January 13, 2004

ISAIH HAS FINALLY FOUND A HOME LARGE ENOUGH FOR HIS EGO

      When the New York Knicks organization decided Isaih Thomas was the right man to head up the basketball team they were, in effect, handing the keys over to a mad driver.  Obviously frustrated from two straight non-playoff seasons, and with it looking as if this season wouldn’t be any different the Knicks wanted a drastic change—and they got it.  And if all they wanted was for the team to be a bottom-rung team in the Eastern Conference playoff standing then they will have their wish granted.  Of course if they want a championship then they have just committed basketball suicide—that wish will never come true. At least not in the foreseeable future.  Not with Isaih in charge.

       For Isaih New York is the perfect place.  He will never have to fight for publicity, never have to fight to get his name in the papers, and never have to fight to be a central figure on the city scene.  New York is Isaih’s Utopia—until, that is, the day when the city realizes what every other city has realized, the team (and everything else) is secondary to their new leader.  In Isaih's world Isaih always comes first.

       It didn’t take Isaih long to make his mark.  While many NBA experts looked at the excess of fat on the Knick roster and advised patience and a rebuilding of the roster Isaih chose to do exactly the opposite.  Instead of attempting to pare down that fat Isaih went out and added huge expenses to his already heavy payroll.  The addition of Stephon Marbury will no doubt help in the present, and could enable the Knicks to make this year’s playoffs, but Marbury’s contract is so heavy that it will limit any other possible moves the team might make., unless the owners allow him to spend yankee money to create a contender.  Along with fellow guards Allan Houston and Penny Hardaway and forward Keith Van Horn the quartet of small players take in nearly $58 million this season.  And those contracts increase in value in the coming seasons.  This doesn’t leave much for the remaining players on the active roster.  And at the present rate it will be three more years before the Knicks can find even the remotest little bit of salary cap space.  Isaih has locked this team in, as is, for the near future. 

       Is it any better than the team that started the season?   That is the question that has to be asked.  The answer is somewhat.  The addition of Marbury certainly cleans up a sore spot on the roster.  The team has been without a quality point guard for years and in one fell swoop Isaih filled the position with a perennial all-star who is considered one of the top four or five point guards in the game.  Marbury will ratchet up the Knicks offense and take some of the pressure off Houston who always felt compelled to carry the team on his lightweight shoulders.  Hardaway will provide some scoring punch off the bench and with the acquisition of Moochie Norris from Houston the Knicks are set with guards for the foreseeable future.  Of course Norris’ makes in the neighbourhood of $4 million and his contract doesn’t run out for three more seasons and Hardaway is on the books for two more years as the most expensive bench player in history.  The team will score more and will compete more, but won’t win nearly enough to justify the moves.  In three years with the Knicks still mucking around at the bottom of the Eastern Conference playoff puddle will the New York fans be as pleased as they are now? 

              Isaih’s next move was to remove Don Chaney as head coach.  The fans wanted it, and since Isaih wants to stay in their good books, he made it.   Unfortunately he leaked the firing of Chaney to the press when he thought he had a deal with Mike Fratello, but at the last moment Fratello decided that he didn't want the uncertainty of working for Isaih.  Not since it looks like the power hungry Zeke will take over as coach next season.  Suddenly with Fratello out of the hunt and wanting to make another big splash Isaih looked around at the available coahing talent.  Doc Rivers certainly didn't want to give up his post on ABC to work with Isaih, and simply moving either assistant Lon Kruger or Brendan malone into the position wouldn't have the necesary effect.  he wanted to make a big change, not a small one.  Isaih doesn't like small stories--he wants his name in big bold letters in the headline.  So he hired Lenny Wilkens, a man whose prime coaching years left him in the late seventies.  Fans of both the Atlanta Hawks and the Toronto Raptors can quickly rattle off Lenny's liabilities.  The reason Isaih hired Lenny is so he can make a drastic change and still safeguard his reputation.  To ensure that any repercussions don’t hit him squarely in the face.  In order to accomplish this he will listen to the fans—majority rules—and he will make the moves deemed necessary to appease the populace. 

       The team cannot compete in its present state, not since their interior defense is small and weak.  The signing of Dikembe Motumbo (not an Isaih move) has proven to be a mistake.  Motumbo is long past his prime.  New Jersey knew this and willingly swallowed $30 million just to get him off the roster.  Kurt Thomas is solid as a power forward, but he is getting old and the years of physical play is beginning to take its toll.  And that’s it for interior players, those two.  Anybody else is either roster filler (Othello Harrington) or too green (Mike Sweetney) to contribute.  Isaih has to know that his frontcourt is, and always was, his biggest area of concern.  Instead of attacking the weakness inside he filled out his perimeter.  He said that the East is filled with good guards (Kidd, Iverson, Davis) and the Knicks needed a good guard in order to compete.  What he could have said is that there aren’t any quality big men available out there (they are in too limited a supply) and if he was going to make a big splash to get his name in the papers he could only do it by acquiring a guard.

     Isaih will likely look at adding problem child Rasheed Wallace to his roster and hope Wallace's tendency to tear teams apart will be put on hold in New York.

      Whatever the Knicks do this year; whatever they accomplish there is one undeniable fact—Isaih will be front and center.  Unless they completely fall apart—if that occurs then Isaih will able to blame his predecessor—Isaih will take the bows and accept the kudos for getting the Knicks into the playoffs.  And, more importantly for Isaih, to have an opportunity to beat his former team, the Indiana Pacers, and prove to Larry Bird that firing him was a mistake.  In actuality the Pacers are a much better team without Isaih, and the notorious man who destroyed the CBA will soon bring the Knicks down with his bombast and his ego.