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1. isiah the GM – his record, it seems to me, is more mixed than bad. his isiah’s strength is finding young talent. that much is hard to deny. on the other hand he’s certainly a “one deal too many” GM (e.g., TT for KVH, acquiring mo taylor when we already had like 18 PFs)

but let’s not get carried away hoping for LB to win that power struggle outright lest we end up with aaron mckie and george lynch. while this marriage may be tumultuous it is certainly possible that each guy’s strengths could compliment.

2. the knicks should run and gun – just wait. by february they may be doing just that, but the team must earn the right to run by cutting down the turnovers and getting the spacing right. the knicks won’t be able to run until (1) frye eventually replaces davis as a starter (when he can handle starter’s minutes), and (2) they understand spacing better.

KB – you have a pornagraphic spam blocker!!!

Not to mention his point about centres, Curry is rebounding pretty well this season too, 7.5 in 26 mpg is not bad at all. James needs to go though. 5 years man, I’m still shaking my head…

Simmons is pretty entertaining, and I think whilst he does usually make some good points he also tries to write colorfully and make a few outlandish points. I think he’s employed to be entertaining and occassionally insightful, not the other way around. No point worrying about it too much anyway, I mean if we start winning thats all that matters. I do wonder about his point that the Knicks should be a run-and-gun team though, maybe he has a point there…

“Just ask Jalen Rose and Travis Best in Indiana, Larry Hughes and Tim Thomas in Philly, the Darko All-Stars in Detroit or even Carmelo, LeBron, Amare and Wade in Athens. Brown gets frustrated easily and tends to stick with older, more reliable (and less talented) players who know their roles and play hard.”

Really, can you fault Larry Brown for not playing Tim Thomas, Jalen Rose, or Travis Best? And is Simmons criticising Larry Brown for being a bad coach in the same article he wrote: “in every case — repeat: every case — Brown’s teams always improved dramatically”?

Um … no.

The Pacers had one of the best starting lineups in the league: Mark Jackson, Reggie Miller, Jalen Rose, Dale Davis, and Rik Smits.

Jackson signed with Toronto, Smits retired and Davis was traded for Jermaine O’Neal.

The Pacers intentionally tried to get much younger without totally rebuilding. That Thomas coached those years should not be held against him.

I think Thomas has done very poorly as Knicks GM, but doesn’t the record speak for itself? I don’t see why Simmons felt the need to say obviously untrue things like “He has two overpaid centers who can’t rebound or block shots: Eddy Curry and Jerome James.”

Well, besides being in the top ten in per-minute blocks last year, James is a terrible shot-blocker, yes.

“In fact, other than Trevor Ariza, he doesn’t have a single player on his roster at the one, two and three positions who can guard anyone.”

Clearly, he can’t be troubled to know who Matt Barnes is.

And seriously, the tired “ruined the CBA” claim? Does anyone still believe that?

Ted makes some good points, but his views on Toronto I think need some tweaking. True, he assembled great young talent through the draft, but that’s all he did. In a way, Isaiah failed in Toronto the same way he’s falling short now: The 1998 Raptors, with Camby, Mighty Mouse, Mac, and Billups, also played a total of 24 players during the year. That’s almost double the amount of players the Utah Jazz/Chicago Bulls played, who had the best record in the league. It’s not a crazy statistic, and it might not even prove much, but it suggests to me a general instability in the roster, as well as an inability for Isaiah to be happy with what he had for an extended period. It wasn’t until Isaiah left that the team had more stability of roster/less interchangeable players loggin minutes every year and began succeeding (check B-R).

Now, what’s the problem Isaiah’s been criticized for since he’s stepped into office in New York? Roster fluxuation. He’s made the team young and athletic, yes, but when the roster changes every year, it’s impossible for a team to gel. That was the problem in Toronto, and it’s his problem now.

Also, looking at recent history, and addressing the failure part of Isaiah’s career Ted didn’t, when Isaiah took over coaching the Indiana Pacers, they were previously coached by Larry Bird, had Jermaine O’Neal, Jalen Rose, Reggie, and Rick Smits and had won the Central Division two years in a row. The next year, with the same roster, Isaiah’s Pacers went 41-41 and finished 4th in the Central. They were the same exact team. How did that happen? The next year they went 42-20. The next year they went 48-34. Each year they lost in the first round of the playoffs with Isaiah. The next year Rick Carlisle took over and the team won over 60 games and had the top seed in the East, making it to the Eastern Finals before losing to Detroit. I don’t know what that tells you. It might not even say much, but it gives me all the proof I need to know that Isaiah just lacks the basketball mind that others have, which is strange, considering he was such a fantastic player. Now, all that’s Isaiah as a coach, not a GM, and it has little to do with his GMing, but when you lack the X’s and O’s to coach, putting together a team that will play together well on the court instead of on paper will only be harder, and I think it shows. Isaiah in New York hasn’t put together a team that has set roles or a stable roster playing a certain style, yet somehow has changed every single payer from 3 years ago and has put us horrifically over the cap. He’s put great young talent together, certainly (and I love Frye and Lee so far), but that’s not enough to win.

I wasn’t sold on Isaiah’s signing when it happened, and while the team is certainly more fun to follow, that’s all that’s changed. Maybe he needs more time, but if his recent history is any indication, I doubt it’s going to get better before it gets worse, especially now that LB is in the picture, since he’s soon to be calling a fair amount of the shots.

Like Campa, I’m also surprised Simmons didn’t bring up that Joe D is such a good GM while Isaiah just seems to have such a hard time doing it. He is usually somebody who makes those points, as far my experience goes. How come Joe Dis so much better? Is there a reason?

Even thought he is always trying to make fun out of the NY sports scene, this time around he made his (good) jokes, but also made a solid point.

I think the main reason for optimism here is the fact that the coach apparently holds the edge in a struggle against the GM.

I mean, if the team doesn’t live up to the expectations (and the huge monetary commitment), who’s gonna take the blame?

If we can get rid of Isiah that way, so be it. I would rather have LB running the team.

What surprises me the most (and Simmons somehow didn’t brought it up) is the fact that Isiah’s former backcourt partner is one of the best, if not the best, GM in the NBA. How could it be explained? Isiah could have learned something from Dumars…