Is it me or does Isiah Thomas have no idea what he is doing???

[Djagloi]

Before I start, let me say that I live in New York and have followed the Knicks since the days of Starks, Ewing, Harper, and Oakley. I didn't necessarily root for them (I am a DIE-HARD Michael Jordan fan - I have a tattoo of the dude - no, not a joke) but I have followed them. With that said, it seems as if Isiah Thomas has no clue what the hell he's doing with this team.

Ever since he has come, I believe the entire team is different, I don't think one single player on the team now was on the team 2 years ago. And how is this working out so far?? They are in 4th place in their division and headed nowhere, even with one of the best coaches out there on their sideline night in and night out. And you can't blame Mr. Larry Brown, considering the staff he has to work with on the court is sub-par at best. Let me start:

Stephon Marbury - Thomas ranted and raved about how good Starbury was and where he would lead this team. Did he forget that Marbury, when on the Nets, led them nowhere, yet the year after, when a REAL point guard (Kidd) took over, they got to the NBA Finals? This guy is so interested in leading the team to victory, that he didn't learn the proper way for a PG to lead a team to victory. He should take a lesson from Kidd or Nash - pass first, shoot later.

Jamal Crawford - another Marbury, he was on Chicago, tried to score 50 ppg and led the team nowhere. The year after, led by Kirk Hinrich, the Bulls were playoff contenders. What is with Isiah and these ball-hog chuckers?

Eddie Curry - he has talent, but really took a chance on him with the heart condition.

Antonio Davis - solid player, but completely over-the-hill.

Quentin Richardson - his sub-.400 field goal percentage is indicative of his playing style.

Nate Robinson - takes lessons from Marbury and Crawford. He gets on the court and instantly, you know half the shots are coming from this 5'9 midget, who also shoots a whopping 40.1% from the field.

Malike Rose - he was solid on Indiana. Of course, he wasn't expected to score either. Now that he has a job to do, he simply can't do it.

Trevor Ariza - everyone thought he had all the potential in the world. We're still waiting for that potential to turn into something contructive.

Channing Frye - the only player on this team that is worth anything. This guy has the tools, the talent, and the desire to become a great player. Of course, asking a rookie to lead your team to the playoffs is asking a bit much, especially considering who his teammates are.

These guys have the payroll, asked Isiah to build something, and got nothing out of it (except Frye). And next year, when Allan Houston's salary is off the payroll and they have more money to work with, I'm sure Isiah will waste that too. Honestly, Isiah was a great basketball player and should be remembered as that . . . and ONLY that. As far as being a GM, he falls well short of having a great basketball mind.

[deeman11747]

Re: Is it me or does Isiah Thomas have no idea what he is doing???

Your completely right. I also love how he traded all of the expiring contracts we had for 5 year crap deals (along with wasting our MLE on 5 years of fun with Jerome James who LB won't even play he sucks so bad).

What he needs to do is just get some expiring contracts through trades and wait until we have enough money freed up to just start all over again because this is one of the worst "teams" I have ever seen the Knicks have.

[Uhfan]

Re: Is it me or does Isiah Thomas have no idea what he is doing???

Yep totally agree on all points. Isiah has no clue what he is doing, he would have a hard time putting together a decent team of NBA2K6. Don't forget that this was the guy who ran the CBA into the ground during the late 90's. I have no clue what the new york execs were thinking when when they decided to hire him after the CBA debacle.

[nyyanksfan20]

Re: Is it me or does Isiah Thomas have no idea what he is doing???

Isiah has a great eye for drafting or finding young talent. He took Frye when most people thought he was going to be a bust, still early I know. Nate has been productive thus far. Lee hasn't really played that much so not much to say yet. Trevor in the 2nd round was another great pick, anytime you get a player that can be productive on your team from the 2nd round its a good pick. He signed an undrafted Jackie Butler who has turned out to be pretty good too.

He has assembled a talented team that might not be able to work together or at least yet. I think that is Isiah's problem he just wants to add more and more talent without worrying about other things. That said if you compare the team before Isiah took over till now you'd be crazy to want that team. Isiah has rebuilt the Knicks with so far a good core of young players that should allow the Knicks to continue to get better.

Jerome James was a horrible signing and it seemed Isiah just wanted to spend money for the sake of spending money.

I still expect to see good things out of this team this year with time. Between a new coach and players it takes some time to adjust. Not to mention the Knicks already have had thier 2 west coast swings this early in the year and haven't been home that much yet. I'm sure Isiah has more moves up his sleeve, one thing I know for sure Frye isn't going anywhere.

[Sarah]

Re: Is it me or does Isiah Thomas have no idea what he is doing???

I think the Jerome James signing was due to the potential he showed when he was playing in SEA. Of course it is clear now that Jerome was just doing it to get a good contract. With the declining talent in the Center position, I'll be inclined to think Jerome is not a bad investment (and that gorilla would have fooled me). Marbury is also a player not many GM will overlook seeing as he is one of the top PG in this league. But Marbury's problem is his attitude and low leadership skills. If he has a high leadership skills he would have understood the concept of teamwork. Kidd is not as good as Marbury offensively, but between the two, Kidd is way better. Curry is not a bad investment either as long as NY will not make a mistake of signing him a long term contract when he gets past 30. Crawford is not the kind of player I wanted on my team not because I doubt his skills but I have issues with his personality and understanding the concept of teamwork. He is one of those players that would rather score 50 and loss. Overall, I beleive NY has the talents to take the team to another level, they just don't have the right personality to unite as a team.

[Pointguard]

Re: Is it me or does Isiah Thomas have no idea what he is doing???

^The Jerome James signing was before Channing Frye was the best center on the team and looks like a player and before Eddy Curry began available in S&Ts.

I dont think James was/is the answer, but its not a horrible signing. He can be serviceable when as a starter/backup but the fact he's the 3rd best player at his position, makes the signing bad.

As to building a team, I think you have to have a plan on what you want from each position. No ideal team features their PG-SG-SF as scorers (two are chunckers) that dont play defense. Crawford, Q-Rich and Marbury are far from your ideal perimter yet Isiah trades for all three. I can understand getting Marbury but then to S&T for Crawford knowing he wasn't a good fit with Marbury was just a bad move.

Then Isiah trades expiring contract to get late 1st rounders and have to take on contracts like Malik Rose and Mo Taylor.

I dont think they have a direction and it kills the team, now and in the future.

[bigeastbumrush]

Re: Is it me or does Isiah Thomas have no idea what he is doing???

^Frye doesn't even play center. They knew they needed a big in the draft and Isaiah chose Frye over Bynum. Dumb move, right?

To those talking about his trades, he was trying to get rid of Scott Layden's players which he has. Was every trade smart? No. But you take the good with the bad.

You want to dwell on the Jerome James signing? But he fleeced Q-Rich and a 1st round pick out of the Suns for Kurt Thomas. Now, just imagine Nate Robinson in the Phoenix Suns offense...

I'll take Curry and Davis' expiring contract vs. Sweetney and Tim Thomas' expiring contract any day of the week. We have our Center for the future (unless his heart gives out) and Davis is off the books this year or is a a big pawn in a trade.

He didn't trade Penny, whose contract expires. Again, another pawn.

The roster is young and Marbury is an underachiever as far as winning is concerned.

There are a little more than a handful consistent winning teams in the league so it is what it is. You're either a fan or not.

We have a great coach, a possible Rookie Of the Year and a great young core. I can live with that.

[NYJets]

Re: Is it me or does Isiah Thomas have no idea what he is doing???

^Frye doesn't even play center. They knew they needed a big in the draft and Isaiah chose Frye over Bynum. Dumb move, right?

To those talking about his trades, he was trying to get rid of Scott Layden's players which he has. Was every trade smart? No. But you take the good with the bad.

You want to dwell on the Jerome James signing? But he fleeced Q-Rich and a 1st round pick out of the Suns for Kurt Thomas. Now, just imagine Nate Robinson in the Phoenix Suns offense...

I'll take Curry and Davis' expiring contract vs. Sweetney and Tim Thomas' expiring contract any day of the week. We have our Center for the future (unless his heart gives out) and Davis is off the books this year or is a a big pawn in a trade.

He didn't trade Penny, whose contract expires. Again, another pawn.

The roster is young and Marbury is an underachiever as far as winning is concerned.

There are a little more than a handful consistent winning teams in the league so it is what it is. You're either a fan or not.

We have a great coach, a possible Rookie Of the Year and a great young core. I can live with that.

Yea.

Has he done a great job? No..

But he was put into an impossible situation. If he sat around and did nothing waiting for contracts to expire...he'd still be waiting, and we'd still have no cap room.

He's brought in some young talent, and though they've struggled so far this year, I think the team is on the way up.

[nyyanksfan20]

Re: Is it me or does Isiah Thomas have no idea what he is doing???

Yea.

Has he done a great job? No..

But he was put into an impossible situation. If he sat around and did nothing waiting for contracts to expire...he'd still be waiting, and we'd still have no cap room.

He's brought in some young talent, and though they've struggled so far this year, I think the team is on the way up.

I think the key point is that the Knicks would be over the cap no matter what. Even if Isiah left the team the way he acquired them they would still be over the cap at least now we have exciting young players.

The other thing is I don't think Dolan would allow Isiah to just sit and do nothing knowing that nobody would show up to the Garden.

Being under the cap in my opinion is overated anyway. Look at this offseason no superstars leave there teams. Teams that are under the cap don't have ways to spend it. Look at the Hawks they spent it on Joe Johnson. Meanwhile Isiah via trades acquires players like Curry, Q-Rich, and Crawford who on an open market would be coveted. (Like Q last offseason.) So would you rather wait to get under the cap only to give a max contract to Joe Johnson or acquire talented players by trading and remain over the cap.