You and many others may think I’m “late” in admitting that Isaiah should leave the Knicks, but actually, I never felt that way before now. You see, unlike you and many other Knick “fans,” I don’t believe the coach always has to be the scapegoat. I’ve never been in favor of the Steinbrenneresque mindset that a coach should be fired if he doesn’t win. As much as I would love to see the Knicks win another championship, I don’t measure the success of the team by that standard alone. After all, Isaiah has done a decent job of bringing young talent to New York through trades, the draft, and free agency. He certainly has a knack for developing young talent. And he takes chances on guys few other coaches and GMs would even sneeze at.

Not only that, the Knicks, for the most part, have been competitive during the Isaiah era.
So give me a break for not jumping on the “Fire Isaiah” bandwagon until now (or don’t give me a break, tough guy, I don’t care). I possess certain qualities rarely found in fleeting fans like you: patience, pride, and faith in my team.

Congratulations, you’re only four years late. Let us know when Bill Clinton gets reelected.

The top three have to be Garnett, James and Bryant. On the outside looking in are Chris Paul and Dwight Howard. The later two may get it one day but this is not their time.

As for Garnett, he got it once, and everyone knows he is in the weak east playing with 2 all-stars – so no.

LeBron certainly deserves it, but is his defense and passing on par with Kobe? Not yet.

I have to give it to Bryant. He never got it and he has a body of work over 10 years that is incredible. I see him play a lot and he really is a unique talent. He can go for 50 any night but most nights he tries to keep his teamates involved. He was more selfish earlier in his career but now he seems to gets what it takes to win with players who are not on his level. His window is closing as well which adds to the sympathy vote. If the voters can get past the Denver trial and the Lakers keeps rolling – in my opinion it’s Bryant for MVP.

The best defensive lineup for the Knicks right now (with their current roster) would be David Lee, Balkman, Jeffries, Crawford, and Nate Robinson. Maybe insert Malik Rose for some beef in the middle. I would definitely put Curry and Randolph on the bench and make them earn their minutes by playing defense. Also, Q. Richardson is a straight-up hacker. Any monkey can score a few points in an NBA game. The best players and the best teams also play defense, on every possession, night in and night out.

So, what is wrong with Isaiah? Well, he only knows how to win one way: with thuggery and intimidation. The current Knicks are way too sweet and soft to intimidate anybody. I don’t think Eddy Curry can even guard Sylvia Fowles, a 6’6″ beast of a post player for the Louisiana State women’s team.

Finally, why didn’t the Knicks go after Ron Artest, a true New Yorker who would DEFINITELY play great defense? Or Paul Gasol? Or Drew Gooden? Or Joe Smith? Or Wally Scerbiak (another reliable scorer)”? The reason: Isaiah doesn’t really want to win in New York. This is not Detroit or Chicago, so why should Isaiah care, even though it is his job to care?

Maybe he’s still bitter about Bernard King always busting Kelly Tripucka’s butt.

I didn’t want to say this, but I can finally admit to myself and the rest of the Knicks universe that ISAIAH THOMAS HAS TO GO!!!!!! (Mark Aguirre too)!!!! Can we please get a real NBA coach on our bench? Hey, isn’t that Jeff Van Gundy guy still available?

Peace,

Vaughn Boogie

and I love Varejao, and actually made a similar argument to that to my Cavs fan friend earlier this year. I think he’s dropped to third most important Cav behind Boobie, though.

the problem with picking a MVP, same as every year, is that the playoffs are what really matters.

Its going to be a very interesting MVP discusssion when it happens. The Celtics are 2.5 points better than the nearest team on defensive efficiency. That is pretty incredible.

Lebron is great. But I anticipate making at least two arguments. One is that his numbers fall quite short of Magic Johnson’s. Apropos of nothing, but he just is not in the league of all-time greats yet IMHO that people seem to be ready to put him in. And that’s just an opinion, I will certainly have to think about it more, since his numbers, when adjusted for the faster pace played at in the 80′s might measure up.

Second point. Anderson Varejao is clearly the most valuable player on the Cavs. They are 17-17 without him, and 17-9 with him. It’s indisputable.

Lol….

The Cavs did improve a lot though when he returned though, and his +/- is outstanding this year, though a lot of that might be the overlap of his missing games while Lebron was out….

Boston kept winning when he was out, Cleveland is AWFUL without LeBron, and probably even more so now without Hughes.