Declaring “the biggest scandal at MSG continues to be the performance of Isiah Thomas’ team” (I guess he’s never been groped by someone quoting from “Love & Basketball”), the Daily News’ Frank Isola is quite ready to kick Zeke when he’s down.
It’s been one of the ugliest weeks in Knicks history and for Thomas, who is the face of the franchise for all the wrong reasons. The only things we know for sure are that a) neither Anucha Browne Sanders nor Thomas will go down as the most well-liked bosses to ever grace the Garden and b) the responsibility of trying to turn the product into something worth watching falls to Larry Brown.
It’s already 42 games into the Brown’s first season in New York and the coach still can’t make heads or tails of the roster Thomas assembled. Brown has been criticized for shuttling players in and out, failing to define roles and for using 25 different starting lineups.
Does that mean he’s a mad scientist at work or just bloody mad for taking the job in the first place?
It’s probably a combination of both. The word over the summer on Brown was that he had serious doubts about the players brought in under Thomas’ watch. Backup center Jerome James (above) has been a bust. Quentin Richardson, who appears to be playing with a bad back, has struggled and Eddy Curry lacks the drive to become a great player.
Thomas has spent millions to make over the team and yet the Knicks are 77-102 since he was hired. This season, the Knicks have tried to temper expectations by calling it a rebuilding year. But most of the players are veterans with long-term contracts. Plus, the Knicks traded their first-round pick – likely a lottery selection – to the Chicago Bulls in the Curry deal.
Former Georgia Tech PG Will Bynum, currently leading the NBDL in scoring with a 24 ppg average with the Roanoke Dazzle, is profiled in today’s Roanoke Times. Bynum, property of the Celtics through this season and next, is also averaging 6.7 assists per game, along with a league-high 6.2 turnovers.
Fresh off his failure to win Ch. 4’s “Celebrity Big Brother”, Dennis Rodman’s pricey weekend cameo with the Brighton Bears might cause the club to be docked points in the BBL league standings.