Monday’s 130-93 blowout of Portland aside, The Jazz are stumbling towards the finish line, and Derek Fisher claims he and his teammates don’t need to be reminded…even by the guy who signs their paycheck. From the Salt Lake Tribune’s Michael C. Lewis.
He didn’t name names, but guard Derek Fisher seemed to take exception to owner Larry Miller (above) angrily saying the Jazz “suck” after they lost for the 12th time in 18 games over the weekend.
“You don’t throw people under the bus,” Fisher said.
Speaking at the shootaround before the Jazz beat the Portland Trail Blazers at EnergySolutions Arena on Monday night, the veteran said “it’s not time for . . . peripheral people to have comments about what’s going on in our locker room and questioning who we are as a team.
“As far as my understanding of what a team is, what an organization is, what a family is, you don’t throw people under the bus – at any time,” he added. “When things are going hard, when you’re struggling, you stick together even more. You support people, you encourage people, you don’t tear people down when it’s convenient to tear them down.”
“You don’t get paid to tell somebody they’re not good, that they’re not performing well,” he said. “What if I got on camera or I went to the newspaper and said that my teammate sucked or that my teammate’s not doing this or not doing that? I wouldn’t be being a good teammate if I did that, even if I that’s how I felt.”
The Post’s Marc Berman was amongst the desperate persons paying attention to the Knicks’ MSG finale last night against the Nets, a result that put New York on the brink of another 50 loss season, and brought the club to 15 losses in the 18 games since Isiah Thomas received his contract extension. Amongst the gems Berman coaxed out of the hosts’ locker room,
Asked if he’ll be watching the lottery with trepidation, with Greg Oden and Kevin Durant available, Isiah Thomas said, “I’m happy with the players I have.”
even scarier,
Steve Francis said he wants to remain a Knick next season. “I love the stage we’re on playing at the Garden, despite the boos, despite you guys destroying us in the paper,” he said.
Mike Dunleavy tells the LA Times’ T.J. Simers that after viewing the tape of the Clippers’ capitulation to Sacramento on Sunday, “I felt like throwing up.”
“We basically had only two guys, Quinton Ross and Elton Brand, who showed up against Sacramento,” Dunleavy said. “I told the players if that doesn’t hurt you, I wish there’s some way I could know that, because I don’t want you here.”