Zeke Stinks

Only Isiah Thomas could mess up a situation this badly. He joined the Knicks on December 22, 2003, replacing the immortal Scott Layden. The team won 39 games that year and was swept by NJN in the 1st round of the playoffs. Zeke fired Don Chaney soon after his arrival and replaced him with Lenny Wilkens; traded for Stephon Marbury; wasted a ton by agreeing to a buyout with Shandon Anderson for ~$20 million; and still stink. And then he got his dream coach, Larry Brown, to agree to a 5 year, $50 million contract and then fired him after 1 year. For good reason by the way. Now Isiah himself has 1 year to prove his worth and show "evident improvement" per the words of owner Jim Dolan. Let's review the problems with this 1 year evaluation period: - There is an immediate need to win. Why play the rookies (Frye, Robinson, Lee, and the 2 recent 1st rounders) when you must win now, if the rookies will not help you win now? - Let's say Marbury doesn't like Isiah. Marbury can essentially tank the season, leading to losses, leading to Isiah being let go. Marbury knows that Isiah is on a 1 year leash so if he doesn't like him, why play hard for him? -Worst case scenario, several players get injured. Will that be factored into Isiah's review after the season? If Marbury and Curry go down, how many wins are enough for "evident improvement"? - The daily media questions. I'd expect the Post and Daily News to run a weekly if not daily article on Isiah's status and likelihood of returning. - Considering how much Isiah has screwed up the franchise to-date, I'd expect some fans to root for the team's best interests which is lose now and let Isiah go. An early July prediction - Eastern Conference playoff teams include Detroit, Miami, New Jersey, Cleveland. Those are the 4 definites. Need to see pre-season action from the rest, still don't forsee Knicks making the playoffs. More predictions to follow this summer. - farfel