Thomas Learns a Backcourt Chemistry Lesson
By PAT BORZI

MINNEAPOLIS, Nov. 22 — Twelve games into his self-established 15-game evaluation period, Isiah Thomas finally concluded what everyone else who follows the Knicks had been saying since training camp: Stephon Marbury and Steve Francis cannot thrive in the same backcourt.

So Monday night, after he benched Marbury and Francis for most of the second half in a 97-90 loss to Houston at the Garden, Thomas decided he had gone long enough without getting the production he needed out of either player. “He basically said, it’s not working,” Marbury said.

Francis made things easier by volunteering to come off the bench, according to Thomas. For Wednesday night’s game with the Timberwolves at the Target Center, Jamal Crawford replaced Francis as the starter, and Marbury was given the freedom to be Starbury again. Thomas, anticipating a two-day news-media firestorm, waited until Wednesday morning to hint at the change and 90 minutes before tip-off to confirm it.

“If I had said it the other night, it would have been the headlines for two or three days, on CNN, ESPN,” Thomas said. “It would have been much worse.”

The news thrilled Marbury, whose game appeared stifled as he tried to be the playmaker Thomas needed.

“We put ourselves in this position where, when we went on the floor, we had somebody that was trying to control and run the game the way the game was supposed to be run” Marbury said.

“I haven’t been playing like Starbury. It wasn’t taken away from me. It was more so me trying to do something to basically fit in to make sure it was a fit. He wants me to go out and play the way I normally play.”

Francis, who has termed his benching last season by Larry Brown, the coach at the time, in a game at Orlando — his former team — as the worst day of his life, declined to comment before the Minnesota game. But Crawford, who did not learn of his promotion until arriving for the morning shoot-around, said Francis had told him he suggested the change to Thomas.

“I think Steve is a great teammate,” Crawford said. “The bottom line for him is winning. He doesn’t care if he starts.”

However it happened, the change indicates Thomas has finally given up on an experiment that appeared unworkable from the start. Francis, the three-time All-Star, is averaging 9.8 points and Marbury 10.9, both well below their career norms.

The Knicks (4-8) have gotten more energy and production from Crawford and Nate Robinson off the bench most nights than they have from Marbury and Francis. Each starter committed a turnover early in the second half Monday, which is why Thomas leaned on his subs for most of the second half.

“Steve’s turnover was a shot clock violation,” Thomas said. “I never thought I’d be saying shot clock violation and Steve Francis in the same breath.”

“We’ve got to find ways to help Steph and Steve. Steve thought this would help the team and help him. We’ll see how it goes.”

Thomas said he talked to Francis twice, after Monday’s game and Wednesday morning, and Francis did not ask to be traded. Even if Francis did, it will not be easy for the Knicks to move him. He is owed $48.7 million on a contract that runs through 2009.

“We’re still a work in progress and we’re trying to get things figured out,” Thomas said. “But we’ve definitely got to find a way to get these two guys untracked. It’s not necessarily scoring the basketball, but we definitely need to get more out of them.”

Marbury gets along much better with Thomas than he did with Brown, and Marbury praised Thomas’s communication skills Wednesday morning. Though perplexed by his benching Monday, Marbury said he and Thomas talked about it.

“He didn’t have to apologize to me,” Marbury said. “I just said that’s not how I want to come out, come into a game and come right out. I don’t think there was any malice. We committed two turnovers at the start, and speaking about what we spoke about at halftime, that’s not the way we were supposed to come out. I know what he wants and I know how he wants to win games.”

Asked if the lines of communication were better with Thomas than with Brown, Marbury said, “Next question.”

Thomas said the change would probably be temporary, at least until forward Jared Jeffries returned from a broken left wrist in two weeks.

“We’re just trying to keep it together until we get our full assortment of players,” Thomas said. “We can move off the dock from there. Right now, we’ve got to find some combinations that work, and I’ve got to get more out of these two than I’ve gotten so far.”

We’re still a work in progress and we’re trying to get things figured out,” Thomas said

Posted by OasisBU:

Posted by martin:

They both can get theirs. They are/were superior athletes. They both SUCK at getting others involved. They are not PGs, they are athletic guys who score and get assists cause they have the ball in their hands for much of the game.

Is there really a place in the NBA for players like that? I dont see how this team can win with them, and would anyone want them if they were put on the trading block?