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Queeniepop
Posts: 20640
Alba Posts: 0
Joined: 12/29/2006
Member: #1233
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We have to STOP talking about the past already. What's done is done. Whether it be right or wrong, in the best interests or not. I do not support many things that happen with the team but I guess as fans, we have NO CONTROL over what decisions are made. We can talk about them, we can argue, but unfortunately we must live with the hand that is dealt to us as fans. There is little point in bringing this topic up again. I support the Knicks, the name on the front of the jersey...do I support the operational end of things...not entirely. Most people do not like what goes on with the GM of the team but EVERYONE knows this...so to beat a dead horse is futile. Nothing will change until it changes from top-down...so let's continue ad-nauseum as usual:
1. Isiah should have protected the damn picks he surrendered. I hate to say it, but if meant having our 2007 pick rather than swapping, I would have given the Bulls David Lee, who they originally wanted. We would not value Lee as much as we do today, because at that time, we would have given up the #30 pick. I would have protected 2006, at least top #2 and offered a swap in 2008 or top 3 protection. Imagine the SF spot with Kevin Durant in it? Or better, Oden as Curry's PF. Frye would become the easist to trade, possibly with Stephon.
2. I would not have traded Antonio for Jalen. Though it netted us the #20 pick, last yr's draft was weak. And it is true that we could have bought a pick or packaged #30 with Nate or Mo Taylor and moved up or gotten a player...Portland was heavily shopping this draft and so was a number of other teams. I would have taken an extra contract year for a high pick.
3. Similarly, Penny's expiring deal was used most frivilously on Steve Francis. Add in Ariza too. At this point, we would have had over $30M coming off the books with Davis. Though not under the cap, the trade for Francis epitomized what is wrong with the operational aspects of this team. Despite what anyone says, Larry Brown was NOT the GM of this team and ISIAH signs the trade papers.
4. If we had Ariza and Butler, it would have been much wiser to sign them for the MLE at a shorter clip of 3 yr deals...actually, we had Trevor's Birds Rights and he would not have commanded the salary that would have broken us. The Jeffries signing is looking as bad as the Jerome signing. In spite of that, a combo of Q, Ariza and Lee at the SF would be a better option than adding salary with contractual perpetuity a la Jeffries.
5. Jerome for 5 yrs MLE is GROSS. Ditto for Jared. Neither have upside or put this team over the edge. We could have had a back-up center a la Cato at a vet's min. for the production we get out of Jerome James. Se above for Jeffries.
6. Stephon Marbury should have been traded after 2004-05 for Wally Sczerbiak and another deal such as Cassell who was expiring. McHale would have been so desparate, we prob could've gotten a #1 in 2006 for him or some type of future considerations. They did it with Jaric and the Clips and Marbury is a much better player. Wally wasnt traded until last December so it was a plausible deal.
7. Q's bad back just to get #21 in Nate Rob was not a good deal. Nate is a clone of Marbury and he is not a PG nor is he intelligent enough to learn the position. He is the prize at the bottom of a cracker jack box. For those who like Q, as I do, I recognize that the dude has an uninsurable back and undesirable contract. And though he looked good early, this problem will be recurring, rendering Q unreliable as any part of this team. You can not just hope his back would be OK for a year or for a period during the season. He can be perenially hurt as last yr or for lengthy streches, like now. He also is not a great shooter- he shot well for ONE MONTH. Kurt Thomas was not only a good defensive player that would have helped young players like Curry and Frye, his deal was shorter. Also, he was a desirable piece that could have netted us something as well- like something from a Dallas-like team.
8. Larry Brown, Larry Brown, Larry Brown- though I disliked his 42 different line-ups and he greatly underestimated the collective power of the media, Isiah and Dolan- he would have been the best thing for this team. LB's dismissal not only showed that the inmates/Marbury run the asylum and that Isiah's ego could not handle the fact that people believed in LB and not him. Duplicity throughout the season following by an unceremonious firing made this franchise look awful...but Isiah got what he wanted OR DID HE???? No longer its Marbury, the face of this team nor Larry Brown but its ISIAH.
9. Isiah Lord Thomas, III...your GM'g is screwing you over as a coach. Your overestimation of your roster and underestimation of coaches will lead to your demise. There is no one left to blame but yourself. Not the players, not management, not the fans...but YOU. The fans boo you and your former franchise-face MARBURY. Not Eddy (except when he misses FT's and dunks), not Jamal, not Lee, not Frye, not Nate. They boo you. The only player that will fight for Isiah's job on the hardwood is Marbs. Stephon is FINISHED once Isiah is out and every apologist this side of the Mississippi knows this. In fact, Steph, unfortunately, is a very viable option for Isiah's next scapegoat. Dolan himself said that if Marbury is doing anything to jeopardize the growth of this team, he entrusts that Isiah will take care of it. Isiah has told many lies to all of YOU...and you should resent what he has done to the Knicks on some level- whether it be benching David Lee in favor of the putrid Jeffries, lying about the Suns taking Balkman (may I digress to the original pt. of this topic) or compounding mistakes with worse ones. These lies he has come to believe.
10. REVENGE IS A DISH BEST SERVED COLD...but who serves it??? The players will start losing faith sooner than later. Dolan has put himself in a position to be very heroic by firing Isiah. Even if Dolan says Isiah will stay the season, he can reneg...afterall he owns the show, maybe not runs it, but P-W-N-S it. He fires Isiah as losses mounts, deals dont work out (see Francis, Jerome James), etc...he says C'YA Zeke and he will be heralded for making one right decision. He fires Isiah at season's end, so-be-it. A new regime comes in and hopefully, the right decisions will be made.
The odds are against Zeke right now, as they have been his whole life while dodging bullets in Chitown...but this is New F-in Yawk mo-fo...this is the jungle and aint nobody gonna save you. Isiah has 48 games or less to save himself- dodging bullets may be a better option for him.
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