Remember I SAY UGH told us this? We've only practiced 4 times in the past 3weeks. I know some will eat up the fact Lee is one of these players putting in time but Jeffries made some great comments in this article. Lee once again sidesteps responsibility of the results and to a certain degree comes off as someone who's only looking out for what he's doing which isn't a sign of a leader.

Not all Knicks have mailed in season

BY ALAN HAHN | alan.hahn@newsday.com

ATLANTA - Yet another day without practice. Isiah Thomas recently talked about how much he loved basketball and how he watches it constantly. Perhaps he'd prefer to watch anything other than the basketball played by his own team, which explains why the lottery-bound Knicks (20-52) have not held a practice in over a week and have had just four sessions in the past three weeks.

While Thomas takes his player-friendly coach label to new extremes -- with this easy work schedule, how could the players not want Thomas back? -- a few Knicks players decided to put in some work on their own.

Seven players and a couple of assistant coaches made their way over to Georgia Tech Saturday afternoon to participate in shooting and some conditioning. With 10 games left in the season, including Sunday against the Hawks, it might be too little, too late. But it is evidence that not all of these Knicks have mailed it in and allowed complacency to take over amid the chaos of the season.


"My focus this whole season was just I can't worry about what's going on around me, the drama off the court," said David Lee, who was among the players who worked out. "What our record is, I just try to play as hard as I can every time I step on the floor."


Lee, who graduated just before Florida's back-to-back NCAA titles, has known only controversy, drama and failure during his three seasons with the Knicks. And Jamal Crawford holds the unwanted title as the most tenured current NBA player (eight seasons) to never make the playoffs.

Whoever inherits the Knick bench if Thomas is to be replaced -- a person with knowledge of the situation Saturday said Thomas does not know his fate and is hoping his past relationship with Donnie Walsh will help his cause -- will have to deal with locker room issues such as Stephon Marbury and chemistry issues with Zach Randolph and Eddy Curry. But this bad team isn't a team completely filled with bad people. Or bad players.

Nate Robinson may be frustrating to coach, but while Thomas hasn't figured out how to harness the 5-9 sparkplug's energy, Robinson has used it to put in extra work throughout the season. Robinson not only is one of the last players off the court after practice, he also returns to the MSG Training Center later some evenings to put in another hour of shooting with player development coach Greg Brittenham.

Lee, Jared Jeffries and Fred Jones have made a road routine out of showing up three hours before gametime to get in their pregame work on the court and in the training room. Others, such as Curry and Randolph, often show up at the latest time allowed.

"Everybody prepares differently," Jeffries said with a shrug. He noted that Kevin Garnett, one of the hardest-working players in the NBA, doesn't even partake in a pregame warmup. But Garnett has brought a standard to the Celtics that just does not exist with the Knicks.

There are no defined leaders in the locker room to ensure young players such as rookie Wilson Chandler and Randolph Morris and second-year players Renaldo Balkman and Mardy Collins do not fall into bad habits, as they did in the second half of the season. Thomas does not hold his players accountable -- either publicly or privately -- for their conditioning and the effort they put into improving themselves. Remember, when Thomas was asked if Curry's conditioning was an issue this season, Thomas replied, "Never been a problem." Everyone in earshot did a double-take.

Never?

huh?
thomas didn't say that
stop making stuff up
18 mil what a country

Posted by Siar617:

huh?
thomas didn't say that
stop making stuff up
18 mil what a country

Just for clarification Back in December He Said.....

Knicks Coach: Reported Planned Resignation a "Lie"

NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Isiah Thomas believes the best way he can fix the Knicks is by staying on the bench and in the front office — no matter what the reports say.
Despite separate reports Saturday that he was considering stepping away from the job and was on the verge of being fired, Thomas said that he has no plans to give up either position he has with the team, which sits at 9-26. He has been the president for four years, and Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan also made him the coach after firing Larry Brown in June 2006.

And Thomas said he hasn't considered talking to Dolan about whether it's best for the team if he wears just one hat.

"I've never given it that thought. I only think about how fix it, how to make it right," Thomas said. "That's all my time and energy is focused on and until I do that, I'll be here trying to make it right."

The New York Post, citing an unnamed source, reported Saturday that Thomas told a friend he was considering stepping away from coaching to concentrate on the team presidency.

"That was a lie," Thomas said. "That was just a flat-out lie. I would never, ever, ever quit. Ever."

Of course, he could eventually be fired, and even Thomas seemed to acknowledge that. Asked about the idea that he could be removed, he responded: "When that happens, we'll all know."

And it may happen sooner than expected. Dolan is seriously considering a coaching change, according to a report Saturday in the Daily News.

The paper, citing a source close to Dolan, said the Knicks' owner knows a change needs to made and is preparing to do it.

Dolan hasn't spoken to the media since giving Thomas a multiyear contract extension in March. And though Thomas insists he believes he'll last all season, he won't say if that belief comes from anything Dolan has told him.

"I think the fact that there hasn't been a change will let you know that when Mr. Dolan wants to do something, he does it," Thomas said. "And I show up for work every day and I said to you before, you're not going to find a person who's going to work harder at this than I am to try to fix it.

"And I'm hellbent on fixing it and I don't like that we're in this situation, but we are and I don't plan on leaving it."

Still, the speculation that Thomas may be in his final days could make it difficult to deal with his players. In Friday's 99-90 loss to Toronto, Thomas had his second incident in three weeks with a player on the sideline.

Last month, it was a heated exchange with Quentin Richardson during a loss at Charlotte. On Friday, forward Zach Randolph chose to sit toward the end of the bench when he was pulled, seeming to refuse Thomas' request to sit next to him.

Could the players be disrespecting Thomas because they believe they're going to outlast him?

"I don't think that enters into anyone's mind at that time," Thomas said. "I think it's just a heat of the moment thing."

LOL 10 games left... Hey I SAY UGH just cancel every practice from here on out so we can see your hard work, dedication, and commitment to HELL BENTNESS!

[Edited by - TrueBlue on 03-30-2008 3:27 PM]

I am not suprised that lee and jeffries were among the 7..