On Tuesday night, a self-proclaimed “superfan” named Jeffrey Gamblero was ejected from Madison Square Garden for reportedly “obnoxiously” rooting for his beloved Brooklyn Nets to beat the New York Knicks. He also reportedly dared MSG security to eject him by taking his prosthetic leg off and placing it on his head, which is the only reason several news outlets are picking up on the story. Fans are ejected from NBA games all the time, nightly even, and the only reason this “story” is getting any traction is because this fan is slightly different than all the other louts who are tossed out.
The real story, as is usually the case, came on the court. Or slightly off of it, to be exact.
Late in the fourth quarter of the Nets/Knicks contest, New York had the ball and a chance to tie the game with the team down three. Derek Fisher, the Knicks’ rookie coach, ran down the sideline and even past the coach’s allotted standin’ box to signal for a timeout, as referee Mark Lindsay appeared to observe. Lindsay, weirdly, did not award New York with a timeout, and an unknowing Carmelo Anthony missed what could have been a game-winning three-pointer seconds afterward.
Watch:
One can debate Fisher’s control over his own team, or the tactical gains to not calling a timeout all one wants. Debate away, one. What’s most damning here is the referee’s role in this. Why weren’t Fisher’s pleas listened to?
Fisher, via the New York Daily News, says Lindsay gave him no great satisfaction following the play:
“He said he didn’t see it,” Fisher said after speaking briefly with Lindsay. “I can’t tell what he did or didn’t see. I was signaling.”
It’s a new’ish rule, but coaches can call timeouts in this league, and it boggles the mind as to why Lindsay did not listen to Fisher as Carmelo drove. Just because Carmelo Anthony wasn’t on the same page as Fisher, and just because Fisher is the rookie coach of a terrible team, it doesn’t mean the referee gets to make a judgment call and ignore what should be an automatic whistle. Fisher tried to hit pause on the game, and everything should have frozen the second he yelled “timeout.”
Back to that debate.
As the Chicago Bulls sadly learned on Tuesday night, sometimes the best chance a team has at tying a game while down three points is to run a pell mell play right to the three-point arc. Had the Knicks been granted what their coach was asking for, the Nets could have fouled any Knick shooter on the ensuing play prior to his shot, sending him to the line for two shots and depriving them of their chance at a three-pointer.
Carmelo Anthony takes quite a few three-pointers, over four a game, but he shoots around the league average. With that in place, statistically he remains one of the game’s great clutch shooters despite missing seven fourth quarter shots on Tuesday, and he created a good look for himself. Why Alan Anderson wasn’t crowding him behind the arc, forcing him to drive, is beyond me. Why Anderson even let him get to that point without fouling him is probably beyond Nets coach Lionel Hollins.
Fisher told the press he had “no problem” with Anthony deciding to take the game into his own hands, and that should be the case.
Anthony, meanwhile, says he had no idea Fisher wanted a timeout:
“I thought that was a great look,” Anthony said. “I got the ball, looked over. I didn’t see anything or anybody calling timeout so I kept going. I didn’t want them to get a chance to set up, switch or trap. I got a clean one on one shot and I took it.”
This would be the right move, as Lindsay was the one looking directly at Fisher, while Anthony was looking up court. Still, Carmelo was right next to Lindsay for about 20 feet of his 60-foot jaunt up court, which meant he was just a few feet away from Fisher as his coach attempting to call timeout. It seems a bit odd that he decided to go his own way after likely hearing Derek Fisher demand that time be called.
That’s the story here. Not some dingbat getting tossed from a game.
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Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at KDonhoops@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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