Episode 8: The Hell in Mecca

It's not everyday you see a Hall of Fame coach fired. Not just any coach. A coach where in the 2 seasons previous to the last one, he led his prior team to 2 straight Finals appearances, including one NBA championship. A year later, the team is looking for ways around paying the rest of a 40 million dollar contract to a person they unceremoniously dropped....A coach they are publicly trying to slander.....a man they are committing libel against in the tabloids. This is the story of the New York Knicks and Larry Brown. A divorce many saw coming when this union came about 11 months ago.

So why did the Knicks sign on a coach that wasn't in a stage of his career where he was ready to take on a rebuilding project? Is the team run that badly run that they didn't know they needed a coach that could develop young players but instead added a coach that was built for a veteran team and to give experienced players roles. Well, in a word......yes, the team is that poorly run. OK FINE, THATS 7 WORDS. You might think this blog's target might be one certain Isiah Thomas. Many GMs are called rebuilders. I like to call Isiah the debuilder. He's basically destroyed every organization he's headed. He owned the CBA at one point. Ran it into the ground. He ran the Toronto Raptors organization. They never made the playoffs while he was GM. He coached the Indiana Pacers. He underachieved with a talented roster. And now, we come to the abomination of a job he's done running the New York Knicks. Putting the team in more salary cap hell and acquiring assets that other teams do not want. David Stern, in order to help the knicks, created the Allan Houston rule in order to help the Knicks. What did Isiah do? Do the opposite common sense would tell any normal being to do. Not cut Allan Houston, of course. This is a man that acquired a point guard with no leadership abilities and an abundance of ego. This is a man that acquired a center with heart problems (in all senses of the word) and traded first round picks in the process to get him. This is a man that traded a contract that expired in two years for Malik Rose. This is a man that that cuts Tim Thomas only to see him be a productive member of a championship contender. This is a man that turns gold to lead, wine to water and then to urine. This is man is the personification of the Grim Reaper. Everything he touches.....it pretty much whithers and dies. And now he's the head coach of the New York Knicks.

However, it is not just Isiah Thomas who is the problem here. It's the decision making of James Dolan, the owner of the Madison Square Garden conglomerate. He basically owns Cablevision (the cable company that fuels TVs of pretty much half the tri state area), Radio City Music Hall, Madison Square Garden, the New York Knicks, and the New York Rangers. It started when he felt Dave Checketts wasn't the man to run the New York Knicks and then hired Layden. He then hired Don Nelson as head coach. The culmination of which is now him sticking with Isiah Thomas through thick and thin. James Dolan is the worst owner in all of sports. He is George Steinbrenner.....except he has half the brain. At least, Steinbrenner demands his GMs to go after talented players. Dolan wants his GMs to acquire retreads in hopes that their name power will drive fans to the seats. ON THE CONTRARY, the moves have driven the fans insane. I know affectinately call Dolan, D'oh-lan. It is painfully obvious that Dolan needs to fire Isiah and hire someone with a Basketball acumen and just simply not take a hands on approach. It's cute when Mark Cuban is cursing at the NBA commissioner or Paul Allen is trying to chastise some of his Jailblazers. Dolan is just downright embarassing. Just ask anyone who's seen him front his Blues band.

If you would've told me 10 years ago that the basketball Mecca of the world would be ruined by two idiots who don't have the foggiest idea of what's going on around them. ....I would've thought that be a pretty neat practical joke. But here we are. Laughing at this atrocity on the court along with every other NBA fan in the league. Unfortunately, they aren't laughing with us. The jokes on us.