http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/03/sports/basketball/03knicks.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Exerpts from NYT
By Howard Beck
Published: October 3, 2007

CHARLESTON, S.C., Oct. 2 — The journey from the courthouse steps to the basketball court, from the trial in Lower Manhattan to the training camp in South Carolina’s low country, was smooth, effortless and seemingly transformative.

Isiah Thomas took a helicopter from Wall Street to Long Island, where he boarded a Cablevision jet that whisked him to Charleston. He was greeted at the gate by Mark Aguirre, his longtime friend and Knicks assistant coach. Hours later, Thomas walked into a College of Charleston gym, having ditched his suit and tie in favor of a black shirt and shorts adorned with Knicks logos.

By 6 p.m. Tuesday, Thomas was once again exuding the quiet confidence of an N.B.A. coach and Hall of Fame player — albeit one who had been found to have sexually harassed a former colleague.

“I’m excited to be back,” Thomas, the embattled Knicks’ coach and president, told a small gathering of reporters in a brief interview before the team’s evening practice. “I’m about winning now, about getting back on the floor and coaching the guys and getting my team ready to go out and compete and win a lot of games.”



“I’ve been around a long time, and I know what’s accurate and what’s inaccurate,” Thomas said.

Thomas was greeted with hugs by several of his players at the team’s downtown hotel. Earlier, the veteran Malik Rose said the team could “be like a collective shield for him and help him get through this time.”

“We were hoping that he would be found innocent,” Rose said. “I guess in some of our eyes, he still is innocent.”

[Edited by - misterearl on 10-02-2007 10:38 PM]

A collective shield?

Depends on how much love the players have for their coach and selector.

G-U-I-L-T-Y

djsu - is there enough "like" to rally around the head coach as a cause to play more intense basketball?

or does any of such 'loyalty' matter when the ball racks are on the court... or when the games start?

Posted by misterearl:

djsu - is there enough "like" to rally around the head coach as a cause to play more intense basketball?

or does any of such 'loyalty' matter when the ball racks are on the court... or when the games start?

players liking the coach is a huge step towards winning.

the question really is if these players are good enough to win as a team and whether the team is constructed properly. that's always been the question about isiah's gm'ing ability - whether he knows how to put together a winning team or is isiah basically a very good draft scout...

Posted by misterearl:

codeunkown - you funny

have you checked NewsCorp books lately?

No, but I did check the list of interns. I highly recommend working at MSG.

Posted by misterearl:



My sense is that given the speculation over the appeal, the Knicks players will adopt a dual personality. One public, (to satisfy the league). and one private (to cope internally).

What do the Knicks players have to cope with?

Its all entertainment. Go Knicks!!

Posted by misterearl:

djsu - is there enough "like" to rally around the head coach as a cause to play more intense basketball?

or does any of such 'loyalty' matter when the ball racks are on the court... or when the games start?

Ugh, are we still searching for magic potions to motivate unmotivated players? Every year it's the same thing: Marbury and TT have been brought home; Marbury wants to prove he really is "the best"; they want to prove it was Lenny's fault; They like Herb, they'll want to win for him; Marbury wants to exonerate his Olympic performance; Larry can motivate anyone; Curry wants to prove Chicago dissed him; Curry will be happy to play with Jamal; They'll want to prove it was Larry's fault; If they know Isiah's job is on the line they'll want to pull through for him; Maybe the shame of the brawl will galvanize them together; losing the harassment case will motivate them...

Jeesh, when can we just expect them to play like they care? Or like professionals?

Posted by nixluva:

Posted by BlueSeats:

Posted by misterearl:

djsu - is there enough "like" to rally around the head coach as a cause to play more intense basketball?

or does any of such 'loyalty' matter when the ball racks are on the court... or when the games start?

Ugh, are we still searching for magic potions to motivate unmotivated players? Every year it's the same thing: Marbury and TT have been brought home; Marbury wants to prove he really is "the best"; they want to prove it was Lenny's fault; They like Herb, they'll want to win for him; Marbury wants to exonerate his Olympic performance; Larry can motivate anyone; Curry wants to prove Chicago dissed him; Curry will be happy to play with Jamal; They'll want to prove it was Larry's fault; If they know Isiah's job is on the line they'll want to pull through for him; Maybe the shame of the brawl will galvanize them together; losing the harassment case will motivate them...

Jeesh, when can we just expect them to play like they care? Or like professionals?

The team seemed to me to care last year. When a team is trying to find itself it's hard to quantify just how much of their struggles have to do with caring and how much is just not being good enough yet. I don't believe that the bulk of this team which is young and coming from good college programs, just doesn't care. I don't believe that Lee, Balk, Mardy, Nate, Q, Jared etc. just don't care. They may be young and inexperienced or injured, but they seem to play pretty hard to me.

Is it possible for you to separate the actions and attitudes of SOME of the knick players and not generalize about the entire roster. I don't think it's very accurate to paint them with the same brush.

I agree. They cared all the way up until Isiah got the extension.

Posted by nixluva:

Posted by BlueSeats:

Posted by misterearl:

djsu - is there enough "like" to rally around the head coach as a cause to play more intense basketball?

or does any of such 'loyalty' matter when the ball racks are on the court... or when the games start?

Ugh, are we still searching for magic potions to motivate unmotivated players? Every year it's the same thing: Marbury and TT have been brought home; Marbury wants to prove he really is "the best"; they want to prove it was Lenny's fault; They like Herb, they'll want to win for him; Marbury wants to exonerate his Olympic performance; Larry can motivate anyone; Curry wants to prove Chicago dissed him; Curry will be happy to play with Jamal; They'll want to prove it was Larry's fault; If they know Isiah's job is on the line they'll want to pull through for him; Maybe the shame of the brawl will galvanize them together; losing the harassment case will motivate them...

Jeesh, when can we just expect them to play like they care? Or like professionals?

The team seemed to me to care last year. When a team is trying to find itself it's hard to quantify just how much of their struggles have to do with caring and how much is just not being good enough yet. I don't believe that the bulk of this team which is young and coming from good college programs, just doesn't care. I don't believe that Lee, Balk, Mardy, Nate, Q, Jared etc. just don't care. They may be young and inexperienced or injured, but they seem to play pretty hard to me.

Is it possible for you to separate the actions and attitudes of SOME of the knick players and not generalize about the entire roster. I don't think it's very accurate to paint them with the same brush.

You make it sound like I'm alone in these observations. If you'll scroll back up the thread you'll notice it's the effervescent misterearl who's hoping this incident will be the one to finally do the trick.

The motivated guys on the team have been the ones coming off the bench.

Then an uptempo shiftline of

Nate, Nichols, Balkman, Lee and Zach

with comeback player Allan Houston as Mister Big Shot