The Job Market

I have (at least) two friends out of work right now. Good friends. Who are good workers. Smart people who have succeeded at previous jobs. I've also worried about my own job during the past few months as well. And, not because I waste too much time writing on this website for so few people. And not because I'm not good passable at what I do. I've had to worry because my company, like many, was considering layoffs as a means of dealing with the recession. As a means of saving some jobs. My boss even told several of us that if the hammer came down that it wouldn't have anything to do with performance or even that he didn't have the work for us. I actually began studying for the GRE just in case I needed a Plan B. Because what better strategy is there when faced with job loss than to seek out a massive debt load while gaining training in a field - journalism - that is dying?

But this post isn't about me. Or my unemployed friends. It's about Isiah Thomas. Who has found himself again gainfully employed after being gainfully, sort-of unemployed. The deposed Knicks coach and executive just inked a five-year pact to coach men's basketball at Florida International University in Miami, Florida. It's official. And the Internets came alive with derision. It was the hiring that launched a thousand blog posts. Which is logical (and was humorous) given Isiah's dismal track record being in charge of anything while not wearing short shorts. But, seriously, this move is sensible for FIU. It's even clever. After all, they have been mentioned on Sportscenter, in my office and in my kitchen within the past week. Quite a treble. And, all of this media attention leads directly into the opening of recruiting season. Which is today. Well played, FIU.

“We are excited to have Isiah Thomas join the FIU family,” said FIU President Modesto A. Maidique. “This is bigger than basketball and bigger than athletics. Having a nationally-recognized coach like Isiah at FIU will have a positive impact on our university as a whole, helping us achieve additional national exposure.”

For once, here is a quote from a higher up that actually means what it says. And says what the person means. The endgame here is "achieve additional national exposure." No form of the word "win" appears in this quote. There is no talk about conference titles. No warning for the Hilltoppers of Western Kentucky University, who are currently the cream of the Sun Belt Conference, where FIU finished 8th last season. Not even a shot across the bow of the University of Denver, who finished two games ahead of FIU last season in the conference. Because this hire is not about winning. It's about the very existence of the press conference when the quote was uttered. It's about this post on this random blog. It's about exposure and the profile of the program. And, that's all. This isn't about winning the Sun Belt Conference or trying to upset the balance of collegiate sporting power in Miami. This is about big smiles and media coverage. Which is why Isiah Thomas is perfect for the job. He's the only coach that I've ever seen call a time out before an out-of-bounds play only to send his team back on the floor without a play called.

All lack of coaching acumen aside, I would imagine that the caliber of athlete that FIU is able to recruit improves significantly under Isiah. He's a name brand. He's a Hall of Famer. And he's got that Chesire grin that should serve him well in living rooms on recruiting visits. The team, therefore, will improve. By sheer force of the athleticism they'll win some games that they historically would have lost. Through the power of belief instilled in them by their pathologically self-confident coach they'll overcome teams with a more realistic self-image. The Golden Panthers of Florida International will do these things and will creep towards the .500 mark next season. They season after that they will have a winning record by virtue of their weak conference and some even easier non-conference games. And they will threaten in the Sun Belt Conference, powered by swagger. Everything that was wrong with the derivatives market before we knew it was wrong will be wrong with this team. They might even play a game with a berth in the NCAA tournament on the line. They will lose in the conference tournament final, though. Oh, yes. This will happen. But after dropping that game they will be gifted a spot in the National Invitational Tournament. It's not the Big Dance but it's something special. Especially at FIU. Antiquated and belittled, the NIT is still special because the semis and the finals are played at Madison Square Garden.

If there were Vegas odds on FIU reaching the NIT semifinals in the next five years then I would surely take that bet. It's going to happen. Isiah will have to return to the Garden. He'll have to return to the site of his crime like criminals are supposedly want to do. He'll have to come back and pass the security personnel and parking attendants who remember the way he left. He'll have to come back and stroll the sideline like he once did. Or, at least he'll have to sit forlornly in a folding chair like he once did. He'll have to listen to the media that will descend on the place for his return. And, he'll have to return to hear the catcalls of disgruntled Knicks fans that will surely rain down from the stands. He'll have to return to face me. I'll dust off my old "Fire Isiah" t-shirt. And, I'll be there. Just like any NIT semi-final, I'll buy the cheapest seat upstairs and then move down once the game tips off.

It is fated. The moment will happen. And, FIU will get rolled. And, I'll revel in it. Oh, yes. I will. But, still that moment will validate FIU President Modesto A. Maidique's hiring of Thomas. Because he will take them some place they've never been before. And, I'm fine with that. Because, for the first time in a long time, someone else is taking advantage of Isiah rather than him taking advantage of others.

The Knicks Are Like the Dream Team

Insofar as Isiah Thomas is Not Allowed to Contact Them

Isiah Thomas knows all about the ol' freeze out. He's done the freezing and he's been frost bit before. As the story goes Isiah Thomas was the ring leader in the East locker room prior to the 1985 NBA All-Star Game. In this capacity he convinced his teammates, including Moses Malone, Larry Legend, Dr. J, Bernard King and the Chief, to keep the ball out of the hands of a rookie from the Chicago Bulls, Michael Jordan. Thomas's reason for this was that he felt like the young scorer was getting an inordinate amount of media attention for someone who hadn't paid his dues yet. You might have heard of this Jordan character. Well, apparently he was a bit of competitor and he didn't take kindly to being locked out of the offense. In fact, he held that grudge for decades.

When the IOC amended their rules so as to allow professional basketball players to participate in the 1992 Olympics the whole sporting world was aflutter with the possibilities. The NBA was in a golden era and the spots on the team were priceless. Chuck Daly was named the head coach of the squad and the roster was assembled. The starting center was Patrick Ewing (of course). The starting power forward was Karl Malone. The starting small forward was Charles Barkley. The starting shooting guard was Michael Jordan. And the starting point guard? It sure as hell wasn't Isiah Thomas. It was Magic Johnson. And the backup point guard? Isiah? Nope. It was John Stockton.

This time, as the tale is told, Michael Jordan was the one doing the freezing out. And Isiah was the one out in the cold. He was passed over by the United States men's national basketball team in spite of recently leading the Pistons to back-to-back titles in the years leading up to the Games. He was passed over in spite of the fact that he was undeniably one of the greatest point guards to ever play the game. He was passed over in spite of the fact that his own coach was calling the shots.

He missed out on one of the defining moments for a generation of ballers because he was so selfishly short-sighted in that 1985 All-Star Game. He missed out because his petty jealousy incited him to use his Napoleonic sway as PG in that game to try to take down a kid who had done nothing wrong other than score points as a rookie. And, don't get me wrong, I hate Michael Jordan as much as you can actually hate a professional athlete that you don't know. But, I'd take his side in this battle.

And, as usual, Jordan wins in this rivalry too. Yeah he only got off 9 shot attempts as a starter in his first All-Star Game appearance but he also led the most celebrated team possibly in the history of sport and participated in what could only have been some of the most dramatic high-stakes poker games in the history of gambling during those weeks in Spain.

So, Isiah must have felt a familiar feeling when new Knicks Team President Donnie Walsh informed him the other day that he was prohibited from making any contact with any players on the Knicks roster or coaches on the coaching staff. He must have had a little deja vu. Because he's been here before. He's been told to stay away from team's he felt, in one case rightly and in the other wrongly, that he should have been on. He knows what it's like to not be welcome. To be frozen out.

The karmic paybacks are just starting for Isiah Lord Thomas. He tried to hold down Jordan. Talk about your all-time backfires. He tried to run the Knicks for his own vanity rather than for the fans and for the players. He stubbornly insisted that he would never quit or change even if the circumstances seemed to beg either or both of those moves. And, now his bluff has been called. He has been stripped of his titles. He's likely had to give up all of his office space. He can't show up at the Garden unless he's coming to report to Walsh. He is barred from contact with anyone other Walsh. And his bold proclamations about never quitting, ever, will force him to be powerlessly present as his work is undone. His refusal to admit failure will allow him to be even further humiliated by Walsh who can now use him as an errand boy and doesn't seem shy about doing so, already mentioning that Isiah will be available to be sent to Europe if there is a prospect to be seen.

That example of the sort of task that Isiah could be assigned is particularly hilarious given the complete lack of European scouting that occurred under his stewardship. And, this is why I have no problem with the fact that Isiah hasn't been totally fired from the organization. In fact, I like this even better. He's been stripped of all power and now only has accountability, something that he never had before. Now he is Donnie Walsh's basketball concierge. That is a far more shameful fate than simply being fired. If he'd been fired he could have just left town. He could have potentially even moved on to another pursuit (probably not a NBA job) and distanced himself from the past few years of his life. That isn't an option now.

He's stuck, frozen in fact, by his refusal to quit. He's not allowed to talk to the players who he coached and hired because of how poorly he has been known to handle himself. Walsh doesn't want Isiah whispering poisoned somethings in the ears of Jamal Crawford or any other Knicks who may still foolishly trust him. He doesn't want him turning the Knicks locker room against whomever the new coach is in the same way that he turned that 1985 All-Star Game locker room against Jordan.

"This House Is Clean"

Isiah Thomas Is Removed As Knicks Coach

A poltergeist has been exercised from the World's Most Famous Arena. Isiah Thomas will no longer be haunting the sidelines at the Garden. He will no longer be allowed to move around the furniture (or the personnel) while everyone is soundly asleep.

Donnie Walsh made the inevitable announcement late yesterday afternoon that Isiah would not return as coach next season. Everyone knew it just had to be coming. I mean, just look at the last year of his terrible tenure. But we all wanted it so bad that we were afraid that it wouldn't happen. We were so beaten down by the past seven seasons, by everything that has happened from the day that Patrick was traded to Seattle right through the way that Mike Dunleavy carved us up for 36 points for the third time this season. Non-Knicks fans would tease about the possibility that lil' Jimmy Dolan would somehow get Isiah a stay of execution for one more season. When Kiki Vandeweghe was rumored for the gig that Walsh ended up taking the papers reported that Isiah's staying on was a condition of the tentative deal. But Kiki wasn't an Academic All-American at UCLA by accident and he walked away.

And, clearly there was no way that the ol' pro from the Bronx was going to sign on to start with one hand tied behind his back. Walsh knows this city enough to know that if he took the helm of the S.S.Knickerbocker and didn't fire Isiah immediately that we would leave port next season with a breach already in the hull. He'd be taking on water and losing fan support from day one if he didn't make that move. He knew that by firing Isiah he would gain the goodwill of the citizenry and that he would be given a free pass for early struggles because those struggles would be growing pains rather than death throes.

Growing pains and death throes. That will be the difference between next season and last season. Because Isiah Thomas is gone (at least from sight if not from the payroll) this ballclub can move forward. For the first time in a long time, something went the way it was supposed to. Something went the way that we had hoped.

And, after seeing how quickly and clinically Walsh removed Isiah from this position one can even hope to see things being done the right way from here on out.

"I can't really tell you where he failed with the club. I think that we reached a point this season when our team didn't compete for a long time," new team president Donnie Walsh said. "The bottom line is that we haven't won and the team didn't look like it was motivated to try to win and be competitive."~Donnie Walsh on demoting Isiah Thomas

And So It Goes

The 2007-2008 Knicks Season Is Over After One Last Rout In Indiana
Knicks 123 - 132 Pacers

It's over. It's done with. This incarnation of the New York Knickerbockers will never take the floor again together. Right?

This coaching staff will never lead another group of young men into battle bearing spoons instead of swords. Right?

One can only hope. Well, except for Mike Dunleavy of the Pacers who probably doesn't want this team to change a thing. To him this Knicks team is just perfect. They've got the perfect combination of slow rotating defenders in the half court and slower transition in the open court for him to score precisely 36 points per night, which he did in 3 out of 4 times he faced NY this season. That's his career high.

It's been a brutal season. It's been exhausting the past few weeks. And, I know that the losing has made it hard to muster the energy to post on this site. Or to sit on the couch and watch games. Hell, I was at the game on Monday actively hoping that they would lose so as not to hurt their draft position. There's no doubt that it's been a rough year. The roughest that I've seen.

It's rougher than 2005-2006 when Larry Brown's team finished with an identical record. That season was terrible. It was dysfunctional. But it wasn't embarrassing in the myriad ways that this year was. This team lost 34 games by ten or more points. They lost 10 games by 20 or more points. They lost a game by 26 points. They lost a game by 28 points. They lost a game by 29 points. They lost a game by 30 points. They lost a game by 32 points. They lost a game by 34 points. And they lost a game by 40 points.

This team even lost a lawsuit. They lost players to injury. They lost their dignity. They lost in every conceivable way that they could have.

But it is over. And so it goes.

The End of An Error and An Anthem

Late in Monday night's loss to the second-string Boston Celtics a familiar refrain rang through the Garden. It rose above the crinkling and crackling of food wrappers. It soared up to the rafters and mingled with the names and numbers of the legends hanging high above the parquet floor. It was what seems likely to be the very last "Fire Isiah" chant that will ever be uttered in Madison Square Garden.



After such an arduous season saw this phrase enter the sports lexicon it seems strange that it may never be uttered again. It seems almost unbelievable that I won't need to give voice to those words ever again. Or maybe, "Fire Isiah" can live on as a catch-all call-to-arms for any fan base when their coach or general manager deserves to be sacked.

Perhaps Isiah can attach his name to forcible regime changes in NBA the way that Mario Mendoza forever linked himself to ineptitude at the plate in Major League Baseball or the way that Tommy John ended up being better known as a surgical procedure than a pitcher.

Isiah's Scorched Draft Policy

How Isiah Thomas Wants To Hurt This Team Even After He's Gone


It is a military tactic in use since before the reign of Pontius Pilate. The Scythians used it before their territory was overrun by the Persians. The Armenians used it before their lands were taken by the Greeks. In the American Civil War the troops of the Confederacy were ordered to implement this same action as General Sherman and his Union soldiers marched towards them. (Of course, Sherman was going to do the same when he arrived anyway, but that is neither here nor there.) Throughout all recorded time those who have been certain to lose their lands and possessions in battle have destroyed them rather than abandon them to the uses of the approaching enemy. It is called scorched earth and it is nothing new. It is as old as war itself.

It is another way of saying that if "I can't have it than nobody can." And, it is exactly what Isiah Thomas has been trying to do to the Knicks draft pick ever since Donnie Walsh was hired. With the writing on the wall that his reign over the court at the Garden is over. With the hoof beats of Walsh's horses quaking the ground several floors beneath the hardwood, Isiah has inexplicably started coaching again in what can only be construed as an attempt to squander the one silver-lining in this cloudy season: the team's draft pick. By winning three of their last four games the Knicks have given up the inside track on one of the top three picks. They have potentially forsook that which could redeem this lost season.

The Daily News reported that Thomas even had the audacity to hold the longest practice that the team has had in weeks on Sunday. It was not too long ago that he was barely asking his players to shoot-around before tip-off. And, now he wants them to practice? Why? So that he can get a better look at Randolph Morris? Nope. So that they can squeak out a win over Charlotte? Or a playoff bound Pistons team that is resting its starters?

Actually, yes. That is exactly why. In his own retreat from his soon to be conquered territory Isiah is for-once heeding the lessons of history. He is not ignoring those wiser leaders who came before him. He is listening to them and he is setting fire to the most precious assets that he has so that those who usurp his lands cannot make use of them.

Isiah Thomas is coaching again just to ruin our chance at Derrick Rose. He does not want to help his erstwhile enemies (Donnie Walsh, the players themselves and the fans are included in this number) succeed in the place where he failed so famously. In doing so he is taking away the only good thing that he could have brought forth from the wretched incubator of his tenure on the bench.

He is setting fire to our draft lottery ping pong balls just as those Scythians set fire to their fields and slaughtered all the livestock which they could not carry with them as they fled their conquerors.

Chatting Up Chad Ford

Here Are Some Belated Knicks-Related Excerpts From a "Chat" with the ESPN hoops maven. My reactions are included in italics

Jonny (LA): I know there is lots of volatility right now, but please give me your prediction for the Knicks next coach and GM. Thanks.

Chad Ford: Coach? It won't be Isiah. I think Mark Jackson will get a shot. I don't think Rick Carlisle will. As for GM? If he can get his right hand man in Indiana, David Morway, that would be the most obvious choice (though Morway may choose to stay in Indiana with Larry Bird instead). It's interesting that more people haven't talked about Morway ... a guy who many in the league think is GM material on his own. If it's not Morway ... Billy King is a possibility. I'm told there's no way it will be Mark Warkentein.

WWOD?: First of all, I'm glad that both the question and answer take for granted that Isiah Thomas is gone. Nice. Secondly, I LOVE that Mark Jackson will get a shot. Just because it shows that there is an understanding of team history. Isiah has always ignored the Knickerbocker history because it is not his own and he has done this to his own detriment. That being said, Rick Carlisle also donned a Knicks uniform for a few seasons and I don't like to hear that any high-caliber person won't even be considered. I think we've leave all options open. We've got to realize that this team is still years from being good and that the coach we hire now won't necesarily be the one take us to the mountaintop. Or, even the satelite parking lot where those hoping to go hiking in the state park where the mountain is located. So, we don't need our dream coach right now. We need the guy to turn this thing around and demand accountability in the meantime.

* * * * * *

Doug (NY): Chad, how realistic is it that Donnie Walsh will be able to free up enough cap space by 2010 to lure LeBron or Wade to the Knicks?

Chad Ford: If he let's Stephon Marbury's contract expire and then finds a trade for either Zach Randolph or Eddy Curry that gets back contracts that expire by the summer of 2010 ... the Knicks will be far enough under the cap to make a run at a serious free agent like LeBron or Wade. All it really requires is a little patience. Make a great draft pick this year and next year ... develop young players like David Lee ... and the Knicks could be in very good position in the summer of 2010.

WWOD?: I'd like to believe Chad here. I think the key is really Marbury's contract. We've got to let it come off the books rather than trading it for more contracts, that likely go past next season.

* * * * * *

MRL the Pearl (Owings Mills): Isiah Thomas. Will he ever work in the NBA again?

Chad Ford: I doubt it. Maybe as a coach. Never again as a GM or team president.

WWOD?:One can only hope that this is the case. Perhaps if he took a job coaching in college or a D-League team he could rehabilitate his image as coach enough to come back to an NBA sideline. It seems implausible but there are so many retreads in the coaching ranks that nothing should surprise too much.

* * * * * *

Doris Bullet (Fort Lee): If both the Knicks and Nets are going to be able to fit lebron in 2010 which team do you think Lebron would choose?

Chad Ford: The Nets.

WWOD?:Everyone seems to think that Lebron-to-the-Nets is a foregone conclusion. I guess so, but I hope that this move happened soon enough that the Knicks might be able to force their way into the picture. If Marbury's contract is allowed to die of natural causes and either Randolph or Curry is traded then the Knicks will be rebuilt before the Nets are since Vince Carter isn't going anywhere.

* * * * * *

Matt (CT): Do you think Donnie is looking for a true point in the draft? hopefully the balls bounce the Knicks way so they can get Rose!

Chad Ford: Yeah, Derrick Rose should be at the very top of their list -- ahead of Michael Beasley. He's a huge point guard, with excellent athleticism and great floor vision. He's a leader and a superstar in the making. He reminds me of a 6-foot-4 version of LeBron. Very few players have that combination of quickness and power at his size.

Chris (Boston): Hey chad, can you see a situation where Beasley isnt drafted 1st overall??

WWOD?:Yeah, if any team were to turn their draft board over to me. At this point, there are only five teams that don't take Rose with the No. 1 overall pick: New Orleans, Utah,

Chad Ford: Yes. I think the Knicks would take Rose No. 1. Ditto for the Pacers. I think Miami would have to look very closely at Rose vs. Beasley. And I think Seattle would as well.

Jack (Toronto): You don't think Donnie Walsh got enough of me-first players in Indiana? No way Mayo goes to the Knicks.

Chad Ford: I don't think that's totally fair for Mayo. He's been a team player at USC this year.

WWOD?:Anyone who reads this site or who has talked to me for more than five minutes in the past five weeks knows that I want Derrick Rose on my team more than A-Rod wants to be well-liked. I want him to be our next point guard really badly. And, I'm setting myself up to utterly devastated if we don't land him. Which is stupid. Because there are other good point guards out there. Eric Gordon is strong and young and can score. O.J. Mayo ended up having a much better season than it seems (I agree with Ford's defense of Mayo on this point), even if he was upstaged by a few our diaper dandies. Still, Rose is the prize and to me the rest are thorns.

Meaningful Basketball Discussions

Just like Donnie Walsh, all Knicks fans have a lot of meaningful basketball discussions ahead of us. So, let's start with the Don's scripted remarks:


And, after that rather stiff foreplay the Don and the assembled fourth estate really get down to brass tacks. And, by "brass tacks" I mean that he is asked every which way how quickly he is going to fire Isiah. And, he gives the best, most meaningful nonanswers that I've ever heard. It is amazing to hear someone speak honestly about this team who is actually affiliated with this team. I can't even describe how great it its. This clip is almost a half an hour long, but it is VERY, VERY much worth the time. It's not often that you get to hear one of the top hoops minds in the game speak plainly at length.


And, though I love the idea (and implied results) of "a meaningful basketball discussion I just can't imagine anyone having one with this Cheshire cat. This is the very definition of a sh#t-eating grin. A picture from this interview is in the dictionary under that entry.


But the knowledge that that man is not likely long for his current post as head coach (and that even if by some Faustian bargain he is able to maintain that role he will not be charged with stocking the cupboard) makes me almost as happy as I know Mike Breen must be. The Knicks play-by-play man has been wonderfully outspoken in his criticism of the Knicks dismal play this year as has is partner Clyde Frazier. As a fan you felt like they felt your pain. And, today you felt like they felt your joy.


Though, the my enthusiasm for all of this is somewhat tempered by the fact that Stephen A digs it.


But, not too much. I'd pick Stephen A over Isiah T any day of the week. Which is saying something. I would rather listen to Stephen A while stuck in traffic every single day for the rest of my life than have to watch Isiah run this team for any longer than the last day of the 2007-2008 regular season. So, bearing that in mind, let's cleanse the pallet with some Chris Sheridan.

From the Horse's Mouth

The New Don

Donnie Walsh Officially Named President of Knicks
It was on December 22, 2003 that Isiah Thomas was named President of Basketball Operation of the New York Knicks. His official bio on the team's website and in the media guide states that this is the date that he "brought his singular style and winning attitude to the world’s greatest basketball city."

That bio goes on to state that:
His impact upon the Knicks has been swift and dramatic, as he has engineered trades to bring the likes of Stephon Marbury, Jamal Crawford, Steve Francis, Eddy Curry, Jalen Rose and Quentin Richardson to New York, as well as the free agent signings of Jared Jeffries and Jerome James.

And, adds that:
Thomas’ patience and ability to stick to his long-term plan, rebuilding the organization through a balance of youth, athleticism and experience, have re-energized the franchise (every player on the Knicks’ roster has been acquired during Thomas’ regime). Taking on the added role of head coach, he brings a singular philosophy - both short- and long-term - for returning the Knicks to elite status.

The fact that this text is on the team's website today is as laughable as the team's lack of a called play coming out of a timeout in the fourth quarter. Steve Francis, Jalen Rose and Jerome James are listed as three of the eight most significant non-draft roster moves during Thomas' tenure as Team President. Really? On April 2, 2008 the team is touting the Jared Jeffries and Jerome James free-agent signings in his best-of section? That right there is as damning as anything else I could ever write about the guy. It's so much more damning because you realize that his worst, most laughable moves are really all that he has to show for himself. After all, Jared Jeffries may actually be his best free-agent signing!

And, horrendous personel judgement is just one of the myriad reasons why Donnie Walsh is replacing Isiah as President of Basketball Operations. That is one job down for Thomas and hopefully the rest will be stripped from him shortly after the close of the season. Either way, there is a new Don in town as of 1 PM EST and I couldn't be any happier.

In this case the new boss is nothing like the old boss. The new Don is nothing like the old Thomas. He has the job because he's great at exactly this sort of job and not because he was once great at another job (playing basketball) that is related to this sort of job. The new Don is someone whose resume reads impeccably*.

His team has been to the playoffs in 16 of the last 18 years. He put together a team that made a trip to the NBA Finals in 2000. His teams made six trips to the Eastern Conference Finals. His teams won four division titles. He put together a team that had the best regular season record. His club made (mostly, except when Isiah sold him on Fred Jones over Tayshaun Prince) savvy draft picks and hired (mostly, except a certain former Pistons great) quality coaches.

Even if you don't think he is the absolute best person for the job. Even if you long for Jerry West, there is no way that you don't think that Walsh isn't one of the top-four people for the job. He is a basketball man, born in NYC, molded as a player under the legendary Frank McGuire at UNC (where he would receive his law degree after eschewing a career as a baller), shaped as a coach at the University of South Carolina and hardened as a General Manager-turned-Team Executive in the Midwest. After this long circuitous journey, Donnie Walsh is ready to come home. He is ready to turn around the enfeebled Knickerbockers.

There is a new Don in the New York City. And, he ain't a member of the Corrleone family. He is a member of the Walsh family from the Riverdale section of the Bronx.


*Everything that transpired in Indiana lately goes on Larry Bird's ledger in my opinion. Walsh has been phasing himself out, and I do (perhaps with rose-tinted glasses) place most of the blame at Bird's feet. Of course, this team was irrevocably damaged by the melee with the Pistons. That team had Artest and half of the Warriors roster that everyone in the NBA loves now. Remember that? Things have gone to hell in a hand basket since that fight (and since Walsh starting backing towards the door in deference to Bird) but we can't forget that Walsh new about those guys before Nellie did.

6 of 1 or a Half Dozen of the Other

Is Donnie Walsh really ready to trade in Larry for Zeke?

Eddy Curry: It's Over and It's Done With

Eddy Curry is done. Never has an injury been more of a relief for player, coach and crowd than this one. Word came down yesterday that he will go under the surgeon's knife to repair torn cartilage in his right knee. If Isiah is back as coach next season, meaning I will have to come to grips with the fact my prayers have been unanswered and the reality that aetheism is an available life-choice, then it seems likely that Curry will not be. We may never see that big posterior in a New York Knicks uniform again. Which, as bad as he's been this season, I think is a shame.

His average dipped below 14 points for the season as he got buried further down the bench. It is a pity that his amazing 2006 had to be followed by a year as bad as this one. It's my opinion that Isiah has ruined this kid. I'm not sure if he did it just by brining in Zach Randolph or whether it was telling the press that old-fashioned Big Men are like dinosaurs. Either way, Isiah ruined this kid this season just when he looked poised to break out. It's a shame. For the Knicks and for Eddy.

"Mission Accomplished" Redux

The One-Year Anniverary of "Evident Progress"

It was 366 (thanks to that pesky Leap Year Day) days ago today that James L. Dolan, son of media mogul and Madison Square Garden impresario Charles Dolan, landed his limousine or chauffered town car on the metaphorical deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln. Standing in the for the podium on the 4.5 acre deck of the Navy's air craft carrier - which was returning from a the 290-day deployment in the Middle East - was a podium in a conference room at a training center in Westchester County, New York. The doughy and manicured Dolan was out of his element at the suburban practice facility just as President Bush II was comically out of place in a flight-suit or aboard the deck of an active air craft carrier off the coast of Southern California.

And, though there was no "Mission Accomplished" Banner draped across the room in which Dolan spoke one year ago today there might as well have been one when he said that "I believe we have clearly seen significant and evident progress." He was speaking about the New York Knickerbockers when he uttered those words and in hindsight this statement was every bit as ridiculously rose-tinted, full of jingoism and purposefully misleading as President Jr. Bush's telling the servicemen and servicewomen aboard the Lincoln and the countless masses watching his orchestrated speech on live television that "Major combat operations in Iraq had ended."

While the ramifications of these two falsehoods are different in every conceivable way (after all, one is about a well-paid team playing a game invented by a school teacher in Massachusetts and the other is about death, havoc and destruction across the globe that knows no distinction between school teacher and scoundrel), the nature of the two statements and the natures of the two men who uttered them are not so different. Dolan and Bush II: Two sons forced upon us by circumstance and lineage, brought to us by hard-working, accomplished fathers and the last vestiges of royalism on these shores. Though both are buoyed by a willful disregard for criticism, compromise and the effects that their actions have in any minute past the one in which they are made, these two men are still most defined by their sense of entitlement. This sense of entitlement combined with their respective thirsts for success in the arenas which their fathers once tread led them each to see a mirage of victory and competence in a desert of failure, peril and squandered opportunity. In one case the proverbial desert was very real. It was Iraq. Thankfully, in the other case it was not. Thankfully only basketball games and not lives are lost when Dolan makes a mistake in judgement or in all-informed unilateral move. Thankfully, his father had not been a politician.

No, Charles Dolan, lil' Jimmy's father, was no politician. He was the founder of HBO and the man responsible for the world of premium cable television that we know and love today. He also owns Cablevision, the nation's fifth largest cable provider and owner of Madison Square Garden and the professional sports teams who make the building their home. It is this piece of the empire that his son was dealing with one year ago today and that he has most publicly ruined.

On March 12, 2007 Jimmy Dolan told an assemblage of reporters that he was extending the contract of head coach and team president Isiah Thomas because “we’re a much better team. ... I think we have a great future. I think we’ve clearly improved, even from the beginning of this year. I also think that Isiah has done a good job since he’s taken over as G.M. in 2003.” He would go on to say that he felt so strongly about the job that Isiah Thomas had done in compiling a 29-34 record to that point in the season that he “needs to be recognized now.”

And, by “recognized now” he meant give him a contract extension for many years and many dollars in spite of the fact that he had repeatedly said he would make all decisions on such matters after the season had concluded. That impatience and rush to see present success where only the possibility for future success (mixed with equal possibility for failure) existed has gotten us to where we are today.

One year to the day after Dolan had his very own “Mission Accomplished” moment the Knicks are a nationwide joke and one of the least competitive teams in a league that is enjoying a renaissance entirely without us. Let’s take a look back at the year since Isiah received that contract extension:

March 23, 2007
Less than two weeks after Dolan surprisingly extends Isiah Thomas's contract, the Knicks sign Kentucky center Randolph Morris fresh off the NCAA Tournament. This move was touted by the club as the extra 2007 lottery pick that would make up for the one we were about to surrender to Chicago as part of the Eddy Curry trade. With Curry seemingly a success on the floor and another promising young big man in the fold people in New York were starting to buy into Thomas's vision.Of course, hindsight being another form of vision, we now know that Curry would regress to his middle school days and Morris was inexplicably buried on the bench for most of this season.

March/April 2007 Perhaps inspired by Dolan’s timely recognition of their head coach, the Knicks surge to a 4-15 finish to the 2006-2007 season, for an overall record of 33-49. Not only do they surrender the 8th spot in the standings almost immediately after Thomas recieves his extension but they manage to finish seven games out of that final spot with three other teams between them and the eighth seeded Orlando Magic.

June 28, 2007
It's draft day and the Chicago Bulls use the Knicks #9 draft pick to acquire Joakim Noah. Meanwhile, the Knicks draft 6-9 swing man Wilson Chandler out of Depaul with the 23rd pick. However, the real news of the draft is that the Knicks acquire Zach Randolph, Fred Jones and Dan Dickau from the Portland Trailblazers in exchange for Steve Francis and Channing Frye. There is immediate suspicion as to how Randolph can co-exist with the emergent Curry, but Isiah assuages such plans with talk about his vision for a dominant front-court.

Randolph's gaudy numbers (23/10) also go a long way in helping sell this deal to a skeptical press corps and fan base. The Knicks also acquire Demetrius Nichols from Portland in exchange for a 2008 second-round pick. Nichols will be waived before the season begins and that draft pick remains in Portland in the able hands of their GM, Kevin Pritchard.

Though the Nichols aspect of this trade was a bust almost immediately it would take longer to sort through the rest of the deal. In fact, we're still sorting. Without Randolph dominating the offense the Blazers emerged as one of the surprise successes of the first half of this season. And, though the Zach-hole continued to get his numbers in NY there was much talk that he was at least partially responsible for Curry's regression and the team's struggles. Based on results alone, this trade was a slam-dunk for the Blazers and (at very best) a toss-up for the Knicks. Of course, one of the (many) reasons it couldn't be a slam-dunk for the Knicks is because Zach Randolph is not actually capable of jumping high enough to slam dunk. As the trading dealine approaches eight months after the trade, Randolph's is reportedly shopped aggressively by the Knicks. There are no takers. This probably tells you all you need to know about the deal.

July and August 2007
New Yorkers are freed from the Knicks in order to worry about the fact that the Yankees look like they're going to miss the playoffs.

August and September 2007
New Yorkers are freed from the Knicks in order to worry about the fact the Mets are in the midst of a historic collapse that will result in them missing the playoffs.

September 11, 2007
The Anucha Browne Sanders Trial gets under way. Sanders had formerly been the Knicks' vice president of marketing. In short, she accused Isiah Thomas of sexual harassment and James Dolan and Madison Square Garden of wrongful termination. Her day in court has finally come, reportedly, because Dolan and MSG refused to reach a settlement to avoid a public trial. In a very, very public trial, Thomas and the entire Garden are hammered by Sanders and her legal team. A portion of Thomas' video-taped deposition shown during the trial offered up such gems as:
1. Thomas trying to explain the difference between a white man and a black man calling a black woman "bitch."
2. The not-too-surprising revelation that Isiah doesn't care about us ticket holders was revealed classily when Isiah allegedly told Sanders, "Bitch, I don't give a f--k about these white people."

September 12, 2007
Knicks point guard Stephon Marbury, forced to be a witness at the trial, testifies that he did have sex with an MSG intern. In his truck. The two were outside of a Mount Vernon strip joint at the time, and the sex was consensual. How romantic. The intern will later testify and corroborate Steph's version of events. She will also later receive a promotion. Nice. Marbury's naive and embarrassing honesty on the witness stand may have been the beginning of the end of his relationship with his coach.

October 2, 2007
A federal jury returns a verdict in favor of former Knick employee Anucha Browne Sanders. She is awarded $11.6 million in damages.

October 30, 2007
When asked about the sorry state of one of his league's flagship franchises NBA Commissioner (and New Yorker) David Stern said: "It demonstrates that they're not a model of intelligent management. There were many checkpoints along the way where more decisive action would have eliminated this issue."

November 12, 2007
In perhaps the worst motivational ploy since a Bucks assistant coach told Vin Baker that whiskey with a beer chaser would improve his low-post game, Isiah Thomas has young, gullible Eddy Curry inform team-captain Stephon Marbury that he will likely lose his starting spot in the team's next game in Phoenix. An enraged Marbury almost comes to blows with his head coach aboard the chartered flight. Because, of course, Isiah decided to have a younger teammate give this news to Steph aboard a plane. That makes far more sense than breaking the news himself while standing on solid ground and looking his best player in the eyes. The newspapers report that Steph has gone AWOL from the team the next day when he is absent from the next morning's shoot around. Eventually we all find out in the Post that Steph has returned to New York. He misses the game against the Suns, which the Knicks lose. He returns to the team while they're in Los Angeles to play the Clippers. His teammates vote that he should be benched for the game due to his actions yet Isiah plays him 34 minutes in the game, which the Knicks lose. The team is fractured and the point guard and coach are barely masking their disdain for one another.

It will later be said, by Steph, that he had permission to leave the team and was not just missing as was widely reported and intimated by his coach. This will not be the first time that Steph takes a hit in the media for an absence that may have been suggested or even mandated by his coach.

November 20, 2007
After returning home from their winless and locker-room-splintering road trip the Knicks put forth a listless effort against the immensely exciting and entertaining Golden State Warriors. Isiah and Steph are booed lustily during the team introductions and Steph is booed every time he touches the ball in the first quarter. The large crowd is as fired up as a UNC crowd with JJ Reddick in the building. Meanwhile, Baron Davis is amazing and Stephen Jackson shows he has a better feel for the big moments in a game than anyone on the Knicks roster. The "Fire Isiah" chants begin in earnest in the fourth quarter. The chants are easily audible on television and the feeling in the crowd was that we could make a difference.

November 29, 2007
We were all reminded that we could NOT actually make a difference just nine days later. In a nationally televised game on TNT the Knicks are thrashed in historic fashion by the Boston Celtics. They lose the Boston Massacre 104-59. Kenny Smith, one of the commentators for TNT admits that "I've never even seen someone get beat at darts this bad." The lack of effort on defense in the early stages of this loss is unforgivable and inexcusable. The game validates the previous day's statement by esteemed Knick-killer Reggie Miller. In an interview he had said, "Right now, [the Knicks] are a league-wide joke. It's sad because they are an historic and iconic franchise. But people think they are late night comedy jokes." And, this is what he thought BEFORE the game.

December 2, 2007
The Knicks are playing the Phoenix Suns at the Garden. The game is surprisingly close heading into the fourth quarter. Nevertheless, the 'Bockers ultimately fall short as the Suns pull away down the stretch. Moments after leaving the hardwood Stephon Marbury is informed that his father had passed away. His father had been in attendance at the Garden that night and had been rushed to the hospital via ambulance during the second half while experiencing chest pain. He died shortly thereafter. This all happened during the game and neither Isiah Thomas nor anyone on his staff passed along any of this news to the player until after the game had finished.

December 10, 2007
Madison Square Garden and New York Knicks coach Isiah Thomas reach a settlement with Anucha Browne Sanders in her sexual harassment case. Terms of the settlement of not disclosed but it has got to be a whole lot of money. And, much more than the $6 million she would have settled for before the case ever went to trial or the $10 million she had been asking for in the original lawsuit.

December 17th, 2007
A 23-year old Knicks fan is ejected from a game against the Indiana Pacers for holding up a hand-written sign reading "Fire Isiah." Several similar things will occur in the coming weeks.

January 12, 2008
It is reported that Stephon Marbury will likely undergo season-ending surgery on his ankle. He has missed a lot of basketball in the aftermath of his father's death and his relationship with his coach is clearly past the point of no return. Many around the League wonder if Steph has played his last game in a Knicks uniform.

January 24, 2008
In perhaps the most revealing statement about how far the Knicks have fallen in the eyes of those around the NBA, Clippers head coach Mike Dunleavy cites the Knicks as something that he won't let his ballclub and franchise become:

"I would only make deals to help our future - anything else is suicide. Anything else and you become the New York Knicks. If you want to take on big contracts and long-term deals . . . that's not the direction I would go."

For years the Clippers were the fool's-gold-standard for sports franchise ineptitude. Not anymore. There's a new sheriff in town and his name is Isiah Thomas. Or, is it Jim Dolan?

February 14, 2008
Not exactly filled with the spirit of St. Valentine's Day Isiah Thomas throws Eddy Curry under the bus, claiming that the popular brand of small-ball taking the league by tiny storm makes a big man like Curry obsolete. Less than a year ago Curry was the "franchise" player around whom Isiah's team would be built. He was the focal part of his vision. Today, he is useless to Isiah. Sometimes it can be hard to maintain the passion in any relationship. Even on Valentine's Day.

February 20, 2008:
For my money this 84 - 124 loss to Philly is actually the worst loss of the "Mission Accomplished" Year. The Knicks are routed by the Sixers who are in many ways the exact opposite of this year's Knicks. They are under-talented and over-achieving. The game, not being nationally televised goes mostly unnoticed save for the fact that "Fire Isiah" chants have traveled down the turnpike and can be heard from the mouths of Philly fans. And, you thought they were heartless?

February 26, 2008
Hall of Fame Knick Earl Monroe chimes in on the gap between the team’s talent and performance: "I still think they got a tremendous amount of talent on this team. It's really baffling to me the team's not performing the way I thought they would perform."

March 3, 2008
MVP candidate Chris Paul and the New Orleans Hornets are in town to face the Knicks. Though the Garden is surprisingly near capacity I struggled to find someone to attend this game with, eventually convincing one of my brothers to come with me for the ticket price of two beers. Even at this price it's a tough sell, just like venerable Daily News cartoonist Bill Gallo depicted.Once in our seats we saw the Knicks find ever more creative ways to lose basketball games. The game was close in the early minutes of the fourth quarter yet Isiah decided this was the opportune time to feature the wrong end of the bench. Little used Randolph Morris, Malik Rose, Mardy Collins and Wilson Chandler all find themselves getting into the game. Together. It becomes transparent that Isiah is either throwing the game or looking to get himself fired when he removes Nate Robinson from the game in the waning moments. The Knicks need a bucket and a stop and Isiah removed the team's leading scorer that night and the only player who had shown any ability to stay in front of Chris Paul. With Nate off the floor Paul ices the game for New Orleans.

March 5, 2008
For the second night in a week the Garden is packed because of who the Knicks are playing. The Lebronaliers are in town. Once again, the Knicks hang tight with a better team until the late stages when poise, practice and coaching take the day. Actually, on this day Lebron James was the one who did most of the taking. He scored 50 points, with many of them coming in the late stages. The Garden crowd, hungry for watchable basketball and likeable players, applauds LBJ and serenades him with chants of "MVP."

March 9, 2008
It is made public that beleaguered and B-level center Eddy Curry likely needs surgery to repair torn cartilage in his knee.

March 10, 2008
In what may rank in the Top-5 worst losses of the season the Knicks are steamrolled in Dallas. Isiah Thomas sends rookie small forward Wilson Chandler out to contest the opening tip-off. This level of seriousness pervades the Knicks performance and their are down 28 in the second quarter. This is their seventh loss in a row, giving them their 3rd straight seven-game losing streak. The Knicks have lost 28 games by ten points or more and 9 games by 20 points or more.

March 12, 2008
We all celebrate the one-year anniversary of the Isiah Thomas's contract extension by beginning plans on a massive walk-out during the team's last home game on Monday April 14th versus the Boston Celtics. You in?

It's halftime of the Knicks/Mavs game. And, there have been zero minutes of competitive basketball played in this game so far. Not a single, solitary minute. From the moment that it was decided, presumably by head coach Isiah Thomas, that rookie swing-man Wilson Chandler was going to jump for the game's opening tip-off this game has been a farce. From the moment that our 6-8 small forward went out to the center circle to contest that tip the ballgame was conceded. Even if the players didn't know it yet.

This sort of irresponsible game planning, or lack thereof, by a coach can't help but trickle down to the players on the court. If their coach isn't going to take the game seriously then how can the players? If he seems to be going out of his way so that they lose then why should they go out of their way to try to avoid losing? It's ridiculous.

Meanwhile, as a counterpoint to Isiah's willful violation of the responsibilities of a coach is Mavs HC Avery Johnson. In a crowded arena that has fallen eerily quite do to the boring game on display, the only sound that can be heard other than the voices of the announcers is the voice of Johnson. He is frantically chirping out instructions while his team is on the defensive end of the floor from his perch near the midcourt end of the coach's box. Only a few dozen feet away Isiah sits sullenly in his folding chair with nary a word or order for his feckless and leaderless charges out on the floor.

You Practice How You Play

One thing that has always gotten on my nerves while attending Knicks game this season, aside from the the high-cost of seats, the low-grade of play and the awful video montage played during team introductions, is the haphazard way in which the team warms up before the game starts and before the second half gets under way. This lack of organization seems emblematic of the hapless and rudderless Isiah Thomas regime. And, in my opinion, is entirely connected to way that they look when the whistle blows. Like every time that the team comes out of a timeout without a play called, these purpose-less warmups show that there is no cogent leadership, no structure and no blueprint for success. This is a team with no plan.

When coming out of the tunnel after half, the team rarely takes the floor at the same time. One night David Lee will be out two or three minutes before anyone joins him. The next night it's Wilson Chandler and Renaldo Balkman out by themselves. And, I have no problem if a few guys want (or where asked) to get a little extra work in, but once everyone is on the floor there should be some semblance of order. Some idea that they are on the same page. Even if just to keep them from getting in each others way. Or sending balls caroming off one another before finding the net. Yet, it is clear every night that there is no rhyme or reason to what they're doing while warming up. It's clear that these players are just sent onto the floor without any tangible instructions from their coaches as to how they should be using the time allotted. They are out there killing time.

This picture, taken during half-time of Monday night's game against the Hornets, shows there is no overarching plan for what is happening on the court. David Lee is working on free throws. Eddy Curry is at halfcourt talking with Jennaro Pargo. Jared Jeffries and Nate Robinson are joking around just past the three point line. Randolph Morris is trying to shag balls under the hoop and doing his best not to get caught having to shoot any of them. Mardy Collins, Quentin Richardson and Jamal Crawford are shooting jump shots from various points on the court.

Now, I'm not saying that the Knicks (or any professional team) need to execute some sort of complex weave-passing drill straight out of Hoosiers, that David Lee shouldn't, in fact, be practicing his free-throws or that the team needs to come charging out of the locker room with linked arms while Guns 'n' Roses is blaring from the PA like a high school team. But they should come out with a more structured plan than they've got. They should come out like most every other team that visits the Garden does. With a plan. Whether simply layup lines or jump-shooting lines there is almost always ORDER to what the other team is doing.

In this picture of the Hornets warming up before the second half begins on Monday you can see that Byron Scott sends them out on the court to get loose and not to socialize or mess around. There is one line of players out on the wing and another under the basket. The players on the wing dribble towards the base line and shoot a jump shot while the players under the hoop rebound the ball and make an outlet pass to a player at the front of the other line. All players will shuttle to next line after they take their turn shooting or rebounding. It's simple. It gets everyone on the same page. It gets them passing to each other. It gets them making eye contact. It gets them taking shots that they are likely to shoot in a game. And, it's aesthetically pleasing to boot. They look every bit like a professional hoops team.

They Hornets practiced as a team and then they played as a team. They won as a team. The Knicks practiced as individuals and then they played as individuals. They lost as individuals.

Because, say it with me now, you practice how you play!

Did You Hear It?

It was like the photographic negative of a substance abuse intervention last night at Madison Square Garden. Rather than an intimate gathering of friends and loved ones to save someone they care deeply about from the personal demons (like heroin or gambling) that ultimately doom them to failure; it was a crowd of strangers amassed in one of the city's largest function rooms being forced to witness the actions of someone suffering deeply who was brazenly displaying the personal demons (inept coaching and worse personnel acquisition) that doom him to failure.

Before the least sympathetic (to him) crowd he could find Isiah Thomas issued a cry for help last night.

With his team playing fairly well against one of the game's top clubs he seized the moment and reached out to every fan and businessman with comp tickets in the crowd and every bored twenty-something through fifty-something male from the tri-state area sitting at home on their coach. He reached out to all of us and he said something as loudly and clearly as the boos that ultimately rained down on him. He said to all of us, "HELP ME!" March 3rd, 2008 is the day that Isiah looked for help. From all of us.

He coached last night's game against the Hornets with the explicit intention of giving the game away. And, he did it for us. He did it for me. And for you. And, for James Dolan, who was slouched over in a folding chair, wrinkling his expensive red necktie, just feet from where Isiah really needed him. He did it so that we could know how much he suffers and how badly he needs our help. He asked us, and especially Dolan and his cohort Steve Mills, to do something about this. He asked us to intervene and to stop his suffering. For his sake. And for ours.

The Knicks lost last night's game in a way that is unlike anyway that they have lost all season long. They'e been blown out. They've been down big and come charging back only to fall short. They've lost close games because they've just ran isolation plays for Jamal during the final minute. They've built leads only to allow the other team to charge back. They've lost in overtime. They've been done by halftime. I'd thought that they had lost every possible way. But, never have the Knicks lost a tight game against a good team because Thomas opted to play the inexperienced players. Never has he put the Randolph Morris, Mardy Collins, Malik Rose, Wilson Chandler and Jamal Crawford on the floor together with the game on the line in the fourth quarter. Never before has that happened.

In fact, Thomas has been staunchly against player development all year long. He has buried Morris and Chandler. He has kept David Lee from cracking the starting lineup when everything (per-48 numbers, +/-, and the up-tempo pace he brought) made it seem the necessary move. He has misplaced Renaldo Balkman (including last night) for days at a time. He has gone a step further and even prohibited younger players from getting some PT in the Developmental League during his tenure and spurned this potential asset at every turn. Isiah Thomas has, most assuredly, been an enemy of player development.

Until last night.

Last night, as I've already mentioned, he played the wrong end of the bench through much of the fourth quarter. The crescendo of this cry for help came when he pulled Nate Robinson from the game and inserted rookie Wilson Chandler with 1:32 left and the score 92-88 in favor of New Orleans. Robinson had been the Knicks' most effective offensive player (scoring 17 points on 7-11 shooting) and had proved surprisingly capable of slowing down Chris Paul. Or, at least far more capable then anyone else. The Knicks had the ball when Robinson was pulled. On the ensuing possession David Lee missed a 17-foot shot, which, um, isn't exactly the sort of result that a well-coached team wants from a possession that began after a stoppage in play. And, after that missed shot, and with Nate on the bench, Chris Paul gladly took the game that Isiah was handing him. And, he accomplished this feat in precisely 36 seconds.

A Game Lost in 36 Seconds

Chris Paul, after grabbing the defensive board from Lee's miss, pushes the ball up deliberately, lulling the Knicks defense to sleep and then lofts a devastating ally-oop to Tyson Chandler. On the other end, newly inserted Wilson Chandler takes a panic-shot early in the shot-clock before David Lee, our best chance at an offensive rebound off a miss, is even really under the basket. After receiving a quick outlet pass Chris Paul is across the timeline in a flash, but, again, he slows just past the three-point arc so that a few more seconds can tick off the clock and so that the bigger, slower defenders on the court can settle, standing at their spots on the floor. And, boom, he is off to the basket like patrons to the doors moments later. He blows by Crawford, who is now guarding him, and screams to the hoop where he is fouled by David Lee as he hits a tough layup. In 36 seconds Chris Paul, having heard Isiah's call for help, ballooned his team's lead from 4 to 9 and ended the game.

With the game ended, though, the real question is when we someone end Thomas's sideline pain? Will anyone else answer his cry for help as selflessly as Chris Paul did? Will it happen today? Tomorrow? After Lebron undresses Wilson Chandler tomorrow?

"I Am the Ki(ki)master. Are you the Gatekeeper?"

Daily News says Vandeweghe may be on the way


In today's News, Frank Isola reveals that Kiki could be in line to replace Zeke. The former All-Star player and Denver GM may be the replacement for only person who has ever sapped my passion for this ballclub.

According to Isola, an unnamed "league executive" told him that,"The NBA is pushing Kiki for that job." This mysterious league executive also said, "It sounds like it is a foregone conclusion that something is going to happen over there at the end of the season. Kiki makes a lot of sense."

In a perfect world the Knicks might abscond from San Antonio with RC Buford or convince Jerry Colangelo to put USA Basketball on the back-burner. But, in this flawed universe I would thoroughly endorse Kiki for the GM gig. He helped bring the Nuggets back into contention by drafting Carmelo Anthony and bringing in Marcus Camby (who he got from the Knicks). He hired George Karl and even his costliest mistake, signing Kenyon Martin, who has been hurt too often, isn't something that I hold against him. And, though, he is a former player, something I don't really like in a GM, he was a two-time Academic All-American at UCLA. He's got some smarts to him.

And, maybe it shouldn’t it matter, but it does. I like the fact that he donned a Knicks uniform and that he played in this building. He was here as the eighties became the nineties and as this team arrived on the scene. Isola believes he would bring a sense of tradition with him and welcome former Knicks back to the Garden. I would love that.

Pearls of Wisdom

Earl Monroe sounds off on Knicks

In today’s edition of the Post, Marc Berman treats us to some choice words from Earl “the Pearl” Monroe. For someone who was an artist on the basketball court it must be especially painful for him to watch these Knicks play on his court.

On the gap between the team’s talent and performance:
"I still think they got a tremendous amount of talent on this team. It's really baffling to me the team's not performing the way I thought they would perform."

On Eddy Curry:
"I think the way they played last year, I wouldn't have changed the whole scope of Eddy Curry as the No. 1 option."
…"He might be a little fragile as far his psyche is concerned, but I still think he's a kind of guy you need."
…"They had established Eddy Curry last year as a player, they come in this year and go away from it…”
…"It doesn't make much sense. He's lost a lot of his confidence and that's why they're going away from him now. But I'm not making those types of decisions. They had the makings of a real good team going into the season."

To sum up:
"There's bad karma," Monroe said. "They have to beat the bad karma down. It's the kind of season where everything's been strange.
…"I think it's surprising to a lot of people [Thomas hasn't been fired], but he was a great player and has an eye for talent."

And, I guess it had to be Pearl who was going to say something. Or, at least say something that wouldn’t come off as petulant or piling on. Something that could be considered genuine tough-love. The players from the teams that I grew up watching in the 1980s and 1990s are likely too close to Isiah (in terms of both age and relationship) to say anything too critical. Moreover, they’ll always see the great player that he was rather than the lousy coach and executive that he has become. Anyone who shared the court with Isiah will likely still be in awe of him just the same way Dolan was/is.

And, really, after Patrick, who is trying to climb up the NBA coaching ladder, who is there with the stature to actually say anything from those years anyway? Starks? Nope. He works for the Knicks and probably needs the job. Oakley? Not likely to be taken seriously even if he speaks up and easily ignored as a loose cannon. Mark Jackson? He’s on television and concentrating on making his move in that arena.

So, yeah, it really had to be someone from the previous generation to say something. It had to be one of the guys who is not beholden to Isiah and who never looked up to him. And, it had to be Pearl. After all, Clyde is employed by the club and clearly wants to avoid the fate of Marv Albert, who was sacked for being too critical. Meanwhile Willis Reed has worked for the Nets organization and the Hornets and may feel obliged not to criticize his peers. Likewise, Phil Jackson is coaching the Lakers and must be glad to have two easy games on the schedule. Dollar Bill has dropped from sight since his failed Presidential bid and only pops up for matters of politics, if it all. And, of course DeBusscherre passed away in 2003.

Well, thank you Pearl for not being afraid to speak your mind. Hopefully someone will listen.

No News is Good News. Seriously.

The Knicks Don't Make A Deal At Trading Deadline.

The NBA trading deadline passed yesterday afternoon with little fanfare, at least in New York. The Cavs were part of a 3-team 11-player deal in which they replaced their risk/reward players with someone else's risk/reward players. Bonzi Wells is on the move and Bobby Jackson is back with Rick Adelman. And the Sonics now own every first-round draft pick for the next three years. Or, something like that.

Meanwhile, all was quite on the Seventh Avenue. Eddy Curry is still a Knick. Zach Randolph is still a Knick. Everyone responsible for this season is still on the roster. And, I'm glad.

I'm so very glad that Isiah didn't make a trade yesterday. And, no, I don't I think that this team, with this coach, is going to turn it around. I'm glad because the problems haven't been made any worse. We haven't added Vince Carter to the mix. We haven't taken on four-bad contract in exchange for Eddy Curry's single bad contract.

Seeing so many other teams acquire top flight players for virtually nothing but expiring contracts and spare parts one can forget how this team actually makes transactions. Isiah wasn't going to make a Gasol-like deal yesterday. And, if he did he wasn't going to playing the role of the Lakers. No way in hell. He doesn't have it in him and he doesn't have the tools on the roster. Well, he's got tools on the roster, but not the right kind. Anyway, anyone lamenting the Knicks inaction yesterday needs to remember that any trade would have been orchestrated by Zeke. It, necessarily, would have been a disaster. Every precedent is bad. There is no reason given to date to think that any move would have been anything other than another debacle.

So, I'm glad that there was no late-breaking Knicks news. That means that we still have our draft pick. We still have the same problems. But we don't have any new ones. We didn't get three-card monte'd into taking anyone else's problems. We don't have Vince Carter.

It's Time

The team was fighting on the sideline last night. They turned the ball over 23 times tonight. They lost by 40 points to a very mediocre team. The roster is uneven. The players are at odds with one another. There are no defined roles. There is no exit strategy. And, the financial mismanagement means it will likely stay that way.



Tonight's 84-124 loss to the Sixers is the worst of the season. By a long-shot. It won't get the same attention in the media but this was a far worse loss than the Boston massacre earlier in the year. That was a blow-out at the hands of an elite team reveling in its superiority. This was a beat down administered by a team with no clear-cut advantages over the Knicks. This wood-shedding had nothing to do with a talent-gap. Rather, it was about execution, effort and strategy. It was about all of the facets of the game that a coach and his players have control over. Or, at least could have control over.

However, for the second night in a row Isiah Thomas showed that he has absolutely no control over this team. He doesn't intervene when they fight with each other and he cannot intervene when they have no fight in them. He is meaningless. The Knicks win when things break their way and they lose when things don't. Isiah brings absolutely nothing to the equation and his only noteworthy effect on the team during any given game is that his presence prohibits a different coach from having the opportunity to make a difference.

Isiah Thomas should be fired. Today

And, it best happen before he is allowed to make another trade. Before he can further bury this club by bringing in someone like Vince Carter. If he brings in someone else like that he makes the job that less desirable for replacements and potentially earns himself another few weeks reprieve to work with his "new" roster. He should be fired before that. He may not be. In fact, he probably won't be. But he should be. Even fans on the road chant for this guy to get sacked. They cheered for it tonight in Philly and they do it elsewhere. And, this is more than mere schadenfreude (which, obviously, is part of it). Fans of basketball want him to be fired.

Again, I repeat: Isiah Thomas should be fired. For the sake of the team. For the sake of the fans. For the sake of the league.

With all of the endless blathering about the Kidd trade that we've endured in the past week or so we've frequently heard the refrain that such a trade would be "good for the league." Forgetting that I don't think that should be a factor in such dealings, let's acknowledge that the removal of Isiah Thomas would be ever better for the league. And, if trades can be endorsed or rubber stamped because they help the competitive landscape then why can't coaching changes. After all, reviving the Knicks would do more for the league than adding another piece to one of many contenders in the West.

The Knicks are a charter franchise of the NBA and one of its marquee clubs. There are supposed to be a draw on the road. Just the same way that the Yankees are in baseball. However, fans in other NBA cities don't want to see this team. They don't want to (over)pay for tickets only to leave late in the third quarter because the game is either a blowout or a close contest that closely resembles the Thursday night game at the local YMCA.

Fire Isiah. It's Time. And, it's for the good of the league.