Well, Oak and Starks are at it again. Though I must say I find humor that Charles Smith of all people would have any say in regards to this whatsoever. :)

LINK

Oakley: Knicks are soft, untalented
by sean quinn / metro new york

NBA. Knicks fans got some backup yesterday from Charles Oakley. The 44-year-old former Knicks forward was just as flagrant with his words when it came to the befuddled franchise as he was with his elbows during his 19-year career.

“They don’t have a leader. A lot of the guys on the team don’t know how to play basketball,” said Oakley, who paired with former teammate Charles Smith yesterday morning at Madison Square Garden to promote SpikeTV’s “Pros vs. Joes.” “They don’t look like they’ve been playing basketball on a day-to-day basis.”

It’s an argument justified by the Knicks’ 13-28 record and a 12.8 average margin of defeat. But while head coach Isiah Thomas has received most of the flak, Oakley exonerated him.

“I don’t think they have a lot of talent,” he said. “They have a lot of guys making money. That doesn’t mean you have talent.”

Thomas’ cause is not aided when he’s lost the tenacity he played with for so many years against Oakley. Coaching and playing are like night and day to Oakley, but he said he expected more feistiness out of Thomas than he has shown. It also doesn’t help he has a misguided “superstar” in Stephon Marbury.

“Stephon should be more of a leader and more of a outgoing guy,” Oakley said. “I think Stephon wanted too much [money], personally.”

Former Knicks guard John Starks, who coached the Charleses to a 7-1 record in the morning session, agreed.

“It’s kind of mind-boggling,” said Starks, who still works for the Knicks. “They can’t stay focused.”

Neither Smith nor Starks could remember a time during their playing days when a whole team did not come to the arena ready to play night in and night out.

Every player is going to struggle with something at one point in the season, Smith said. That’s what teammates are for — to pick each other up and re-focus them. The way the Knicks are operating, there’s probably not a lot of guidance from anyone in the locker room, he said.

Smith remembers when he came to New York before the 1992 season. He realized the importance of going out with teammates during off days, eating with them away from the court and just being “guys who hang out.” That’s how a successful team learns to gel with new players coming in, something Eddy Curry admitted earlier this season was not the team’s strong point.

“We do enough,” Curry said in December.

Oakley said he can think of a place for these “jokers” to go and bond for a while — a tattoo parlor.

“All of them got 30, 40 tattoos,” he said. “I think they’re too friendly with other players. They smile and joke.”

There’s nothing to smirk about. The only thing that is laughable, Oakley said, is the team's lack of leadership. It’s not coming from Marbury, and he doesn’t expect it from Zach Randolph or Curry, who have softened the image of a bruising blue and orange inside game, which Oak and Patrick Ewing built a career on more than a decade ago.

“Randolph is just a double-double guy and [Curry] hasn’t been in shape in two or three years,” he said. “They lose the same way, by 20, 30 points. If you’re going to lose, lose going out – bodies on the floor, making an effort on defense. If you lose 30-something games by the All-Star break, it’s a disgrace.”

We thought Charles Smith was soft in relation to guys like Oak, Mase, Ewing, Starks, Rivers etc. But in the context of this NBA and these Knicks Charles Smith about 10 times harder than anyone on our current roster.

Eddy Curry speaks on the Knicks' behalf by saying "we do enough."

I have nothing more to add.

Posted by VDesai:

Posted by kam77:

AMEN --

There needs to be some more ex-Knicks in leadership positions. How is Oakley not at least an Assistant Coach somewhere?

If they had Oakley running practices, Marbury would've went AWOL 3 years ago

And Eddy Curry would've retired with an irregular heartbeat.

Posted by VDesai:

We thought Charles Smith was soft in relation to guys like Oak, Mase, Ewing, Starks, Rivers etc. But in the context of this NBA and these Knicks Charles Smith about 10 times harder than anyone on our current roster.

Well put. Any well run organization would take Smith in his prime over Zach or Ey

[Edited by - bonn1997 on 01-24-2008 6:36 PM]

Posted by Cookdcokehop:

Would you hire Oakley to run the Knicks?

Hell no. To beat up Eddy Curry, sure.

Posted by VDesai:

Posted by Cookdcokehop:

Would you hire Oakley to run the Knicks?

Hell no. To beat up Eddy Curry, sure.

I'd hire this guy to beat up Eddy

Thought you guys might like this quote in wikpedia:

"He's a lawyer, not a GM. You can't spend $250 million on contracts and not make the playoffs. Vince Carter's mom runs that team. She's the GM." - Oakley on Toronto GM Glen Grunwald.

Posted by iyamwutiam:

Thought you guys might like this quote in wikpedia:

"He's a lawyer, not a GM. You can't spend $250 million on contracts and not make the playoffs. Vince Carter's mom runs that team. She's the GM." - Oakley on Toronto GM Glen Grunwald.

Which is exactly what I SAY UGH has done here and worse. Yet you have this hankering to find other comparisons so I SAY UGH doesn't look as bad. Apparently you aren't picking up on the fact more than 75% of your examples backfire.

Posted by iyamwutiam:

I said context enuf times - and thats all I have been saying. But if people don't wish to view events from another perspective -thats fine. I am trying to keep an open mind - thats all. Anyway - I agree I have spent way too much effort on the topic.

If somebody is a killer it doesn't make rapist a better person...

[Edited by - arkrud on 01-24-2008 11:19 PM]

what Oak, Starks & Smith all had the luxury of playing alongside was a franchise player who gave his heart & soul on the floor every minute he played & he demanded the same from his teammates... Oak & Starks were hard nosed players in their own right but w/o Ewing that 90's team is nothing.