Albert, Partner Air Differences
Boxing isn’t dead at Madison Square Garden. It was revived Wednesday night during the Indiana Pacers-New York Knicks telecast when the MSG Network’s Marv Albert and John Andariese could have used Mills Lane, the boxing referee, to separate them during an on-air quarrel over Indiana guard Byron Scott.
The tone was more serious than the playful, teasing banter that usually occurs between Albert and Andariese, who have been partners for 17 years.
The snit started with 5 minutes left in the second quarter, with Andariese’s contention that Scott knew how to deal well with playoff pressure because of his years with the Los Angeles Lakers.
“Oh, really,” Albert said. “He has had problems in the playoffs.”
“Yeah, but pressure doesn’t bother him,” replied Andariese.
Albert shot back: “Oh? That’s a discussion that could take about a half hour.”
Andariese defended Scott as a member of three championship teams. ‘I’m not saying he is above criticism,” he said. “I’m just saying that he knows playoff pressure. Will you allow me that?”
“No,” said Albert, “because he did not respond to it.”
Exasperated, Andariese said, “Byron Scott is an unreliable playoff player?”
“He is,” said Albert.
“I cannot accept that theory, Marv,” Andariese replied.
Prodded to check a record book, Andariese found that Scott’s playoff scoring average was 14.5 points per game, one below his regular-season average. Albert chastised Andariese for not examining individual game performance.
“John,” said Albert, “he has had a very bad playoff series, also. Do you realize that, John? Have you been watching this series?”
Scott’s 3-pointer, which nearly won the game, did not appease Albert.
“But it was a sweet irony,” Andariese said Thursday.
About the exchange, Andariese said: “It was a wrestling match. It got heavy. I felt Marv was saying the guy’s a dog who chokes, and I wouldn’t give in. Marv is very strong. He was being a bully.”
Said Albert: “John was wrong. It was like arguing that Bill Buckner was a great World Series performer. Scott’s had a nice career, but he hasn’t done well in the playoffs. John likes to go to stats but doesn’t understand them.”
Albert said he felt vindicated by the judgment of Hubie Brown, the TNT analyst whom he consulted about Scott at halftime.
“He just went crazy,” Albert said of Andariese, adding that he was glad to relate that he was on the same wavelength as Brown, the former Knicks coach.
Andariese felt reprieved by some fans outside the Garden who had watched the game at a local bar. “They gave me high-fives when I left,” he said.
Both brushed off the exchange as a once-a-year thing.
Both remembered a spirited argument a year or two ago about the shooting touch of Kevin Gamble.
“I’m hoping to meet up with John in Indianapolis tomorrow,” Albert said Thursday, “but I think he’ll be spending the day shopping with Byron and his family.”