It's astounding that Isiah Thomas hasn't been fired, despite the Knicks having the largest payscale for one of the league's worst teams.
New York Knicks owner James Dolan amazes me. He didn't hesitate to pull the trigger on coaches like Larry Brown, Lenny Wilkins and Herb Williams. Yet, Isiah Thomas has brought nothing but trouble to that franchise and still has his job. Thomas has had his own off court embarrassments, which featured a sexual harassment lawsuit against him. The team has the largest payscale in the league for a team of mostly overpaid players - which, by the way, was his fault. Thomas brought the majority of the current roster to New York as the team's president. Despite the apparent talent the Knicks have, Thomas hasn't been able to get them to do much of anything.
It was Isiah Thomas' philosophy that shot blockers were overrated. Granted, he might not have had many shot blockers in Detroit when he won a title as a player in the late 80s, but Bill Laimbeer, Rick Mahorn and John Salley were all players who protected the paint defensively in their own ways. Eddy Curry and Zach Randolph are embarrassments at the defensive end.
In addition, Thomas seems to pass on stand still shooters in order to log jam positions with athletic players who can't shoot. Adding a shooter or two would clearly open things up for these athletes. Yet, Thomas doesn't seem to get that. Despite having David Lee on the roster, a scrappy power forward, he added Renaldo Balkmen and then Wilson Chandler, both similar players as Lee. Thomas has failed to add a true point guard who can run the offense either. Though there's plenty of talent on this team, Thomas has no regard for team balance or chemistry, and it makes absolutely no sense that he remains the Knicks head coach.
