Isiah Thomas deserves every boo and "Fire Isiah'' chant he gets. Marbury does not. He's not the reason the team is 5-11. Marbury's defection from the team put them in a malaise on the West Coast but there is more to the story.

In truth, if you want to single out one player, it is Quentin Richardson who can't shoot the ball because of his sore elbow but Thomas continues to start him. Quentin, despite his ailments, went out of his way to antagonize the Celtics, who were so revved they looked like they wanted to beat the Knicks by 100 points.

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The inconsistent play - on both ends - of Eddy Curry and Jamal Crawford have more to do with the team's record than Marbury. It shouldn't have taken the death of Marbury's father for the boos to stop.

Marbury is being made the unfair scapegoat. Yes, Marbury should not have left Phoenix over his benching for Mardy Collins even though Thomas told him to go. But it does appear how right Marbury was, how wrong Thomas was. The past two games, Collins has played just one second. Obviously, Thomas has admitted his mistake.

Give Marbury credit for shrugging off the boos in stride. Don’t think any other player could handle the booing like he has without being bitter.

He laughed about it after the big Bulls win. “All our lives I’ve lived by that,’’ Marbury said. “We know people are going to boo or cheer. I like the cheers after the game when we win. It doesn’t matter if you cheer during a game if we’re losing. If we win, the ovation of winning, that’s enjoyable.’’

The feud between Thomas and Marbury appears to be thawing, just like it thawed last November when Marbury struggled and they went at it. “Marbury played great today,’’ Thomas said. “November’s almost over, so we should be OK.’’

And soon, perhaps Marbury will be OK with the booing fans too.

They are not as deep as advertised. They need everybody to make this work. Renaldo Balkman and Jared Jeffries are back, healthy and coming off the bench to provide a major defensive spark and energy boost.

Zach Randolph is here for good and – despite some exasperating turnover moments – makes clutch plays to win games. Marbury? He’s playing his butt off now. But why did it take that demotion to get himself playing like a monster and leader.

Posted by TRU:

This city ALWAYS needs a goat.

Yeah it drives me nuts. I'm not a Marbs fan but blaming him for the failures of this team over the past 8 years is as ridiculous as blaming Allan Houston and Patrick Ewing and Charlie Ward and Latrell Sprewell and Eddie Curry and Larry Brown and Lenny Wilkens and Don Chaney and Isiah Thomas and................

They've all played a part. Some more than others, but they all have played a part. I look at this team and I see no leaders. No defense. Nobody stepping up their play. It's time to find what we have been missing for years. This team needs a leader that we can build around. Until you find that player you must find leaders(that play) that can show the young guys the proper work ethic and habits it takes to become great players. Without these two things you are destined for what we have shown the last few years. Why does anyone think we need anything else? There is an obvious starting point here and it seems that only Don Chaney, Lenny Wilkens and Larry Brown understood it. We need a leader!!!!!!!!!

Posted by GKFv2:

Isiah Thomas made Mebury into his scapegoat.

Posted by BlueSeats:


Who's scapegoating Marbury? I could understand if someone was saying "we'd have a great team if only it weren't for Marbury," but I don't see anyone saying that.