo's hand would be seriously hurting.

And one final point, didn't Mardy Collins go to Temple? Do you think it's a coincidence that Isaiah used Collins to take the hard foul. Isn't that what they were taught at Temple a year or two back.

TJ said...

I'm (mostly) with Simmons. 'Melo is hardly the most blameworthy guy here--hell, I think Isiah is more blameworthy. However, 'Melo should have known better. I'll buy 'heat of the moment', but don't give me 'manhood'. And don't give me 'sucker punch' either. 'Melo and a couple others (including Isiah) should have gotten 10 each, and that's about it.

That said, this "brawl" didn't really bother me. The fact that the Knicks are cheapshot fouling like that was crappy, and it sucks that it spilled into the camera guys a little, but it was a pretty straightforward, harmless fight. Don't really see the big deal here.

Unknown said...

If I'm suspending people here's what I do:

Isiah Thomas: Indeffinitly - While we are talking about sending messages, let's send this one: "Coaches can't put their end-of-the-bench rookies in at the end of games to get revenge. Ever."

Nate Robinson: 15 Games - The way I see it, we have to punish people in accordance with the equation: Without you, what happens? So, Isiah is the worst, Nate is second. After J.R. Smith was held back by David Lee, Robinson took a swing at him. Without that swing, everyone is restrained and this never happens.

Mardy Collins: 10 Games - He made the initial hard foul. Coache's orders or not, you can't take two hands to a guy's head.

Carmelo Anthony: 10 Games - No punching guys, even if he's baiting you and you know he wanted to start a brawl. 'Nuff said.

Jared Jeffries: 8 Games - Defending your teammate is good. But once someone restrains you and you keep going and going that is past a line.

J.R. Smith: 2 Games - Bumping chests after getting tackled. OK. Tackling a guy who takes a swing at you. Not OK. Understandable though.

Nene and Jerome James: 1 Game Each - That's the rule.

Obviously, no suspension for George Karl. If we start suspending coaches for their rotation decisions we are going to have a problem.

Anonymous said...

Any one taken a look at Mardy Collins face as he makes the foul?...it's as if he's a kid reluctantly carrying out an parent's errand...or a bully's order...like he doesn't want to do what he's been told to do. I wonder what words Isiah used to manipulate Collins into fouling. It's pretty clear what Chaney said to his Temple player, but what about Isiah? Did he tell him to hurt a guy? Hit him in the head? It's not like Collins worked hard to disguise the foul as a legitimate attempt at the ball...but it's also clear that he doesn't have a faceful of rage and a desire to vent some hatred. And if Collins really is that deep of a bench player (I'm not too familiar with the Knick's roster), could Isiah threaten to cut him? What a cowardly bastard if he did. Also, where does the slow motion replay of Isiah's face as he threatens (I don't care what bs excuse Isiah gives) 'Melo rank in the alltime villainous demonic expressions? I hate him...

Anonymous said...

Personally I'd like the first batter who charges a mound to be taken down by the riot police from the dugout.

------------------------------------

Or have a punishment that the offending player has to spend 10 minutes in a steel cage with Nolan Ryan

Unknown said...

What people here are missing is that when teams charge the mound in baseball, they all hold each other back and hardly a punch is ever thrown. When there have been fights with batters seriously trying to hit a pitcher, there have been suspensions of 5-10 games.

I am a huge Syracuse fan but I have no problem with Carmelo's suspension. It was just plain stupid. I think 15 is on the high end but the NBA is sending a message after the Det-Ind mess.

When Isiah is fired, he is done in the NBA for life. Nobody will ever have to look at his wry homosexual smile again and listen to his moronic dribble. I seriously think Isiah is functionally retarded. Why people think because he could play PG that he could do things like run a team is beyond me.

I can't wait for Verizon to bring fiber optic lines to my neighborhood so I can divorce myself from Dolan completely.

Anonymous said...

There goes Melo's street cred. I never thought I'd miss Laimbeer and Mason this much.

Anonymous said...

horatio: you're wrong about football. It's an automatic ejection, and probably a guaranteed fine at least.