Melo, Nuggets talk about suspension

It's sounding like Melo is ready to move on from the suspension and get back to work Thursday night:

"This situation was very, very small," Anthony said after the team's practice at the Pepsi Center. "Some of my teammates didn't even know what happened. The only people that knew what happened was me, (Nuggets coach) George (Karl) and the person that subbed me in.

"I've put it behind me."

Melo continues on saying he should have come out of the game and addresses what will happen in the future:

"I should have came out the game," Anthony said. "If you're a basketball player and you know how it feels when you get it going finally, your competitiveness starts coming out.

"When somebody comes to sub you out, I guess you're supposed to go out. But like I said it's one of them things. I felt like I wanted to stay in the game, and still make a run and try to win that game. It was a road game, we needed it, it happens."

And the next time he is subbed for?

"I'm going to run to the bench," Anthony quipped. "I'm going to run hard to the bench."

Full Melo take here.

I guess I'm not too thrilled with the "When somebody comes to sub you out, I guess you're supposed to go out."

I think Karl's suspension should have cleared up the guessing game for Carmelo. But I think he did handle the "and the next time" question perfectly. I hope the team quickly puts this incident behind them and comes out fired up and ready to beat the Blazers tomorrow night.

Coach Karl's take as well as Kenyon Martin and Chauncey Billups ...

Story here.

Snippet:

Karl's take:

"There's a thin line between passion and emotional immaturity," Karl said Tuesday before tipoff. "A thin line. Our mantra, from the very beginning of the season, was to be more disciplined and more professional. In my mind, that crossed the line."

 

Players' take:

Asked if the suspension shows the players that the coach is in charge, forward Kenyon Martin said, "I guess that's what they're trying to prove."

Will it work?

"I don't know," Martin said. "We'll see. I hope it doesn't affect anything that we have built so far this year. But you never know. Only time will tell. I hope it doesn't."

Said Chauncey Billups of Anthony: "He knows he made a mistake. I don't think he was doing it to say, 'Screw the team' — he was doing it because he wanted to stay in the basketball game. There's a fine line between that. There's rules to everything and punishment to every rule. But he's taking it with a grain of salt, and he's going to be fine. It's something that I'm sure he wishes he didn't do."