"All Ten Players Have Been Ejected!" mysteriously came out over the Garden Public Address system with a little over a minute in the Nuggets rout of the Knicks.
What happened? In all of the nearly 30 years that I have been following basketball going back to the great 1977-1978 Washington Bullets (my favorite team in addition to the 1980s Showtime Lakers), I have never seen all ten players ejected at same the time.
My friend Prashanth (AKA PG), the rest of the Garden faithful, and myself were almost sent home with another depressing loss. However, with about two minutes left, PG asked why are Marcus Camby, Carmelo Anthony, and other Nuggets starters still on the floor. I yelled out with about
1:33 "George, take Carmelo out of the game!". PG and other witnesses can corroborate this. George would have none of it as he played for Larry Brown at North Carolina and just MAYBE wanted to rub it into to Isiah and Mr. Dolan who was critical of Larry Brown earlier this week. Furthermore, Carmelo played for Larry Brown in the Olympics. Small World, eh?
This unfortunately was very presicent as a few seconds later, the Nuggets J.R. Smith has the ball appears to be going in for a layup when the Knicks Mardy Rollins intentionally fouls him by pulling him down by the shoulders. The Tank went on instinct, grabbed my camera, and ran down the aisle to take the following photo and video for you. I apologize in advance for the shakiness of the camera as I was running down the stairs and then almost tripped over a lady's pocketbook who left it out in the aisle and fell down the stairs. What I do for you, my loyal readers.
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Let's get the following straight. I am a huge Carmelo Anthony fan as he played for my beloved Syracuse Orangemen. As a scrappy teenager, my high school classmate Jim and I were on the winning 1985 Jim Boeheim Basketball Camp Championship team. We were a hustling group of overachievers who won the championship on the same floor in the Carrier Dome that the Orangemen play on to this day.
Over 21 years later, the Tank wanted to see Carmelo Anthony play and thank him for bringing me basketball closure by winning the 2003. (We should have won in 1987 but Keith Smart sunk the winning fade away jumper to seal the win for the Indiana Hoosiers.)
However, after the fight broke out, it calmed down, and then erupted again when Anthony threw a punch at Rollins. This was the ugliest incident since the brawl at the Palace of Auburn Hills between the Pistons and Pacers in November 2004.
Anthony should be punished for this. The referees covened for several minutes and reviewed the tape. (Is anyone in MLB paying attention?)
Nuggets Coach George Karl, who I have always admired as a coach and analyst, should have NEVER EVER had Carmelo Anthony, Marcus Camby, and other Nuggets starters on the floor with a 20 point lead and only two minutes. Karl is an old pro and screwed up here. You don't want to risk injury (hurt hand) and probable suspension as Knicks Coach Isiah Thomas had pulled Stephon Marbury who played great with 31 points.
The referees finally decided to throw out all ten players. Therefore, since the Knicks "had surrendered", Stephon Marbury had to come back into the game. The Knicks ended up losing 123-100.
What does this mean for the Knicks? This maybe the turning of the corner for the Knicks as the City can rally around them. Do I think they will replicate the Red Sox championship after the fight between A-Rod and Jason Varitek galvanized the 2004 team? Highly unlikely but the Knicks are only 1.5 games out of the Eastern division lead and the 8th playoff seed so you never know what can happen.
Let's see what happens. Until next time, Go Knicks!
Posted by the Tank in NY.
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