Isiah Thomas is, at least, still entertaining.
In his pregame address, he said, "I believe one day we will win a championship here."
Then he added, "I know people will laugh even more at me" for saying that.
There were many curious statements that came out of the pregame scrum. Isiah said one thing the Knicks didn't anticipate when acquiring Zach Randolph to play with Eddy Curry was how much it would impact transition defense.
Um....
Then he went on to explain that most of the league now plays small. Lineups of four guards and a center that is really more like a small forward.
Uh.....
Ever have one of those moments when so many one-liners come to your head at one time you can't get any of them out?
That was me at around 6:20 this evening.
If those latter two statements are true, then why the hell did you make the trade?
Another statement Isiah made was that he wanted to leave a legacy here with the Knicks.
Mission accomplished, dude.
Keep in mind, this display of defiant optimism comes a few hours before a game against an opponent that will play without three-fifths of its starting lineup. Kevin Martin, Mike Bibby and Ron Artest are each out for tonight.
The Knicks, meanwhile, have all hands on deck. Stephon Marbury will play. Jamal Crawford will play. Curry and Randolph are back in the starting frontcourt.
Confidence!
STARTING LINEUPS
KNICKS
Jeffries
Randolph
Curry
Crawford
Richardson
KINGS
Garcia
Moore
Miller
Salmons
Udrih
Enjoy the game. Remember to post questions for the mailbag on the previous blog so I can be sure to get all of them. The deadline is midnight.
Ken Berger said he heard this song in a cab and it stuck with him. It's the Cable Car song by the Fray. You know, it goes, Everyone knows I'm in o-ver my head . . .
Here's the poignant verse:
And suddenly I become a part of your past
I'm becoming the part that don't last
I'm losing you and its effortless
Without a sound we lose sight of the ground
In the throw around
Never thought that you wanted to bring it down
I won't let it go down till we torch it ourselves...
Everyone knows I'm in over my head
Over my head
There's eight seconds in overtime
She's on your mind
She's on your mind . . .
Comments (8)
The New York Knicks have every player #'s 1 thru 14 in uniform tonight a Sacramento Kings team missing 3 out of their 5 starters; and nthey are a 2-3 pt. favorite, only!!! AT MSG; NO LESS!!!!!!
That is Isiah Thomas' reality and ours as well as fans!!!
We are at home at the Garden and are only 2-3 pt. favorites over the lowly Kings minus 3 starters!!!
He thinks he can win a championship?
I realize it's only the second quarter, but the Knicks are down by 16. What this says to me is that the players can't wait to get Thomas the heck out of there, and will tank as much as possible to get it done.
I could care less if Isiah goes this season or next but this team has got to be broken up .They have no pride or self-respect, sell them for spare parts and draft picks. Low IQ's.
If you watch this team, like I do, they are deficient in two areas. One, they have no outside shooters. D-Nick would have provided that for the Knicks had they kept him instead of old, dilapedated, Q-Rich. Two, the only starter that can play perimeter defense is Marbury. Crawford, Richardson and Curry all look like they are stuck in mud. Artest would fix both of these problems. I'm sorry, but if we have to give up David Lee to acquire Ron-Ron then so be it. Send Q-Rich with him, he's horrible!!
Got a HDTV for my birthday. Amazingly, the Knicks look the same in HiDef then in regular definition. Al Trautwigs forehead is a scary site though...
It continues to be tough being a native Long Islander and Knicks diehard in Sacramento. The laughing and finger pointing I once thought was my Jets back window sticker, is, I think, the Knicks license plate frame.
Some random thoughts from tonight's "game."
Somebody get Eddy Curry a salad - without the dressing
Somebody get Zach Randolph a shrink
Somebody tell David Lee that "defense" does not mean "mugging."
On that last note, however, it's refreshing to see Lee and Balkman on the floor together. We have to get those guys 35/night together, egos and salaries be damned.
Dolan is an a**.
Someone sign Oak up for a 10-day. I guarantee he has more game than half the squad right now.
Night folks, I'll prepare for my next round of hoops torture tomorrow morning at the office...
Many different aspects of Isiah’s failures as both GM and coach can be summed up through Chandler. At this stage in the season there are more than 30 rookies averaging more playing time. And only 2 teams with worse records. But we don’t know if Chandler could help the Knicks because he can’t get off the bench. There were 2 full-time and 2 part-time small forwards already on the Knicks when he was drafted. Maybe Isiah’s much vaunted “eye for talent” grabbed a guy who’s gonna have a great career. Even so, isn’t it obvious we drafted badly? Because if Chanlder is what we need, we should be playing him. If he’s not what we need, he shouldn’t have been drafted. And we should have drafted somebody who could be helping us. It’s not good enough for Isiah to say he needs a few years. The Knicks don’t have that luxury. All those other teams with better records are already getting production from their rookies. Did Isiah give this any thought on draft night? Did he think about what the team needs?
It’s shocking. The Knicks put together a few weeks last season that got everybody all excited and Isiah his extension. (Even though they were still only playing at a mediocre level, at least they were fun to watch and winning as much as they were losing – the definition of mediocre.) Who knows what could have happened if all those injuries hadn’t hit. But it’s now clear that the first few weeks of the season were no fluke. Now that the dust is settling, that little run last season was the anomaly. This team now is the reality. A bad team, going nowhere. If possible, a team that’s getting worse with every game. The team Isiah said he could win with.
Isiah’s no GM. He’d be a great consultant to a savvy GM. He should find the talent. But he shouldn’t make the decisions. And he certainly shouldn’t make the trades. He can’t assemble a cohesive team. And he certainly can’t coach. This is really a mess, guys . . .
... fire Zeke ... hire John Thompson Jr ...