Zags: Isiah Learning on the Job

by Tommy Dee on July 12th, 2009 at 10:54 am

Via Zagsblog.

“…PHILADELPHIA — The stars of the college basketball coaching world were out in force Friday at the Reebok All-American Camp at Philadelphia University.Villanova’s Jay Wright, Kentucky’s John Calipari and Florida’s Billy Donovan were all in the stands trying to catch the eyes of some of the best high school players in the land.

But one coach stood out even among that heady company.

As he sat in the stands next to an assistant, Isiah Thomas, the new head coach at Florida International University, was clearly the biggest name of them all.

Wright smiled at Isiah and shook his hand. Calipari slapped his back. Thomas and Donovan traded friendly barbs about which head coach in the state of Florida had been the better point guard.

“I know all those guys. I’ve know them for years. We’ve always helped each other and so seeing Billy, seeking Coach K [Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski], it’s good to see those guys and be welcomed into the fraternity,” Thomas said.

New York recruiting expert Tom Konchalski joked that Thomas’ arrival on Friday meant that he had taken on a new role at the camp.

“The best guard who’s a camper is Joe Jackson [of Memphis, Tenn.],” Konchalski said. “When Rod Strickland showed up on July 9, there was a new sheriff in town. The best guard was Rod Strickland.

“[Friday] morning Rod Strickland has just had his badge taken away and the new sheriff is Isiah Thomas.”

Thomas, the former president and coach of the Knicks, signed a five-year deal at FIU in mid April after he was relieved of his duties at Madison Square Garden. He has never coached at the college level.

Thomas came to FIU after several years of losing and legal problems in New York…” More.
  • Mal

    Y do we care what Zeke is doing he already destroyed our franchise and its looking more difficult to repair. He already is gettting 12M from us the next 2 years right? Lets move on from Zeke and Steph talk, there is enough misery knowing 2010 looks shaky, Gallo is not pain free after surgery, NO FA’s want to come to MSG and doom and gloom is on the horizon.

  • greatman42001

    In my opinion it was an excellent hire for FIU…. I thought he should have been the choice for Indiana and few yrs ago… The way I see it Zeke had a few things going for him…. 1. He knew how to teach ( doesen’t mean coach, he helped teach Mcgrady and Jermaine O’neal ) young players…2. He was good at evaluating young talent (Lee, Nate, Chandler, Mcgrady)…. and 3… Players liked him. Those are 3 things you need to do as a college coach… With no money to spend and waste like he had with the Knicks which was his biggest downfall this could end up being an excellent choice for them….. and don’t get me wrong I hate Isiah but I’m still willing to admit it.

  • HaS

    Isaiah didn’t destroy the Knicks franchise, please stop that talk. It is completely false and short sighted. Scott Layden had more of a profound effect on this franchise, take a look at the moves he made when he was here and get back to me, your opinion will change.

    Isaiah inherited a disgustingly pitiful lineup over the cap with no talent. Over the cap with no talent is the worst combination you can have in an NBA roster. He has an undeniable eye for talent, regardless of what you think of him. THAT SAID, he has shown that he doesn’t have a full grasp of how to manage chemistry, which is essential when assembling a team.

    Everyone loved the Stephon Marbury trade when it went down originally, fans and media alike. Jerome James granted was questionable, but he was never healthy enough to show ANYTHING we never even got the chance to find out if he was a bum with all his injuries. Same deal really with Jared Jeffries, too many injuries to make a solid judgement. Also, he was only supposed to be a glue guy yet I think people expected more out of him.

    I think Isaiah’s major mistake was befriending and ultimately treating Marbury differently from his teammates, Marbury needed a coach to keep him in line. Coaching may never be Isaiah’s strong point, but to be fair he never wanted to coach here. His strength is scouting.

    Why does James Dolan fly under the radar when blame is being tossed around in this organization?

    Now on to the current regime (there’s no stopping me now, I’m in full rant mode.) first Michael D’antoni. I truly hate (okay maybe not hate, but strong dislike) this guy, he is arrogant and very stubborn also he has proven to be a liar. I just don’t think he fits New York he can lose a game 120-115 and the first words of his tongue are “…we just couldn’t execute down the stretch, guys weren’t hitting shots…” etc. DUDE, YOUR TEAM JUST GAVE UP ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY POINTS!!!! IN NEW YORK!!!! No mention of defense? GTFOH!

    I think people will tire of that eventually. Can you imagine if this team wins 55-60+ games a season and then go out in the 2nd or 3rd round every year? Well that’s what this style of coaching will do for you. There has never been a team to win the title that didn’t just play defense but play good or exceptional defense. New York will have his head.

    Secondly, the way he handled the Marbury situation. First he tells the media and the team that everyone has a clean slate and will have a chance to earn their minutes blah blah blah.

    Stephon shows up in incredibly amazing ridiculous shape, it was noticeable at a glance! He plays more than well in pre-season he gives him 20+ minutes and even starts him a game or 2. Marbury is saying all the right things he is doing all the right things and he is playing good soldier.

    People have to remember his father died the year prior, he had a terrible season to boot AND it is a CONTRACT YEAR! If he didn’t have the motivation to prove to the doubters he still had it he never would have. In the SSoL offense he would have been a monster in that kind of shape and with that kind of focus.

    Season starts and he goes from 20 mins to no mins? No warning. He still keeps his mouth shut. The best player on the team with, all the motivation in the world, in a contract year is at the end of the bench in warmups not even breaking a sweat.

    Long story short, (still long) that fateful day when D’antoni explains to the media that he “…asked Stephon to play…”. Um… has anyone here played organized sports? When does a coach ask you HOURS before a game “…hey do you want to play tonight?” A former star player at that? You dress him and when you need him in the game you signal to the end of the bench for your player to go in. That’s it. Then he goes to him and “offers him the starting 2 guard for the rest of the season”. The man is under contract you don’t offer him anything, you put him in the game! Period! D’antoni tried to play a game of semantics through the media and it backfired. If Marbury would have been proven to refuse to play (which you can’t do unless you are dressed and he refuses to enter a game. That never happened.) he wuld have been suspended and could have even been found in breach of contract.

    If D’antoni didn’t like him from their days from Phoenix, the best way for him to deal with that scenario was to play him (He was doing all the right things anyway. He was being a good teammate and even helping Duhon along.) and let his value shoot through the roof for a player with an expiring in the greatest shape of his life. There surely would have been a taker, who knows Knicks might have gotten a couple of picks out of it.

    Instead he creates a soap opera and forces the team to eat the majority of the contract for a player that could have helped last year, or at least gotten you some value in return for the future in picks or young players (Devin Harris type of trade?).

    Stupid.

  • HaS

    I’m probably not as high on Thomas as you are, but his talent evaluation is remarkable. You left out Damon Stoudemire (Rookie of the Year) and Marcus Camby. His name will definitely get a lot of young players to consider a small college that they never would have even taken a 1st glance at. Especially phenom players who probably only want to play college ball for 1 or 2 years anyway. I give it 2 years and they will make some noise.

  • greatman42001

    Don’t forget Ariza, who Isiah loved but who Larry Brown begged Isiah to trade for Steve Francis… Now in terms of your post below which I really think might be the longest post ever on the website…..
    I think the biggest down fall of Isiah was he got to caught up in looking at guys after a career yr of a player instead of his full body of work such as Jefferies, James and even Curry to an extent.
    In terms of Layden I agree with you he the one that made the hole here in New York he ruined the franchise and Isiah just didn’t fill that hole and you can even make the argument that he dug the hole deeper. But he was put in an almost impossible situation because of the stupidity of Scott Layden. In terms of Dolan…. he was the one that ruined the franchise after wanting to get rid of Spree and Camby. I agree with you though Isiah takes too much crap for the state of the franchise.
    In terms of D’antoni I agree with you that he isn’t a complete coach.. he only does half of what a coach needs to do…. I don’t think he is an elite coach but he is a players coach who the players love to play for. I think DW is too smart and he realizes this as well… I think the franchise is using D’antoni to recruit the free agents to come next yr, than when one or two of them signs they will give him a yr or 2 at most to try to win and than they will fire him and hire a more complete coach . I still think Phil Jackson finishes his career here making the Knicks his last project to bring a Championship to New York.