Heated+Halftime+Argument+Leads+to+Another+Loss+in+Minnesota

__A Heated Halftime Argument Leads to Another Loss in Minnesota__ By Joseph Natale

There was a total of 8-12 inches of snow accumulating on the ground in Minneanapolis Saturday night. The temperature was nearly seventeen degrees below freezing outside of the Target Center for the Nets game versus the Minnesota Timberwolves, but things were getting so heated in the locker rooms during halftime that a homeless man asked stadium security if he could find haven in them and stay the night. They had their hands a bit too full at the moment though as they tried to pull a pair of respected NBA head coaches off of each other following a dispute. “I’m not really quite sure what triggered it,” stadium employee David Weathers admitted. “Mr. Rambis was screaming at the team very loudly and the team came out and entered the tunnel, next thing I know I turn around and hear the Nets coach shout something then attack Mr. Rambis.” This was perhaps a biased perspective though, as Nets forward Troy Murphy, who claims to have seen the entire mishap, describes the series of events differently. “Coach didn’t really do anything wrong in my book,” the soft spoken big man told reporters. Murphy, who had been out of the game nursing an ankle injury, was walking behind with the Nets trainers, and had a clear view of what happened. “Their coach had said something about our team and Coach Johnson in particular and he happened to be right there to hear it, and (Coach Johnson) called to him and he turned back and they were yelling at each other. That’s all we thought it was. Before you knew it though they began shoving each other and all of the security jumped on them.” When asked who instigated the physical contact Murphy said he “wasn’t really sure”. Murphy said he came running to his coach’s defense though, sacrificing his ailing ankle and when the six foot eleven, two-hundred and forty five pound intimidator came onto the scene, the fight pretty much dwindled down. On behalf of his coach he said that he “didn’t know what (Rambis) said, but it must have been pretty bad, because Coach isn’t usually like that. He’s never even flipped on us in practice like that before.” Neither coach was available for comment on the matter as police are still filling out a police report pending the Minneanapolis police department’s investigation. Despite who quote on quote, “won” the fight, Rambis came out victorious as he managed to light a flare in his team, who came back to win the game after that, outscoring the Nets 52-31 in the second half. After the game we were able to catch up with one of the Minnesota players, who for the most part gave us the impression that the coach’s fiery actions inspired the team. “We didn’t really know what happened at the time,” Timberwolves forward Kevin Love said, “but after Coach Rambis freaks on us like that, we’re always ready to go. He’s a real passionate guy and I think he really did his job in helping us win tonight.” As for the Nets, who have just nine wins on the season now, perhaps they will need a little more help from Coach Avery Johnson, who’s hot-headed tactics seemed to have an adverse effect. Captain Devin Harris seemed to agree, putting it best when he said that “Right now all we need to do is get better, and the only way we’re gonna do that is by practicing. It has nothing to do with our coach or whatever happens behind the scenes at halftime. We just need to get better.” And as for us fans, who have been sitting back and watching this losing trend occur night after night, well we’re just going to have to take Harris’s word for it when he says that the team is “heading in the right direction”. Hopefully for Avery Johnson that doesn’t mean “heading the opposing coaches”.