Thomas has no plans to change
January 23

Knicks coach Isiah Thomas went a little old school at practice this afternoon, running the Knicks around pretty good.

And he’s still not apologizing for the lack of effort in Miami.

In fact, Thomas even needled the Knicks a little bit. Nobody got singled out. That practice ended when Larry Brown was exiled, but he still came up with a snappy punch line.

A question about Jared Jeffries getting parked on the bench for three quarters on Monday proved to be the set up.

“Nobody was playing well,” Thomas said. “And the only reason I played the five guys I played is because there’s a rule that you have five people out on the floor. Nobody was playing well.”

Zing.

Thomas is not planning any changes to the lineup or the rotation based on the South Beach no-show. Right now, he’s willing to forget the whole affair.

“We definitely can’t base anything on last night’s performance for any of our players,” he said. “That’s one of those games you throw out the window, and you look at the body of work.”

That means Channing Frye will get a chance to work through his recent foul troubles against Shawn Marion or Boris Diaw. Jeffries will get another chance to prove his worth and impact the game by making the right plays.

It also means David Lee is still coming off the bench.

He is probably getting more playing time lately because Frye and Jeffries are not producing. Look at the last two games. He played 42 minutes against Indiana. He played 43 minutes against Miami.

Lee only needs playing time.

It really doesn’t matter whether he’s part of the player introductions before tip off.

When’s the last time we’ve seen Jeffries finish a game? Thomas usually has the best players on the court in the fourth quarter. Quite often, Lee is among that group.

On another topic, Stephon Marbury is being called doubtful.

He did not practice this afternoon because of the sore left knee. Again, the problem was downplayed.

“There’s nothing wrong,” Marbury said. “It’s not that serious.”

Still, the Knicks are slightly concerned.

The knee is becoming problematic not because of the chronic tendinitis, according to Marbury. He contends the issue was exacerbated by a series of bumps and bad landings against New Jersey and Indiana.

So technically, it’s only a flare-up.

Jamal Crawford is the logical replacement if Marbury decides not to play tomorrow, but Thomas was non-committal.

“I don’t know yet,” he said.

Maybe he wants Nate Robinson or Mardy Collins hounding Steve Nash, which is rather a tough assignment for an inexperienced player.

The line of questioning then shifted to Steve Francis.

Does he figure into the equation somewhere? I can’t believe after three weeks in Houston, the rehabbing veteran is ready to land on the active roster and contribute. It seems any player would need a couple of practices to get past the layoff.

Still, the answer was a little confusing.

“We’ll see what the medical staff says,” Thomas said.

Maybe he was just tired of the question. It’s been asked over and over in recent days. The previous answers confirmed that Francis was injured and unable to help.

So does this mean somebody is talking with Francis about coming back just in case?

“I don’t know,” Thomas said. “I’m here on the floor. When I was in the office, I could answer those questions for you.”

I’m not really sure how to translate those passages. Stay tuned.

Posted by misterearl:

>>He's going to do it his way, to hell with what everybody else thinks...

Islesfan - you slay me

can you name one head coach who does it someone else's way?

Posted by TheGame:

Posted by islesfan:

Posted by misterearl:

>>He's going to do it his way, to hell with what everybody else thinks...

Islesfan - you slay me

can you name one head coach who does it someone else's way?

You take it too literally.

What I mean by that is that Isiah's arrogance will never let him be swayed by any criticism of his moves, no matter how much validity they have. He'll compound mistakes by sticking with moves regardless of how poorly they're working out. He doesn't admit mistakes because to Isiah, Isiah is never wrong.

Isles, what do you expect. Do you really believe IT or any GM would go to the media and say, "Hey, you know, I fcked up when I signed JJ1 and JJ2, they both cannot play and I really just wasted about $120 million of Cablevision money." I mean really, it ain't happening. IT is showing that he realizes he made a mistake because he is sitting JJ1 and gave JJ2 the quick hook Monday. No GM is going to admit they made a mistake, it does not happen, especially not on the level of the ones your are talking about.