LongIsland.com

Doubting Thomas

Written by sports  |  04. January 2008

Isiah: "Knicks Will Win Championship" OK, so that may be taken a bit out of context, but it is not totally misinterpreted, either. Isiah Thomas, the embattled Knicks president/general manager/head coach, met with reporters prior to Wednesday's 107-97 loss to the Sacramento Kings at Madison Square Garden and even surprised the veteran scribes with his latest banter. "I believe one day that we will win a championship here," he told them. "And I believe a couple of these guys will be a part of that. And I believe that I'll be a part of that." He continued by saying that he also wanted to leave a "legacy" and "tradition" here besides winning it all. Before everyone starts jumping up and down and asking Thomas if he is aware that the Knicks are 8-22, it is hard to kill someone who still has the ultimate goal that everyone involved in sports, from pee-wee leagues to the bigs, has the day they started. Would the critics rather have him say that he has his eyes on a potential lottery pick - mind you - that the Knicks finally have their own after trading the last two to Chicago for Eddy Curry? You must realize the source when letting this all sink in. Thomas is a fiery competitor from his playing days in Detroit and brings that passion to his current job(s). This is the same person that said a short time ago that he will fight until he (literally) dies in this job. So it should not come as a total shock that he still feels (or at least want the public to believe) that he has the same intentions he did when he was first introduced at his press conference to New York. A day later, Thomas did not back down from his comments. "That's what I believe," he told reporters at practice. "That's the only reason why I'm in the game. I'm in it to win championships and to win as many as I can. That's my goal, that's my dream, and that's what I intend to do." Kudos to that, but in the real world, that is not going to happen. The team that Thomas had put together does not play with even a hint of what he brought to the court during the Pistons' 'Bad Boys' championship run. The player that Thomas hoped to mold into his style at point guard, Stephon Marbury, has not bought into the talk and has been nothing but a distraction. The Brooklyn native finally played (and scored 16 points) after sitting out basically every game since his father passed away on December 2. The team has been fractured since Marbury and Thomas had their fight on the flight to Phoenix back on November 13, and has not recovered. It has been one thing after another with the changing line-ups, benchings and the like. Roles are not defined on this team and that has to be directly associated with the head coach. How the season plays out is probably already been defined. And when Thomas is eventually relieved of his duties, the legacy he will leave behind will differ greatly from what he would like.

Copyright © 1996-2024 LongIsland.com & Long Island Media, Inc. All rights reserved.