Yes, I'm defending Isiah, the team is better, can you honestly say it isn't? I really don't understand the hatred for the guy. Everyone knew Cheney was going to be fired, he shouldn't have lasted this long, he was only a fill in for when JVG quit. Did he handle it well, probably not, is the team better, I think we can answer a resounding yes. Earlier in this thread, I took exception with someone who said he was a bad GM in Toronto. He wasn't a bad GM in Toronto and I don't see how anyone could have a problem with the moves he has made so far. Is Isiah arrogant, sure he is. But when you are the most dominant player under 6'5" player in the history of the NBA as well as maybe College Basketball, you will be a little arrogant, and in fact, you need to be a little arrogant to achieve the things he has achieved in life. And I don't understand why others can't understand that. I don't understand why more people don't appreciate the things he accomplished on the basketball court. He's the most under appreciated Super Star in the history of the NBA. No one had a problem with the classless way Bird handled the firing of Thomas. No one has a problem with his arrogance or MJ's arrogance. I don't understand why people hate Isiah so much. I never have.
Bird's handling of Isiah's firing paled in comparison to this, there was no public humiliation/shaming like that practice session, Bird did not stalk him on the sideline, and Bird did not go on Letterman and joke about it the night before, Bird did not name his replacement/let news leak out about it beforehand.... The knock on Thomas has always been his garganutan ego, and that he puts it before everything else. He bought the CBA as a plaything, decided that it was boring, and basically left it hanging out to dry and let it go bankrupt Similarly, I thought he had no clue what he was doing in Indy..it seemed like he would go with bizarro rotations game in game out, and they persistently underacheived...look at what they are doing this year withthe same team, minus Brad Miller...I also recall a playoff game against NJ, Isiah kept calling Timeout when Jermaine O'Neal was at the Free throw line with the game tied or within one with just seconds left to play..now Jermaine O'Neal is a lousy FT shooter, but there's no need to ice your own shooter. It was handled espeicially badly, as O'Neal was right about to shoot, and then the whistle would sound....even the announceers were pointing to it as a terrible move. Evaluating Isiah's run as a GM in NY will not be worth doing for at least another year from now....so we'll see. Nobody has any problems with him as a player, it is as a non-player where he has seemed to struggle.
Sam, I'm not defending Isiah's handling of the CBA, he clearly was in over his head, and I'm not defending his coaching. But Toronto became a better team with him as a GM and if McGrady stays in Toronto we might even be talking about the MJ and Pippen of this era and he's done a good job in NY so far. And I like Isiah to be honest with you, and I even wish he would give Steve a few pointers on how to maximize his talent.
It sure did. With his firing as head coach today, I couldn't help but look back at this thread. Most of us knew Isiah would be terrible with the Knicks, but I doubt anyone could have anticipated his tenure being this much of a train wreck. I know I didn't. He inherited a bad situation, but given enough time and money -- and God knows Isiah was given plenty of both -- anyone could have gotten that team heading at least upwards. He somehow managed to make it far worse. A complete and total waste of 4-5 years and hundreds of millions of dollars.
Care to comment again now that the canvas is more complete? Zeke is one of the biggest crash and burns ever. I have never "hated" Zeke and liked him for a portion of his time when he played at IU. Even there he did some things gave me pause.
Come on . . . Isiah has them on a 10 yr plan In two years or so . .you will see his plan come to fruition! Rocket River uhm . . .yea. . . . I do stand corrected.
No, he doesn't. But now that Isiah is no longer the GM or the Coach of the Knicks, I won't be surprised if he finds himself a position in the Bush administration. He would fit right in.
