ambchang
12-05-2007, 03:42 PM
Quite hilarious how this guy tries to twist the truth.
http://www.paperbacknovel.com/sports/why_the_knicks_dont_suck.htm
by Lou V
As the Knicks start the 2007-08 NBA season at 2-9, it would seem all of NYC is apoplectic and calling for the firing of Isiah Thomas. A media frenzy drives the casual fan to think basketball hell is taking place at Madison Square Garden. The NY Post -- closer everyday to the National Enquirer -- in its on-going effort to dumb-down the citizens of Gotham, has used the front page of its Thanksgiving edition to call for the firing of Isiah Thomas, putting his head on a turkey. As if there were no other news in this world to cover.
The Knicks Are Doing Fine
But the only thing in demise here is the journalistic integrity of the NY Post, Daily News and similar media outlets who treat the readers the way media has traditionally dealt with people in third-world countries; getting their attentions off real economic and political issues by parading sports and the lottery in front of them. Basketball isn't that important, and the Knicks are fine. They remain as they were to start the season -- a young, athletic team with guys who can score; they have great chemistry, believe in their coach, and are progressively playing better defense.
Mort Zuckerman and Rupert Murdoch dumb down NY with National Enquirer journalism while James Dolan and Isiah Thomas provide moral substance.
They're not a championship team yet, but they're a good team; a playoff-caliber team. They've had two early season issues -- turnovers and bad free throw shooting -- causing them to lose a number of tight games. A tough early-season schedule for the 3rd year in a row has started them off in arrears. And it will get worse -- their late November/early December schedule is extremely tough. The schedule eases up in January, and then gets downright pleasurable in March and April. But that's a long way away; dozens of NY Post and Daily News front and back-page assassinations to endure. It will be interesting to see if the Knicks can win enough in December to keep the wolves at bay; if James Dolan, owner, who has proven to be a stand-up, moral guy despite numerous assassinations on his own character by the same media, will stick to his word and the game plan until the casual fan is spoon fed the idea that this team isn't so bad. History favors Dolan standing by his word.
Why Isiah Thomas Is Castigated by NY Media
Exemplified by the Renaldo Balkman Affair
Isiah's overly optimistic, used-car-salesman-handshake approach and street-fighter, chip-on-his-shoulder personality doesn't wash well with the NY beat reporters, and they attack him regularly with vengeance. Previous coach Larry Brown, in contrast, ingratiated himself with the mostly white NYC beat reporters. Mike Lupica of the Daily News seemed to fall into that Brown family of friends; and it was Lupica who savagely attacked Isiah in the middle of the 2006-2007 season, when the Daily News ran a back-page Sunday edition featuring Isiah Thomas drawn as a clown. Lupica attacked Thomas for daring to say that he knew more about basketball than the typical NY fan. Thomas's sin came after months of being ridiculed by the NY beat reporters for the 2006 June draft, echoed by fans on Sports Talk Radio, when he picked Renaldo Balkman with the 20th pick in the draft. That day, basketball-expert NY fans in attendance at Madison Square Garden booed; they wanted Isiah to pick local college hero point-guard Marcus Williams. Because they'd all seen Williams on TV, and he was good. In college. And the local newsmedia prepped them before the draft by telling them that the Knicks could possibly get to draft Williams with their first round pick, which was a late first rounder. Nobody -- not the Knick beat reporters or the fans -- had ever heard of Renaldo Balkman.
Isiah Thomas had. He'd seen Balkman play in college. He'd seen Balkman play at the pre-draft drills and private tryout invites. Isiah Thomas as a GM previously with Toronto and Indiana, had established himself as a terrific evaluator of NBA talent, and draft picker. Isiah Thomas was one of the greatest point guards in the history of the NBA; led his team to two championships; and you'd figure if Thomas saw a player he'd want to play with, that would be enough for anybody. Point guards especially, know the game like noone else, since they're distributing the ball to everyone.
You'd figure that the typical NY fan would be thumbs up with whoever Thomas picked; and if he picked a 6'7" sleeper that noone had heard of, so much the better. Thomas had been hired as GM in part for his fantastic resume at making great picks in previous NBA drafts. But none of this was good enough for the NY media and the casual fan, who felt that by watching the game on TV and playing it in the schoolyard, they no doubt knew more about basketball than Thomas.
Marc Berman of NY Post and the rest of NY media and expert NY basketball fans ridiculed Isiah Thomas's pick of Renaldo Balkman with the 20th pick in the 2006 draft, and they were all dead wrong. Balkman has become a top player.
Marc Berman of the NY Post took it to another level. In the days following the drafting of Balkman, Berman wrote that he asked the other GM's picking after Thomas in that first round if they were poised to pick Balkman, and all of them said no, they didn't have Balkman on their radar. Thus, Berman reasoned, not only had Isiah made a horrendous pick in picking Balkman, but if he played his cards right, he could have picked Marcus Williams with the 20th pick, and then used his second first round pick at #29 for Balkman, thus getting both the player Berman felt the Knicks should get, and then Thomas's favorite too, instead of Mardy Collins, another player no one had heard of, whom Thomas picked at #29.
There were a number of issues with Berman's logic:
He didn't know what he was talking about. Berman had no idea who Balkman was; Isiah Thomas knew exactly who he was and done all his homework to scout him.
Berman was blessed with perfect hindsight -- he was the Monday morning quarterback with information on what went down after it went down. Isiah Thomas had no idea what the other GM's were thinking on draft day, and so it would've been crazy for him not to pick the player he wanted (Balkman) with the 20th pick to get a player he didn't want or need (the Knicks already had 3 point guards headed by all-star Stephon Marbury, and didn't need another point guard in Williams).
Word before the draft was that Marcus Williams had a tendency to get out of shape, the same way that Pearl Washington, a great college point guard from a previous era, used to get out of shape (and thus didn't quite make it in the NBA). Isiah Thomas, one of the greatest point guards of all time, would be in best position to judge whether or not he liked the play of Marcus Williams at the point.
If other GM's that Berman had interviewed had known Thomas had his eye on Balkman, at least one of them most certainly would have changed their mind and picked Balkman. Isiah has a reputation amongst other GM's as being a good evaluator of talent; and even if the other GM's picking #22 through #28 didnt' think that, they might have still picked him to force a trade with Thomas. How could Thomas have taken that chance?
All of this was much ado about the 20th pick in the draft -- a pick that generally results in a player who historically doesn't stick in the NBA. The media treated it as if Thomas had used a lottery pick to draft Balkman.
What was never reported in any outlet was that the New Jersey Nets, who picked Marcus Williams, didn't pick directly after the Knicks -- the Boston Celtics did. Unlike the Knicks, the Boston Celtics were in desperate need of a point guard, having only not-ever-ready-for-prime-time Sebastian Telfair. The Celtics didn't pick Marcus Williams. They picked Rajon Rondo, a point guard. Over Williams.
Reading his column on a regular basis, Berman is judged by this reader to be one of the dumbest writers in NYC. He regularly gets the fine points wrong in his coverage of the game -- blaming loses on the wrong player, even after the coach tells him what went wrong in interviews after the game. He also stubbornly beats on unfounded issues for months; he spent the year after Patrick Ewing was traded reminding readers at every opportunity that that the Knicks had won a game without the help of Patrick Ewing. But that's a story for another column.
Berman continued his Isiah-should've-picked-Williams attack not for just that week following the draft, but for the next 6 months, taking any opportunity he could to remind people of this 'fact' in his regular column in the Post. Even after it soon became apparent in summer league and then the start of the 2006-07 season that Balkman was a great NBA player and the steal of the draft.
Marc Berman looks like he's never played a game of basketball in his whole life, and writes the same way, but unfortunately influences thousands of casual NY basketball fans with his illogical coverage and stubborn attacks.
Still, Berman reasoned, Isiah could've had Balkman and Williams if he did it Berman's way, versus Balkman and Collins. As the season wore on and Collins too began to establish himself as a pretty good NBA player -- a 6'5" shooting guard and excellent defender, Berman's idiocy died down. There were no apologies, and the damage had been done -- all casual NY basketball fans condemned Thomas on sports talk radio and elsewhere for months. Causing Thomas to finally utter his brash words -- that the booing didn't bother him because he felt he knew more about NBA basketball players than the typical fan and the picks he made were based on that knowledge -- BAM -- Mike Lupica and the Daily News and all the other media outlets had another field day on Thomas. How dare he say that. The arrogance!
Why Isiah Thomas Doesn't Suck
Through great draft picks like the one for Balkman, and great trades, Isiah has turned the Knicks around in 3 years at the helm as GM.
The Knicks offense is geared around their big men -- Eddy Curry, who scores at an over .600 clip inside, relentless 6'9 power forward Zach Randolph, and super-leaper David Lee, at 6'9 one of the best young power forwards in the game whose post-up game has even shown improvement this season. And that is where you want an NBA team to be centered -- not around shooting guards like the Stu-Laden-Alan-Houston-Latrell-Sprewell Knicks. Most GM's in the NBA would exchange their best three big men for those three Knicks in a heartbeat.
Tough defenders Renaldo Balkman, Quentin Richardson, and Jarred Jeffries form the rest of the front court, and at the guard is star scoring-point-guard Stephon Marbury and the enigmatic, athletic, super-nice-guy but often-boneheaded Jamaal Crawford. Tough defender Fred Jones and the super-energetic but not-great-ball-distributor Nate Robinson round out the backcourt.
Not a perfect team; not a championship team, but a pretty good team; a playoff team, and the most hope Knicks fans have had for a fun, energetic, competitive team to watch since 1995 (and that includes the 1999 finals team that sucked throughout the regular season but turned it on for the playoffs).
The word is still out on Isiah as a coach; he has a medicre resume there, and was never hired to be a coach of the Knicks; he was hired as a GM. He assumed coaching responsibilities as a kind of penance for his poor choices of coach hirings -- Lenny Wilkins to be his puppet coach when he first arrived. Wilkins was in retirement mode, and was replaced with Herb Williams. An honorable choice for Isiah, but another bad decision, as Williams was a rookie and NYC was not the place to experiment. Then came the Larry Brown fiasco, which was James Dolan's doing -- Brown was the last person Isiah wanted to hire but had his arm twisted to do so. As penance, Isiah coaches this team himself.
Isiah Thomas's Knicks' Resume
Great Trades:
June 28, 2007: Acquired Zach Randolph, Fred Jones, Dan Dickau, and draft rights to Demetris Nichols (2nd round, #53 overall) from Portland in a draft day deal for Steve Francis, Channing Frye, and the Knicks' 2008 2nd round draft pick. Synopsis: Zach Randolph and Fred Jones for Channing Frye? This may go down as one of the great Knick trades ever.
June 29, 2005: Acquired Quentin Richardson (25 yrs old) and Nate Robinson (the 21st overall 1st-round pick) from the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Kurt Thomas (32.5 yrs old) and Dijon Thompson (the 54th overall 2nd-round pick). Synopsis: Kurt Thomas was getting old. Richardson is a terrific all-around ballplayer (especially after the back surgery) and almost 6 years younger. Plus the Knicks got Nate Robinson. Great trade.
February 3, 2006: Acquired Jalen Rose from Toronto, a 1st round pick in 2006 (#20 overall, used by Knicks to select Renaldo Balkman -- this was originally Denver's pick, acquired by Toronto), and cash in exchange for Antonio Davis (and essentially $10 million in cap relief). Synopsis: Fantastic trade for NY, especially since Isiah used that pick to select Balkman. Rose played some ball in NY before being eventually waived, opening up some salary savings for NY.
February 16, 2004: Acquired Tim Thomas from Milwaukee and center Nazr Mohammed from Atlanta in a three-team trade. In exchange, Knicks sent Keith Van Horn to Milwaukee and Michael Doleac and a 2005 conditional 2nd round pick to Atlanta. (In addition, center Joel Przybilla was traded from Milwaukee to Atlanta.) Synopsis: Mohammed played some good ball in NY, but then helped Isiah rebuild with the trade listed below this one. Tim Thomas played some ball in NY, but then helped Isiah get Eddy Curry from Chicago. This Feb 2004 trade was a fantastic setup trade for the Knicks.
February 24, 2005: Acquired Malik Rose, Maurice Taylor, conditional first-round draft picks in 2005 (ended up being David Lee at #30) and 2006 (ended up being Mardy Collins at #29) from San Antonio in exchange for Nazr Mohammed, Moochie Norris, Vin Baker, and Jamison Brewer. Synopsis: Nazr Mohammed for Malik Rose, David Lee, and Mardy Collins? Great trade.
October 3, 2005: Acquired Eddy Curry and Antonio Davis from Chicago for Tim Thomas, Michael Sweetney, Jermaine Jackson, NY's 2006 1st round draft pick (eventually became Tyrus Thomas at #2 overall), a 2nd round draft choice in 2007 and 2009, and ability to switch 1st round picks in 2007 -- which they did; Chicago got NY's 2007 1st round draft pick (eventually became Joakim Noah at #9) and NY got Chicago's 1st round pick (became Wilson Chandler at #23). Synopsis: This should have been a great trade for NY, but Larry Brown took a 36 win team and made it a 23 win team, making that #1 pick in 2006 go from a mid-first-rounder to the #2 pick. Still not a bad trade for NY, whom I think would trade Curry and Wilson Chandler for Ty Thomas and Jaokim Noah even now, dependent on how Chandler and Noah develop.
August 6, 2004: Acquired Jamaal Crawford and Jerome Williams from Chicago for Frank Williams, Dikembe Mutombo, Othella Harrington, and center Cezary Trybanski. Synopsis: Great trade -- Jamaal Crawford for nothing much. Mutumbo was ancient.
January 6, 2004: Acquired Stephon Marbury, Penny Hardaway, and Cezary Trybanski from Phoenix for Antonio McDyess, Howard Eisley, Charlie Ward, Maciej Lampe, Milos Vujanic, Knicks 1st-round pick in 2004 (#16 overall, ended up being Kirk Snyder, a career reserve guard), and future conditional Knicks 1st round pick (looks like it will be the 2009 or 2010 pick) and cash. Synopsis: Despite the criticisms, Marbury has played a lot of all-star basketball in NY. The final word is still out on this trade as there is still that conditional 1st-round pick hanging out there in 2009 or 2010 that Phoenix gets from NY, but so far, NY got Stephon Marbury for a bunch of crap -- including Knick-franchise-of-the-future-according-to-Stu-Laden, Michel Lampe. Penny Hardaway was used by Knicks to help get Stevie Francis, who was used to help get Zach Randolph. Phoenix used this trade to get $7-million under the cap, enabling them to sign free agent Steve Nash, and catapulting them to an elite team. This trade looks good for both teams right now, for different reasons.
Why James Dolan Doesn't Suck
As much as Isiah Thomas has been ripped apart in the NY media, James Dolan has been almost as much so. Dolan, the son of cable magnate Charles Dolan Sr, who built the billion-dollar Cablevision empire, has been assessed by the NY media to be a stupid, rich, spoiled, arrogant never-do-good who plays with the Knicks as if it were his rich-kid's toy. Fans have taken to building websites that call for him to sell the Knicks. Open protests in front of Madison Square Garden have broken out, protesting his decisions on owning the Knicks. His Wikipedia entry currently says "It is widely agreed upon, amongst fans the media and the NBA, that his tenure has been a complete failure and his inability to manage the Knicks would be comical if it were not so pathetic."
Some of this may be true, but for all things bad there are things good, and with James Dolan what is often not said is that he is a man of moral fiber. Here's proof:
A reported former alcoholic, he has gone out of his way to give other former alcoholics a chance. After the Knicks acquired talented but troubled Vin Baker in 2001, Dolan personally spent many hours talking to Baker, according to published reports, trying to help him understand and deal with his troubling disease.
He has stood up for, and valued, players who displayed fine moral character on the Knicks -- thus one of the reasons he foolishly laid so much money down to keep Alan Houston when his initial contract expired. Houston was the epitome of fine moral character -- a truly nice and giving fellow; the anti-Joe DiMaggio.
When Larry Brown was attacking Knick players in the press in 2005-06, calling them stupid, Dolan cracked down on Brown, according to published reports. When Brown continued to lash at players publicly, Brown was fired -- even if it took 40 million dollars to do it.
Dolan has since then publicly acknowledged that the hiring of Larry Brown was his mistake, not Isiah Thomas's, and he should take the blame. Another stand-up move not noticed by the NY media or fans.
Thomas's Resume Continued
Great Draft Picks:
Renaldo Balkman #20 in 2006. This was the draft wherein MSG fans booed and NY media ripped Thomas for months for not picking Marcus Williams. No one had ever heard of Renaldo Balkman, and thus Thomas was judged to be stupid. Balkman was a steal.
Mardy Collins #29 in 2006. Good pick, that late.
David Lee #30 in 2005. One of best young power forwards in game. Fantastic pick.
Nate Robinson #21 by Phoenix as part of trade. Robinson exudes energy and has helped win a number of games in his career so far. Needs to learn how to be a better point guard. Still a good pick that late.
Trevor Ariza #44 pick in 2004 draft. Great pick that late. Thomas was forced to trade him away by Larry Brown.
Randolph Morris -- from reports it seemed that most GM's in the NBA didn't even know this star center for Kentucky was available as a free agent as soon as his college career ended -- he had already made himself available for a previous NBA draft and went undrafted. But Isiah Thomas knew, and pounced on him before anyone else in March 2007, resulting in essentially a steal of a mid-first-round draft pick.
Wilson Chandler #23 in 2007. Too early to tell.
Demitrius Nichols #53 by Portland traded to NY. A late 2nd round pick that Thomas got Portland to deal him, Nichols alas was lost in a numbers game in NY (15 players ahead of him in talent or guaranteed contracts), and had to be released before the 2007-08 season. He was quickly picked up by defending Eastern Conference Champs Cleveland. Still, his sterling play with the Knicks in 2007 summer camp and NBA future is another testament to Thomas's ability to see NBA talent.
Channing Frye #8 in 2005. Frye ended up not being so good, but he was the best legitimate player available when Thomas was picking #8 (notwithstanding gambles who may have turned out better). After two years of Frye not living up to expectations, Thomas astutely traded him to Portland for Zach Randolph.
Dolan's handling of the Anucka Browne Sanders case is prototypical of his high moral fiber. It was a case that he could have made go away without any negative publicity by just paying her five or six million (chump change for MSG) before the case ever went to trial. But his righteousness in a case where he undoubtedly felt on high moral ground would not let that happen. According to defense allegations unveiled in court trial coverage, Anucka Browne Sanders had established that she was incompetent at handling Knicks marketing and was an abrasive person to work with, who, according to Steve Mills, MSG CEO, came into his office and "told me she's lost the confidence of the people she worked with, and she can't do this anymore." Again according to defense allegations, it was only after Dolan learned that Sanders was pressuring her underlings to back her up in a sexual harassment suit that he fired her on the spot.
Dolan's backing of Isiah Thomas and giving him his word that he has the 2007-08 season to put the Knicks on track is yet another example of a fellow with high moral fiber who gives his word, and stands by it.
Finally, Knick fans should rejoice that James Dolan is clearly someone who will spend lots of money on the Knicks in an effort to make them good. It hasn't always worked out, but Knick fans could have a worse owner.
Thomas's Resume Continued
So-So Minor Free-Agent Signings:
Jerome James: A minor free agent signing -- Knicks used their $4 million exception to sign him. He's been wrecked by injury in his first 3 years in NY. He was a dominant inside defender and rebounder in Seattle and in brief healthy appearances in NY. Still 2 years left on the 5 year contract to see if he'll ever be healthy in NY.
Jared Jeffries: Another minor free agent signing with the $4 million exception. Jeffries had a poor first season in NY due to injuries and overzealous play (he was guilty of trying too hard). He remains potentially a key player for NY, their 8th man in their rotation; a 6'11" defender who can shut down another team's top-scoring big man. Has yet to be proved in NY though.
For that and all the reasons stated above, here's hoping that James Dolan stays in charge of the Knicks long into the future, with Isiah Thomas at the helm as GM, if not coach. So that the good guys can win the day.
http://www.paperbacknovel.com/sports/why_the_knicks_dont_suck.htm
by Lou V
As the Knicks start the 2007-08 NBA season at 2-9, it would seem all of NYC is apoplectic and calling for the firing of Isiah Thomas. A media frenzy drives the casual fan to think basketball hell is taking place at Madison Square Garden. The NY Post -- closer everyday to the National Enquirer -- in its on-going effort to dumb-down the citizens of Gotham, has used the front page of its Thanksgiving edition to call for the firing of Isiah Thomas, putting his head on a turkey. As if there were no other news in this world to cover.
The Knicks Are Doing Fine
But the only thing in demise here is the journalistic integrity of the NY Post, Daily News and similar media outlets who treat the readers the way media has traditionally dealt with people in third-world countries; getting their attentions off real economic and political issues by parading sports and the lottery in front of them. Basketball isn't that important, and the Knicks are fine. They remain as they were to start the season -- a young, athletic team with guys who can score; they have great chemistry, believe in their coach, and are progressively playing better defense.
Mort Zuckerman and Rupert Murdoch dumb down NY with National Enquirer journalism while James Dolan and Isiah Thomas provide moral substance.
They're not a championship team yet, but they're a good team; a playoff-caliber team. They've had two early season issues -- turnovers and bad free throw shooting -- causing them to lose a number of tight games. A tough early-season schedule for the 3rd year in a row has started them off in arrears. And it will get worse -- their late November/early December schedule is extremely tough. The schedule eases up in January, and then gets downright pleasurable in March and April. But that's a long way away; dozens of NY Post and Daily News front and back-page assassinations to endure. It will be interesting to see if the Knicks can win enough in December to keep the wolves at bay; if James Dolan, owner, who has proven to be a stand-up, moral guy despite numerous assassinations on his own character by the same media, will stick to his word and the game plan until the casual fan is spoon fed the idea that this team isn't so bad. History favors Dolan standing by his word.
Why Isiah Thomas Is Castigated by NY Media
Exemplified by the Renaldo Balkman Affair
Isiah's overly optimistic, used-car-salesman-handshake approach and street-fighter, chip-on-his-shoulder personality doesn't wash well with the NY beat reporters, and they attack him regularly with vengeance. Previous coach Larry Brown, in contrast, ingratiated himself with the mostly white NYC beat reporters. Mike Lupica of the Daily News seemed to fall into that Brown family of friends; and it was Lupica who savagely attacked Isiah in the middle of the 2006-2007 season, when the Daily News ran a back-page Sunday edition featuring Isiah Thomas drawn as a clown. Lupica attacked Thomas for daring to say that he knew more about basketball than the typical NY fan. Thomas's sin came after months of being ridiculed by the NY beat reporters for the 2006 June draft, echoed by fans on Sports Talk Radio, when he picked Renaldo Balkman with the 20th pick in the draft. That day, basketball-expert NY fans in attendance at Madison Square Garden booed; they wanted Isiah to pick local college hero point-guard Marcus Williams. Because they'd all seen Williams on TV, and he was good. In college. And the local newsmedia prepped them before the draft by telling them that the Knicks could possibly get to draft Williams with their first round pick, which was a late first rounder. Nobody -- not the Knick beat reporters or the fans -- had ever heard of Renaldo Balkman.
Isiah Thomas had. He'd seen Balkman play in college. He'd seen Balkman play at the pre-draft drills and private tryout invites. Isiah Thomas as a GM previously with Toronto and Indiana, had established himself as a terrific evaluator of NBA talent, and draft picker. Isiah Thomas was one of the greatest point guards in the history of the NBA; led his team to two championships; and you'd figure if Thomas saw a player he'd want to play with, that would be enough for anybody. Point guards especially, know the game like noone else, since they're distributing the ball to everyone.
You'd figure that the typical NY fan would be thumbs up with whoever Thomas picked; and if he picked a 6'7" sleeper that noone had heard of, so much the better. Thomas had been hired as GM in part for his fantastic resume at making great picks in previous NBA drafts. But none of this was good enough for the NY media and the casual fan, who felt that by watching the game on TV and playing it in the schoolyard, they no doubt knew more about basketball than Thomas.
Marc Berman of NY Post and the rest of NY media and expert NY basketball fans ridiculed Isiah Thomas's pick of Renaldo Balkman with the 20th pick in the 2006 draft, and they were all dead wrong. Balkman has become a top player.
Marc Berman of the NY Post took it to another level. In the days following the drafting of Balkman, Berman wrote that he asked the other GM's picking after Thomas in that first round if they were poised to pick Balkman, and all of them said no, they didn't have Balkman on their radar. Thus, Berman reasoned, not only had Isiah made a horrendous pick in picking Balkman, but if he played his cards right, he could have picked Marcus Williams with the 20th pick, and then used his second first round pick at #29 for Balkman, thus getting both the player Berman felt the Knicks should get, and then Thomas's favorite too, instead of Mardy Collins, another player no one had heard of, whom Thomas picked at #29.
There were a number of issues with Berman's logic:
He didn't know what he was talking about. Berman had no idea who Balkman was; Isiah Thomas knew exactly who he was and done all his homework to scout him.
Berman was blessed with perfect hindsight -- he was the Monday morning quarterback with information on what went down after it went down. Isiah Thomas had no idea what the other GM's were thinking on draft day, and so it would've been crazy for him not to pick the player he wanted (Balkman) with the 20th pick to get a player he didn't want or need (the Knicks already had 3 point guards headed by all-star Stephon Marbury, and didn't need another point guard in Williams).
Word before the draft was that Marcus Williams had a tendency to get out of shape, the same way that Pearl Washington, a great college point guard from a previous era, used to get out of shape (and thus didn't quite make it in the NBA). Isiah Thomas, one of the greatest point guards of all time, would be in best position to judge whether or not he liked the play of Marcus Williams at the point.
If other GM's that Berman had interviewed had known Thomas had his eye on Balkman, at least one of them most certainly would have changed their mind and picked Balkman. Isiah has a reputation amongst other GM's as being a good evaluator of talent; and even if the other GM's picking #22 through #28 didnt' think that, they might have still picked him to force a trade with Thomas. How could Thomas have taken that chance?
All of this was much ado about the 20th pick in the draft -- a pick that generally results in a player who historically doesn't stick in the NBA. The media treated it as if Thomas had used a lottery pick to draft Balkman.
What was never reported in any outlet was that the New Jersey Nets, who picked Marcus Williams, didn't pick directly after the Knicks -- the Boston Celtics did. Unlike the Knicks, the Boston Celtics were in desperate need of a point guard, having only not-ever-ready-for-prime-time Sebastian Telfair. The Celtics didn't pick Marcus Williams. They picked Rajon Rondo, a point guard. Over Williams.
Reading his column on a regular basis, Berman is judged by this reader to be one of the dumbest writers in NYC. He regularly gets the fine points wrong in his coverage of the game -- blaming loses on the wrong player, even after the coach tells him what went wrong in interviews after the game. He also stubbornly beats on unfounded issues for months; he spent the year after Patrick Ewing was traded reminding readers at every opportunity that that the Knicks had won a game without the help of Patrick Ewing. But that's a story for another column.
Berman continued his Isiah-should've-picked-Williams attack not for just that week following the draft, but for the next 6 months, taking any opportunity he could to remind people of this 'fact' in his regular column in the Post. Even after it soon became apparent in summer league and then the start of the 2006-07 season that Balkman was a great NBA player and the steal of the draft.
Marc Berman looks like he's never played a game of basketball in his whole life, and writes the same way, but unfortunately influences thousands of casual NY basketball fans with his illogical coverage and stubborn attacks.
Still, Berman reasoned, Isiah could've had Balkman and Williams if he did it Berman's way, versus Balkman and Collins. As the season wore on and Collins too began to establish himself as a pretty good NBA player -- a 6'5" shooting guard and excellent defender, Berman's idiocy died down. There were no apologies, and the damage had been done -- all casual NY basketball fans condemned Thomas on sports talk radio and elsewhere for months. Causing Thomas to finally utter his brash words -- that the booing didn't bother him because he felt he knew more about NBA basketball players than the typical fan and the picks he made were based on that knowledge -- BAM -- Mike Lupica and the Daily News and all the other media outlets had another field day on Thomas. How dare he say that. The arrogance!
Why Isiah Thomas Doesn't Suck
Through great draft picks like the one for Balkman, and great trades, Isiah has turned the Knicks around in 3 years at the helm as GM.
The Knicks offense is geared around their big men -- Eddy Curry, who scores at an over .600 clip inside, relentless 6'9 power forward Zach Randolph, and super-leaper David Lee, at 6'9 one of the best young power forwards in the game whose post-up game has even shown improvement this season. And that is where you want an NBA team to be centered -- not around shooting guards like the Stu-Laden-Alan-Houston-Latrell-Sprewell Knicks. Most GM's in the NBA would exchange their best three big men for those three Knicks in a heartbeat.
Tough defenders Renaldo Balkman, Quentin Richardson, and Jarred Jeffries form the rest of the front court, and at the guard is star scoring-point-guard Stephon Marbury and the enigmatic, athletic, super-nice-guy but often-boneheaded Jamaal Crawford. Tough defender Fred Jones and the super-energetic but not-great-ball-distributor Nate Robinson round out the backcourt.
Not a perfect team; not a championship team, but a pretty good team; a playoff team, and the most hope Knicks fans have had for a fun, energetic, competitive team to watch since 1995 (and that includes the 1999 finals team that sucked throughout the regular season but turned it on for the playoffs).
The word is still out on Isiah as a coach; he has a medicre resume there, and was never hired to be a coach of the Knicks; he was hired as a GM. He assumed coaching responsibilities as a kind of penance for his poor choices of coach hirings -- Lenny Wilkins to be his puppet coach when he first arrived. Wilkins was in retirement mode, and was replaced with Herb Williams. An honorable choice for Isiah, but another bad decision, as Williams was a rookie and NYC was not the place to experiment. Then came the Larry Brown fiasco, which was James Dolan's doing -- Brown was the last person Isiah wanted to hire but had his arm twisted to do so. As penance, Isiah coaches this team himself.
Isiah Thomas's Knicks' Resume
Great Trades:
June 28, 2007: Acquired Zach Randolph, Fred Jones, Dan Dickau, and draft rights to Demetris Nichols (2nd round, #53 overall) from Portland in a draft day deal for Steve Francis, Channing Frye, and the Knicks' 2008 2nd round draft pick. Synopsis: Zach Randolph and Fred Jones for Channing Frye? This may go down as one of the great Knick trades ever.
June 29, 2005: Acquired Quentin Richardson (25 yrs old) and Nate Robinson (the 21st overall 1st-round pick) from the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Kurt Thomas (32.5 yrs old) and Dijon Thompson (the 54th overall 2nd-round pick). Synopsis: Kurt Thomas was getting old. Richardson is a terrific all-around ballplayer (especially after the back surgery) and almost 6 years younger. Plus the Knicks got Nate Robinson. Great trade.
February 3, 2006: Acquired Jalen Rose from Toronto, a 1st round pick in 2006 (#20 overall, used by Knicks to select Renaldo Balkman -- this was originally Denver's pick, acquired by Toronto), and cash in exchange for Antonio Davis (and essentially $10 million in cap relief). Synopsis: Fantastic trade for NY, especially since Isiah used that pick to select Balkman. Rose played some ball in NY before being eventually waived, opening up some salary savings for NY.
February 16, 2004: Acquired Tim Thomas from Milwaukee and center Nazr Mohammed from Atlanta in a three-team trade. In exchange, Knicks sent Keith Van Horn to Milwaukee and Michael Doleac and a 2005 conditional 2nd round pick to Atlanta. (In addition, center Joel Przybilla was traded from Milwaukee to Atlanta.) Synopsis: Mohammed played some good ball in NY, but then helped Isiah rebuild with the trade listed below this one. Tim Thomas played some ball in NY, but then helped Isiah get Eddy Curry from Chicago. This Feb 2004 trade was a fantastic setup trade for the Knicks.
February 24, 2005: Acquired Malik Rose, Maurice Taylor, conditional first-round draft picks in 2005 (ended up being David Lee at #30) and 2006 (ended up being Mardy Collins at #29) from San Antonio in exchange for Nazr Mohammed, Moochie Norris, Vin Baker, and Jamison Brewer. Synopsis: Nazr Mohammed for Malik Rose, David Lee, and Mardy Collins? Great trade.
October 3, 2005: Acquired Eddy Curry and Antonio Davis from Chicago for Tim Thomas, Michael Sweetney, Jermaine Jackson, NY's 2006 1st round draft pick (eventually became Tyrus Thomas at #2 overall), a 2nd round draft choice in 2007 and 2009, and ability to switch 1st round picks in 2007 -- which they did; Chicago got NY's 2007 1st round draft pick (eventually became Joakim Noah at #9) and NY got Chicago's 1st round pick (became Wilson Chandler at #23). Synopsis: This should have been a great trade for NY, but Larry Brown took a 36 win team and made it a 23 win team, making that #1 pick in 2006 go from a mid-first-rounder to the #2 pick. Still not a bad trade for NY, whom I think would trade Curry and Wilson Chandler for Ty Thomas and Jaokim Noah even now, dependent on how Chandler and Noah develop.
August 6, 2004: Acquired Jamaal Crawford and Jerome Williams from Chicago for Frank Williams, Dikembe Mutombo, Othella Harrington, and center Cezary Trybanski. Synopsis: Great trade -- Jamaal Crawford for nothing much. Mutumbo was ancient.
January 6, 2004: Acquired Stephon Marbury, Penny Hardaway, and Cezary Trybanski from Phoenix for Antonio McDyess, Howard Eisley, Charlie Ward, Maciej Lampe, Milos Vujanic, Knicks 1st-round pick in 2004 (#16 overall, ended up being Kirk Snyder, a career reserve guard), and future conditional Knicks 1st round pick (looks like it will be the 2009 or 2010 pick) and cash. Synopsis: Despite the criticisms, Marbury has played a lot of all-star basketball in NY. The final word is still out on this trade as there is still that conditional 1st-round pick hanging out there in 2009 or 2010 that Phoenix gets from NY, but so far, NY got Stephon Marbury for a bunch of crap -- including Knick-franchise-of-the-future-according-to-Stu-Laden, Michel Lampe. Penny Hardaway was used by Knicks to help get Stevie Francis, who was used to help get Zach Randolph. Phoenix used this trade to get $7-million under the cap, enabling them to sign free agent Steve Nash, and catapulting them to an elite team. This trade looks good for both teams right now, for different reasons.
Why James Dolan Doesn't Suck
As much as Isiah Thomas has been ripped apart in the NY media, James Dolan has been almost as much so. Dolan, the son of cable magnate Charles Dolan Sr, who built the billion-dollar Cablevision empire, has been assessed by the NY media to be a stupid, rich, spoiled, arrogant never-do-good who plays with the Knicks as if it were his rich-kid's toy. Fans have taken to building websites that call for him to sell the Knicks. Open protests in front of Madison Square Garden have broken out, protesting his decisions on owning the Knicks. His Wikipedia entry currently says "It is widely agreed upon, amongst fans the media and the NBA, that his tenure has been a complete failure and his inability to manage the Knicks would be comical if it were not so pathetic."
Some of this may be true, but for all things bad there are things good, and with James Dolan what is often not said is that he is a man of moral fiber. Here's proof:
A reported former alcoholic, he has gone out of his way to give other former alcoholics a chance. After the Knicks acquired talented but troubled Vin Baker in 2001, Dolan personally spent many hours talking to Baker, according to published reports, trying to help him understand and deal with his troubling disease.
He has stood up for, and valued, players who displayed fine moral character on the Knicks -- thus one of the reasons he foolishly laid so much money down to keep Alan Houston when his initial contract expired. Houston was the epitome of fine moral character -- a truly nice and giving fellow; the anti-Joe DiMaggio.
When Larry Brown was attacking Knick players in the press in 2005-06, calling them stupid, Dolan cracked down on Brown, according to published reports. When Brown continued to lash at players publicly, Brown was fired -- even if it took 40 million dollars to do it.
Dolan has since then publicly acknowledged that the hiring of Larry Brown was his mistake, not Isiah Thomas's, and he should take the blame. Another stand-up move not noticed by the NY media or fans.
Thomas's Resume Continued
Great Draft Picks:
Renaldo Balkman #20 in 2006. This was the draft wherein MSG fans booed and NY media ripped Thomas for months for not picking Marcus Williams. No one had ever heard of Renaldo Balkman, and thus Thomas was judged to be stupid. Balkman was a steal.
Mardy Collins #29 in 2006. Good pick, that late.
David Lee #30 in 2005. One of best young power forwards in game. Fantastic pick.
Nate Robinson #21 by Phoenix as part of trade. Robinson exudes energy and has helped win a number of games in his career so far. Needs to learn how to be a better point guard. Still a good pick that late.
Trevor Ariza #44 pick in 2004 draft. Great pick that late. Thomas was forced to trade him away by Larry Brown.
Randolph Morris -- from reports it seemed that most GM's in the NBA didn't even know this star center for Kentucky was available as a free agent as soon as his college career ended -- he had already made himself available for a previous NBA draft and went undrafted. But Isiah Thomas knew, and pounced on him before anyone else in March 2007, resulting in essentially a steal of a mid-first-round draft pick.
Wilson Chandler #23 in 2007. Too early to tell.
Demitrius Nichols #53 by Portland traded to NY. A late 2nd round pick that Thomas got Portland to deal him, Nichols alas was lost in a numbers game in NY (15 players ahead of him in talent or guaranteed contracts), and had to be released before the 2007-08 season. He was quickly picked up by defending Eastern Conference Champs Cleveland. Still, his sterling play with the Knicks in 2007 summer camp and NBA future is another testament to Thomas's ability to see NBA talent.
Channing Frye #8 in 2005. Frye ended up not being so good, but he was the best legitimate player available when Thomas was picking #8 (notwithstanding gambles who may have turned out better). After two years of Frye not living up to expectations, Thomas astutely traded him to Portland for Zach Randolph.
Dolan's handling of the Anucka Browne Sanders case is prototypical of his high moral fiber. It was a case that he could have made go away without any negative publicity by just paying her five or six million (chump change for MSG) before the case ever went to trial. But his righteousness in a case where he undoubtedly felt on high moral ground would not let that happen. According to defense allegations unveiled in court trial coverage, Anucka Browne Sanders had established that she was incompetent at handling Knicks marketing and was an abrasive person to work with, who, according to Steve Mills, MSG CEO, came into his office and "told me she's lost the confidence of the people she worked with, and she can't do this anymore." Again according to defense allegations, it was only after Dolan learned that Sanders was pressuring her underlings to back her up in a sexual harassment suit that he fired her on the spot.
Dolan's backing of Isiah Thomas and giving him his word that he has the 2007-08 season to put the Knicks on track is yet another example of a fellow with high moral fiber who gives his word, and stands by it.
Finally, Knick fans should rejoice that James Dolan is clearly someone who will spend lots of money on the Knicks in an effort to make them good. It hasn't always worked out, but Knick fans could have a worse owner.
Thomas's Resume Continued
So-So Minor Free-Agent Signings:
Jerome James: A minor free agent signing -- Knicks used their $4 million exception to sign him. He's been wrecked by injury in his first 3 years in NY. He was a dominant inside defender and rebounder in Seattle and in brief healthy appearances in NY. Still 2 years left on the 5 year contract to see if he'll ever be healthy in NY.
Jared Jeffries: Another minor free agent signing with the $4 million exception. Jeffries had a poor first season in NY due to injuries and overzealous play (he was guilty of trying too hard). He remains potentially a key player for NY, their 8th man in their rotation; a 6'11" defender who can shut down another team's top-scoring big man. Has yet to be proved in NY though.
For that and all the reasons stated above, here's hoping that James Dolan stays in charge of the Knicks long into the future, with Isiah Thomas at the helm as GM, if not coach. So that the good guys can win the day.