Isiah in Stevie's court

BY FRANK ISOLA
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER


Steve Francis and Knicks are stuck with each other.

The only reason the Knicks went after Steve Francis last February is because Larry Brown begged James Dolan to get him. At least that was the Knicks' version of the controversial trade.

The implication from Dolan and Isiah Thomas last week was that they never would have made a play for Francis if Brown hadn't pushed for the deal. Now that Brown is out of the picture, the Knicks are going out of their way to demonstrate to the veteran guard that he still has a place in New York.

Thomas met with Francis for two hours on Friday in Washington, D.C., as a show of good faith, with the hope that Francis comes to training camp in October prepared to regain his All-Star form after two subpar seasons.

"We were very encouraged with the meeting," said Jeff Fried, Francis' agent. "I think it's important for both sides to establish a comfort level and I think from that standpoint the meeting was a positive one."

Thomas, according to sources, intends to meet with each player individually over the summer, and visiting Francis eight days after Brown was fired made sense on several levels.

Besides the fact that Thomas was in Washington for his son's college orientation, the Knicks' new coach felt it was necessary to convey to Francis that the organization still believes he and Stephon Marbury can co-exist in the same backcourt.

In their case against Brown, the Knicks contend the fired coach endorsed the trade for Francis only to later suggest to Dolan, the Garden chairman, that Francis wouldn't work out. The Knicks say that Brown wanted Francis and Marbury cut from the team.

"Both of those trades I spoke to Larry directly," Dolan said last week. "Both of those trades he was an advocate for. The first one, quote, 'I'm dying here, I got to have this guy' - that's Jalen Rose. The second one, Steve Francis, he said, 'I'm begging you to do this.' No less than three weeks after, that's 80 million worth of transactions, I was told these guys are no good, we have to get rid of them. How do I take that?"

With Rose and Francis still on the payroll, Thomas does not expect to be active in the free-agent market this summer. The Knicks are more likely to make a deal by the February trading deadline, when Rose's and Maurice Taylor's expiring contracts become valuable assets.

Francis is in no danger of being traded because he will earn $48.5 million over the next three seasons and his value is way down. One GM said that Francis "is a very good player who has had two very bad years. Can he turn it around? That's a big question." Francis has been working out in Houston with former NBA player John Lucas and, according to Fried, is looking forward to playing for Thomas. Francis and Brown quickly clashed after the trade with Orlando, and Francis told teammates he hoped the Knicks would trade him.

"There were a lot of things that happened last year that are out of Steve's control," Fried said. "He wants to help this thing get turned around."

so if stevie doesn't get traded, is our starting 5 the following:

marbury, francis, q, frye, curry?

If you have any hope of trading Francis, the best thing to do is to try to rehabilitate his value. Meeting with him, and stating that he will start is Step 1.

Posted by Killa4luv:

DJ, Seeing how you accused Zeke and Dolan of being just as guilty as Larry Brown in bashing Steve Francis, how do you feel about Isiah going out to speak to him personally?

I think this means Isiah probably wasn't able to find the right deal (or any deal) for him. If he plays well in the first half of the season, his value should be way up and we should be able to get something of value from someone (expiring contract/s and a pick would be super). Or he could play well enough that he has value on our team. I will remain open-minded about Stevie as a Knick until about 20 games into the season.

Stevie is human too but with a bit of I-always-get-my-way attitude. How would you feel if your boss went on TV and said they didn't want you by name and then met with you privately to tell you the opposite? I would have reservations about the message and/or messenger.

Posted by martin:

Posted by Killa4luv:

DJ, Seeing how you accused Zeke and Dolan of being just as guilty as Larry Brown in bashing Steve Francis, how do you feel about Isiah going out to speak to him personally?

I think this means Isiah probably wasn't able to find the right deal (or any deal) for him. If he plays well in the first half of the season, his value should be way up and we should be able to get something of value from someone (expiring contract/s and a pick would be super). Or he could play well enough that he has value on our team. I will remain open-minded about Stevie as a Knick until about 20 games into the season.

Stevie is human too but with a bit of I-always-get-my-way attitude. How would you feel if your boss went on TV and said they didn't want you by name and then met with you privately to tell you the opposite? I would have reservations about the message and/or messenger.

Thats not really what happened. What they said is that he isn't a player they asked for and one that Brown did ask for. They were saying, without Brown begging for him, he's probably a guy they would not have made a trade for considering the makeup of the roster. Thats really not a big deal, and I'm sure he understands that himself.

Isiah going to him and speaking with him was a smart move in any event. He could have also said, there still is no guarantee that you are going to be here long term, but the better you play, the easier it will be to move you to a different situation, and I will try my best to put you into a decent situation, but you do realize my obligation is to this organization first. There wont be any of the shenanigans from last year and I want to communicate directly to you, what my intentions are. I am going into this season open-minded, and I will do what I can to get the best out of your talent so that we can win. All I ask of you is that you give 100% out there every night, dogging it will really make you untradeable. Whether you want to be here or not, it is in your best interest to play at your highest level possible, who knows where this team could go with all cylinders clicking? We certainly didn't find out last year.

Its just a talk, but after a half of a season of dealing with a coach who talks out of both sides of his mouth, I'm sure a little straight talk can go a long way.

Posted by djsunyc:

so if stevie doesn't get traded, is our starting 5 the following:

marbury, francis, q, frye, curry?

I had posted that I thought this would be the starting lineup. There is no way any team in the league wants Q or Francis on there team. Especially after last season. The only way the lineup might change is if we sign Jefferies to play the 3.Isiah is going to have to try to showcase Q amd Francis this season. Who knows, Q and Francis might have a good year. One thing is for sure Francis and Q atleast try to play d and chase after lose balls and make other hustle plays.
And I perfer Francis over Marbury.


[Edited by - BigC on 07-03-2006 1:25 PM]

good move by isiah trying to get Francis on the right page... i think it should be (if we stand pat)
Curry
Frye
Q
Steve
Marbs

Bench- Jamal, Lee, Nate, Balkman, Collins

Jalen Taylor Jerome and Malik all have no place on this team... u can argue jalen over Q but i think Q is a better defender and rebounder which is more of a need than what jalen brings to our starting lineup

Posted by fishmike:

Posted by Elite:

good move by isiah trying to get Francis on the right page... i think it should be (if we stand pat)
Curry
Frye
Q
Steve
Marbs

Bench- Jamal, Lee, Nate, Balkman, Collins

Jalen Taylor Jerome and Malik all have no place on this team... u can argue jalen over Q but i think Q is a better defender and rebounder which is more of a need than what jalen brings to our starting lineup

probably the worst defending SL in the NBA

That's why either crawford or qrich would have to go for a defensive swingman. We also need a spot up shooter since marbs and francis are both creaters.

Inspiration Is A Wonderful Thing

2004-2005:

Played and started in 78 games for Orlando, averaging team-best 21.3 ppg., team-best and career-high 7.0 apg., 5.8 rpg. and 1.44 stlpg. in team-best 38.2 minpg.…

Shot career-high .823 (499-606) from the free throw line…

Ranked seventh in the NBA in assists, 18th in scoring, 20th in minutes played and 22nd in steals…Led (or tied) the team in scoring a team-best 38 times, in rebounding four times and in assists a team-high 63 times

why can't we be friends?

fish.mike - nah, rather than believe there is some talent to be molded, let's just dig as much negative dirt on each Knicks player possible. It's the Larry Brown "tear 'em down" and "kick 'em while they're down" method.

That is way more fun than having an open mind to new combinations.

Collins - Francis - Balkman - Lee - Curry

Bring on Summer League

Posted by misterearl:

fish.mike - nah, rather than believe there is some talent to be molded, let's just dig as much negative dirt on each Knicks player possible. It's the Larry Brown "tear 'em down" and "kick 'em while they're down" method.

That is way more fun than having an open mind to new combinations.

Collins - Francis - Balkman - Lee - Curry

Bring on Summer League

Ok, let's try it your way:

With that new combination, I see lots of shots for Francis on offense while the others just stand around. On defense I see 3 role players who will give an honest effort because they're status as NBA players will always be tenuous and 2 players who will stand around not giving a damn about stopping their man or helping out a teammate.

Yeah, your way is much better.