he is a certified moron.....but he can coach and is a nice guy. I think he is perfect for the Knicks job. A 50 year 5 billion dollar contract for him to GM I think would be adequate.
So you're saying that he made it clear that he was still deciding between options until the end? Wouldn't that be the opposite of leading anybody on? And my prediction was Wade/Amare to Miami. I thought Bosh would go to Chicago or NY. And I thought that LBJ would pick Cleveland. Bosh and LBJ were more linked than I knew. I thought that LBJ to Miami with Wade or with Wade and Bosh or Amare was the choice that would net LBJ the most criticism and put him under the most pressure. I didn't think he had the guts to do it and that he would just stay in Cleveland. I didn't believe Miami was a top option until after Wade/Bosh became real and the reports of the reservations started coming in, about two days before the decision.
isiah's got a good eye for evaluating players in the draft. and if he can be helpful in landing a big name that's fine but keep him away from advising on other free agents and definitely keep him away from advising on contracts
Oh yeah picking Channing Frye over Danny Granger and Renaldo Balkman over Rajon Rondo, he has a great eye for evaluating talent
You can call arrogance happiness but im not aiming this at anyone specifically or even anyone on this board..heat fans have become exactly what you claim NY fans are like in a matter of a month. The heat are a very good team and very talented but until they knock off LAL they and their fans have no right to be arrogant or cocky and thats exactly how they are coming across. The only cesspool in NY is the Hudson and the South Bronx...but really lets not pretend thats any different then Jacksonville and Northern florida. And I am saying that what you are saying about Labatard's sources doesnt make them accurate. It just means that it was the information reported at the time. None of us were actually there so you cant possibly know what happened any more then I can. What I have found though is that over time more facts come out and that is why I am more inclined to believe TheKnicksBlog more then LeBatard. LeBatard has been right about a lot of stuff NBA related but that doesnt means he got this story exactly as it came about in July. If you like Isiah so much as coach please take him. I guarantee he can mess that team up in less then a year. Lebron will become the next Brian Scalabrine by the time Isiah gets done coaching him. Im not saying anything other then what I posted. You read too much in to things. I complained like hell about the Frye pick, never liked that one and the Balkman pick while not awful didnt enamor me. Actually in both cases, Granger and Rondo were the players I wanted the Knicks to draft. However lets be fair a lot of other teams passed on Rondo and Granger as well. I hate Isiah as a GM so much I wouldnt even wish him on the Bulls (but the Jets would still be in play) but he did draft Lee, Chandler and Nate Robinson all in the late first round and he did draft Ariza in the mid second round. Thats not terrible. Its actually more then most GM's do with late firsts and second round picks. Its just that his two slip ups cost us two players who are all stars.
meanwhile the guy drafted david lee with a 30th/Trevor Ariza 43rd, Nate Robinson 21st, Damon Stoudamire 7th, Tracy McGrady 9th, Marcus Camby #2. Fred Jones #14,Wilson Chandler #23 yeah he really cant evaluate talent because every GM is right 100% of the time in the draft and i hate the guy, but give him his due. and if you think he sucks show me 5 other gms who have a better draft track record.
You gotta say this, that is a remarkable draft record. But in a league that lives and dies with it's salary cap work. You screw that up alone, and that makes you a terrible GM.
You're in denial. In one breath you admit that you thought there were at least two teams in the running and in the next you try to claim that LBJ led you on by making you think NY was the only choice.
Agreed and its why I said the guy shouldnt be let near the GM spot. He loaded the Knicks with horrible contracts. Granted he inherited the same situation but still, his approach to contracts was abysmal. As a college scout he's very good but as a GM he's Forrest Gump
I didnt claim any such thing. Like I said you read way too much in to things and Id appreciate it if you didnt twist words to fit your argument. Thanks.
Dude, all he is saying is that LeBron could have been both stringing NY along AND have been hours away from signing with them, they are completely contradictory positions.
I didnt really read it that way but I tend to take things at face value. I guess thats a little more open to interpretation then I thought. Thanks for putting me in line on that.
He didn't leave college. I could see this hiring being invalidated by the league. I don't know all the rules about team officials contacting underclassmen, but it seems likely that Thomas' dual positions could be seen as violating some of them.
That was my exact response to William Rhoden who wrote what might be consider the dumbest article of all time. This was exactly what I wrote: In Response to The New York Times Article on Isiah Thomas' Return to the Knicks Recently you wrote a fluff piece about how Isiah Thomas deserves a second chance in New York. Something about being dealt a bad hand with a woe is me undertone. The article went on to say that Thomas was basically innocent in turning the Knicks franchise in to a laughingstock for the better half of a decade and how it should all be blamed on the Knicks incompetent owner, Cablevision boss James Dolan. I won't bore you or make you any dumber by repeating anything from the article, just refute it. The only second chance Isiah deserves in New York is as a janitor to the arena in which he once coached. And I'm not even sure he deserves that. At no point in my life have I ever seen people protest a General Manager's moves for a sports franchise. And at no point have I ever seen such outright disdain for a coach or manager of a team. I have sat through some pretty bad regimes of my teams in my day including but not limited to; The Dallas Green and Jeff Torborg era's for the Mets, the Scott Layden era for the Knicks, the Cam Cameron era for the Dolphins, and the New York Islanders for much of the last twenty-five years. How can you or anyone else seriously sit there and defend a man who made a mediocre franchise, horrific with consequences that lasted for the better half of seven years? Really? As a die hard Knick fan I find the article both nauseating and repulsive. You then goes on to bring up other New York athletes like Carl Pavano and Plaxico Burress but the Giants won a Super Bowl with Burress being a big part of that team and he was a critical piece to Eli Manning's development. The Yankees made the playoffs with Pavano there even though he was a dog who was injured all the time. At least he tried. Wally Backman was wrong in what he did but this isn't even about right or wrong; it's about the display of sheer incompetence that was Thomas' regime. Its about the countless ways in which Isiah Thomas disgraced a proud franchise, run by someone who is as incompetent and lacking in common sense as Isiah himself. Some would argue thats a match made in heaven but for Knick fans its a match made in hell. Giving bad contracts would be a reason to dislike a General Manager. But Isiah didn't only take on and give out bad contracts, he set the standard. Every team in the league knew Jamal Crawford was a terrible shooter, turnover prone and a horrible defender. So let's give him seven years and fifty-six million. Every team in the league knew Eddy Curry was a dog and lacking in both passion for the game and common sense. So lets give him five years and sixty million and trade two unprotected picks in the process. Every team in the league knew Stephon Marbury was a malcontent, albeit a talented one. So lets give him a four year extension before he embarrasses the franchise and take back the contract of Penny Hardaway at the same time. He gave awful contracts to Jerome James and Jared Jeffries. He had no problem taking on Zach Randolph's ridiculous contract when a team was so desperate to get rid of a top talent that they gave him away for pennies on the dollar. Some would call that "buying low" but it's really "buyer beware". It's not my money but it is my team. It took Donnie Walsh, one of the finest GM's in the league for the better part of the last thirty years, two whole years to clear this junk up. And it is only because Thomas was forced out by the league office that Walsh was ever brought in in the first place. The Knicks finally have a competent GM/President in Donnie Walsh and our idiot owner, Jimmy Dolan and his snake of a sidekick are going to sit there and basically undermine him by going around Walsh to make the hire himself? Frank Isola wrote a column in the Sunday New York Daily News that Walsh nearly walked out and left. He would have been right to do so. Walsh put up with Isiah being a consultant for his first year because he had to. As a President the decision should have been his. Why hire people if Dolan won't let them do the job they are hired for? And all in the name of bringing back Isiah? Do us all a favor and don't ever defend either one Mr. Rhoden. They aren't worthy of being defended. The Knicks had a solid summer and have a great cap situation going forward and all these two can do is mess it up. No Knick fan wants to see this ever again. I wouldn't even wish this on a Bulls fan and man, I hate me some Bulls fans and the franchise itself. There is no fan base deserving of such flat out stupidity. Those who defend Thomas, defend him because of his draft picks but even his draft record is average. He never drafted a star in New York. David Lee and his 58% Field Goal Percentage Against was not a star. Wilson Chandler is a nice player but not a star. Ditto for Lee, Robinson, Ariza, and Frye. And Isiah had chances. He took Frye over Danny Granger and Andrew Bynum and he took Renaldo Balkman over Rajon Rondo. So maybe he's not even the keen talent evaluator people make him out to be, though he certainly could have done worse. Isiah Thomas may be a nice guy and his willingness to consult young African-Americans is commendable. His stupidity with regards to the salary cap is inexcusable. He embarrassed himself and the Knicks with his acquisition of Marbury, his public feud with him, and goodness, should we even get in to the Anucha Brown-Saunders scandal? As if pure incompetence isn't enough? Now based on Ken Berger's article below as well as Frank Isola's aforementioned article Sunday, there is a good chance the league may still void Isiah's contract with the Knicks as a consultant. And with good reason. What kind of precedent would this set? What would stop the Celtics from hiring John Calipari as a "consultant"? Or the Lakers from hiring Roy Williams or Jim Boeheim as a "consultant"? You see, this pair is so incompetent, they don't even understand why Isiah can't be working as Head Coach for Florida International University while having an affiliation with a pro team as if the fact that it plainly states in the NBA rulebook that teams are not permitted to have contact with college athletes doesn't make it plain enough? I am also quite sure the NCAA will be looking in to this shortly, if they are not already. There has to be a violation in there somewhere meaning Isiah Thomas might just do the impossible...he might leave a university which went 12-21 in the 08-09 season before he took over and then 7-25 in his first season as coach in even worse shape then anyone ever thought for a program that is only five years old and has yet to have a winning season. That's right folks a five year old program, has actually gone backwards under the tutelage of the "consultant" Knicks owner Jim Dolan is so desperate to bring back that he violated an NBA rule to do so. And somewhere in his office I am sure little Jimmy sits there wonder "why did they print shirts that say Duck Folan" while strumming his guitar he's known for playing. Now tell me that ain't pathetic! How you, Mr. Rhoden can sit there there and bash Dolan and not Thomas is an exercise in contradiction. One is the epitome of stupidity and the other one accepts it. Apparently you enjoy it. Below are the articles I am referring to in this story for those who care to read them: William Rhoden's fluff piece: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/08/s...times.com/pages/sports/basketball/index.jsonp Ken Berger's story on CBS Sports: http://www.cbssports.com/nba/story/...a-rules-and-a-horrible-idea?tag=headlines;nba Frank Isola's piece in the New York Daily News: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/b...2010-08-08_donnie_thought_about_quitting.html
Breaking four team deal....Houston, nj, indy and new Orleans involved. Murphy to nets Collision to indy Ariza to new Orleans Courtney lee to houston
and....New Orleans begins to clear space to get CP3 a running mate. (Posey is gone in the deal as well)
[TABLE][/TABLE] taking ariza back doesn't really help them much with that quest. He just signed a five year deal last off-season I believe.
he signed for the mid level. a 5.8 million dollar starter is exactly what you want to clear cap space. it also makes his contract very tradeable. dumping Posey's contract (I would bet he gets bought out...COME ON DOWN! (love Posey)) is huge. Indy and NO are the big winners here.
not a bad move by jersey. they get someone to play the 4 while favors learns and they may be able to trade him to a playoff team looking for a three point shooter with an expiring contract. lee was in a logjam in new jersey
new jersey might put themselves in a better position to sign melo next year than the NY isiah's. very quietly though...if Indiana can grow a beach or better city and better weather...they can clean up in Free agency in 2012-2013.
I am shocked that Larry Bird actually made a quality trade. He has been pretty incompetent up until now. Indy's cap space will be used through trades, not free agency. The more teams that understand there are only a handful of teams that can compete in FA the better off they will be.
I think the nba will be voiding the isiah deal think goodness. Something about affiliations with a pro team while coaching a college team. Don't see how that works. If the knicks could consult with isiah what would stop the lakers from consulting with Jim calhoun or the celtics from consulting with Jim boeheim? Also indy is looking at cut or trade of tj ford.
But he will accept Overlord, and Basketball Emperor of The Mecca of basketball and cradle of Roundball civilization AKA The New York Knicks. Nice title.
you know for a second I was really happy then I realized you are right. Dolan is so dumb he probably would rehire him as gm again
Knicks will be back in the playoffs this year and contending STRONG in 11....if they get Mello and Parker then watch out.
Parker is nice but we need CP3 or Deron Williams. Gotta have top ten studs. Plus because of Parker's style I think those guys are less prone to breaking down. parker takes a lot of bumps and has a lot of tread on those tires even though hes still relatively young. I would take TP but somewhere we have to add a third elite player to Melo and Amare. I think Parker and even Gallinari fall short of that right now...
I think D'Antoni's style can win in the NBA the same way Mike Martz's style or Peyton Manning's style won in the NFL even though people said it couldn't. I think there's a lot of similarities between the two even across different sports. Both coaches have at points been ridiculed for being different and their systems take time to learn and need the proper personnel to succeed. I think the personnel their systems require is a little harder to find but with Gallo and Stat already on board I think you need to look at which players would be ideal for this offense that are both on your roster and on other teams rosters. You need high percentage shooters for this offense not loose cannons which is why I think they will pursue Paul or Williams heavily over Parker...Parker simply isnt a shooter though hes not a loose cannon by any stretch. He shoots a high percentage but he doesnt shoot jumpers well. Paul and Williams both do plus are better defenders. I am really curious to see how this plays out over the next 12 months because its going to shape the Knicks for the next decade or so. I havent been this excited about basketball season since the Ewing era.
Nice Move by Philly: Former Nets team president Rod Thorn will be the next president of the Sixers, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Wojnarowski also said that current GM Ed Stefanski will be staying on board, and at a minimum fans are getting someone in Thorn that has probably forgotten more about NBA basketball than most league executives have ever known. Consider this a good pickup for the Sixers. Source: Adrian Wojnarowski on Twitter