Can I Have Thomas' Job At The Knicks?

Okay this has gone from the sublime of NBA mediocrity to the ridiculous of sports management. How is Isaiah Thomas still keeping his job after Wednesday’s draft fiasco? Thomas had two first round picks in Wednesday’s NBA draft and he screwed this up so royally that he is trying to blame the experts. Hey James Dolan I want Isaiah’s job! There’s no way that he should even be a general manager if he can’t see what’s out there.

The players that Thomas picked were so out of the blue that it just plain befuddles me how somebody with Dolan’s intellect could ever think that this guy was the right guy to even be coaching the Knicks this year. The Knicks needed youth but they also needed a scoring punch. The needed a floor general and they needed somebody that could excite the crowds at MSG. Guess what Knicks fans, Isaiah has sold your hopes for another box of foo foo powder. Renaldo Balkman and Mardy Collins? Are you kidding me? Nothing personal against these two young men but damn Isaiah how blind are you? Sitting on the draft board were P.J. Tucker who later went 35th to Toronto and Darius Washington, Jr., a young man who wasn’t even drafted. Knicks’ fans don’t you think Washington and Tucker would have been easier to swallow? I do.

Evidently Thomas is doing like a lot of so-called basketball experts. He is watching in college basketball talent these days. All of those scouting trips he was doing were nothing more than fluff to help make him look like he was doing his job. If Thomas was serious about trying to turn this franchise around and he wanted youth, Collins and Balkman were not the two guys to pick. You could have gotten either or both of them in the second round if you wanted to. The mediocrity that has been setting in at Knicks’ camp is turning into cement and Dolan needs to realize that the beloved franchise in New York that has a storied history of greatness is about to be in utter shambles. Thomas is turning this franchise into his own personal slum tenant like he did the Continental Basketball Association. You remember that once thriving minor league basketball league right? When Thomas got finished with it, it was in bankruptcy and just a shell of what it used to be. To this day I think he had a hand in helping bring about the NBDL with that demise but that’s just my personal opinion and conjecture. Yet the signs of mismanagement at that chapter of his life are showing up again in the Big Apple.

If Thomas is canned, and in my opinion should be if there isn’t a significant win/loss ratio by December 15th of this year, Dolan needs to wipe out the whole lot of them. He needs to apologize to Herb Williams, beg him to take this team on as interim and be willing to have a three chance at turning at this around with a fresh slate. Dolan needs to can the scouting office as well for that draft fiasco when he cans Thomas. Evidently those guys over there missed that one too. It was their job to tell Thomas to pick guys of substance and I’m sorry, Balkman and Collins just aren’t prime time players. And above all else if Thomas gets canned, give me a call Mr. Dolan. Heck for $2 million a year, I can do a heck of a better job than what you got out of Thomas and I wouldn’t have to worry about losing my job because I’d at least surround myself with scouts who knew talent and we’d have meaningful meetings; not just trip junkets for the hell of it.

Shouldn't Have A Problem With The Dress Code...

By Gregory Moore, Blackathlete.net columnist

SAN ANTONIO -- So tonight was the NBA Draft for 2006. Damn those young men looked sharp didn’t they? Sharply dressed. GQ styled to the max. Would make even Mr. Blackwell proud of how these young men looked. Mamas were beaming with pride. Proud poppas were saying, “That’s my boy!”. Even the potential wifeys were like, “That’s my boo!!”. Yet what’s wrong with this picture? It will be probably the only time we see these young men in the attire that is Corporate America. For tonight was their one shining moment when the whole world was looking at them and they knew that they had to look good.

That’s a damn shame. As good as every one of these young men looked tonight on ESPN, there should be no excuse for them to not be able to adhere to their new employer’s dress code. Every one of the first round picks selected tonight should be ready to negotiate with their financial advisors that they set aside a wardrobe allowance for them on game day attire. There should be no reason why these young men cannot now be able to not only have Prada up in their closets but also some business casual attire like Sean Jean, Armani, Botany 500, DKNY and other clothing manufacturers.

This should be a mandatory part of the rookie symposium that will be held in a few weeks. Bob Lanier, Dr. J, Magic and even Grant Hill should be telling these young men how important it is for them to dress for success. I don’t believe I really saw anyone wearing the cornrows or have gaudy looking jewelry on tonight and that is truly nice to see. Yet I know that as soon as money hits most of these young men’s pockets, they will go about the process of getting the $3.5 million crib, the $200k Bentley and jewelry that could choke even the most ardent of shopaholic at the Galleria or Rodeo Drive.

It might be wishful thinking but just for appearance sake, it would really be nice if this draft class showed up the ones before them that they care talented, classy and down right business like when it comes to their jobs. It would be nice to see these young men come out in even business attire and represent their teams with the style and grace that defies all of the stereotypes of many ball players not being educated and savvy to what is going on in their environment. It would be nice that this dress code be so accepted by the draft class of 2006 that everyone else just automatically adopts it because the rookies are doing so. Come on rooks, show the rest of this league that you got some class, style and fortitude that you know that this all about a positive perception of a once tarnished image.