Coach from the Sun-ny side

Isiah Thomas returns to coaching after three seasons away from sidelines.

Isiah Thomas has done such a remarkably bad job rebuilding the Knicks during his two-plus seasons in New York, he has never even been considered a long shot for the NBA's Executive of the Year Award.

Well, there's always the Coach of the Year award, right?

Thomas can shoot for that honor now because as of yesterday, he's wearing the president's and coach's hats, which is nothing short of poetic justice. If he built this wretched team, he should be made to coach it.

From a pure coaching standpoint, firing Larry Brown and turning to Thomas can't be viewed as anything but a setback. And after having 59 of them this past season, the Knicks really don't need another. But when it comes to in-game strategy, teaching and installing a defensive system, you name it, Thomas can't hold Brown's clipboard.

So what can Knicks fans hang their hats on after Jim Dolan's latest brainstorm? Honestly, not much. But if Thomas is as shrewd as he thinks he is, he can always chuck Brown's "Play the Right Way" system and steal a page or two out of Suns coach Mike D'Antoni's playbook.

Thomas' plans for the Knicks once included going to a Suns-style system. But then they hired Brown and executed a sign-and-trade for a big, lumbering post player named Eddy Curry, who isn't cut out for running to the grocery store, let alone running down the court.
"I don't really know all about the situation there," D'Antoni said yesterday from Phoenix, where he was watching prospects work out for next week's draft. "But I think it could work. There's a lot of talent there. I think the initial reaction will be good, from the players' standpoint, because they always react with this kind of change by saying, 'Hey, I'm gonna prove it wasn't me.' Then I think Isiah can put 'em in a system, let 'em go and they got a chance in the East."

Even a 12-game improvement, to 35 wins, can have the Knicks knocking on the playoff door in April. Yes, they're still gonna be on the south side of .500. But after what we saw this past season, with the players quitting on Brown, Brown quitting on the players and Dolan mindlessly strumming his guitar, oblivious to his franchise becoming a total joke, 35 wins don't look so bad.

Plus, if Thomas adopts a Phoenix-style system, the Knicks will at least be watchable, if not entertaining.

"We want the first guy with an open look to take it, I don't care what the shot clock says," said D'Antoni, whose team reached the Western Conference finals for the second straight season, even playing without Amare Stoudemire. "We're not looking back and critiquing every shot. We try to run every possession and get the quickest open shot we can. We never talk about getting tired. We never question the tempo."

So you can see where Curry might have a problem keeping up.

"Having good players — that's the key to the whole thing," D'Antoni said. "But then you've got to be committed to the style of play, and go with it. It all depends on whether the players buy into it. If Isiah can get them to do that, they can make some noise and compete in the East."

But nobody in Coney Island has ever confused Stephon Marbury with Steve Nash. While Nash has picked up two straight MVP awards, Marbury couldn't even get the Knicks into the playoffs. And of all of Brown's dead-on observations, none was more damning than the time he said, referring to Marbury's ability to run the team, "I don't have a guy with a head out there."

So can a head-less point guard succeed in the Suns system?

"I think Steph can," D'Antoni said. "He was barely there when I took over. And I was not as committed to my system then as I should have been. As long as he believes in it, I think he can do it. That's the big thing. Everybody has to be on the same page. Steph's obviously a talented basketball player. But he has to believe in what Isiah is doing."

At this stage, no one knows if Thomas can pull this off. He brings a 131-115 mark to the sidelines, with his Indiana teams having a reputation for doing many things, but not being good at any one thing. But in some ways, his move from the tunnel to the Knicks bench is good.

For one thing, it puts him closer than ever to the Seventh Ave. exit.

Posted by Bonn1997:

He probably just meant he wanted the team try increase the pace at times. I doubt he meant he wanted the team to be a clone of the Suns. It sounds like people are making too much out of the quote. Of course the team is garbage compared to the Suns