Are you ready to rebuild?
-
- November
- 30
Zach Randolph was the poster child for a dysfunctional team in Portland before he landed here. And the next piece of the puzzle has already been caught wide-eyed and open-mouthed a number of times.
What did he think of the fans calling for Isiah Thomas’ job last week?
“I ain’t never heard anything like that before,” Randolph said.
 And what about the 45-point loss in Boston?
“I ain’t never seen anything like it,” Randolph said. “Never in my career.”
That cannot be a good sign for this franchise, which is close to setting new lows in terms of credibility with the fans. I’m certain it was a restless night for everyone involved. There is no shoot-around this morning, which is standard in a back-to-back situation. We don’t get to speak with anyone face-to-face until the locker room opens at 6 p.m.
Isiah Thomas will be surrounded by reporters at that point, too.
So what happens next?
I know a lot of people want to see Thomas in the rear view mirror, but emotional decisions are rarely sound. Remember, the Knicks haven’t posted a winning record in any of the last six long seasons. Patience is understandably short. The roster has already been made over numerous times, and there is a fair amount of talent here.
But the players seem to be uncomfortable with the whole mess.
Here’s what I’m wondering, is now a good time for Wile E. Coyote to be summoned? He’s a demolition expert. For some reason, the powers that be at MSG have always been convinced that rebuilding will not work in New York, so I’d like to know whether you have the stomach for a five-year plan.
Thomas is not wrong. He’s noted several times in the last week any major changes to the roster or leadership of the Knicks will result in a longer wait for respectability.
Do you have any patience left?Â
The players need a swift kick.
And there are some options here that will get everyone’s attention. James Dolan could fire Thomas and trade Stephon Marbury. He could also violate the media policy and state publicly Thomas is under contract for three more seasons regardless of what happens. At least it would put the locker room on alert.
Lastly, in case it wasn’t obvious, here’s what the Celtics have over the Knicks aside from actual talent.
“We don’t need to be motivated,” Paul Pierce said. “We’re a self-motivated team.”
This entry was posted
on Friday, November 30th, 2007 at 12:37 pm by Mike Dougherty.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Share and Enjoy: 
| 
Print This Post
| 
Email This Post
I was ready 5 years ago!!!
I think fans would be patient with a young team, that was not filled with overpaid veterans, so long as the team demonstrated an effort and desire to win on a daily basis -even if the winning itself was a year or two off.
The year before Larry Brown, the Knicks seemed to lose in heart-breaking fashion by a last minute shot by the other team, almost every game. That seemed great after LB’s first year where they seemed to lose by 30 each game, and weren’t even competitive.
If I may be so bold as to speak for others, we just want a team of guys who will play hard every night. That’s why this team needs an overhaul.
Build around David Lee, Renaldo Balkman, Wilson Chandler, and next year’s draft pick (assuming the Knicks don’t have to trade it to someone else), and trade (almost) everyone else for veterans in the mold of Malik Rose – who are consummate professionals and can show the kids how to do it right.
You know who the Knicks really miss? Kurt Thomas. He wouldn’t stand for any of the BS that has taken place on and off the court. The Knicks need guys like that to mentor the kids.
I’d rather lose every game this year if it meant getting some real hope for the future, rather than following a team that is destined to be a first-round playoff exit each year – AT BEST.
Forget any thought of trading Marbury. With 40+ mil due over the next 2 years who in their right mind would want him.
isiah should have subbed all the starters back into the game with 2 minutes left in the 4th quarter
TR,
This would be a legitimate rebuilding project. It wouldn’t be a quick-fix trade “so-and-so” for some other problem.
I think that AFTER this season, when Steph’s an expiring $20 million, that a team COULD take a chance. Otherwise, and if not, the Knicks should wait it out and let the money come off their own books.
F. Jones and R. Morris are done after 2007-2008
S. Marbury, N. Robinson, and M. Rose are done after 2008-2009
J. James, J. Crawford, Q. Richardson and E. Curry have player options for the 2009-2010 season.
IF the Knicks can be patient and systematically let these contracts expire, or be traded for REASONABLE packages of picks and other expiring contracts, the Knicks might just escape salary cap hell.
Shoot, they’re only on the books for $28 million for the 2010-2011 season – that’s just 3 years away!!!
If they have added some young talent in the next couple of drafts, they might not need to throw a bad max-deal at whoever in 2011.
But as I said earlier, I’d rather see the growing pains of a young team learning, actually making progress towards something, than a bunch of overpaid, underachievers who will never, EVER, EVER accomplish anything as a collective group.
It seems like David Lee has lost the bounce to his step. Can he be traded, maybe with a veteren contract for a pick or two?
Can we leave Isiah in there and tank the season to get a high lottery pick (one that we’d actually keep)?
Does anyone want my tickets to Knicks v Celtics at the Garden in January? lol
Man I felt that game in my heart. It hurt so bad to see them lose so bad. Then I kept receiving text messages, phone calls, and IMs asking me what happened to them. I think they were scared … well not scared intimidated. The stadium was bright and loud. I mean real loud early. At Knicks games it is usually some what quiet (minus booing) and it doesn’t get loud and crazy until the end of the game most of the time. At this game when they stepped on the court you could feel the hum of the fans talking and cheering. The only two who seem to be ill effected by this was Steph and Malik. Probably because they are used to the Playoffs atmosphere. Hey we still have a better record than Miami, Chicago and Seattle.
One good note, Jamal’s shooting percentage was 50% :)
To Will:
Dlee didn’t lose his step. They have been featuring Zach R. more, so he only comes in when they notice Zach is not passing the ball as much as he should when he gets in trouble, gets 2 fouls early, or turns over the ball cause of his dangerous diagonal back court passes or lack of ball handling skills. I wanted to trade Dlee off my fantasy game but I noticed dispite the fact that he plays less, his stats are better than some other players in the league (that have not already been scooped up by the other players in my game). I just wish he learns to shoot the ball further than 5 feet away from the basket. You can see when he gets the ball and he is far away he tries to give the ball back to someone else.
(start two cents)
They need to work on 3 pointers and mid jumpers (Crawford, Q, Steph and Nate). If they can’t get the ball to Curry or Zach they have outside threats as well. They need to work on driving to the basket (Crawford and Nate). They also need to talk in practice so they can learn each other mannerisms.
(end of two cents)
I have more to say but my post is getting too long.