I owe everyone an apology.
For the past few weeks I've been wondering if anyone other than a few friends (and the Madison Square Garden PR machine) has ever read this blog. I hadn't seen a comment posted in over a week and they come few and far between. So I went exploring on the blog edit page where we post these things and discovered among the real junk postings from automated spam -- yo, you should read this stuff . . . it would make Howard Stern blush -- were some comments from actual people.
I'm still figuring this thing out so my bad everyone. I've tried to move all of your comments out of that folder and into the comments folder, where they should be published now right there ---------------------------------------------------------->
So to Cicero and Miami Knicks Fan, I hear you about Scott Layden's era, which started the demise. The Ed Tapscott debacle in drafting Frederic Weiss (think Nate Robinson got the idea to jump over Spud Webb after seeing Vince Carter scale Frederic the Great?) in itself set this franchise back five years. But I do think Thomas needs to be judged not just on his performance as a coach, but as president. I'll give you his draft work, but you can't convince me that his past two mid-level exception signings have turned a profit on the court. And trades? Seriously, even Steve Francis knows his move from Orlando to New York was suspect. And look what you gave up: a promising prospect in Trevor Ariza, who would have made drafting Renaldo Balkman unnecessary and, therefore, Marcus Williams could be here instead as a good backup point guard.
This is what I'll give Isiah: he has pushed Eddy into expecting more out of himself, he has convinced Marbury to embrace the role as the traditional PG and it has resulted in Marbury's best year as a Knick, he has the team in unity where it was in shambles last season and he's excellent at creating an Us vs. The World mentality.
But are you comfortable with him as the trade deadline approaches?
To Chuck D, Patrick Ewing had a turnaround jumper that rose up over double-teams. He could also do pick-and-pop stuff. Curry is easier to double- and triple-team because he is stationary on the post and relies on backing down. It's slower, more methodical and easier to react to.
To Sam, thanks.
And, for joe@hotmail.com, I don't know why comments need to be "approved." I've never been told I had to approve or not approve comments. I just thought they popped up there. I'll keep an eye on the junk folder more often now.
So keep 'em coming in. I might even try to answer a few.
From now until April should be a wild playoff push.