GREENBURGH, N.Y. (AP) -- Isiah Thomas has already been warned that he's out of a job if the New York Knicks don't improve next season.
Still, he sounds ready to take the floor with basically the same group that won 23 games under Larry Brown.
"I'm not here waiting for Santa Claus to come save us," Thomas said Thursday. "I was told early on we didn't have any money and there was no Santa Claus. And I'm not looking for this great player to come save the day for us.
"The guys that we have, we'll make them better and we have a job to do. Nobody's coming to save us."
Thomas added the coaching reins to his role as team president last week when Brown was fired. The Knicks said Brown wanted to get rid of nearly half the roster, but Thomas spoke as if he can win with those players.
"I do like our players," he said. "And my job is to get their confidence back and I think they can play at a higher level than what a lot of them performed at last year."
The Knicks' salary cap woes would make it difficult for Thomas to make many good moves, anyway. But he didn't sound as if he necessarily needs to seek them, saying he would be less aggressive this summer than in past years.
"I'm very comfortable with our roster. I'm comfortable with the things that we have," Thomas said. "I'll continue to look to get better. If I can get a better player I'll definitely try to get a better player, but if we have to go into the season right now with what we have and the way we look, I'm comfortable with that."
Thomas spoke after introducing the players he chose Wednesday night with the Knicks' two first-round draft picks. Forward Renaldo Balkman from South Carolina was taken 20th, and Temple guard Mardy Collins went 29th.
Thomas praised Balkman's energy on the floor, but even Balkman sounded surprised to have heard his name so early on draft night.
"I never thought in a million years I'd be here right now," Balkman said.
Neither did many other experts. Balkman, who averaged 9.6 points last season, didn't even appear in the draft media guide. But Thomas has an answer for those who question the pick.
"Call [Florida coach] Billy Donovan, who won the national championship last year," Thomas said, "and ask him if he's surprised that we would take a guy like Balkman. Because his team beat them twice."
The 6-foot-6 Collins should benefit the Knicks because of his ability to defend on the perimeter, one of the team's many weaknesses last season.
"He said some of the smaller guards had a little trouble guarding bigger guards," Collins said. "With my height I'm able to guard some bigger guards. That's what he said he wanted to build the team around, defense."
Collins said he was aware of the pressure Thomas was under to win next season. Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan said on Monday that Thomas would be gone from his roles within the organization if the Knicks didn't show "evident progress" next season.
But Thomas said that wouldn't prevent him from playing his young players. The Knicks now have five players on the roster who were first-round picks in the last two years.
"I'm doing everything that I can to better our Knicks team and the Knicks organization," Thomas said. "I'm not very shortsighted about what's happening, even though this pressure or whatever is out there. I'm comfortable in operating in the environment that I'm in. I take comfort in pressure and we'll operate underneath of it and do what we need to do."
-SI.com
Balkman is a lot better than some people give him credit for and he plays full out 100% every play. On a team of losers, his at ude could go a long way.
I still don't think the spot was great, but it was rumored that Phoenix was interested in him as well and with Phoenix picking one spot after them, I guess it forced his hand.
I'd predict he has a longer career than half those taken before him.
The Suns said they knew nothing about it......... Chalk up another one for the coach/GM
Isiah Thomas is a dumbass
I liked him as a player so I am sorry to agree...............
But it is hard to have fuxed it up that bad and had tried to do it....
I just don't understand it, the Knicks have a decent team on paper, but even Brown couldn't spark this group last year. Maybe Larry did concentrate to much on Thomas's job. I just don't see how this salary-cap leading group can get any worse.
Only guy in the first round the Knicks past up in favor of Renaldo Balkman is Marcus Williams. I'm not saying it was a good pick at #20. It certainly wasn't. But, the other players after Balkman aren't that impressive anyway.
The better players Thomas past on were mostly point guards: Williams, Rondo, Farmar, Lowry. And, while some analysts say that the Knicks need a pure point guard, it still doesn't make sense to get one if Isiah still believes in Marbury and Nate Robinson. And, then there is Francis and Jamal Crawford, who also plays a little point guard. So, why should the Knicks add another point guard? Why? People will say the Knicks have to get rid of those players. But, the same people criticizing Isiah for not getting Marcus Williams or Rajon Rondo are the same people who will claim there are no teams that want Stephon Marbury or Steve Francis and Zeke won't be able to deal them. So, Zeke is supposed to add a fifth point guard?
Again, the best players that were available at #20 were mostly point guards and the Knicks had to address other issues. The Knicks biggest need? The small forward position. Jalen Rose and Qyntel Woods. That's who played the small forward position for the Knicks last year. No defense, no toughness. After Rodney Carney was selected, there were not very many good defensive small forwards left in the draft. Isiah wanted Balkman. So, they took him. Again, I don't think it's a good pick. But, I know what Isiah was thinking. Then you look at it from a conference standpoint. The Eastern Conference is going to be run by LeBRON JAMES and DWYANE WADE for the next decade at least. Who on the Knicks roster is going to guard those guys? Jamal Crawford? Quentin Richardson? Isiah is thinking outside the box and it does look questionable, but dig deeper. Balkman is the type of player that is needed to play against LeBron and Wade, a guy who is tough and relentless on defense to bother those great players.
THEN ...
You take into consider the Charlie Villanueva factor. Last year, Toronto was blasted for taking Villanueva at #7. What happened? Villanueva heard all the blasts on him being way overrated and undeserving of that draft spot. And, he worked his tail off and ended up being one of the top rookies of his class. Balkman is hearing the laughter. He reads reports that he should have been a low second round pick or should have gone undrafted. You don't think a kid isn't going to go out with a chip on his shoulder to prove everyone wrong about him, and prove Isiah right? He won't be the best player to come out of the draft, but all this media crap might ignite some motivation for him to really become a player.
He's being compared to Dennis Rodman. If he can even come remotely close to providing that kind of effort when he gets opportunities, then he might end up being worth all the crap that Isiah and the Knicks are getting now.
I still would have selected Marcus Williams or Alexander Johnson. But, I think I understand what Isiah was thinking.
So Isiah drafted Balkman hoping he would be a future 'Lebron/Wade-stopper'? Kinda risky if you ask me. If he wanted a more defensive-minded SF then wouldn't it have made more sense to move Rose and take the best player still on the board in the draft?
i can't even imagine how good the spurs would be if they were that far over the cap.
thomas usually can draft
since 2004 he did do a god job
he also drafted mcgrady
They might as well pay him off now. How in the do they think his decision-making capability would improve ON the court, under that kind of pressure, when it sucked so badly as GM?????
Pack your bags Isiah, you're done in NY. (and, ain't nobody else gonna want your ass for a long, long time, if ever - you are the poster boy for terminal stupidity)
Damon Stoudamire, Marcus Camby, and Tracy McGrady.
Zeke also was blasted for taking Fred Jones when he was at Indiana. Jones ended up being better than several guys picked ahead of him.
Zeke took Jamaal Tinsley at the end of the first round.
He also spotted talents like James Jones and Trevor Ariza in the second round.
Last year, people claimed Isiah was stretching to take Channing Frye with the #10 pick, but didn't blast him too bad because it was a need pick.
Zeke took Nate Robinson with the Phoenix pick in the early 20s of last year's draft. Almost all draftboards had Robinson around the middle of the second round last year.
So, while Renaldo Balkman looks like a bad pick, especially since it looks like they could have gotten him with the #29 pick, Isiah has generally been good with evaluating talent.
How is Isiah guaranteed that he will be able to move Rose? The best player available was Marcus Williams, and the Knicks already have four point guards that they might not be able to move this off-season.
The Knicks needed defense and toughness at the small forward position. That's what Isiah got. The Knicks also needed a non-ego, no-nonsense, role player. That's what Isiah got.
It was a bad pick. But, in some ways, it makes sense.
LOL.......... Now that he spent all the money and put it all together we will see if it can get worse.......... I could almost agree it couldn't...... But there are probably some huge mistakes he can still make.......... And probbly will....
This is about a lot more than draft picks and trades.
"future 'Lebron/Wade-stopper'?"
Knicks have a LOT more problems to solve way before they have to worry about stopping those two "in the future".
Number one is "Can Isaish coach?"
Number two is "Can Isaish coach before brutal NYC fans and media?"
What you speak of is impossible due to karma.
See, life has a way of balancing itself out. Dolan, super-rich, neuve inheritance, name-dropper that he is, will never land the talents of a West/Pop to run his franchise because karma would never allow it to happen.
Besides, absolute power corrupts absolutely. Even Pop/West would make bad personnel decisons if they were given a blank check. They are fallable as any.
Sometimes restraint is the better part of success. Rarely, but maybe.
Just what a team like that needs. An inexperienced (and terrible) GM becoming an inexperienced GM and coach…….
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