Nene soft BIG MAN by Amundson.

PeTBuLL · Post #1 » by **PeTBuLL** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 3:49 pm

Amundson calls Nene “dirty player”

By Chris Tomasson

Louis Amundson never before had seen a head butt in a basketball game. But he knows what happened in the 2006 World Cup.

With that in mind, the Phoenix forward said if anybody in the NBA knows about head butts, it would be Nuggets center Nene, who is from a soccer-rich nation.

“He’s from Brazil, so I’m sure he knows about soccer tactics like the head butt,’’ said Amundson, touching upon the infamous one France’s Zinedine Zidane threw at Italy’s Marco Materazzi, resulting in ejection from the 2006 World Cup final.

The head butt was on display in the NBA on Monday at US Airways Center. Nene threw one at Amundson in the fourth quarter of Denver’s 118-115 loss, which led to Amundson on Tuesday calling Nene a “dirty player’’ and a “fake, tough guy.’’

But the head butt apparently wasn’t why Nene was ejected. Shortly thereafter, Nene banged into Amundson’s chest. Then he threw an elbow, knocking Amundson to the floor with 7:25 left in the game, which earned Nene a flagrant foul 2, an automatic ejection.

It’s possible Nene, who went face to face with official Bill Spooner after being ejected, could be fined or suspended for Wednesday’s game at New Orleans. Spokesman Tim Frank said the NBA is still reviewing the incident, with no decision expected until Wednesday at the earliest. If Nene is suspended, it would have to be announced before Wednesday’s game.

On Tuesday, Amundson, a 2001 graduate of Louisville’s Monarch High School, spoke at length to InDenver Times about the incident.

“I’m playing hard and with a lot of energy, and Nene took exception to the fact that I was going to play physical back with him,’’ Amundson said. “I play hard, but he was playing dirty the whole game. He was elbowing me. … He was hitting me in the head and the neck.’’

Then, with the Nuggets leading 97-96, the 6-foot-9, 225-pound Amundson was guarding the 6-11, 250-pound Nene away from the ball. Nene went at Amundson with an apparently unprovoked head butt.

“I was surprised that he did that,’’ Amundson said. “But then I was not too surprised because I know he’s kind of a dirty player.’’

What really surprised Amundson is nothing was immediately called after the head butt. That’s why he admits he threw some acting into it when Nene came with the elbow.

“He head butted me, and I guess they didn’t see that,’’ Amundson said. “So when he hit me, and I went to the ground, it was a little bit of a flop. But after the head butt, I figured that was the only way to draw attention to what was going on.’’

Even though Amundson is from the Denver area, where his family continues to live, he said he never has met Nene socially. As for Nene on the court, Amundson has formed an opinion.

“I think he’s a fake, tough guy,’’ said Amundson, a three-year veteran from UNLV. “He’s going to pick on me. I’m just playing hard, and he’s going to head butt me and do dirty stuff to me.’’

Asked if he believes Nene should be suspended, Amundson said, “It’s not up to me.’’

“We just got to be more emotionally mature,’’ Nuggets coach George Karl said to reporters after the game about the incident. “We have an emotional team, and we’ve talked about it. It just seems like we have some guys, some reasons, something will happen almost on a weekly basis. … Amundson did a good job of getting under Nene’s skin. He tried to do it. You could see him doing it. (Nene) just got to understand what’s going on and not hurt us by not being on the court.’’

According to Nuggets publicist Eric Sebastian, Nene on Tuesday had no comment.

This isn’t the first scrap Amundson has been in this season. Clippers forward Zach Randolph was ejected last month and suspended for a game for throwing a punch at Amundson.

“These soft, tough guys, you don’t back down from them,’’ Amundson said of the incidents involving Randolph and Nene.

Amundson is averaging just 4.1 points in 13.1 minutes this season. He was undrafted in 2006 and has come out of nowhere to be a rotation NBA player, which is one reason he believes he gets under the skin of established players.

“I think that comes into the respect factor,’’ said Amundson, who at least has achieved some NBA recognition because of his long hair, which he puts in a pony tail. “A lot of guys, they don’t know my game. They’ve just got to understand that I play extremely relentless and I’m physical all the time. … (Opposing players) are going to throw their weight around, but they’re not used to guys who aren’t going to back down.’’

As for Amundson, he’s not used to being head butted.

Nutty Nats Fan · Post #2 » by **Nutty Nats Fan** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 5:08 pm

Wow, what a freaking tool. He was only in there to try and start crap. He also whines about the refs missing something, so admits to flopping? What a whimp. The soft one is Amundson, not Nene.

I hope he is fined. NBA was supposedly going to come down on floppers, right? Well, he admits to it.

RRFB · Post #3 » by **RRFB** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 6:47 pm

PeTBuLL wrote:But the head butt apparently wasn’t why Nene was ejected. Shortly thereafter, Nene banged into Amundson’s chest. Then he threw an elbow, knocking Amundson to the floor with 7:25 left in the game, which earned Nene a flagrant foul 2, an automatic ejection.

Yeah, that was one mighty elbow.

It was obvious that the only reason Amundson was in the game was to get into Nene's head and piss him off. Unfortunately for us it worked, but then he turns around and calls Nene dirty? Thats bull. If anything it's the opposite.

J Smitty · Post #4 » by **J Smitty** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 7:15 pm

“I think that comes into the respect factor,’’ said Amundson, who at least has achieved some NBA recognition because of his long hair, which he puts in a pony tail.

Writing win by Chris Tomasson right here.

Ms. Pony Tail calling Nenê soft? HAHAHAHAHA....HA! If Nenê threw an elbow for real, this fool wouldn't have been able to stand up...he'd have been carried out on a stretcher. I love little pussies who only talk, and then when the man they talk **** to actually does something shut them up, all they can do is sit there....and then talk some more after.

EMB6903 · Post #5 » by **EMB6903** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 9:21 pm

can anybody explain what a "soft tough guy" is?

No need to get worked up off what some scrub player has to say..... dude with a pony tail calling somebody else soft.... LMAO!

mutumba · Post #6 » by **mutumba** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 9:26 pm

“He’s going to pick on me. I’m just playing hard, and he’s going to head butt me and do dirty stuff to me.’’

Hah! Something tells me Amundson would really enjoy Nene doing dirty stuff to him.

DePastino · Post #7 » by **DePastino** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 9:37 pm

I love little pussies who only talk, and then when the man they talk **** to actually does something shut them up, all they can do is sit there....and then talk some more after.

If the end result means anything, it sounds like Amundson did more than talk...he got Nene tossed.

So your theory is that Amundson was jawing at Nene, so he head-butted him? If that's true, he's a moron. Now every opposing forward is going to try the same tack.

Nice going, Nene.

J Smitty · Post #8 » by **J Smitty** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 9:47 pm

A guy who talks **** and then just walks away when the man confronts him.....that's what makes you soft. Not confronting a boy who can only flop and talk, because he is too much of a pussy to do anything else.

That **** was the same way in high school though, so it's really nothing new.

DaDragicShow · Post #9 » by **DaDragicShow** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 11:50 pm

Why would Amundson talk crap back to Nene knowing they can easily "T" him up or suspend him. Amundson is a smart dude, loves to piss players off and soon he'll be known around the NBA. Nobody is going to mess with him anymore and people are going to start getting scared of him knowing what he can do defensively.

CanNugget · Post #10 » by **CanNugget** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 12:16 am

arizonaplaya85 wrote:Why would Amundson talk crap back to Nene knowing they can easily "T" him up or suspend him. Amundson is a smart dude, loves to piss players off and soon he'll be known around the NBA. Nobody is going to mess with him anymore and people are going to start getting scared of him knowing what he can do defensively.

... awesome

TXSun · Post #11 » by **TXSun** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 12:49 am

2 game suspension! not very smart by Nene. who's the idiot now? he's not hurting Amundson or anybody else, he's hurting his own team in such a key stretch of the season. Nene is a future allstar, but those actions are unexcuseable. there's no tolerance in this league for head-butting. Only hurting his own team.

PeTBuLL · Post #12 » by **PeTBuLL** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 12:57 am

HUahauhauah, Amundson has much upside as Olowakandi has...

DaDragicShow · Post #13 » by **DaDragicShow** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 2:07 am

Nuggets fans just wish Nene could ever become a good defender like Amundson.

pickaxe · Post #14 » by **pickaxe** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 2:08 am

I seriously need to see video of the headbutt. Somehow I don't believe an nba player would throw a headbutt when you're doing everything possible to avoid head contact.

Post #15 » by **TASTIC** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 2:28 am

I don't see Nene trying any of that sort of thing against Shaq....so yeah. Big tough guy picking on the guy who's shorter and a good 30lb lighter.

Wish he'd tried something with Barnes...he's smaller but he's a scrapper...

I don't think Nene's a dirty player though, it was a total frustration moment

Nutty Nats Fan · Post #16 » by **Nutty Nats Fan** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 3:00 am

meloivynene wrote:I seriously need to see video of the headbutt. Somehow I don't believe an nba player would throw a headbutt when you're doing everything possible to avoid head contact.

Here you go.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HziDlkOl8fc

About the 1:35 mark, got it off a thread on the general board.

I wouldn't call that a headbutt. Amundson is definitely a whiney little pussy to complain about that. If it actually hit him, wouldn't have hurt. He also appeared to be falling down before any elbow touched him. Which again, if it did, wasn't actually throwing an elbow, nor would have hurt.

Amundson = total puss and whiney cry baby

Nutty Nats Fan · Post #17 » by **Nutty Nats Fan** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 3:03 am

TXSun wrote:2 game suspension! not very smart by Nene. who's the idiot now?

The league, obviously. There has been a lot worse done this year, that didn't even get a suspension.

As a Suns fan, you should know Stern is out to get some teams (or favor some).

pickaxe · Post #18 » by **pickaxe** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 3:26 am

Well, Amundsen was hustling all over the place. He was also flopping all over the place. It is also possible that Amundsen was clipping Nene all over the place.

Barnes is a scrapper but I can see him getting just as frustrated as Nene with Balkman or Jones on him.

I don't think any player appreciates getting clipped and outhustled. The outhustled part is pride, but getting clipped is just lack of respect.

Post #19 » by **el loco** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 3:44 am

TASTIC wrote:I don't see Nene trying any of that sort of thing against Shaq....so yeah. Big tough guy picking on the guy who's shorter and a good 30lb lighter.

Wish he'd tried something with Barnes...he's smaller but he's a scrapper...

I don't think Nene's a dirty player though, it was a total frustration moment

Maybe if Shaq's fat ass could stay on the floor for more than 5 minutes at a time he could have landed the head-butt on shaq because Nene certainly caught air on the transvestite, I guess he/she is the closeted/closest thing to a pussy the league has. Then the 2 game suspension, might seem somewhat reasonable as it is, it is a bull ruling by the league imo.

pickaxe · Post #20 » by **pickaxe** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 3:58 am

You know, it really looked like Nene was simply pushing off body and trying to use his momentum to clear Amundsen away, like lowering the shoulder. His head turned down but it did not look like an actual headbutt.

When was the last time you saw someone headbutt someone and then throw their arms up in the air and rotate their trunk.

It really looked like a nudge if anything, a push off, which certainly doesn't warrant a 2 game suspension. Besides, the nail marks on Nene's arm as Amundsen fell didn't even get mentioned.