Luck of the Hoosier?

Well, it’s happened again. Isiah Thomas has been hired by the New York Knicks. Take a moment, and yes we haven’t Hot Tub Time Machined back a few years. Thomas, who is presently the head coach at FIU, has been hired as a consultant for the Knicks by his former boss James Dolan. This story has so many angles, I’m not sure where to start. Maybe right here:

- The last time Zeke worked for the Knicks it cost them $11.6M for Anucha Browne Sanders. No she doesn’t play for the Liberty, she just happened to be someone that Zeke sexually harassed.

- Zeke gave out several terrible cap limiting deals that further hurt the organization: Eddy Curry, Jerome James, and Jared Jeffries come to mind.

- As a coach for the Knicks they ended up firing him because the team was terrible under him and at one point they told him to not even speak with Knicks players.

I guess my biggest question is how does this happen? Zeke has only been able to do one thing and that is find talent. So how does he go from being lambasted out of NY and then right back into NY on a cushy deal? Some people say that Zeke was instrumental behind the scenes with getting A’mare Stoudamire to come to NY in the off season ($100M would have done that) even though his pitch to LBJ didn’t work. Maybe he found a way to look good to Dolan again and thus this signing. With the present GM, Donnie Walsh, possibly heading off into the sunset in 2 years, has Zeke been promised the GM position again? For New York fans, I hope not.

The next biggest thing is where is the NCAA? With this position Zeke is allowed to recruit for FIU and the Knicks, all in one fell swoop? Who is he representing when he walks in the door? This could mean higher recruits might find their way to FIU knowing that Zeke has a pipeline, that all of us can see, directly to the NBA. This reeks of something unfair and I’m waiting for David Stern or the NCAA to nix this whole thing. If this passes the muster, I imagine that the Lakers will be reaching out to (insert your favorite college basketball coach) Coach K for a similar kind of engagement. The possibilities would be endless.

What’s your take on this move? Does it make sense? How did HE get a job with the Knicks again?

NBA Round Up 10-27-08

Charlotte Bobcats - Calling Billy Blanks!!!!! Sean May is still out of shape and not looking like he'll be close any time soon (although round is a shape Sean). The Bobcats are depending on May to help them turn this season around with new coach Larry Brown at the helm. Right now May looks like he's a few burgers away from playing 17 minutes a night. That number is going to have to be closer to 30 for the Bobcats to have a decent season.

Memphis Grizzlies - How quickly it goes downhill? Antoine Walker has been told, basically, that he won't be getting much time this year for the Grizz as they try to play the young guys to see what they have. The Grizz are also not thinking of buying Walker out of his $9.7M deal to let him sign with another team. Looks like they'll hold on to him until the trade deadline to see if someone wants an expiring contract. Antoine, stay in shape and you may end up somewhere decent.

Indiana Pacers - Mike Dunleavy is still out because of his injured knee. The Pacers are going to need him in the lineup soon, but it'll probably be another week or so before he's ready. We're still waiting to hear where they are shipping their mercurial point guard, Jamal Tinsley.

Chicago Bulls - It looks like Ben Gordon will finally be healthy for the season opener against the Milwaukee Bucks. I for one thought he was tanking anyway. This is Gordon's audition year for another team since he'll be a free agent at the end of the year. I'll be surprised if he doesn't have a for sale sign on his jersey as they near tip off tomorrow night. (**side note - I will be at this game to see the Bulls and to find out if they are for real this year).

Sacramento Kings - Other than dating one of the more attractive WNBA players, Candace Parker, what has former Dukie, Sheldon 'The Landlord' Williams, been doing? Nothing would be the right answer. Williams hasn't made a splash in the NBA, yet (there is hope for him and JJ Redick), but he is working hard to try and make that happen. I imagine that we'll hear from the Landlord this year, or he'll definitely being moving from the left coast.

Isiah Thomas - I'm not sure whether it was him or his daughter who was treated for an overdose of sleeping pills, but the entire story seems very fishy. Reports had it as a 47 year old male and not a 17 year old female who was taken for treatment. While his former teammates have gone on to success (Joe Dumars, Bill Lambier, John Salley, even Dennis Rodman) Zeke has remained as a polarizing figure in the media. Yes, some of his trades while he was a coach of the Knicks have hampered the Knicks, to this day, and made them a laughingstock while he was there. All I have to say is that I hope everyone in the Thomas household is doing well. This story will probably grow as more facts come into play, but here are some well wishes being passed along to Zeke.

NBA Round Up 9-9-08

New York Knicks and Memphis Grizzlies - You heard it here first,...well maybe you did and maybe you didn't but I talked about it. The trade to send Zach Randolph to the Grizzlies for Darko Milicic and Marko Jaric is on hold due to one minor detail, a first round draft pick to the Grizzlies. The Knicks aren't sure if they want to do that and the Grizzlies are just waiting for the opportunity to make this happen. If this is Walsh's best chance to get LeBron in 2010, then I think that you go for it. Hey, at least you can't do any worse than Isiah Thomas did. Come on Walsh, let's make this deal. At least you'll still have Curry who won't run up and down the floor, but hey, we'll deal with that later.
Los Angeles Lakers - Another one from the annals. I guess with his knee finally 100% healthy, Andrew Bynum wants to get paid!! The Lakers need that physical presence in the paint and it'll allow Pau Gasol to do what he does best, be soft, I mean play a little bit further away from the paint. Nevertheless, it seems as though Bynum wants something close to $80M over 5 years. They say you can't teach height, but I guess if you could, we'd all be rich.

Golden State Warriors - Still investigating just how Monta Ellis hurt his ankle, now the Warriors are turning to players who are healthy, well for the most part, just a little round. Marcus Williams is hitting the treadmill and the court to get ready for the season and the uptempo pace that the Warriors will be running. He says he's in the best shape of his career. From one pudgy guy (me) to another (Marcus Williams),...round is a shape. Good luck with the basketball thing.

Detroit Pistons - Joe Dumars upped the ante earlier this off season saying that he is going to provide a big shake up for his team. Joe has normally been a man of his word but we haven't seen anything yet. Detroit will be opening the season with only 14 players under contract, meaning Joe D might still have a card up his sleeve.

Miami Heat - The Heat have solved their point guard issues for the year and have an offer on the table for Chris Quinn. Please hold all laughter. They have two separate deals on the table for Quinn, a one year qualifying offer and a two year offer. Quinn is weighing his options and looking for other teams for more money (which the Heat have the opportunity to match). Maybe it's me, but shouldn't Chris Quinn be in Miami signing this deal if it's in fact true? I'm not sure too many other teams are out there waiting to give him a big pay day. But hey, I guess there's always an overseas team.