[h2]April 16, 2008
[/h2] [h1]Knicks report card starts and ends with Fs
[/h1]Knicks report card starts and ends with Fs
Stephon Marbury: You know things are bad when Marbury's most memorable performance occurred when he was the star witness in the Anucha Browne Sanders sexual harassment trial.
Otherwise, the man with the perpetual sourpuss continued to show signs of breaking down - he ended the year injured for the third straight season - and he failed to make the Knicks better.
Predictably, Marbury's phony and unhealthy relationship with Isiah Thomas blew up famously on the plane ride to Phoenix during the second week of the season. There is no way to spin the fact that Marbury symbolizes everything about the Isiah era; overpaid, over-hyped, underachieving.
F
Eddy Curry: I know what you're thinking; it's not Eddy's fault that Isiah inexplicably brought in another low-post scorer who demands the ball just weeks after Curry completed a solid season as the team's go-to-guy. Way to build the kid's confidence, Zeke.
But the Zach Randolph excuse doesn't explain why Curry is out of shape, why he doesn't defend and why he doesn't rebound. He's a terrific guy but I don't think he has the hunger to be a big-time player.
F
Jerome James: Earned Supermodel wages this year; more than $1 million per minute. For the record, 'Rome played five minutes, was never in shape and probably will be released this summer. He's a funny guy but for $1 million per minute Chris Rock would have been a better investment.
F
Quentin Richardson: His first season post-back surgery was not a pretty one. He was never fit (do you sense a trend here?) and Q didn't help himself by getting into shouting matches with Isiah on the bench. His career is at a crossroads.
D
Randolph Morris: Should have been in the D-League for most of the season but his development was hampered because Isiah, who ran the CBA into the ground, wasn't about to help out the NBA's minor league. Whatta guy. It's really a shame. Morris lost a year of basketball because of Isiah's pettiness.
D
Renaldo Balkman: What the heck happened to him? He shut down Carmelo Anthony in the third game of the season and was never heard from again. Balkman is a high energy, high turnover guy who seemed to fall out of favor with his head coach.
D
Mardy Collins: Slow to recover from offseason knee surgery, Collins never found consistent minutes and then struggled when he did play. He was also an innocent bystander in the Isiah/James Dolan plan to bury Marbury in early November. When the unwise decision was made to pull Marbury from the starting lineup just five games into the season it was Collins, ill-prepared and out of shape, who started against Steve Nash.
Hello controversy, goodbye season.
D
Jared Jeffries: If only the fans knew how much work Jeffries put in they might think differently of him. If only Isiah knew how to use him - he should never be standing outside the three-point line - maybe Jeffries could be a poor man's Andrei Kirilenko. If only he could shoot…
D
Malik Rose: I'm guessing that every day Rose thinks about what he once had in San Antonio and starts crying. He's been a pro but he also showed signs of cracking this year. Then again, wouldn't you?
C
Wilson Chandler: Be very careful judging rookies in meaningless games. Chandler is a big-time athlete with poor shot selection who will benefit from a coaching change.
C
Zach Randolph: And he thought the Portland Trail Blazers were a nutty team. Zach was miscast as the power forward to compliment Curry but that didn't stop him from putting up solid numbers. A true character, it is hard not to like Zach. He didn't ask to come here but he'll probably ask to leave.
C
Fred Jones: The guard that sent Allan Houston back into retirement. Not even playing in Indiana with Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson could prepare Jones for what he experienced in New York. A stand-up guy with brains and street smarts, hopefully he'll land on his feet somewhere else.
C
Nate Robinson: A freak of an athlete, Nate actually showed signs of maturity in his third season. He's another guy who would benefit from playing in a real organization with a real head coach.
C
David Lee: Took a small step back this season - didn't they all? - but he has the right attitude and work ethic to become a solid player. He's a rebounding machine whose offensive game is improving.
C
Jamal Crawford: The best player on a really bad team, Jamal still can't decide if he wants to be a street-baller or a serious NBA player. Ricky Davis is embarrassed by Jamal's shot selection.
Crawford genuinely seems to care but never seems to get angry or have the confidence to call out an unproductive teammate. Instead, he plays the role of the politically correct shooting guard, saying that the Knicks can still make the playoffs and that Isiah is doing a really good job. It was cute four years ago but now he's coming across as disingenuous.
That being said, I really believe he can be an effective player on a good team with a good coach. He's a guy worth rooting for but it's also time for him to grow up, take better shots and hold his teammates accountable.
C-plus
Isiah Thomas: Starting with the embarrassing sexual harassment trial, Isiah came across as pathological, delusional and arrogant all season. And here's the thing; he actually hired an outside public relations firm. So either he wasn't listening to them or he was getting bad advice.
It's too bad because when he first got the job he was a regular guy who seemed to really care. By the end, he became the Telfon Con, a man more committed to keeping his job rather than performing his job.
This season, he completed perhaps the worst coaching job in NBA history to go along with one of the worst years as an executive in league history. Isiah singlehandedly redefined what it means to be a complete failure.
His got the contracts of Jerome James, Eddy Curry and Stephon Marbury on his permanent record. Not to mention all those losses.
The Knicks went from being a team that didn't practice hard to a team that didn't practice at all. They were poorly conditioned, poorly prepared and poorly led. But boy oh boy, Isiah's got to be the best dressed coach. What else would you expect from someone who probably has a paperweight on his desk that reads: Style over Substance?
F-minus