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jimimou
Posts: 23517
Alba Posts: 36
Lame Alba Posts: 1
Joined: 6/6/2004
Member: #681
USA
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I thought this was interesting enough to post. I know all the "haters" on this board will LOVE this:
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Randy Hill / Special to FOXSports.com
Posted: 2 hours ago
New York minutes: The Isiah era
The team that put the "me" in mediocre was threatening to adopt the ultimate team-oriented offensive philosophy. OK, so mediocre is an optimistic upgrade from the more reasonable designation of lousy.
But Isiah Thomas had to do something. His sorcery as personnel boss of the New York Knicks left him in quite a predicament. The Hall-of-Famer's knack for talent assessment had given the Knicks more mismatched parts than Michael Jackson's face.
Beyond the roster woes, the hiring of Larry Brown had resulted in a train wreck that could have crippled the economy of a medium-sized nation. So, with the last straw lodged in the fingers of big boss James Dolan, Isiah was obliged to clear up this mess as the Knicks' coach.
His bright idea was to make New York more like Phoenix. But instead of subbing saguaros for graffiti-enhanced fire hydrants, Thomas figured he'd goose the tempo of his offense. What genius!
As the warped-hull edition of Noah's Ark, Isiah had doubles in All-Star-caliber point guards, at least two card-carrying shooting (and we do mean shooting) guards, two well-paid centers and several other high-priced spare parts.
Unfortunately, neither of his point guards turned out to be a frisky Canadian whose nimble fingers were no match for the microfiber composite ball. Instead, the Knicks suited up Stephon Marbury — who doesn't mind passing when he realizes it's a good time to pass — and Stevie Francis, who has mistaken himself for Michael Jordan.
The shooting guards included former Phoenix Suns sniper Quentin Richardson, whose shots were more contested in New York because the ball wasn't being delivered on time by the Canadian. Jamal Crawford was the shooting-guard starter and would have been world famous if the Knicks had been part of the And 1 Mixed-Nut Tour.
The starting center was Eddy Curry, a talented commodity who scored like a legit big man and rebounded like a small wax figure. But through the early stages of a season that — at best — looked like a slim improvement on Brown's campaign of abject misery, Curry was thriving when the wide-open style wasn't.
Thomas responded by doing what any other below-average coach would do ... he switched to the Curry-enhanced power game. This made Curry — like Isiah a Chicagoan working in New York — very happy.
But it didn't make Marbury — a New Yorker working in New York — the giddiest guy on the roster. Despite his reputation as a selfish sort, Marbury really means well some of the time. For example, he created $15 sneakers for kids who can't afford the tax on a pair of Nikes. He also participates in creating rec-center opportunities for inner-city youth without alerting media outlets.
However, as the point guard on a team that ranked 30th in the league for turnover frequency, he was better suited to a grinder style. It simply took him a while to realize (and accept) it.
Since Thomas allegedly sent Mardy Collins into the lineup to rough up some Denver Nuggets, the Knicks had won 13 of 25 games. That's mediocre by New York street standards, but good enough to make Curry think Isiah's job is not beyond saving.
Were it not for Brown's 41 different starting-lineup combinations, Thomas may be receiving more league-wide credit for failing to establish a reasonable rotation. While the Knicks have sort of shuffled past Brown's win total, critics aren't prepared to line up and refer to Isiah as a success; many believe LB tanked last season out of spite. No, it's too late ... I already typed spite.
Curry, one of the finest high-scoring, low-defending centers in the world, has indicated he might want to leave New York if Thomas is fired. Wow, what a dilemma. Dolan responded to this tricky ultimatum by saying Isiah doesn't have "anything to worry about right now."
That "right now" was left hanging like the Sword of Damocles. I'm pretty sure Dolan's declaration is pretty close to what Isiah once said about the CBA.
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