Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Knicks extend Isiah
The collective “Noooooooooo!” heard around the globe earlier this week, but most loudly in New York City was a reaction to New York Knick owner Charles Dolan’s extension of President, General Manager and Head Coach Isiah Thomas. There is no doubt in the Clarion’s eye Thomas has made significant progess from the mess carpertbagger Larry Brown left.
Incidentally, says here Brown is overrated. The Clarion saw his ways many years before the Pistons, some of the close-ups on his vagabond run included the Nets and Clippers. What folks always forget is though Larry improved these franchises while he was there, he then left them, often abruptly, always in disarray. So when he screwed the Pistons by becoming a disruptive force, it was no surprise around this office. His tenure with the Knicks was atrocious. FUBAR incarnate.
Thomas is barely more than half way through the season Dolan said he was going to evaluate. The Knicks are hanging on to the 8th playoff spot and would not be odds on favorites to win as much as a single playoff game this season, let alone a series, at this point. Oh and Zeke traded next year’s draft pick. This is symbolic of the verdict on Thomas here, the Clarion likes him as a Coach and loathes him as President and G.M. He is a terrific motivator, a decent teacher and can empathize with today’s players. No easy trick, but something he was reknown for in Indiana. Note the Pacers immolation has coincided with the Knicks slipping into the 8th spot. While the Knicks have gone 6 up and 4 down in their last 10, the Indiana Pacers have gone a splendid 0 and 10.
So we like Zeke as a Coach yes. Heck we wrote in this space last year, that we’d a let Isiah coach the Indiana Hoosiers. Though as things have turned out, Kelvin Sampson, provided he keeps his nose squeaky clean, looks like a good choice. Sampson’s style of defense, his tenacity and fundamental sound philosphies fit today’s Big Ten. As for today's Big Ten Bill Simmons says the Big Ten has much in common with the WNBA. (Hilarious. It’s right at the beginning of his column and it is spot on...)
Isiah might be a good recruiter, the case is still out. There is no doubt he is a losuy GM, Jalen Rose, Steve Francis, the Larry Brown hire, Jerome James, Penny Hardway, plus overpaying for Curry and Quentin Richardson, giving away Nazr Mohammed for nothing. The litany of mistakes is endless. A few good draft picks do not undo this, they might mean that Isiah would make a good scout. Just because Dave Checketts was perhaps the single worst basketball executive ever, does not make Thomas’s performance excusable. The Knicks are 33 years removed from their last championship. Two days in eighth place in the Eastern Conference is not a balm for that kind of wound.
Thomas has put some youth on the roster, he has gotten some motivation out of them, but for goodness sakes they haven’t won more than two in a row in a month. They have the league’s highest payroll by far. (Which matters to the Clarion only insofar as it limits their flexiblity to deal.) They are playing in one of the worst conferences in memory. Splashing out for a new contract for Isiah at this time was asinine. The Clarion would like to say, “No surprise, really, Dolan is clearly an ass.” But every time we think things have bottomed out, he shocks us again. We didn’t see it coming. We thought sure he’d at least wait to see if the team even made the playoffs. If it were up to the Clarion, huge Knicks fans, even if they did squeak in, we’d a thought long and hard before extending Isiah.
Other people’s takes
Glen Grunwald has helped Thomas
NY beat reporter
NY Daily News
Healthy New York cynicism
Incidentally, says here Brown is overrated. The Clarion saw his ways many years before the Pistons, some of the close-ups on his vagabond run included the Nets and Clippers. What folks always forget is though Larry improved these franchises while he was there, he then left them, often abruptly, always in disarray. So when he screwed the Pistons by becoming a disruptive force, it was no surprise around this office. His tenure with the Knicks was atrocious. FUBAR incarnate.
Thomas is barely more than half way through the season Dolan said he was going to evaluate. The Knicks are hanging on to the 8th playoff spot and would not be odds on favorites to win as much as a single playoff game this season, let alone a series, at this point. Oh and Zeke traded next year’s draft pick. This is symbolic of the verdict on Thomas here, the Clarion likes him as a Coach and loathes him as President and G.M. He is a terrific motivator, a decent teacher and can empathize with today’s players. No easy trick, but something he was reknown for in Indiana. Note the Pacers immolation has coincided with the Knicks slipping into the 8th spot. While the Knicks have gone 6 up and 4 down in their last 10, the Indiana Pacers have gone a splendid 0 and 10.
So we like Zeke as a Coach yes. Heck we wrote in this space last year, that we’d a let Isiah coach the Indiana Hoosiers. Though as things have turned out, Kelvin Sampson, provided he keeps his nose squeaky clean, looks like a good choice. Sampson’s style of defense, his tenacity and fundamental sound philosphies fit today’s Big Ten. As for today's Big Ten Bill Simmons says the Big Ten has much in common with the WNBA. (Hilarious. It’s right at the beginning of his column and it is spot on...)
Isiah might be a good recruiter, the case is still out. There is no doubt he is a losuy GM, Jalen Rose, Steve Francis, the Larry Brown hire, Jerome James, Penny Hardway, plus overpaying for Curry and Quentin Richardson, giving away Nazr Mohammed for nothing. The litany of mistakes is endless. A few good draft picks do not undo this, they might mean that Isiah would make a good scout. Just because Dave Checketts was perhaps the single worst basketball executive ever, does not make Thomas’s performance excusable. The Knicks are 33 years removed from their last championship. Two days in eighth place in the Eastern Conference is not a balm for that kind of wound.
Thomas has put some youth on the roster, he has gotten some motivation out of them, but for goodness sakes they haven’t won more than two in a row in a month. They have the league’s highest payroll by far. (Which matters to the Clarion only insofar as it limits their flexiblity to deal.) They are playing in one of the worst conferences in memory. Splashing out for a new contract for Isiah at this time was asinine. The Clarion would like to say, “No surprise, really, Dolan is clearly an ass.” But every time we think things have bottomed out, he shocks us again. We didn’t see it coming. We thought sure he’d at least wait to see if the team even made the playoffs. If it were up to the Clarion, huge Knicks fans, even if they did squeak in, we’d a thought long and hard before extending Isiah.
Other people’s takes
Glen Grunwald has helped Thomas
NY beat reporter
NY Daily News
Healthy New York cynicism
Labels: NBA, sports, The Knicks
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