Anniversary anything but happy

BY FRANK ISOLA
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

Three years after coming to Garden, Isiah Thomas is still looking for his first playoff win with the Knicks.

Isiah Thomas barely cracked a smile when David Lee slapped Madison Square Garden into delirium late Wednesday night. Before and after that instant classic, the strain of a make-or-break season was showing on Thomas' still boyish face. And it's not even January.

As Thomas walked off the court, he was probably wondering how he survived a tumultuous week that included an ugly brawl, calls for his head and a written reprimand from his boss, Garden chairman James Dolan. Still others marvel at how Thomas has avoided land mines - some of which he planted himself - and managed to make it to his third anniversary as team president.

"These are tough times for the New York Knicks," Thomas said when he was hired three years ago today. "We want to change the situation. We want to turn things around and we don't have a lot of time to do it. Mr. Dolan wants to make the playoffs. I want to win the championship. In my mind, everything else is failure."

If you use Thomas' scoring system, his tenure here has been a flop. No championship. Zero playoff wins.

Thomas' supporters will say that he has assembled a talented nucleus with a bright future. His critics will argue that the Knicks lack the key ingredient to be a serious contender - a bona fide superstar. Those same critics created a Web site called iloveisiah.com that mocks Thomas' anniversary and calls for a party after tonight's game against the Chicago Bulls.

Who knows if Thomas will last three more years? Who's to say he wants to? The following are some of the highlights and lowlights from the Thomas years:

Best moves

Draft: Finding David Lee with the last pick of the first round. Former Knick Jalen Rose said last month that Lee is "hands down the best player on the team."

Trade: Kurt Thomas for Quentin Richardson and Nate Robinson gave the Knicks a young three-point shooter who is also a team leader. And if Robinson could ever grow up, the deal would be a win-win.

Free agent: Thomas found Jackie Butler in the bush leagues and signed him for nothing. Butler is a decent big man, especially for the price. The fact that San Antonio signed him tells you all you need to know.

Front office: Thomas has a close circle of confidants, including Chuck Daly and Glen Grunwald. The smartest move he ever made was hiring Brendan Suhr, who has run the Knicks' scouting department and advised Thomas to draft Lee. Suhr, who lives in Orlando, is a long-time friend of Florida head coach Billy Donovan and had the goods on Lee long before anyone else.

Coaching: Turning the Knicks back into a team that runs its offense through the center position. Eddy Curry has improved offensively and could be an All-Star if he ever decides to rebound and defend.

Worst moves

Draft: Passing over Nets point guard Marcus Williams. Thomas could have drafted Williams and still taken Renaldo Balkman.

Trade: Does the name Steve Francis ring a bell? The Knicks can blame this one on Larry Brown all they want. The buck stops with Thomas. At least that is what he always tells us.

Free agent: Two words: Jerome James.

Front office: Thomas has every right to be bitter at the Pistons for divorcing themselves from him. And yet, Thomas has failed to reach out to Patrick Ewing, Charles Oakley, Allan Houston and other ex-Knicks.

Coaching: His habit of picking fights with opposing players has got to stop. It's unprofessional and makes the Knicks look soft. And can someone please draw up a better last-second play besides Jamal Crawford chucking up off-balance 30-footers at the buzzer?

Coaching: . . . . And can someone please draw up a better last-second play besides Jamal Crawford chucking up off-balance 30-footers at the buzzer?

LOL . . . I am sure IT draws up a better play, it is Crawford's execution that is lacking.

[Edited by - TheGAme on 12-22-2006 11:20 AM]

great article. What can you argue with? The losses mount, we have no star, no lottery this year, no cap space coming... 3 year later when we should be totally washing our hands of the Layden years as Eisley, Anderson, Houston and Spoon would be expiring we are still in a complete uphill climb.

Posted by TheGame:

Coaching: . . . . And can someone please draw up a better last-second play besides Jamal Crawford chucking up off-balance 30-footers at the buzzer?

LOL . . . I am sure IT draws up a better play, it is Crawford's execution that is lacking.

[Edited by - TheGAme on 12-22-2006 11:20 AM]

i think i read somewhere yesterday that IT did not draw the play up that way the other night when chuckford took the 30 footer against charlotte. that was a busted play, something you hear all to often from this squad...broken plays leading to one on one isolation plays.....at 37% shooting for the season or something like that, you think IT would give it to someone else?????

Posted by nyk4ever:

So who is really behind the draft picks that everyone gives Isiah Thomas all the credit for?

Lets not play that game and become contradictory. If he is going to blast Thomas for the Francis trade citing the fact that the buck stops with Zeke, then lets be consistent when a move turns out well. Drafts are usually jumbled think tanks anyway.

Posted by sebstar:

Posted by nyk4ever:

So who is really behind the draft picks that everyone gives Isiah Thomas all the credit for?

Lets not play that game and become contradictory. If he is going to blast Thomas for the Francis trade citing the fact that the buck stops with Zeke, then lets be consistent when a move turns out well. Drafts are usually jumbled think tanks anyway.

Agreed. Isiah gets full credit for drafting Lee. Every GM gets advice on what moves to make but ultimately the credit/blame goes to the person with the final say. When it comes to the Knicks, that's Isiah.

It's amazing the crap that Isiah is allowed to spew without being called out on it. All he had to work with when he got here was all his draft picks, Dolan's checkbook, large expiring contracts and a few players with trade value. It's been stated again and again that if he had done nothing but collect draft picks and let the bad contracts expire, they would be in much better shape with a collection of high draft picks and cap space after this year.

97-151, things are really so much better since you got here Isiah.