Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Is Isiah Thomas Fired Yet?



Isiah Thomas ruined the CBA. Isiah Thomas was fired from the Pacers. Isiah Thomas made the Knick payroll the highest in the league. Isiah Thomas beat a disabled child to death with his own wheelchair. Isiah Thomas gave away a top pick to get a player with a heart defect. Isiah Thomas thought the new version of the Omen was better. Isiah Thomas is being sued for sexual harassment. Isiah Thomas traded to get two of the most cancerous point guards in the game. Isiah Thomas kicked a puppy. Isiah Thomas undermined a Hall of Fame coach who'd waited his whole life to lead New York. Isiah Thomas still has a job.

Many of the statements listed above are not true. However, the fact remains: Isiah Thomas has gutted the Knicks. Attendance is abysmal, and New York is often booed during home games. He is unequivocally a failure. But, I am through blaming him. Let's consider a hypothetical situation. You take a job, and you're given a position in management. Within your first three years, things don't go well. Revenues are down, and you spend above your budget on employees that don't produce results. You're widely disliked by customers, and you can't get along with a manager who's brought profits to other companies. On top of that, you grope the receptionist. What would you expect? To be fired. If you weren't, who would it be on? Your boss.

Knick fans should stop being angry at Isiah. He's an easy target, but the person who has created this situation is James Dolan. This has occured to me before, but it crystallized when I listened to Dolan give Isiah his latest vote of confidence. Thomas has been begging to be fired for a couple years now. The situation with Larry Brown established that he can not win in New York. And, lest we forget, Dolan is not exactly famous for being a winner. He gave Allen Houston $100 million when the closest offer was about $25 million less. He gutted a Knick team that saw the finals in '99. They haven't won a playoff series since 2000. It's easy to get mad at Isiah, because you can't fire an owner. But he's not the real problem. When Isiah Thomas leaves, the Knicks will not be fixed. Can David Stern force a sale?

EDIT: I have been pointed towards this equally critical post on Dolan that colors in his incompetence with some working experience at Cablevision.

8 comments:

moe berg said...

agreed.

http://simonmetz.blogspot.com/2006/11/never-forget-he-also-buried-wiz.html

isiah's a supertool, though.

Unknown said...

they made the playoffs in 2004 and got swept by the nets in the first round

Unknown said...

No one is saying we should just blame Isiah! Of course not! I want BOTH of them to get the hell out. Like you said, there are still a lot of good reasons to fire Isiah. And the fact that Dolan hasnt realized that is reason enough for him to go. Where were you during the "Sell the team" chants?

notorious said...

Thanks for pointing out the error about the playoffs...I'll fix it.

notorious said...

I know a lot of Knick fans are already aware of how crappy Dolan is. I just find that Isiah gets a lot more attention, and that needs to change.

Unknown said...

"How this guy ever got this rich is beyond me."

um...do you know who is father is? Your blog sucks.

notorious said...

Thanks for talking shit but making sure nobody can check out yours. Come again!

RadamR said...

Is "is" father Etan Thomas? Or is "is" father Rob Thomas? Or is "is" father Mr. Thomas of the English Muffin Empire?

I liked the part about beating cripples. Way to be.