khandor’s sports blog

As inocuous as this event may seem to be … at least, on the surface … in reality, it just might prove to be the leading edge of an iceberg.

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Isiah Thomas to serve as Knicks consultant

Thomas, a Hall of Famer with the Detroit Pistons, had a dismal run as team president from December 2003-April 2008, with the Knicks never winning a postseason game despite often having the league’s highest payroll. He was also the coach the final two seasons, getting dismissed after a 23-59 season in 2007-08.

Despite all that, plus that lawsuit brought by former team employee Anucha Browne Sanders that cost MSG $11.6 million, Thomas has remained close to Dolan and Walsh, even while coaching Florida International University, a job he will keep.

In fact, even when he was fired, he didn’t even fully leave. Walsh kept him on in an unspecified role until Thomas took the FIU job.

“I’m excited to once again be a part of the New York Knicks organization,” Thomas said. “I was honored to have been asked to help during the recent free agent recruiting process, and believe that this new role takes full advantage of my skill set as an evaluator of basketball talent.”

The Knicks said Thomas would “assist the team’s senior management in various capacities, including player recruitment.”

He helped the team in that area during free agency, when the Knicks landed Amare Stoudemire. He also was sent to Ohio to talk to representatives from LeBron James(notes), who eventually signed with Miami.

Walsh thanked Thomas during the press conference for Stoudemire, sparking reports that Thomas would return to the organization, perhaps even as general manager.

Before his failures in New York, largely a result on overspending for big names that didn’t work out, Thomas was known as a good evaluator of talent. He drafted Tracy McGrady(notes), Marcus Camby(notes) and eventual Rookie of the Year Damon Stoudamire(notes) in Toronto. Walsh has used him to scout in New York, sending him to Europe to see current Knicks forward Danilo Gallinari(notes).

The Knicks will call on those skills in Thomas’ current role.

“He will provide valuable insight and analysis of young prospects from around the world,” the statement said.

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 You Make The Call …

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Please feel free to explain your answer further in the comments section.

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Update:

#1. Seems as though Jeff Eisenberg was thinking in a similar way to this corner, about this situation with Zeke and the Knicks, when this news first broke [on Friday].

#2. Thomas won’t return to Knicks, afterall.

If LeBron James [SF] and Dwyane Wade [OG] were to re-sign with their respective teams …

in a similar way to what:

i. Joe Johnson [OG, Atlanta];
ii. Paul Pierce [SF, Boston]; and,
iii. Dirk Nowitzki [PF/C, Dallas];

have each done already …

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Cleveland … with Dan Gilbert, Chris Grant, Byron Scott and LeBron James, for a 6-yr maximum contract, but without Dwyane Wade, Anderson Varejao/JJ Hickson, Delonte West and Anthony Parker?

New Jersey … with Mikhail Prokhorov, an unknown GM after July 15, Avery Johnson, Brook Lopez, Devin Harris, Courtney Lee and Terrence Williams, for a 6-yr maximum contract, but without LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and, possibly, Derrick Favors?

New York … with James Dolan, Donnie Walsh, Mike D’Antoni, Amare Stoudemire and Danilo Gallinari, for a 6-yr maximum contract, but without LeBron James and Dwyane Wade?  

Chicago … with Jerry Riensdorf, Gar Forman and Jim Paxson, Thom Thibodeau and Derrick Rose, for a 6-yr maximum contract, but without LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Joakim Noah and Luol Deng?

Miami … with Micky Arison, Pat Riley, Erik Spoelstra, Dwyane Wade, Mario Chalmers [PG], Michael Beasley [PF] and, quite possibly, Udonis Haslem [PF], Dorell Wright [SF], Carlos Boozer [PF/C], Mike Miller [OF] and Dexter Pittman [C], for a 5-yr, slightly less-than maximum contract [with the Heat then holding your 'Bird Rights'], but without LeBron James?

or,

Toronto … with MLSE, Bryan Colangelo, Jay Triano, Jose Calderon, DeMar DeRozan, Hedo Turkoglu, Andrea Bargnani, Jarrett Jack, Marco Belinelli, Sonny Weems, Ed Davis, Solomon Alabi, Marcus Banks, Reggie Evans and Amir Johnson, for a 6-yr maximum contract, but without LeBron James and Dwyane Wade?

=====================

The simple facts are:

1. Toronto is a world-class, cosmopolitan city of considerable reknown [i.e. unlike Cleveland];

2. Chris Bosh has always wanted to re-sign with the Toronto Raptors, if their team was [i] willing to offer him a maximum contract, and [ii] continually upgrade its roster, with him as a centre-piece, in an effort to become a legitimate contender in the Eastern Conference;

and,

3. Chris Bosh is not someone whose has prioritized “winning” … to this point, in his career … above all else, in his life, including, for example:

Trust

Honesty

Creativity

Mutual Respect

Hard work

Teamwork, and

A Commitment To Achieving Excellence.

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Update:

Wade, Bosh choose Miami

The Year was 1993.

The Date was June 2.

The Round was the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Game was #5. 

The Combatants were: [i] The mighty Chicago Bulls … coached by Phil Jackson … and, [ii] The insurgent New York Knicks … with a Point Guard [and an irstwhile head coach] named Glenn “Doc” Rivers [#25].

The Big Plays … both, made and not made … coming down-the-stretch and, in particular, the final moments … have become indelibly etched in the memory banks of any true NBA connoisseur.

“The Charles Smith, Game 5”

* Michael Jordan, 29 pts, 10 rebounds and 14 assists

* “You got to have a very strong will and a very big heart, if you go down the lane against the New York Knicks.” - Mike Fratello [TV Analyst]

* 4 failed layup attempts to take the lead on the final possession for the losing team

* Defense is the backbone! 

What the NBA Playoffs are supposed to be about!

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Related:

Doc and Phil were there (and so was Charles Smith), 17 years ago today

At the conclusion of an 82 game schedule …

there are now 10 teams left with a legitimate opportunity to win this year’s league championship … none of which are the Mavericks [W2], Suns [W3], Nuggets [W4], Celtics [E4], Bucks [E6] or Bulls [E8], according to the recent history of the NBA.

Related:

What it takes to win the NBA Championship

This evening’s home game against New York [8:05 PM ET] is a do-or-die affair for Toronto, in conjunction with the outcome of the Chicago/Charlotte match-up.

OPTION 1

If the Bulls lose and the Raptors win, then, Toronto will secure the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs.

OPTION 2

Any other result for either of these 2 games and Chicago will have:

i. Successfully overcome tremendously long odds during the last 3 weeks of the season,

ii. Earned the No. 8 seed with significantly improved play, and

iii. Be set to tip-off against the Cleveland Cavaliers/No. 1, in the 1st Round of the Playoffs, beginning this coming weekend.

Tune in and comment away, if you have something productive to contribute.

It should be a tonne of fun for what just might turn out to be the Raptors’ last game of the 2009-2010 season, as well as Chris Bosh’s final appearance at the ACC, as a stalwart player … albeit injured and out of the line-up, due to the facial fracture he sustained last week … for the home team. 

Click Here 

Toronto is currently listed as the solid home favourite [-7.5/-101].

With a little more than 1 week left in the regular season schedule …

there are 10 teams with a legitimate opportunity to win this year’s league championship … none of which are the Mavericks, Nuggets, Suns, Celtics, Bucks, Raptors or Bulls.

Related:

What it takes to win the NBA Championship

Last night’s game was a must-win situation for Toronto [5th; 28 L's], looking ahead to the 4-game west coast road trip which begins next week:

Game 62, at LAL [46-17, L?]
Game 63, at SAC [21-41, L?]
Game 64, at GSW [17-44, W?]
Game 65, at POR [37-27, L?]

and in the rear-view mirror, as Milwaukee [6th; 29 L's], Chicago [7th; 30 L's], Miami [8th; 31 L's] and Charlotte [9th; 31 L's] each continue their pursuit of a playoff position [i.e. #5-8] in the Eastern Conference.

New York Knicks 96
TORONTO RAPTORS 102
Complete Game Info

Operating without the services of Chris Bosh for the 7th consecutive game, the Raptors were able to post a solid victory, led by the stellar offensive performance of Sonny Weems and Jose Calderon:

who were simply too quick, strong, and athletic for their counterparts on the Knicks to contain off the dribble.

If the Raptors can secure another W tomorrow afternoon, at home against the still struggling 76ers, it would ensure that Toronto [32-28] will be able to return to the cozy confines of the ACC [22-9] for Games 66 and 67 on their schedule, against Atlanta [40-21; Away/15-14] and Oklahoma [37-24; Away/17-13], respectively, no worse than 1 game above the .500 mark [i.e. if they somehow manage to go O-for on their road trip].

With the favourable upcoming schedules held by Charlotte and Miami, and with Milwaukee playing much improved basketball of late … following their acquisitions of John Salmons/G-F and Jerry Stackhouse/G-F … it looks like the battle for the 8th seed in the East might come down to the final 3 games of the regular season for, either, Toronto or Chicago:

TORONTO
Game 80, vs Chicago [W?]
Game 81, at Detroit [L?]
Game 82, vs New York [W?]  

CHICAGO
Game 80, at Toronto [L?]
Game 81, vs Boston [L?]
Game 82, at Charlotte [L?]

where the Raptors should have a decided edge.

When the Knicks are shooting well from beyond the arc, they can be a difficult opponent to play against.

However, when they shoot like they did yesterday [3-16/.188], they become easy pickings for a high-scoring, offensively oriented, team like the Raptors.

In last night’s victory against the Detroit Pistons, embattled New York Knick’s head coach, Mike D’Antoni, unveiled a new Starting Line-up for the home team:

PG, Tracy McGrady [6-8, 223], 34:28/MP
OG, Bill Walker [6-6, 230], 36:27/MP
SF, Danilo Gallinari [6-10, 225], 37:24/MP
PF, Al Harrington [6-9, 250], 35:45/MP
C, David Lee [6-9, 250], 43:56/MP

and, then, chose to give only 2 other players a significant number of minutes coming off the bench:

PG, Sergio Rodriguez [6-3, 176], 29:44/MP
OG/PG, Eddie House [6-1, 180], 19:27/MP

in what turned out to be a very tight, and effective, 7-Man rotation:

Detroit Pistons 104
NEW YORK KNICKS 128
Boxscore 

During this game, the Knicks used the following 5-Man Units with the associated +/- results:

While some observers in the on-line hoops community might be scratching their heads today about the level of success which New York enjoyed last night, while playing without a “traditional” Point Guard in their Starting Unit, it should come as no surprise at all to regular readers of this blog.

If Mike D’Antoni elects to stick with this arrangement, which dramatically improves New York’s ability to REBOUND the ball for significant segments within a game, it will be very interesting, indeed, to see how this new 7-Man rotation holds up for the Knicks over their next 3 games:

at TORONTO RAPTORS [.500+; Tied for 24th in Rebounding Differential]
vs New Jersey
vs Atlanta [.500+; Tied for 24th in Rebounding Differential]

prior to heading out on the road for 5 consecutive games:

at SAN ANTONIO [.500+; 3rd in Rebounding Differential]
at MEMPHIS [.500+; 2nd in Rebounding Differential]
at DALLAS [.500+; 18th in Rebounding Differential]
at PHILADELPHIA
at BOSTON [.500+; 23rd in Rebounding Differential]

If any of New York’s upcoming opponents are asleep at the switch, during this late season stretch of games, it should not come as any sort of surprise to that team’s fans to see the Knicks rise up and steal more than 1 or 2 of these specific match-ups. 

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PS. Yours truly has advocated that Tracy McGrady be used at the Point Guard position, going back in time to his initial years in the NBA with the Toronto Raptors. Even after all these years, it is still gratifying to see him succeed when placed in this specific role by his head coach. Oh, what the Raptors could well have developed into, way back then, if the people responsible for running the franchise had truly known what they were doing, from a basketball acumen standpoint with the triumpherate of T-Mac/PG, Vince Carter/OG and Doug Christie/SF on their roster, in conjunction with a slew of solid Bigs that included the likes of Antonio Davis/PF, Kevin Willis/PF, Charles Oakley/PF, Jerome Williams/PF, Keon Clark/PF and Hakeem Olajuwon/C, over a series of years from 1998 to 2002. 

As a follow-up to yesterday’s take on the sorry state of the once-proud Detroit Pistons …

Detroit Pistons 104 [21-40]
NEW YORK KNICKS 128 [21-39]

Complete Game Info

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Coming off a tough loss on Tuesday night, at home against the Boston Celtics, Detroit played New York fairly even for the first 32 minutes of last night’s match-up at Madison Square Garden, and trailed by only 5 points at the 4:02 mark of the 3rd quarter, when John Kuester made the decision to replace Rodney Stuckey/PG with Will Bynum:

What others should be able to glean from the Pistons’ performance last night … throughout the contest and, specifically, at crunch time … is that WHEN their coach, John Kuester, chooses to:

1. Use Will Bynum [23 MP] as the primary Back-up to Rodney Stuckey [26 MP], at the PG position, instead of Ben Gordon [OG-PG, 23 MP];

2. Use Rip Hamilton [33 MP] at the SF position, from time to time, in a “going small” 5-man unit, rather than exclusively at the OG position;

3. Use Ben Gordon as the primary Back-up to Rip Hamilton, at the OG position, usually in conjunction with Will Bynum/PG, giving the Pistons one of the “smallest” and least effective guard combinations in the league when it comes to defense and rebounding;

4. Use Jason Maxiell [30 MP] as his Starting Center, rather than Kwame Brown [3 MP in garbage time] … while operating beside Stuckey, Hamilton, Prince [33 MP] and Jerebko [33 MP];

5. Use Jonas Jerebko as his Starting PF, rather than starting Jason Maxiell at that position and then bringing Charlie Villanueva [15 MP] off the bench as his primary Back-up;

6. Use Charlie Villanueva as his Back-up Center, rather than starting Kwame Brown at that position and then bringing Chris Wilcox [DNP-CD] off the bench as his primary Back-up;

7. Not use Austin Daye for more than 10 minutes, as a secondary Back-up at the OG & SF positions, in a game where he was the only member of the Pistons who generated a “positive” plus/minus number [i.e. +6], while shooting 43% from the floor, shooting 100% from the FT Line, with 3 Rebs, a positive Ast:TO and 1 St;

and,

8. Not use DeJaun Summers [6-8, 240] for more than 3 minutes, as a secondary Back-up at the SF & PF positions, in a game where their opponent chose to start [and give critical amounts of PT to] a “going big” 5-Man Unit that looked like this:

Option 1

PG, T-Mac [6-8, 223]
OG, Bill Walker [6-6, 230]
SF, Danilo Gallinari [6-10, 225]
PF, Al Harrington [6-9, 250]
C, David Lee [6-9, 250]

Option 2

PG, T-Mac [6-8, 223]
OG, Eddie House [6-1, 180] 
SF, Bill Walker [6-6, 230]
PF, Al Harrington [6-9, 250]
C, David Lee [6-9, 250];

then, the Pistons are unable to compete successfully on Offense, Defense and in terms of Rebounding.

While others in the on-line hoops community are certainly free to assign blame to whomever they think is most responsible for the current mess in Detroit, as far as these eyes are concerned, the Pistons’ main problem this season is rooted in the poor decision-making of their head coach, John Kuester … i.e. in terms of how he is choosing to use his personnel … which has consistently resulted in awful performances similar to last night’s atrocious display in the 4th quarter.

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PS. Those who have followed this blog for the better part of the last 2 years should be able to readily attest that a simple observation of:

“What Team X needs to do in order to turn around their fortunes is fire their head coach,” 

is not the usual reaction from yours truly. In this case, however, there’s a good deal of solid “NBA level talent” that is simply going to waste in Detroit.

Every year since the 2000-2001 season, each of the two teams which have reached the NBA Finals (i.e. the Champion and the Finalist) have also finished the regular season schedule with a Quality Rating (QR) of 34, or better, and a Quality Index Rank (QIR) of #11 or better (when compared to all playoff teams that year) … i.e. What it takes to win the NBA Championship.

If the NBA Playoffs were to start today, this is what the list of legitimate contenders to win the championship actually looks like:

There are only 9 teams in the hunt with a little more than 1 month’s worth of games left to be played.

4 in the Eastern Conference:

Cleveland Cavaliers [#1]
Orlando Magic [#2]
Charlotte Bobcats [#8], and
Boston Celtics [#9];

and,

5 in the Western Conference:

Los Angeles Lakers [#3]
San Antonio Spurs [#4]
Oklahoma City Thunder [#5]
Utah Jazz [#6], and
Portland Trail Blazers [#7].