Strife with Starbury: Isiah critical of Knicks' point guard
By Chris Sheridan

GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- Isiah Thomas and Stephon Marbury are not even on speaking terms anymore, at least not the same speaking terms they were on for the better part of the past three years.

And while Marbury and Thomas are not yet at each other's throats, it became clear Monday that the state of their once-cozy relationship has deteriorated significantly -- so much so that neither man approached the other Sunday on the team's day off to try to clear up the squabble that now appears just one or two steps away from being legitimately called a feud.

Not that it would have been difficult for either man to bring up the subject. All it would have taken was for one of them, since they live in adjacent houses in the cozy northern suburbs of New York, to stroll across his backyard and knock on the other's door.

Neither one did.

I confronted Thomas on that issue after practice, pointing out that if ever there was a time for them to air out their differences and speak, that time was Sunday. And they speak -- or spoke -- on a daily basis anyway, right?

"All that is true," said Thomas, though he did not go on to explain his reasoning behind Sunday's failure to communicate.

My reading on it was that Thomas feels it's on Marbury to make the next move, and until he does, Thomas will be perfectly content to have someone else bearing the brunt of the blame. And thus far it has been Marbury who has been the lightning rod for criticism at Madison Square Garden, where the boos that represent the finger of blame are being directed not at the lame-duck coach who was the architect of this mess, but rather at the homeboy from Coney Island who has already worn out his good will after being welcomed not that long ago as the franchise savior.

Thomas and Marbury have pretty much been the closest of confidants over the course of Thomas' nearly three-year tenure with the Knicks, and to this day, the acquisition of Marbury remains Thomas' signature move -- even though Thomas would probably argue that the acquisition of Eddy Curry was equally important, if not more so.

But Monday, the growing disconnect between the two was so far out in the open that Thomas scolded Marbury in front of the team for his childish, selfish behavior Saturday night in a loss to the Bulls in which Marbury failed to attempt a shot for the first time in his career, spending most of the second half pouting on the end of the bench and refusing to join his teammates in a huddle.

Marbury is far from a popular figure amongst his teammates in the Knicks locker room, and it now seems Thomas is moving to align himself with the 14 players not named Marbury as the Knicks stumble into the second month of the season. The point guard has been a major disappointment, averaging just 10.0 points and 4.5 assists and failing to reach double figures in scoring in six of the past eight games.

Thomas has chosen his words carefully in assessing Marbury's decline, maintaining that Marbury will eventually grow comfortable with the role he is trying to get him to play, becoming less of an offensive initiator as the offense revolves more around Curry and challenging him to find the right 2-3 minute intervals to assert himself offensively.

But Marbury is clearly chafing in a role he's unaccustomed to playing, and his passivity Saturday led to his second straight second-half benching. After the loss to the Bulls, Thomas said Marbury was apparently still feeling the effects of an illness that caused him to miss the morning shootaround (the players voted on the team plane for a morning shootaround rather than an afternoon walkthrough despite playing on the road in Boston the previous night), but Marbury said he had been feeling fine and was confused by the benching. His sullen demeanor on the bench did not catch Thomas' attention during the game, but the coach read about it and heard enough about it afterward that he felt compelled to address it.

"We basically spoke about it today as a team," Marbury said. "He didn't really have to explain. I wasn't getting the job done the other night, and now it's up to me to go out on the basketball court and perform the way I'm capable of performing."

Thomas had singled out Channing Frye and Steve Francis for criticism in front of their teammates earlier this season when they were struggling, and Monday was Marbury's turn -- although Thomas' tone was described as measured rather than malevolent, a manifestation of his determination to react to problems completely the opposite way from how his predecessor, Larry Brown, would have.

"I don't think there's a player I've ever coached who hasn't at some point in time not liked me, but that's what coaching is all about. And my job is to make sure, if I'm going to lead this team, that we're acting as one. And if you're not acting as one, I'll make it clear that it's [all about] the Knicks. Again, it's not a solo act," Thomas said after practice.

A year or two ago, the notion of Marbury being called to task in front of his teammates was almost laughable, given the way Marbury and Thomas so closely aligned themselves with one another. Players who resented Marbury's influence with the team president, such as Shandon Anderson and Kurt Thomas, were bought out or shipped off, but the problem never totally went away -- evidenced by Quentin Richardson (the player acquired for Kurt Thomas) nearly coming to blows with Marbury during an ugly confrontation at a practice last season.

Clearly, however, Marbury is no longer the teacher's pet.

"If there was any doubt in any player's mind, I'm sure that's been cleared up," Thomas said.

We'll see about that one. If there's one thing we've learned about Marbury over the years, it's that his clashes with coaches (he's had 11 coaches) never end well.

It's hard to see this one ending differently, especially with Marbury and Thomas clearly not as close as they once were.

At this point people should just chant fire IT instead of booing. That will be more to the point.

i like this one better:

Posted by nixluva:

When this team wins, nothing else matters. All I want is to see this team win. I don't care who stays or goes. All this crap about wanting guys booed or bashed is nonsense. I just want to see this team play better. We know they have the kind of talent to be a better team. So I hope that Steph and all the players get it together and play as a team. I'm only happy when they win and I don't think we can expect Steph to not be here, with his contract and baggage, so I'd prefer to see this thing work out.

What happened to all the jibber jabber about how this offense was perfect for Marbury and that he was going to lead this team to big things?

Isiah is just doing what never allowed any of his other coach's to do. It's the right thing in disciplining Steph but it just goes to underscore what I've said in the past about us not supporting our coaches. If anyone else had done this to Steph they would have been blasted. Steph would have whined. Steph would have been supported and the coach undermined. I think people are starting to understand what many of us have been complaining about.

paragraphs of emphasis:

Marbury is far from a popular figure amongst his teammates in the Knicks locker room, and it now seems Thomas is moving to align himself with the 14 players not named Marbury as the Knicks stumble into the second month of the season. The point guard has been a major disappointment, averaging just 10.0 points and 4.5 assists and failing to reach double figures in scoring in six of the past eight games.

This is where Isiah needs to be commended, he's all about the team.
Why fire him, he's doing what he can with a team that is expected to yield greg oden for the bulls.

Thomas had singled out Channing Frye and Steve Francis for criticism in front of their teammates earlier this season when they were struggling, and Monday was Marbury's turn -- although Thomas' tone was described as measured rather than malevolent, a manifestation of his determination to react to problems completely the opposite way from how his predecessor, Larry Brown, would have.

And both responded by coming out of their slumps and playing for the the knicks/team.

hopefully, and I'm really praying to high hell that marbury starts to pay attention to everyone around him and realize that nobody, and I mean nobody, would shed a tear if he disappeared from the team.

mardy collins can give the same output at this point with a much better attitude and height and defense.