allen iverson. nugget.

Allen Iverson, Nugget. I don’t even think it sounds so crazy; Allen Iverson, Sixer, just sounded like one of those cruel jokes the league performs to make a team look viable when it’s really a ship made of rotting wood. I think John Hollinger has it best—we are about to see some good ol’ basketball. Mostly because Andre Miller was miscast in the Denver go-go offense. And because Iverson can actually pass, and might do so more now that he has batter players to pass to. After all, have you seen Sam Dalembert finish? Me neither. Have you seen Chris Webber keep up? Me neither.

The Sixers might actually get an okay deal out of this. Two mid-round draft picks could be parlayed into one lottery pick—no, wait, those are pretty late draft picks. It’s a deep draft, but looking at the possible selections on nbadraft.net, well, I have my doubts. I’d tank a few games and go for Kevin Durant over Greg Oden. Who needs a center, anyway? Or talent? (See, I can think like Billy King!) Though Durant might take playing time from that wonderful Willie Green. That was sarcasm.

At the very least, the Sixers won’t be the Iversons;
we’ll see what Iguodala can do; we’ll watch Webber ride into a star-crossed sunset. We’ll see what Kyle Korver can do with more shots.

Man, this is a good deal for Denver! Wow. The next question would be, does it make them contenders? Dallas is still tough, the Suns might put it together this year, and the Rockets are worth watching. But Denver? They’re in that conversation. Definitely. They might want to find someone to defend on the perimeter; and George Karl can needle anyone into hysterics. But I think they definitely have a chance.

My predictions for post-fight suspensions were pretty solid, except I overestimated how hard Jared Jeffries would have been hit and underestimated the role of Mardy Collins--

The NBA handed down its penalties in the aftermath of Saturday's brawl

Player Team Suspension Carmelo Anthony Nuggets 15 games Nate Robinson Knicks 10 games J.R. Smith Nuggets 10 games Mardy Collins Knicks 6 games Jared Jeffries Knicks 4 games Jerome James Knicks 1 game Nene Nuggets 1 game

In addition, the Nuggets and Knicks were each fined $500,000.

basketbrawl!

Meanwhile, in sports, the Knicks get into one of the craziest brawls in basketball history. New York got a little taste of Red Star Belgrade's Serbia for the night (sans thrown batteries, etc). Of interest, and my guesses on suspensions:

1- NBA scoring leader Carmelo Anthony watches too much of the Wire. He really does. His sucker punch of Mardy Collins (who is commits the initial foul) is guessed to be worth a 5-game suspension. But NBA Commissioner David Stern is probably very heated about this; I think Carmelo gets 15 for walking back into the fray and throwing a ridiculous punch. He should get a few more days for backpedaling like a damned punk. He ran back to his bench after his punch. If you're gonna keep a brawl going, don't just get your shot in and then run from Jared Jeffries and crew. Come on, dog. That's bullshit. You could have found him after the game, Carmelo, if you really wanted to get a good shot in.

2- Nate Robinson, NBA's 2nd shortest player, will get 7-10 games to rest his bruised ego. He felt the need to... I don't know what. Uphold someone's honor? Show everyone that a man (listed at) 5 foot 9 can still fight the giants? Afterwards, he talked about respecting the Knicks court, and how the Nuggets shouldn't have had their leading scorers in the game. This from the guy who tried to dunk off of a backboard in a game against Cleveland-- that counts as showboating and disrespect kid. So you can Identify him, he's the little guy running about yelling "let me at 'em! I'll splat 'em!" Please tell me you get that reference.

3- Jared Jeffries, I'm okay with what he did. He gets 5-7 games for continuing the fight and trying to get back at Carmelo (he didn't throw a punch so he won't get the same penalty as Carmelo). But I respect him trying to break it up and when that punk Carmelo threw a fairly unwarrented punch, trying to go after him.

4- Benchwarmer Mardy Collins gets 2 games for the hard foul. Maybe only 1.

5- Youngster JR Smith, Denver's 2nd leading scorer, was trying to whoop up on people and accelerated the incident. I think he gets maybe 10-15, since he threw a punch and went into the stands wrestling with Nate Robinson. And for fun, you can watch a spinning loop of Nate Robinson and JR Smith dancing.

6- I hope Mexico's finest basketball player, Eduardo Najera, doesn't get a suspension. He might get a game. So might the Knicks David Lee, just for being there-- David Stern will want to hammer anyone within twenty feet of the fight. I think I saw Jerome James up off the bench, he gets a fine. So will Isiah Thomas. But I don't think Coach Thomas will get a suspension... but a fine.


Here's a version set you MC Hammer's "Can't Touch This." Thanks YouTube!




Also, meanwhile-- Terell Owens spat on a guy.