It has been almost a week since last week's disgraceful events at Madison Square Garden took place, I needed to let things sink in, read the quotes from the "experts" and hear the sound bites from all of those involved and let it marinate like a playoff steak. Now it is time to let loose on what took place last Saturday night at the Garden. In what seemed like the run of the mill New York Knicks performance we are used to these days, (well, prior to this 3 game winning streak they are currently on) which is getting their doors blown off at home the Knicks were trailing the Denver Nuggets by the score of 90-67 after Marcus Camby nailed a 20 foot jumper with 4:03 to play in the 3rd quarter. Now one thing the Knicks seem to do when down by 20 plus points at home is go on a run and really tease the fans. (The Celtics game on December 11th is a perfect example as the Knicks trimmed a 30 point lead to 9 in what seemed like 5 minutes) So the Nuggets lead begins to dwindle and before you know it at the end of the 3rd quarter this is a ten point game, 94-84, after a 16-4 Knicks run.

There is a lot to cover regarding both coaches here but first and foremost if I am George Karl whose team had lost two straight coming in and has blown second half double digit leads on more than one occassion, I am challenging the heck out of my guys in the huddle before the start of the fouth quarter. All the Knicks were starting to do was play hard and impose some of their will and Denver was wilting. You can not allow that as a coach, not as a coach of a team that wants to be a contender for a championship by the spring. You can also not allow a team like the Knicks who do not show up to play on many nights at home to get their crowd back into the game. That is a major no, no. And to the Nuggets and Coach Karl's credit Denver came out in the 4th quarter ready to put the Knicks away.

The 4th quarter started with a 16-6 Nuggets run over the first 5 minutes to build the lead back to 20 points. A comfortable lead with seven minutes to play? Yes. Game over? No way, you gotta keep playing ball. This is not middle school or some CYO s#*t, this is the NBA, where guys like it or not are getting paid millions of dollars to be out there on the court regardless of time and score.

With 4:13 to go in the game JR Smith throws down a reverse dunk on the break to make it 114-96. Do George Karl and the Nuggets taste Knickerbocker blood? I would think yes. Are the Knicks waiving a white towl? Not that I saw, so the game goes on. Mardy Collins, a Knick rookie point guard checks in the game for Stephon Marbury with two minutes to go following a Denver timeout and the score comfortably reading 117-100, in favor of Denver. That is 17 points not 30. Now where I have to do some speculating is here, what happened during this timeout? Was Collins put in the game to mop up or to put someone on their ass? Was Karl keeping his starters in so they could finish the game off strong and end their road trip on a positive note or did he really do it to stick it to the Knicks for how they treated his good friend Larry Brown?

Let me first comment on Karl. This guy really does not give a s#*t what people think of him and he is going to do what he is going to do to make his point and get his team to the next level. I will say this as clearly and as honestly as possible, I have NO issue with what Goerge Karl did regardless of his motive. You want to teach your team how to close out a road game? Then by all means do it. You want to stick it to the embarrassment of an organization that the Knicks under James Dolan and Isiah Thomas have become, because of what happened with regards to Larry Brown then go right ahead. The more wake up calls the Knicks get like that, the sooner someone will do something to right this ship.

The Knicks have become a disgrace to basketball, the NBA and the city of New York. I can't put into words how happy I am that I am not a Knicks fan. Those reading that know me, can you imagine if I cared about the Knicks like I care about the Celtics? I know, scary. Anyway, back to the coaches. What did Isiah say to Mardy Collins in that timeout? Did he invoke the no layup rule that his Bad Boys effectively used in Detroit when he was a well respected figure in this league? What was Thomas thinking when he warned Carmelo to stay out of the paint? If you were trying to send a message to the other team with physical play would you warn them first? I wouldn't. Red Auerbach wouldn't, Bob Knight wouldn't, Pat Riley wouldn't, would you? Isiah telling Carmelo that was almost as smart as the Steve Francis trade.

So with 1:15 to go in the game and Denver leading 119-100 Mardy Collins takes down JR Smith from behind on the break. Was it the most flagrant of fouls? No. But it was flagrant enough for Smith to react initially as he did. (He was taken down hard the night before in Boston by Al Jefferson so I am sure he did not appreciate it again the next night especially with the game in hand) Smith turned and got in Collins' face then all hell began to break loose thanks to Collins' mouth and Nate Robinson's "I wanna fight the world because I am small and made it to the league" complex. Nate, you should have been pulling your teammate away from Smith instead of antagonizing Smith. Robinson raised his hands right away like he wanted to throw down, and after David Lee lost hold of Smith that is exactly what happened with 8 other players and the referees watching as Robinson and Smith went at each other and it spilled into the first row. Nice look for Dolan and the Garden, I bet Red Holzman would have been thrilled as I am sure Walt Frasier was sitting courtside, no rhymes for this one Clyde.

Channing Frye, Jared Jeffries, and David Lee all come over to get them out of the crowd (I feel like Kevin Costner in JFK, "back and to the left, back and to the left") then Carmelo Anthony grabs Frye from behind and throws him in his ass back under the hoop. (At this point if you are in a Denver uniform you must get Melo off of the court) Melo then kind of glares down at Frye and gives him that "you better stay put if you know what is good for you" type of look and then makes a beline for the center of the storm, which is starting to calm, where he and Collins start to jaw at each other. They are briefly seperated but then Collins says something that triggers Anthony to lose all control of himself and unfortunately moments later his manhood. Melo takes two quick steps back towards Collins and catches him with a right hand across the face. But then Melo goes into this backwards retreat across the Garden floor like a frightened kid who just did something really bad and knows he is about get the belt or something. Jeffries then storms after Anthony as he is trying to get his teammate (Collins') back. And we all know what happened after that, the ten players on the floor are ejected, the game soon ends and the quotes start flying.

This was a bad night for the NBA. It was a reminder of what happned in the Palace in Detroit just over 2 years ago. You have one of your bright young stars throw a debatable sucker punch and then run away. You have what should be one of your flag ship franchises that has turned into a complete mockery in the greatest city in the world start this chaos, and worst of all you have young fans in the stands, many of whom think this kind of behavior is funny and cool. I have no issues with the suspensions the players received. I just have an ongoing major issue with the Coach who was not penalized at all.

Isiah Thomas, you were a great, great player but you haven't the clue how to coach in this league or be an executive. You talk about playing tough and you send a guy into the game to committ a hard foul because you feel your team is getting embarrassed by an opponent late in a game. What about about your team early in games? What about playing hard all of the time? Especially at home in front of your fans that are so fed up at this point I am shocked people still pay for tickets. Marbury could not stay in and committ the foul? It is one thing if your team regardless of record plays hard, is a class act and takes pride in defending its home court. But yours, Mr. Thomas does not. Your days in Detroit do not roll over to this team, you must earn the right to employ those tactics on your team. Just like Boston, Detroit, Chicago and even the Riley coached Knicks did when this league was in its hay day.

To the Knicks credit they have won three straight at home since this incident beating two teams on fire, Chicago and Utah and topping Charlotte in double overtime. Someone please take the time to explain to me why Charlotte did not have 4 guys in the paint to take away the lob pass with .1 seconds left in that one? I love some of the coaching and communication techniques in this league. The Knicks are benefiting from these suspensions right now I believe because it shortens their player rotation and guys like Frye and Lee play heavier minutes together on the floor. The Celtics experienced the same thing during their recent 5 game winning streak as Gomes, Szcerbiak and Perkins were all in and out of the lineup which provided Tony Allen and Al Jefferson major minutes along side Paul Pierce which was beneficial to everyone, especially Doc Rivers who had to play those guys and they gave him great results. But with Pierce now sidelined for 2-3 weeks with a foot injury the Green look to be in for a tough stretch thru new years. It starts of all places in Denver against the Nuggets and Allen Iverson Tuesday night. Happy Holidays to everyone, well everyone except Isiah...

Hello all,

I have been gone for a while, my apologies. Between Thanksgiving, both Basketball teams, Fastbreak kids, two creative projects and the rollercoaster which is the Celtics I have not had much time to write lately. I also had the flu for a week which was a ton of fun. But when there is a will there is a way. (And of course Larry Legend's 50th Birthday was December 7th, had to celebrate with lots of highlights on NBA TV)

Our Varsity has opened the season with a 3-2 record as we have been very up and down. After a thrilling 4th quarter on the road in our opener, which was a victory at Friends Seminary we have yet to consistently hit our stride. We split two games in the Scarsdale tourney falling to a very talented Ossining team and then defeating Clarkstown North. Then last Friday night we had our home opener in a packed gym against Trinity. After a slow first half where we trailed by as many as 14, and 8 at the half, we fell behind by 12 in the third quarter before we began to show glimpses of how strong we could be this season. Some strong defense got us running and the tempo of the game turned in our favor as we faught back and tied the game. The game eventually went to overtime and thanks to some clutch shots, big rebounds and energy from our crowd we hung on to win by 4 points. It was quite a scene at the end with the fans and players tasting this excitement in December. What is so crazy about coaching at this level is how quickly your team can win a game like that and then come out in your next game against a rival and not play well, and that is exactly what happened against Collegiate on Monday. Due to scheduling I was coaching my JV team at the same time as the Varsity, and we ran into the same problem. We did not play nearly well enough to win and yet we lost by 4 points. Kids are so erratic sometimes, my job is to get them to the point where they can not help but be consistent. When we are there I will let you know, as tonight we lost again at the Greenwich Country Day School by 9 points, this is going to be an uphill climb. Only thing to do is to get back to work at practice tomorrow.

Turning to a team I have no effect on but yet they are just as inconsistent as mine at times are the Boston Celtics. Tonight's 20 point victory in Philly over the ANSWERLESS 76ers is their 3rd straight, after Pierce's buzzer beater last Saturday in New Jersey and Monday's win at MSG which saw the green build a 30 point lead and then barely hang on to win. At this point as a fan you gotta take the wins anyway they come but if I am at the game does the second half have to be that gut wrenching? I was freaking out for a few minutes thinking that they were really going to give this one back to the Knicks. Speaking of the Knicks they finally kicked someone's ass tonight at home as they beat the Hawks. I love hating the Knicks.

But the real news remains all of the Allen Iverson trade talk. Will he go out West? Will KG get his wish? Will Danny Ainge offer enough to get him in green running and gunning with Paul Pierce? I am remaining optimistic but what price is reasonable for The Answer at this point since Philly must deal him? I am checking all the sites every 10 minutes for news, I really want him to go to Boston badly. This team needs to get back on the basketball map again, and putting Iverson with Pierce and Co. will do that. It also may help Doc Rivers enter mediocrity as a coach. Doc has been taking alot of heat, but at 8-13, with a bunch of close games squandered it is unavoidable right now. Danny Ainge listen closely, The East is wide open, GO GET ALLEN IVERSON, just don't trade Jefferson or Green. I know very easy for me to say.

Time to get some rest.

Lots of special shout outs to: Mom and Dad, Todd, #21, PR, Team Fastbreak, Lunar Sports Group, Doc Hagen, The Wolf, 15J deluxe (Happy Birthday Jessica), BD in the City, The Jab, Rebecca, and Brendan. Thanks for all of your support.