Source: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3952603 ********************************************************************* Melo promises to let Karl sub for him Updated: March 4, 2009, 6:24 PM ET ********************************************************************* DENVER -- Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony says he wishes George Karl would have kept his insubordination a secret but promises next time his coach tries to sub for him, he'll sprint right to the bench like a kid lunging for an empty seat at musical chairs. "I'm going to run. I'm going to run to the bench. I'm going to run hard to the bench," Anthony pledged Wednesday after practicing with the team for the first time since his one-game suspension for refusing to come out of Denver's game at Indiana on Sunday night. Anthony, who had been mired in a shooting funk, had just hit a couple shots late in the third quarter against the Pacers and said he felt his hot hand merited his staying in the game, so he refused to be subbed for Linas Kleiza. Karl was incredulous. "There was not much anger there. It was more of a shock when it happened," Karl said Wednesday. "We sat down and decided that was kind of the mantra of our season, to be more focused, more disciplined, more professional. "And that crossed the line," he said. So, after conferring with the team's brain trust, Karl suspended Anthony for the Nuggets' game Tuesday night at Detroit. Anthony watched the Pistons' 100-95 win from the team hotel, rejoined his teammates afterward for the flight home and then met with Karl before Wednesday's workout. "It was just me wanting to be in there, wanting to play, wanting to finish that run that we just had," Anthony explained in his first public comments about the incident. "... If I was wrong, I was wrong. I don't think I can be wrong for wanting to win a basketball game and trying to help my team win." Karl said there was a thin line between passionate play and insubordination and his star player crossed it by crossing the coach. "I didn't want to come out," Anthony said. "If you look at it that deeply, then yeah, I maybe was wrong. I should have come out of the game, but if you're a basketball player, you know how you feel when you get something going finally and you're about to sit, your competitiveness all comes out." What Karl wanted was for Anthony to come out. "I think it was a combination of different feelings, he wasn't playing very well and he finally made some shots and his reaction was overboard," Karl said. "And I get to play policeman." Anthony said he should have gotten off with a warning. "Well, I mean, when somebody comes to sub you out, I guess you're supposed to go out. Like I said, it was one of those things where I felt like I wanted to stay in the game and make a run and try to win that game," Anthony said. "In my eyes I thought the situation was minute," he added. "Nobody knew what happened. ... Some of my teammates didn't even know what happened. The only people who knew was me, George and the person that was coming to sub me in." That's not the point, Karl said. To understand Karl's reaction, it helps to remember that he found himself in a somewhat similar situation in Milwaukee several years ago when he was coaching the Bucks and Tim Thomas refused to return to the court in the final minute of a blowout at Denver. Karl wanted to suspend Thomas, but team owner Herb Kohl wouldn't go along with it, reasoning that nobody had seen him refusing Karl's instructions, so it was best to keep a lid on it. Karl lost that argument and his relationship with both Thomas and Kohl cooled after that. This time, the Nuggets backed Karl 100 percent, and Karl made his point loud and clear. "As an organization, we talked about it and we had to ... come down in a strong way," Karl said. "I'm not a big believer in suspensions. I don't necessarily like them. I think they're probably more uncomfortable to me than anybody," Karl said. "But I think there's certain situations where they are necessary." Interestingly, Anthony never apologized for his actions, either in his chat with the media or his 20-minute meeting with Karl. "I think there was just a moving on kind of conversation," Karl said. "I don't know if the word 'apology' was there, but I think we all feel that we're in a good place. We're excited about the challenge and it's best right now to forget about it and move on." Anthony, who will return to action Thursday night against Portland, and Karl both said there was no rift between them. "I never had any words with George. We never had an argument. It was just, you know, he took a stance on what happened and the result was a suspension," Anthony said. And he said he understands Karl's position. "He's got to do his job. He's got to coach. We've got to play. I mean, at all times during the 82-game season, everybody's not going to always agree, and that was just one of them times I didn't agree," Anthony said. "I didn't want to come out of the game." Anthony said it won't happen again, and Karl said he believes him. "I was shocked it happened at all," Karl said. "So, I'm probably very convinced that it won't happen again." ********************************************************************* -- Only the strong survive- Iverson ⊕ ═█┘ ⊕ ●╱ 　　　 Ｗ ● ●︵ ● ●)) ３╯ <３\ /３⊕ ／３﹚ ３ \\ />⊕ >/ ⊕ ╲> >> ========= http://www.wretch.cc/blog/AWEI3 ========= --

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