| Demolition In Progress Authored by Tommy Dee - November 14, 2007 - 1:45 pm
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With the recent events transpiring surround the now rocky relationship between point guard Stephon Marbury and Isiah Thomas, it is becoming abundantly clear that it is no longer a matter of “if” but “when” the Thomas era will come to an end in New York.
Reports are circulating that two of Isiah’s cornerstone acquisitions, Marbury and Eddy Curry, were incensed that Thomas made the decision to pull them and their defensive liabilities from the starting line up. Curry, who seems just as passive off the court as he is on the defensive side of the floor, took the news in stride, but Marbury did not. The outspoken guard, who has continuously embarrassed the organization whether through TV appearances or during interviews, reportedly told whoever would listen on the plane to Phoenix that, “Isiah has to start me” claiming he had so much dirt on his boss, and the man who brought him back home in 2004, that he could rat him out if he wanted to.
Marbury decided to hop a plane back home claiming that he had the organization’s permission, which is like being told by your high school teacher to get the hell of class, and interpreting it as permission to go home for the day. Marbury filed several text messages to local NY media confirming the idea that he was taking leave with permission, yet didn’t specify why he chose the team’s important four game road trip to take a leave of absence.
It’s difficult how the situation will play out in the short term, but it is obvious that Thomas’ run as president of the Knicks will come to an end. Without Marbury 100% focused (see 2005-06 under Larry Brown), the team is destined to spiral downhill regardless of how much passion and energy the likes of David Lee, Renaldo Balkman and Nate Robinson play with. Sure Curry and Zach Randolph are still a low post threat but with passes coming from the likes of Robinson and Mardy Collins, who knows how effective they can be. The players Zeke has acquired just simply do not have the talent defensively to hang with NBA teams night in and night out.
That’s just scratching the surface of the team’s problems. Can Marbury be moved? Good question. Some writers have speculated that teams may be interested in taking on the remainder of Marbury’s two-year/$42 million dollar contract so they can have a huge chunk of cap space in the summer of 2009 when notable free agents like Emeka Okafor, Andre Iguodala and Josh Smith can test the waters. But it makes no sense for the Knicks to continue to make lateral moves. By trading Marbury the team will continue in the circular path of mediocrity and throw more players together at a time where those already in uniform seemed to be finally gaining some chemistry, albeit only offensively. The time has come to make moves to save this once-storied organization. They are decisions that must be made by Jim Dolan, who needs to understand that forget all the embarrassment the organization has muddled through on the court and especially off it, enough is enough,
Bye-Bye Buyout Marbury: Knick fans have already seen this movie and they know how it’s going to end. Coach questions player, player hates coach and becomes insubordinate hate, player has the ball and pouts when he’s on the bench. Team walks on eggshells; team loses the most games in franchise history. Except this isn’t Larry Brown, and it makes you wonder if Brown was right all along. The Knicks and Marbury need to agree on a buyout making Steph a free agent. Thanks for the memories. And who knows maybe the newly religious Marbury, whose already shown generosity selling the sneakers for cheap, may give the Knicks a discount.
Sign Gary Payton to the MLE: Please don’t stop reading, hear me out on this one. We understand Payton is sometimes disruptive and his ego is Marbury-esque, but he’s out of work and can be signed for the rest of the season to replace the 18-22 minutes Zeke wanted to give Steph. Plus, even at his age, Payton still can be an effective perimeter and on ball defender, clearly the team’s biggest weakness through the first 7 games of the season. And if you consider the experience Payton had in Miami feeding Shaq and Alonzo Mourning, he can be a good general for the Knicks double post duo of Curry and Randolph and a stop gap for the rest of the season. Ideally, the defensive-minded, pass-first Eric Snow, who Larry Brown begged for, would be the choice but he appears headed to Atlanta.
Fire Isiah Thomas: The truth is the guy was way in over his head with this job and his arrogance led him to believe he could create a winner without rebuilding. He was wrong and now it’s time to cut him loose. He never seemed to have a plan whether it was transform the Knicks into the “Suns East” or slow the game down into a post dominated pace, Zeke often seemed lost and now his allies are turning on him. He drafted well and stocked the roster full of solid, young, cheap role players, but the chore of Marbury, Curry and Jamal Crawford as well as the addition of the gritty and talented Randolph is just not that talented to engulf over 50% of your team’s payroll.
Restore the Old Knicks Feel: The guy wanted to be president, albeit of the United States, but I think he’d settle for the top Knick job instead. By bringing in Bill Bradley as president (or Hubie Brown if Dollar Bill declines), the organization will immediately give fans the feeling that the ship is righted. The fans can be sold on the idea that it may take a few years but rebuilding is the direction this team has to go in. Trust us, it worked for the Rangers. Hiring Greg Anthony as the team’s Director of Player Operations and adding Allan Houston in some capacity, the Knicks will plant the seed of the next generation of executives who can learn under the tutelage of Bradley and/or Brown.
Let Herb Williams coach: Give Herb, whose loyalty is unmatched, the real chance to coach for the rest of the season and remove the “interim” tag. If the decision is made to keep him, then he’s earned it. If the decision is to go in another direction dip into the college ranks for a guy who’s never backed down from a challenge and has had success everywhere he’s been including locally at Hofstra where he went 72-22. We're talking about Villanova’s Jay Wright. I’m not a proponent of hiring college coaches in the NBA but Wright, to us, is different breed. Like Rick Pitino did with the Knicks in the late 80’s, Wright can implement a guard-orientated pressure system seems fun to play in and may get the likes of Crawford and Robinson to have fun playing defense. Bring in Patrick Ewing to teach the big men how to play in an up-tempo system. That style would play to the strength of the team’s roster once that can go 10 deep. We like the idea of hiring NY product Mark Jackson, but we like the idea of having the articulate and savvy Anthony as the executive apprentice a little more, and we’re not sure if Action could work with Anthony above him, since after all it was Anthony’s ability to play defense that made Action expendable in the eyes of Pat Riley. Someone to teach guards defense is biggest void to fill. Another name to consider would be Sacramento assistant Scott Brooks
Speaking of Riley, Dolan needs to take a page out of Dave Checketts’ playbook and hire new management that will give the organization instant credibility, like Checketts did when he brought Sir-Slick-A-Lot as coach. Or he can continue to watch this once-storied organization continually shoot itself in the foot. It seems logical that the time to make a change is quickly approaching, but judging from Dolan’s history, this soap opera may never end. |
