I wish I could say that Isiah Thomas and Luca Brasi shared the same fate. There is no sports figure in the history of the modern world that I hate more than Zeke. Yeah, Gil. That's what I think of Isiah too.
Actually, James Dolan is the man I hate most, but Zeke is more high profile and comes with more excuses than anyone I can remember. He also plays the race card as often as he can to keep you off his back. He's a tough street kid from Chicago, and he's seen it all. At least that's what he wants you to think when you think, "Isiah Thomas."
What I think when I think, "Isiah Thomas" is:
1. Walked off the court before the game was finished in the 1991 playoffs
2. Froze out MJ in his rookie All Star appearance out of spite
3. Ran the CBA into the ground, and bailed on the owners
4. Unceremoniously fired Don Cheney and Lenny Wilkins
5. Put the Knicks so far over the cap, they will never, ever recover
6. Never owns up to anything, and flaps his gums with excuse after excuse
7. Thinks the fans are all stupid.
Ugh. I'd like to lock him in a 5x5 room with Mike Lupica and pipe in polka music for 72 hours non-stop. Why this tirade today? Why at a Yankees blog? I just had to get it off my chest. You see, the NBA's 3 time scoring champ and former MVP is on the trade block. We're talking about a no-doubt, first ballot Hall of Fame player. Probably still among the 10 best players in the sport. Zeke doesn't want him. He has a combination of 4 good players to offer Philadelphia in return for Iverson and Webber, and he won't even consider the idea.
I saw the proposed trade of Francis, Quentin Richardson, Channing Frye, and maybe Malik Rose for AI and CWebb. You could field a lineup of:
Stephon Marbury
Allen Iverson
Jared Jeffries
Chris Webber
Eddy Curry
Nate Robinson
Jamal Crawford
Renaldo Balkman
David Lee
Jerome James
If you involved another team it could work out even better. The point is, the Knicks have so many absurd contracts that they can jump in on any trade for a major player. It's about the only redeeming quality of their bloated payroll, but Zeke says he like his team as it is. What the F*&^?!!! What's to like? Eddy Curry emerging? David Lee playing well? That's about it.
By acquiring one of the greatest players of this generation, Zeke could get everyone off his back, and actually make the playoffs. He can even make a run at the Finals if the chips were to fall the right way. I know why he won't do it though. Two reasons:
1. It's Marbury's team. He got into bed with Stephon, and should Iverson come around, there is absolutely no doubt who would be the king in NY. Starbury would be Deadn'bury.
2. Zeke wants to prove that he's been building a contender all this time. If he cashes the roster in now, he'd be "cutting and running" and playing "surrender monkey" on the players he thought were so great he had to bloat the Knicks cap for 12 generations.
That's enough. I can't take it anymore. If any of you are going to the Garden anytime soon, and I don't blame you if you aren't, for the love of God and Red Holzman chant "Fire Isiah!!" from the opening warm ups to the last buzzer. Free the Knicks!!!
Monday, December 11, 2006
Isiah Sleeps Wit Da Fishes
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7 comments:
You want to ditch Quentin Richardson and Channing Frye? Those young guys are the only reason even worth watching a Knicks game anymore. That'd be like trading Cano and Wang, except for the part where the Yankees are actually enjoyable and capable of contending.
Isiah needs to stop taking on more money and just let the old, bloated contracts play out (or trade them in their final year). A.I. is good, don't get me wrong, but he's a major league jerk and I don't want to give up guys I can still root for. If the Rangers turned it around last season after all those years, the Knicks can, too...someday.
Hey, I hate Isiah as much as anyone, Mike, and I'm no fan of Marbury. But Zeke (or someone with a brain) is actually right on this one.
C-Webb is a shadow of the player he once was -- frankly, he pretty much sucks at this point. He's a limp up the court jump-shooter with an eFG% of .401 -- that's why they're trying to bundle him with AI. He can't play D (limping around) and he doesn't really rebound anymore. He has a 15.3 PER at PF, while his opponents are tuning him to a 15.9 PER. What's more he's contracted for $20.1MM in 07/08, and $21.9MM in 08/09. This guy's contract is actually significantly (25%) worse than Steve Francis' ($16.4MM, $17.1MM). In short, he's below league average and has a ridiculously bad contract. Frye is below average too, but at least he has potential and he only makes $2.5MM.
Trading away Frye and Q for that mess would be exactly the kind of stupid trade Isiah has been making since he got here -- someone up there has actually realized that more of the same isn't going to help. What this team really needs right now is a true PG -- much as I love AI's game, he doesn't feed the post, and he's another shoot first kind of player. Getting him isn't worth taking C-Webb's egregious contract.
Ahhhh, I miss the days back when the Knicks were a professional basketball team.
Trent Tucker is no longer on the Knicks?
I disagree with you guys. Webber is junk now, but he's a throw in. Here's the deal:
The Knicks are so far over the cap, they have zero chance of building a young team the way Cashman is with the Yankees. You simply can't draft a bunch of young players every year and watch them sit behing $17 million spoiled veterans like Starbury and Francis. There are two ways to run the team.
1. Let all the expiring contracts expire, get under the cap in 5 years, and just stink up the joint in the meantime (that's my preference).
2. Keep taking on big name players and their contracts in hopes of getting a mix of players that can make a one year run to the title. (That's Isiah's plan.)
Iverson is one of the 4 or 5 best players in the Eastern Conference. You need that if you have any hope of reaching the Finals. You may not like him or his attitude (he's my favorite player) but he has MVP credentials and he can put a team on his back all the way to the end. He'll score 30 a night for you, swipe 2 steals, and dish 7. He also won't miss games (although he'll miss practices) and he'll die out there on the floor.
One of the things that is mysterious to me about Isiah's choice is that the fans are turning on him big time. He's out after this year if they don't make a big improvement. Why not bring him in, get the fans happy, get into the playoffs, and save your job?
Whatever happens, I hope he and Dolan buy tickets on the Titanic and free the Knicks.
But Mike, getting rid of players fans like isn't going to make them happy. Getting to the playoffs just to get swept by the Nets didn't work last time, and it's not going to work this time, either.
Also, Quentin gets the most amount of minutes per game. It's not like he's sitting on the bench. Granted, Channing doesn't play a lot and neither does Nate Robinson, but Steve Francis doesn't play as much as you might think, and everyone plays a lot more than Malik Rose.
This team is a mess. If it's going to be a mess, at least let us enjoy the Fryes and Richardsons of the world and not have to watch Ego City on the court.
That's where you and I differ Chris. I hate watching the guys that the Knicks have now. None of those guys is remotely interesting to me.
I guarantee if you did a poll of Knick fans about whether they want Iverson in New York, it would be 80% in favor.
Mike, I'm a Knicks fan, and Iverson has been my favorite player for years. And for his sake, I didn't want him coming to the Knicks. The Knicks would ruin him somehow. Zeke would undermine him, the chemistry would suck etc etc. I would have been really sad if AI had to suffer under Zeke. I would have been pretty amused when he murdered Zeke though.
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