by Stop Mike Lupica on November 16 at 5:08PM
And the local press rejoices. The possibility of Isiah Thomas getting fired now seems quite real.
Frank Isola and the NY Daily News have reported over the past week that James Dolan is looking into the possibility of firing Isiah Thomas, but he's weary of having to pay him the full $24 million he's due. While in the past I would write those kinds of reports off as wishful thinking by the anti-Zeke media, you have to pause and wonder if maybe they are right this time. The News broke the news, accurately, of Marbury's benching, even before the controversial flight took place in which Marbury was informed of this himself.
And of course, there is the matter of the Knicks record. The first losing streak of the season was certain to bring this kind of coverage, especially if it was before any kind of winning streak by the Knicks. But the expectations of the true fans, the ones who have seen the team supposedly heading in the right direction, have been shattered by this poor run to start the season. There are reasons, of course - Zach Randolph's absence for most of this 4-game road trip has hurt, as had the competition being better than expected - but that doesn't make up for the fact that the Knicks have to win now, or Isiah will soon be out of a job.
The Knicks performances against the Nuggets on Saturday was exactly the kind of performance that gets a coach fired. After several close games against good teams - almost beating the Magic, humbling but close losses to the Kings and Heat, and hanging close with the Clippers and even the Suns - the Knicks were absolutely blown out of the house by a Nuggets team that would not let up. They embarrassed the Knicks, who played with absolutely no heart or effort. That could be construed as a team quitting on its coach. Perhaps the aftermath of the Marbury situation is that the team has quit on Isiah much like it did once on Larry Brown?
The Knicks have a tough challenge ahead of them on Tuesday in the Warriors. The Warriors, like the Kings before them, are better than their current record indicates, especially now that they have their suspended team leaders (Ron Artest, Stephen Jackson) back in their lineups. The next night the Knicks travel to Detroit for a game against the Pistons. Bottom line, the Warriors game is a must win, or we might not see Zeke after Thanksgiving.
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It's too early to write the obituary for Isiah Thomas' reign with the Knicks, and much too early to start naming possible candidates for taking his place (if he even gets fired). Alan Hahn is reporting that Knicks players still appear to support Isiah, a sign that the Nuggets lose might have been an aberration, the kind of thing that happens when you play 4 games in 5 nights on the road. There is often one game on that road trip the entire team just fails to show up to, and perhaps that all that happened on Saturday night.
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It is always interesting to see the Pistons. Back in 2004, when Rasheed Wallace was available the Knicks were one of the few teams seriously trying to land him. Joe Dumars beat out his old backcourt teammate Isiah, and the Pistons went from a mediocre franchise to the class of the Eastern Conference the last three years. It's doubtful the Knicks would have had as much success with Rasheed - the Pistons obviously have some great pieces themselves besides Rasheed - but Wallace is an underrated player. He's been a winner almost everywhere he's been, and is the rare superstar who can play selfishly when needed, but also willing to defer to other players when they are hot. A true team player, willing to play out of position. His well known temper aside, Rasheed Wallace is a winner, and a player who might have changed the course of the Knicks and Isiah Thomas' history.
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Some quick games notes from the Kings game on Friday (double OT), to be followed by some Kings-related stories.
However, the rest of the team makes no sense. They missed several wide open threes (good shots) - Marbury, Richardson and especially Crawford are pretty poor shooters from behind the arc. Nate Robinson is okay, and that makes him the best among the Knicks.
David Lee obviously is one of several players on the Knicks (the missing Balkman, Malik Rose, Mardy Collins) who an open jumper is considered a "bad" shot.
Then there is Jamal Crawford. After a while I couldn't even bother with classifying Crawford's shots as "good" or "bad". Off-balance shots go down. He's rarely square to the basket when he shoots, but that seemingly makes no impact on whether the shots go down or not. He'll sink shots with a hand in face, then miss a wide open jumper coming off a nice screen. Fascinating.
It's worth noting that the defense, particularly Marbury's, was stellar in the 4th quarter. Kevin Martin had 32 points heading into the 4th, but was held scoreless through the first 10 minutes, going 0/3 on FGs. Marbury was on him the whole time, denying him even entry passes, and forcing him to become a non-factor.
Anyway, the Knicks couldn't hold on to the lead, and lost in double OT as the Kings held on despite trying really hard to blow the lead (silly turnovers and fouls with under 2:00 to go in the second OT almost made a game out of it).
*********
The Kings looked good winning yesterday against the Pistons. The addition of Ron Artest to Kevin Martin and Brad Miller, plus Francisco Garcia, makes the Kings a decent team from here on out.
It's always fun to see these games on League Pass, because you get the Kings local feed. Francisco Garcia's nickname is "Cisco", which is terrible. It's better than the Anglo-cized "Frank" would be, but come on... he's not some Thong Song singing ex-member of Dru Hill. His name is Francisco, and the proper nickname in Spanish would be "Paco". The NBA needs a "Paco". I'm pushing for the Paco nickname. Tom Ziller, where you at?
**********
Speaking of those local feeds - the Kings game had commercials for Jack In The Box (a nice treat for this East Coaster), and another commercial that I swear starred Dr. Miracles. I almost flipped out when I saw that - I yelled to the GF to look up, as Dr. Miracles was on TV. She missed it, and I actually wished I had TiVo the game. I'm not sure if the premise of the show involved sickness-curing semen or the Ghost Face Killah sleeping with Randall Park's girlfriend, but I'll be watching Kings games more this season, just to see if I can catch that commercial again.
**********
And speaking of Ziller, he's thinks that Marbury might end up a King if the Knicks actively look to trade him. At least that's what The Sun's Martin Johnson believes (found via Tom Ziller's SacTown Royalty):
But, as Depressed Fan has pointed out to us in the comments, those guys almost certainly will not be free agents in 2009. They are all eligible to be restricted free agents at the end of this season, and unless they sign an extension before then (unlikely), then they will be eligible to sign offer sheets from other teams (which their current team would have the right to match or they would have to give them up). That of course leads to the question of whether a guy like Josh Smith would sign an offer sheet from one of the few teams eligible to offer him a deal at the end of the season, sign an extension with the Hawks, or sign the qualifying offer from the Hawks and wait until 2009 to test the waters (when there would be more money and more teams available). We'll get into this in a future post.
In the meanwhile, both the Kings and Portland are mentioned as possible landing spots for Marbury. Tom Ziller doesn't offer too much of an opinion either way on the possible trade, but the comments seem to indicate that Kings fans are a bit divided on such a move. Trading Miller and company does make the Kings better salary cap players in 2009, but it doesn't help the team now, either.
I still prefer my original trade idea slightly modified - David Lee and Marbury for Ron Artest and Mike Bibby and a long contract (one that runs until 2010), like Abdul-Rahim's. Small salary cap relief for the Kings, plus a young asset (Lee) and the removal of two veteran headaches (Artest, but Bibby's removal also helps Paco Garcia development), and the Knicks get back a point to replace Marbury, and a viable starter at SF (their weakest position in the lineup), plus defense. The Knicks can afford the extra contracts.
More to come on all these stories....
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Frank Isola and the NY Daily News have reported over the past week that James Dolan is looking into the possibility of firing Isiah Thomas, but he's weary of having to pay him the full $24 million he's due. While in the past I would write those kinds of reports off as wishful thinking by the anti-Zeke media, you have to pause and wonder if maybe they are right this time. The News broke the news, accurately, of Marbury's benching, even before the controversial flight took place in which Marbury was informed of this himself.
And of course, there is the matter of the Knicks record. The first losing streak of the season was certain to bring this kind of coverage, especially if it was before any kind of winning streak by the Knicks. But the expectations of the true fans, the ones who have seen the team supposedly heading in the right direction, have been shattered by this poor run to start the season. There are reasons, of course - Zach Randolph's absence for most of this 4-game road trip has hurt, as had the competition being better than expected - but that doesn't make up for the fact that the Knicks have to win now, or Isiah will soon be out of a job.
The Knicks performances against the Nuggets on Saturday was exactly the kind of performance that gets a coach fired. After several close games against good teams - almost beating the Magic, humbling but close losses to the Kings and Heat, and hanging close with the Clippers and even the Suns - the Knicks were absolutely blown out of the house by a Nuggets team that would not let up. They embarrassed the Knicks, who played with absolutely no heart or effort. That could be construed as a team quitting on its coach. Perhaps the aftermath of the Marbury situation is that the team has quit on Isiah much like it did once on Larry Brown?
The Knicks have a tough challenge ahead of them on Tuesday in the Warriors. The Warriors, like the Kings before them, are better than their current record indicates, especially now that they have their suspended team leaders (Ron Artest, Stephen Jackson) back in their lineups. The next night the Knicks travel to Detroit for a game against the Pistons. Bottom line, the Warriors game is a must win, or we might not see Zeke after Thanksgiving.
***********
It's too early to write the obituary for Isiah Thomas' reign with the Knicks, and much too early to start naming possible candidates for taking his place (if he even gets fired). Alan Hahn is reporting that Knicks players still appear to support Isiah, a sign that the Nuggets lose might have been an aberration, the kind of thing that happens when you play 4 games in 5 nights on the road. There is often one game on that road trip the entire team just fails to show up to, and perhaps that all that happened on Saturday night.
***********
It is always interesting to see the Pistons. Back in 2004, when Rasheed Wallace was available the Knicks were one of the few teams seriously trying to land him. Joe Dumars beat out his old backcourt teammate Isiah, and the Pistons went from a mediocre franchise to the class of the Eastern Conference the last three years. It's doubtful the Knicks would have had as much success with Rasheed - the Pistons obviously have some great pieces themselves besides Rasheed - but Wallace is an underrated player. He's been a winner almost everywhere he's been, and is the rare superstar who can play selfishly when needed, but also willing to defer to other players when they are hot. A true team player, willing to play out of position. His well known temper aside, Rasheed Wallace is a winner, and a player who might have changed the course of the Knicks and Isiah Thomas' history.
**********
Some quick games notes from the Kings game on Friday (double OT), to be followed by some Kings-related stories.
- David Lee starts in place of Z-Bo once again, and wastes no time lowering his rapidly diminishing trade value once again. He shoots a wide-open 19 footer, and air balls it. Seriously, David... there is a reason you are left open on jumpers of greater than 14 feet.
- I tried to take a count of good shots the Knicks took, versus bad shots. Good shots would be open looks, good drives, balanced and squared to the basket jumpers, and deep in the paint hook shots. Bad shots would be rushed, man in your face, shooting over a double team while fading away type of shots.
However, the rest of the team makes no sense. They missed several wide open threes (good shots) - Marbury, Richardson and especially Crawford are pretty poor shooters from behind the arc. Nate Robinson is okay, and that makes him the best among the Knicks.
David Lee obviously is one of several players on the Knicks (the missing Balkman, Malik Rose, Mardy Collins) who an open jumper is considered a "bad" shot.
Then there is Jamal Crawford. After a while I couldn't even bother with classifying Crawford's shots as "good" or "bad". Off-balance shots go down. He's rarely square to the basket when he shoots, but that seemingly makes no impact on whether the shots go down or not. He'll sink shots with a hand in face, then miss a wide open jumper coming off a nice screen. Fascinating.
- The Knicks are awful at guarding the pick and roll, and thus Brad Miller was open for many good looks in the first half. The second half it was the opposite, with the Knicks following Miller too much on the pick and roll, leaving the back door cutter (Martin in several cases) open for an easy layup.
- The Key Play of the Game: The Knicks went to the four guard lineup in the fourth quarter, and had the momentum. The super-small lineup: Marbury, Nate Robinson, Crawford, Q-Rich and Lee. They were finally outrunning the super fast Kings lineup, and had taken a small 92-88 lead. Then Q-Rich drove hard to the basket, and sunk a layup around Artest. Somehow, though, he got called for an offensive foul with 2:04 left in the fourth. I'm not one to complain about calls. It's that this call was unsupported by the replay, and was critical - one, it negate the basket, which would have given the Knicks a six point lead with two minutes to go. Two, it was Richardson's sixth foul, and he was replaced by Curry. Curry had not played the fourth quarter (the Knicks used the 4-guard lineup the entire quarter to that point), and slowed down the Knicks momentum. He failed to provide the defense that Richardson was, either. The Knicks might have been better served had Jeffries come in, but hindsight is 20/20.
It's worth noting that the defense, particularly Marbury's, was stellar in the 4th quarter. Kevin Martin had 32 points heading into the 4th, but was held scoreless through the first 10 minutes, going 0/3 on FGs. Marbury was on him the whole time, denying him even entry passes, and forcing him to become a non-factor.
Anyway, the Knicks couldn't hold on to the lead, and lost in double OT as the Kings held on despite trying really hard to blow the lead (silly turnovers and fouls with under 2:00 to go in the second OT almost made a game out of it).
*********
The Kings looked good winning yesterday against the Pistons. The addition of Ron Artest to Kevin Martin and Brad Miller, plus Francisco Garcia, makes the Kings a decent team from here on out.
It's always fun to see these games on League Pass, because you get the Kings local feed. Francisco Garcia's nickname is "Cisco", which is terrible. It's better than the Anglo-cized "Frank" would be, but come on... he's not some Thong Song singing ex-member of Dru Hill. His name is Francisco, and the proper nickname in Spanish would be "Paco". The NBA needs a "Paco". I'm pushing for the Paco nickname. Tom Ziller, where you at?
**********
Speaking of those local feeds - the Kings game had commercials for Jack In The Box (a nice treat for this East Coaster), and another commercial that I swear starred Dr. Miracles. I almost flipped out when I saw that - I yelled to the GF to look up, as Dr. Miracles was on TV. She missed it, and I actually wished I had TiVo the game. I'm not sure if the premise of the show involved sickness-curing semen or the Ghost Face Killah sleeping with Randall Park's girlfriend, but I'll be watching Kings games more this season, just to see if I can catch that commercial again.
**********
And speaking of Ziller, he's thinks that Marbury might end up a King if the Knicks actively look to trade him. At least that's what The Sun's Martin Johnson believes (found via Tom Ziller's SacTown Royalty):
A team looking for cap relief in
the summer of 2009 may find Marbury's contract to have significant value. The
summer of '09 will be a good time for a rebuilding team to have some cap room.
Unless they agree to extensions, Sixers forward Andre Iguodala, Bobcats
pivotman Emeka Okafor, Bulls guard Ben Gordon, and Bulls forward Luol Deng
will be free agents that summer. Also, several top players including Pistons
guard Rip Hamilton, Warriors forward Al Harrington,
Pacers center Jermaine O'Neal, and Lakers guard Kobe Bryant all have opt-out
clauses that they may exercise around that time. A shrewd GM of a rebuilding
team could potentially draw up a plan that includes a lottery pick this summer,
and a free agent acquisition in the summer of '09, as the cornerstones to his
team's revival.
But, as Depressed Fan has pointed out to us in the comments, those guys almost certainly will not be free agents in 2009. They are all eligible to be restricted free agents at the end of this season, and unless they sign an extension before then (unlikely), then they will be eligible to sign offer sheets from other teams (which their current team would have the right to match or they would have to give them up). That of course leads to the question of whether a guy like Josh Smith would sign an offer sheet from one of the few teams eligible to offer him a deal at the end of the season, sign an extension with the Hawks, or sign the qualifying offer from the Hawks and wait until 2009 to test the waters (when there would be more money and more teams available). We'll get into this in a future post.
In the meanwhile, both the Kings and Portland are mentioned as possible landing spots for Marbury. Tom Ziller doesn't offer too much of an opinion either way on the possible trade, but the comments seem to indicate that Kings fans are a bit divided on such a move. Trading Miller and company does make the Kings better salary cap players in 2009, but it doesn't help the team now, either.
I still prefer my original trade idea slightly modified - David Lee and Marbury for Ron Artest and Mike Bibby and a long contract (one that runs until 2010), like Abdul-Rahim's. Small salary cap relief for the Kings, plus a young asset (Lee) and the removal of two veteran headaches (Artest, but Bibby's removal also helps Paco Garcia development), and the Knicks get back a point to replace Marbury, and a viable starter at SF (their weakest position in the lineup), plus defense. The Knicks can afford the extra contracts.
More to come on all these stories....
Leave a comment
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defying newtonian physics, the steaming pile of turds on 33rd St. has grown steamier (and turdier). it's not too late to revise your 45-win prediction.
god bless. peace be with you.