Mr.Bottomtooth
12-17-2006, 08:28 PM
ZEKE'S PUNKS December 17, 2006 -- Is this the final straw for Isiah?
THE Knicks of Isiah Thomas have disgraced themselves more than Larry Brown's club ever did. Mardy Collins, Nate Robinson and Jared Jeffries have to be given lengthy suspensions by the NBA for their roles in last night's frightening brawl with the Nuggets.
And ESPN.com was reporting Thomas could have initiated all this by reportedly telling Carmelo Anthony not to go into the paint.
Robinson and Collins are two recent Thomas draft picks, and Jeffries was a free-agent signing this summer. The trio looked like punks at the end of getting bombed out of the Garden by the superior Nuggets. The Knicks' excuse afterward that the Nuggets were running up the score is bogus. There were no apologies either from the unprofessional Knicks, who don't deserve to play on the hallowed Garden floor this season.
You can blame so much of it on Thomas even before the revelation he may have said something to Anthony. Thomas already set the tone in San Antonio last month. Thomas tried to start a fight with a player, Bruce Bowen. You reap what you sow. Thomas looked heartbroken when the brawl was over and all 10 players on the court at the time got booted. This wasn't bravery. This was stupidity and lack of discipline.
You can blame Thomas for acquiring a punk named Nate Robinson, who is 5-7 and has to always show he's so much bigger than that. I was on Bill Mazer's radio show in Westchester the other day, said I was afraid that one night Robinson is going to incite an oncourt riot. He wasn't the worst culprit, but he should get a nice suspension from Stu Jackson, already reviewing the case.
Six months ago, Thomas drafted Mardy Collins, whose tackle foul around the neck of J.R. Smith in the final two minutes began the brawl. Soon, there was Robinson in the middle of it, fists up, looking to rumble, then getting tackled himself into the third row by Smith. Afterward, Robinson said the Nuggets shouldn't have had their starters on the court with Denver up 20 points.
It was laughable to hear Robinson talk about sportsmanship. Ironically, a few weeks ago, Robinson, after getting in trouble for botching that well-documented bounce-the-ball-off-the-court dunk in Cleveland, said he'd only try it in the future if his team was up 20.
Anthony will get the largest suspension for throwing the obvious punch that landed on Collins' face, but Robinson, Jeffries and Collins all deserve major punishment. Especially with no apologies in the Knicks' locker room afterward for giving the NBA another black eye. The mammoth swarm of empty seats Friday night in Indiana's hallowed Conseco Field House truly showed this league is in deep trouble.
Jeffries, in his fourth game as a Knick, decided he would deliver the retribution for Anthony's slug, not David Stern. Jeffries raced down the length of the court, looking to spill blood. Credit Knicks assistant Mark Aguirre for holding onto Jeffries for dear life. Jeffries was called by Thomas the "glue" to the Knicks when they signed him, but instead he looked like a lunatic last night.
Had Aguirre not held on, Jeffries might have been suspended for the season, with Thomas gone soon, too. There weren't enough peacemakers out there, David Lee a notable exception.
What must James Dolan be thinking now about Thomas and this mess now?
http://www.nypost.com/seven/12172006/sports/knicks/zekes_punks_knicks_mark_berman.htm
THE Knicks of Isiah Thomas have disgraced themselves more than Larry Brown's club ever did. Mardy Collins, Nate Robinson and Jared Jeffries have to be given lengthy suspensions by the NBA for their roles in last night's frightening brawl with the Nuggets.
And ESPN.com was reporting Thomas could have initiated all this by reportedly telling Carmelo Anthony not to go into the paint.
Robinson and Collins are two recent Thomas draft picks, and Jeffries was a free-agent signing this summer. The trio looked like punks at the end of getting bombed out of the Garden by the superior Nuggets. The Knicks' excuse afterward that the Nuggets were running up the score is bogus. There were no apologies either from the unprofessional Knicks, who don't deserve to play on the hallowed Garden floor this season.
You can blame so much of it on Thomas even before the revelation he may have said something to Anthony. Thomas already set the tone in San Antonio last month. Thomas tried to start a fight with a player, Bruce Bowen. You reap what you sow. Thomas looked heartbroken when the brawl was over and all 10 players on the court at the time got booted. This wasn't bravery. This was stupidity and lack of discipline.
You can blame Thomas for acquiring a punk named Nate Robinson, who is 5-7 and has to always show he's so much bigger than that. I was on Bill Mazer's radio show in Westchester the other day, said I was afraid that one night Robinson is going to incite an oncourt riot. He wasn't the worst culprit, but he should get a nice suspension from Stu Jackson, already reviewing the case.
Six months ago, Thomas drafted Mardy Collins, whose tackle foul around the neck of J.R. Smith in the final two minutes began the brawl. Soon, there was Robinson in the middle of it, fists up, looking to rumble, then getting tackled himself into the third row by Smith. Afterward, Robinson said the Nuggets shouldn't have had their starters on the court with Denver up 20 points.
It was laughable to hear Robinson talk about sportsmanship. Ironically, a few weeks ago, Robinson, after getting in trouble for botching that well-documented bounce-the-ball-off-the-court dunk in Cleveland, said he'd only try it in the future if his team was up 20.
Anthony will get the largest suspension for throwing the obvious punch that landed on Collins' face, but Robinson, Jeffries and Collins all deserve major punishment. Especially with no apologies in the Knicks' locker room afterward for giving the NBA another black eye. The mammoth swarm of empty seats Friday night in Indiana's hallowed Conseco Field House truly showed this league is in deep trouble.
Jeffries, in his fourth game as a Knick, decided he would deliver the retribution for Anthony's slug, not David Stern. Jeffries raced down the length of the court, looking to spill blood. Credit Knicks assistant Mark Aguirre for holding onto Jeffries for dear life. Jeffries was called by Thomas the "glue" to the Knicks when they signed him, but instead he looked like a lunatic last night.
Had Aguirre not held on, Jeffries might have been suspended for the season, with Thomas gone soon, too. There weren't enough peacemakers out there, David Lee a notable exception.
What must James Dolan be thinking now about Thomas and this mess now?
http://www.nypost.com/seven/12172006/sports/knicks/zekes_punks_knicks_mark_berman.htm