STRAY COACH SPURS ANGER IN POPOVICH
The Knicks are angry. But Gregg Popovich is angrier.
A day after the NBA levied a fine against Wizards assistant coach Sidney Lowe for standing on the court and yelling during the Knicks’ final possession of a 113-110 loss Thursday night, Popovich called for heavier penalties and chastised Washington for its bench decorum.
“It’s unsportsmanlike, it’s childish, it’s inappropriate,” the Spurs coach said at shootaround Saturday morning in Cleveland, according to the San Antonio Express-News. “There’s no place for it.”
The Wizards were fined $15,000 for the incident while Lowe was fined $5,000.
Popovich said the fines should be $250,000 for the team and $50,000 to $75,000 for an offending player or coach.
“Everybody would sit their ass down,” Popovich said.
“I think they got off easy,” Popovich continued. “What if that shot costs a playoff game because somebody does that? … Maybe that affects a coach being fired. Maybe a franchise winning a series. So if you think about it, maybe it’s worth it for 5 or 10 thousand to go do that.”
The play in question from Thursday night’s game at the Garden came with less than 10 seconds remaining and the Knicks trailing by three points. Carmelo Anthony drove into the lane and kicked to Courtney Lee in the corner.
Lee was wide open behind the three-point line, but he passed up the potential game-tying shot. Lowe was standing on the court mere feet away from Lee with his hands up. Lee said after the game Lowe was also yelling out defensive assignments. Lee mistook Lowe for a player and said that was the reason he didn’t shoot. “I’ve been moaning and groaning about it for a decade, about everybody standing up on the bench when somebody shoots a three,” Popovich said. “If you were at your kid’s junior high game, you’d tell the kids to sit down and behave themselves. So why do we get to get up and do that kind of crap?” Jeff Hornacek addressed the fines for the first time Saturday before the Knicks took on the Suns. “There was probably some distraction there that shouldn’t have happened. But that’s the way it is sometimes,” Hornacek said. “Late clock, probably shoot it anyway whether the distraction’s there (or not). But Courtney felt that they were right on him, and so I can see him trying to take one dribble and try to kick out to someone else. So no fault of his.”