Poor, tortured Knicks fans. You wake up after a second straight blowout loss to the 76ers, your team’s ninth double-digit result among its 13 losses, and you read in Newsday that Jim Dolan told Isiah Thomas after the game that his job is safe.
We feel your pain.
I suspected everything was just swell in Knick-land when I peered down a hallway under the stands and saw Thomas and Dolan emerging from their post-game meeting. Dolan was smiling and even had a big laugh before rubbing Thomas’ coat sleeve as the two parted ways.
Within the hour, I was told by a high-ranking Garden official that Dolan informed Thomas in that meeting that he’s still behind him, and that he is “not making any changes whatsoever.”
It is now up to the players to bail Thomas out of this. With back-to-back no-shows against one of the worst teams in the Eastern Conference, they’ve made no effort to do so thus far.
Labeling anyone, including the Knicks, “one of the worst teams in the East,” really isn’t saying much. If you can believe this, 12 teams in the conference already have at least 10 losses. The NBA could disband half the teams in the conference and then it would have some compelling basketball to watch.
I stand by my premise that while firing Isiah now from both his jobs would be wildly popular, it wouldn’t solve anything. If Dolan runs the white flag up the pole now, then the Knicks are guaranteed to be just another Eastern Conference bottom-feeder playing out the string until the roster and front office are completely dismantled next summer. Then, the new guys are only going to start their own five-year plan.
In short, there won’t be any reason for Howard Stern to attend another Knicks game until he’s in the final year of his five-year, $500 million contract with Sirius.
I saw a stat on TNT the other night that blew me away: Which NBA team has the most first-round picks on its roster? You guessed it, the Knicks – with 12. Twelve! They have talent. The talent needs to start showing up and not only taking direction from the coach, but playing with a sense of urgency and desperation if they hope to have a real chance to turn this mess around.
The problem with Dolan’s blind loyalty is this: If the players keep laying down for Isiah, if they don’t run the offensive sets he’s installed, don’t hustle back on defense, don’t play with passion, don’t play unselfishly, don’t exhibit some semblance of togetherness as a team, then the players are eventually going to force Dolan to fire Isiah.
The worst part of that is, I truly believe Isiah has some chips to work with to improve the team as we get closer to the trade deadline. But despite Dolan’s assurances, Thomas will never make it to the trade deadline if the team keeps playing like this.
In come the Mavericks Monday night, the beginning of what could be a brutal stretch of eight home games in the next 11. I suppose Dolan won’t need earplugs, because he doesn’t hear you.
I just hope the players do. The season started 19 games ago, fellas. Time to stop embarrassing yourselves.