On the Catfight in the Garden

When it comes to the Nuggets v. Knicks fight most people are in one of two camps: a) they say Knicks Coach Isiah Thomas is to blame for ordering hard fouls or b) they say Nuggets Coach George Karl is to blame for running up the score. Some people think both are culpable to some extent, but I don't find fence riding to be all that comfortable.

The problem is Isiah Thomas. I don't care if George Karl was trying to run up the score. I don't care if he was pressing up 20 with 10 seconds left. I wouldn't have cared if he called a time out with 1.4 seconds left to set up a play so the Nuggets could bury the Knicks just a little deeper. This is professional basketball. This isn't college. It's not high school. It's definitely not a recreational church league. If the Knicks don't want to get embarrassed, they should play better. The Knicks have a lot of talent ... Marbury, Francis, Curry, Frye, Crawford, etc. The problem is the way Thomas assembled the team in the first place ... that and the lack of commitment to team play by the guards and conditioning by the big men (Curry and Jerome James). Speaking of James, what kind of idiot gives a player who's battled weight issues $30 million over 5 years when his only worthwhile performances were in the playoffs at the end of a free agent year?

Under no circumstances is it ok to order intentional hard fouls from the bench. If Mardy Collins does it on his own, fine. It's like Ozzie Guillen ordering a pitcher to throw at a batter and then demoting said pitcher after the game because he missed. If Thomas has a problem with Karl then he should give him a call or even confront him in the tunnel. Don't tell a rookie (whose playing time you control) to take out your frustrations on the opposing team.

While I'm getting to the bottom of this, I'm going to pass over Collins and Smith (who was fouled). Smith acted as almost any NBA player would have and took exception to the hard foul. The problem was that Nate Robinson agitated the situation. As big a part as Thomas had in the fight, Robinson was right there with him. As soon as Robinson instigated the fracas, all bets are off. Anything that happens after that should fall squarely on the shoulders of Robinson and Thomas because they created the flare up.

If someone throws a punch at you and you block it and then you knock them out with a punch to their face that they aren't able to deflect, should you get in trouble? What happened to them was a direct result of something they did. That's why the person who acts first should get the penalty in football (offsetting penalties for personal fouls are B.S.).

George Karl may have been trying to run up the score against the Knicks. Or, he may have been concerned about blowing a lead late. It may have been a little of both. However, arguments that he should have taken Carmelo out with two minutes left to rest him are ridiculous. Sitting out the last two minutes of a game isn't going to significantly benefit Anthony. Whatever Karl's reason was for leaving his big guns in the game, he had every right to do that. Thomas crossed the line by threatening Anthony and protecting his players after a horrible incident. For that, he should be punished more severely than any of the players, aside from maybe Nate Robinson.