Posted by joec32033:

Posted by Bippity10:

I think the fact that Lee tried to come back just shows how loyal these players are to Isiah. It shows how much they are willing to give up to play for the man and he should be applauded for this. David Lee is risking his career to play for Zeke and I cannot overlook this like the rest of you guys. This is even more evident progresser than the Stevie Francis' game winner. I think based on this Dolan should give Isiah an extension for a further 10 years.

Isiah never had trouble getting the loyalty of his players.

Pacers players continued to voice support for Thomas. Jermaine O'Neal, then a free agent, said before he re-signed with the team last month he would not play for anybody but Thomas with the Pacers.

The biggest criticism of Thomas was his inconsistent rotations. While most players preferred a set role, Thomas made his decisions on his own feelings for a particular game and team matchups.

http://media.www.dailytexanonline.com/media/storage/paper410/news/2003/08/28/Sports/Pacers.Fire.Coach.Isiah.Thomas.After.Last.Seasons.Collapse-454129.shtml

Thomas was let go, various sources say, because Bird sensed no urgency from him or his coaching staff to make sure last year's embarrassing first-round playoff choke to the Celtics wouldn't happen again.
http://proxy.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=bucher_ric&id=1605038



[Edited by - joec32033 on 03-24-2007 12:22 PM]