There was Eddy Curry huddled with Malik Rose in a corner of the Knicks locker room, both players still in uniform almost a half-hour after the game had ended. The big fella seeking counsel, no doubt, from the veteran. A room that likely aired it out before the media entered probably wanted to air out some more after they heard what Isiah Thomas said in his postgame address.
"There are a lot of things that can be said about me and teams that I’ve coached and the way I played, but I never been accused of not having heart or competing," Thomas said. "Tonight was very discouraging to me because we didn’t collectively play with heart and compete like I know I did.”
The tough talk may be a few weeks too late, but if you watched the game you couldn't argue with him. The Knicks were tied at 64 with 5:51 left in the third quarter and will Jermaine O'Neal on the bench with his fourth foul. Things couldn't have been more favorable....
.....and yet turn out so unfavorably.
As the Knick defense made Indiana's Mike Dunleavy suddenly turn into Larry Bird, the "Fire Isiah!" chants got louder and louder. Fans marched around the Garden with signs calling for Isiah's head. James Dolan was there, front row, to witness it all. But we all know how he feels, at least according to his handlers. Dolan hasn't talked to the media since he gave Thomas his contract extention last March.
The record since that day? 11-32.
Exhibit A, your honor.
It seemed last season the players rallied around Thomas, who was in the final year of his contract. They were happy to be rid of the Larry Brown disaster and never expected there would eventually be an Isiah Thomas disaster to endure. But once Steve Francis jumped on that scorer's table in Washington . . .
I asked Quentin Richardson, an undisputed leader in the locker room, if that rally aspect was missing this season.
“I don’t know about that, about us rallying or not rallying this year," he said. " . . . I don’t know.”
* *
* - Jared Jeffries, brought in to be a defensive stopper, couldn't get in the game in the third or fouth quarter to put a longer, quicker defender on Dunleavy? Jeffries saw zero minutes.
* - Nate Robinson also didn't play a tick, though some of the crowd chanted for him in the latter stages.
* - Good to meet Giaps, a Fixer who came by after the game to say Hello. Hope you didn't pay for that ticket my man!
* - One unfortunate member of the electronic media who happens to physically resemble Dolan -- full goatee, curly hair and a bit rotund -- was making his way down to the locker room as the game ended when a fan spotted him and roared "Hey Dolan! F--- you!"
Comments (27)
The bit with the Dolan look-a-like was classic.
Don ADO - I agree about Eddy, but Isiah can't move Eddy for the same reason that Dolan can't fire Isiah. He’d have to admit he made a mistake. He’d have to admit how bad the trade was. And Isiah will never do that. I always said I thought Isiah got ripped off to some degree. (Do we really think Paxon would have walked away from the table if Isiah had insisted on lottery-protecting AT LEAST ONE of those draft picks? If not both? Very doubtful. He really wanted to dump Eddy, and nobody was lined up behind Isiah to take him.) But, to be fair to Isiah, I never imagined the trade would turn out to be as much of a disaster as it has. (Certainly not as terrible as Joe Barry Carroll for McHale and Parish, but pretty terrible. TWO lottery picks. Wow. And the real shame is, Isiah probably could have done better with those picks that Paxon did.) Certainly, Isiah had every reason to expect Eddy would have developed better. And I’m not 100% convinced he still can’t. (Speaking of a management decision that was ego-driven – Isiah and Dolan really are soul-brothers, the more I think about it – Isiah’s refusal to sign Ewing when he reached out to the Knicks for the job of mentoring Eddy has only compounded how disastrously the trade has worked out for the Knicks. It’s possible Isiah could have salvaged it to a large degree, even turned it in our favor, if Patrick were working with Eddy instead of Aguirre. Look how well it’s worked in LA, with Kareem teaching Byrum. Make’s me sad, and a little angry about the self-righteous Knicks fans, who idolize Isiah, even when he shows such disrespect to such a great Knick as Patrick. Are memories really THAT short? But that’s another issue.)
But that’s all just more New York Knicks management psycho-drama, standing in the way of doing what’s best for the New York Knicks.
I to would like to see Curry shipped out, but that may not be possible with his heart condition. The Bulls traded him partly because his heart makes his contract uninsurable. The Knicks were the only team willing to take the risk. So any possible trade would need a partner who decided to assume a big uninsured contract.
The arrogance of Dolan and Isiah is an absolutely deadly addition to their obvious incompetence. Refusing to try and fix mistakes is that much worse when they are this big.
Maybe the tough-talking coach should rip the GM who decided to build a team of non-defending players from losing teams...
As a regular blogger I'm speechless. It's really shameful and disgusting when your competition has a deeper understanding of why you are losing then yourself. Jermaine O'Neil saw there was no effort as soon as Dunleavy became Jordan. No one playing defense and wanting it more. Isiah is finally thinking a little in the right direction for a change. Come out of the comma Isiah. This team is dysfunctional and it solely your fault for making it the way. This organization is in a state of terminal dysfunction. From players, coaches, and executives. They are clueless.
Right now Steph has a sign on him which reads "Buy Me Out".Pleaseeee. And we should accommodate that 41 Million dollar cancer out from our team. Trade whoever because no one obviously cares if they win or lose. Bad teams are beating them by 30 points now. I wonder why it took Isiah so much time to enter the post game. wait a minute, someone may be waking up from slumber. We Suck!!!
Jermaine O'neal
for
Eddy Curry
J. Crawford...It works money wise
Why should fans
put their hearts into each game
if they players wont?
Time 4 a Change
Is it really true that security guards at MSG are kicking people out who hold up “Fire Isiah” signs? Is that even legal? Aren’t they protected by the first amendment? The first time I heard it, I thought it was a bad joke. Not only should Dolan be forced to sell the Knicks . . he should be in jail.
These are people who PAID for the privilege of watching this terrible team? And now they're being kicked out because they're criticizing the coach? What's going on here?
I've got a stop-gap idea. Let Isiah renounce his coaching duties to Herb, but stay on as President and GM. Everyone gets to save a little face, and the players get what they want, presumably, which is a new coach. We could at least ride that out for the season, and make sweeping changes in the summer if there is still no sign of hope.
The fans get what they want, the players get what they want, Isiah gets what he wants most (can't have it all) which is to save a little bit of pride, and Dolan gets what he wants, which is to not have to entirely admit a mistake or make any real decisions involving his franchise.
No, this isn't the answer. But its something everyone may be able to agree on, and at least does something for now.
This may be nit-picking, but shouldn't the Garden crowd be chanting "FI-RE THO-MAS" instead of "FI-RE I-SI-AH"?
I think the former is easier to scream than the latter.
Check out Channing Frye's stat from last night win against the Nuggets.
9 boards, 20 points in 25 minutes, shot 77% FG
Looks like All-Star numbers when compared to the clowns that Zeke has assembled. I'm sure Frye is glad to out of the Bronx Zoo in Queens :D
Player POS MIN FGM-A 3GM-A FTM-A O D T AST PF ST TO BS PTS
C. Frye f 25:33 10-13 0-0 0-0 5 4 9 1 3 0 2 1 20
Alan,
It was a pleasure to meet ya. I actually didn't pay for those tickets so I got to see them get blown out for free. However, I DID pay to see them roll over and play dead for Golden State. Anyway, keep up the good work and keep being honest.
-giaps
I've atteneded Knick games in past years where the home fans were instrumental in come backs, where the team fed off that energy to come back and put teams away. Now even in the game against the Nets where the KNicks led all the way there were the chants of Knicks suck and fire Isiah.
The MSG, the fans , the team are all dysfunctional. and they all feed off each other right now. There is a reason Riley and Van Gundy both eventuually decided they had enough of NY...and they had winning records.
Back then we had Sports writers performing game analysis pointing out what was going on. Now counting who booed and when, passes for in-game recap and analysis. NY Sports Intelligence as a whole has gone down the shute and it may never recover... They've succeeded in turning MSG into a High school gym... No respect for player, coaches or fans who just want to watch a game without the mob rule chants of the drunken few.. Fans say they deserve better. WHY exactly?
You get what you deserve most times.. and this mess is what passes for KNick fans deserve right now
I guess Venom is right...I mean, after all, we should be showering these losers with flowers after every blow out loss. Especially our so-called best player, Randolph, who stops to argue with a ref while his man calmly sinks a three pointer.
Wow, I don't understand why anyone would boo these guys. After all, they just keep making winning plays night in and night out.
And their effort is so evident, we are just ungrateful fans!
We should be ashamed of ourselves!
No one knows who you're talking about if you say "Thomas".
Everyone knows who you're taling about when you say "Isiah".
I wonder if Curry will make another guarantee.
I really can't understand the few people who choose to believe that its the media's fault the Knicks are so bad, or its the fans fault for booing. This franchise, under Isiah, has averaged 29 wins a season. And, they will have to stretch to get to that lofty mark this year. They also have the highest payroll in the sport, by far, which limits their flexibility, And finally, they also have shown a blatant disregard for respect (see Anucha Brown) and the fans (see raising the volume on the sound system when fans chant).
The sorry state of the franchise is simply the fault of Jim Dolan, Cablevision and Isiah Thomas. The fault lies no where else.
I know exactly what is wrong for with the knicks. During the trade this year the knicks let go of the wrong player. We should've traded Lee, Jeffries or balkman for Zac.
Frye would have added something to this team that we just don't have A JUMP SHOT!!
The problem with this team is we have a duplicate of positons. Everyone comes into the game with little or no scoring ability. When we draft we draft young and athletic but no scorers. Thats the problem. We will need to get rid of some of these guys.
Stop it jersey J...Channing has a worse shot then ZBO, not enough room for both of them...
I made a myspace account for us to collectively petition the garden...search for Knicks Dan..Ill post the website on alans next blog
All those people that called Frye soft and a one dimensional big man jump shooter and constantly compared him to Lee (who is exposed as just a good role player) accomplishments now have amnesia. Just the point. Too many what-haveyou-done lately fans not seeing potential of players who don't blossom right away. Now Trevor Ariza is playing with Kobe and Frye is showing the skill that is sorely needed by this KNick team, a high percentage shooter. Instead it was always emphasized what Frye didn't do.... just last year the same DF fans were calling Lee the Knicks best player.... we got the team we deserve...
- No heart
- no pride
- no courage
- no manhood
- no plan
- no strategy
- no teamwork
- no draft picks
- no ball movement
- no fight
- no leadership
- no honor
- no defense
- no toughness
- no self-respect
- no regards to fans
- no will to win
Dolan/Isiah: No mas, no mas.
Venom, David Lee is the 60th rated player in the NBA according to Hollinger's much respected PER statistical package. Frye is 177th.
Lee can be much more than a role player given consistent time, good coaching, and half decent teammates.
Frye has not played well this year, and really didn't produce in his two earlier seasons with the Knicks. Ariza is a role player who was traded from Orlando for very little which should tell you something.
Let's not play revisionist history.
I love how Isiah refers to last season as saying why they'll turn it around. Then again, Isiah did call them the best 33-49 team ever!!!
i say we trade lee right now for a shot blocking PF to come off the bench before HIS trade value starts to decline...i think it's dropping. also Q does not deserve to be starting ANYMORE!!!!! he has lost all athleticism and no appears to have lost his jumpshot. i say start wilson chandler and get that kid some experience on the floor. what else do we have to lose at this point. at least us fans will have something to look forward to as he gets better and better. i can easily see him making 1st team all-nba if he gets minutes....& please for crying out loud BLOW THIS TEAM UP !! but keep nate, jamal, & balkman...everyone else i will drive you to tha airport for free !!
wow, great posts today. lot of good points.
first time i have heard frye defended (twice!) in here.
uhhhh .......venom and jersey, you can't be serious that you would have substituted lee for frye in that deal. not only would that be plain stupid, but the fans would have stormed the garden office. first of all, frye doesn't have nearly as good a shot as zbo, so your concept of opening up the perimeter with frye in there is lame. secondly, he has half the heart and smarts of lee. FUHGEDABOUDIT!!
so is it true that they were tossing fans with fire isiah signs?
i read the article in the times about the guy who was handed an "eviction warning card" for heckling isiah loudly. the lawyer quoted in the article said the first ammendment issue was likely mute, because the garden was a private arena. who cares, soon they'll have to throw everyone out, that will be interesting to see.
which makes me think, it would be an awesome promotion for some company to hand out fire isiah tee-shirts outside of knick games? the shirts would be a huge hit in the garden and around town. instant collectables, to remind us later of the nightmare we are living through now. some radio station or liquor company ought to jump on this.
i watched isiah's post game conference. he's got a lot of nerve blaming the players for playing with no heart. he picked every one of them, he is their coach, their leader, and the decider of who plays and who sits. it was nauseating listening to the softball questions from the press, like "how do you feel eddy played tonight?" or "what do you think happened in the 3rd quarter when the game was 64 all?".
YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING ME!!
what about the most obvious and fair question, "isiah, given that you chose these players, and given the results the past four years since you have been here, and given the abysmal quality of play this year, at what point do you stand up and take responsibility for this mess?"
WHERE IS THE FREE AND INTELLIGENT PRESS?!!
alan, i really repect what you have done with this blog, the tenor you set, your up to date insider reporting, the quality of the bloggers you attract. PLEASE, please explain how it is that i never hear isah really put on the hot seat by the press. i understand that press access in limited, but when the opportunity presents itself..... this man deserves to be BOMBARDED with tough questions! instead he is allowed to get away with obfuscation and transference of blame. his reign with the knicks ranks as one of the great failures in ny sports history, alongside RICH KOTITE and RAY HANDLEY, yet this inept liar is not HOUNDED AND CRUCIFIED by the press on a regular basis? i mean c'mon, this is fair game here, this is red meat to dogs, HE DESERVES to be eaten alive by you guys CONSTANTLY!
whew, ok, i feel better now, thanks.
So Frye's racked up a couple of half-decent games. Big deal.
the self-proclaimed 'Buffet Of Goodness' is still one of the softest players to ever put on a Knicks uni. We're talkin' Charles Smith soft here, people.
Even if he has a better season out West than he had here, he still is not the solution to one of our many problems.
Defense. We need defense. Channing never had it.
All,
The point that I was trying to make is with the three guys coming of the bench for us are the same type of players (Lee, Balkman and Jefferies). Frye was the only one that added another deminsion to the team. If we could've kept him and got rid of one of the other three the team would be different. I like the Zbo trade but we don't have any offensive power coming off the bench. Also with a player like Zbo, Lee has become expendible.
Isiah said Nate had no heart and HE DIDN't even play.
FIRE ISIAH! KNICKS PROTEST & BOYCOTT
Sunday December 30th 2007
11:00 AM (Noon Game)
Protest in front of MSG to OUST ISIAH.
The time has come to raise our voices.
Knicks vs. Bulls (Sure to be another pitiful loss!)
email: joeyvworks@yahoo.com (email to be added to the daily protest email update)
Official Blog: knicksprotest.wordpress.com
Step up and push to get Isiah removed!
I don't remember protesting to get Scott Layden out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!