So someone decided to ask Isiah Thomas if he got any inspiration from the Giants run to the Super Bowl and what Tom Coughlin has endured.
"His first two years here, he was having a lot of trouble," said Thomas. "Last year they were having some trouble in the locker room, but they hung together and fought hard and stayed together and persevered and now they're playing for the Super Bowl. Sports is particularly rough in this town, but if you persevere, hold onto your wits you can kind of see your way through the storm."
We should point out here that the "storm" Coughlin endured included three straight postseason appearances and no losing records. Different standards, for sure.
Of course you could draw one comparison. The Giants seemed to have thrived after Tiki Barber's presence was eliminated from the locker room. Are the Knicks a different team without Stephon Marbury?
Speaking of the Giants, Brandon Jacobs and Plaxico Burress are expected to be at the Garden today.
The Knicks are 16-5 on MLK Day, including nine straight wins from 1987-95. This is the third time they'll play the Celtics, with wins in '87 and '98.
STARTING LINEUPS
KNICKS
Randolph
Richardson
Curry
Crawford
Jones
CELTICS
Garnett
Pierce
Perkins
Allen
Rondo
* - Boston is without James Posey (lacerated hand).
Don't forget: The game can be seen on NBC-4 HD.
Enjoy.
Comments (7)
is there a reason that isaiah can change the lineup, does he want to lose?
is there a reason that isaiah cant change the lineup, does he want to lose?
Got another trade worked out on ESPN trade machine. Last time I said Steph and Randolph Morris for Bibby, which works salary wise since Bibby ends when Steph does.
This time, its for front line help. Zach and Pau Gasol both have 4 years left for about the same value 13mil+. Memphis wouldn't do that trade straight up, but maybe adding David Lee would get it done, and it still works salary-wise. I understand the desire to keep Lee, but for the prospect of turning Zach into Pau, how could you not be in favor of it?
both zach and lee for pau? what are you smoking
Another career night by a Knicks opponent -- this time, that hall of famer to be, Kendrick Perkins.
Has anyone else gotten tired of Isiah and company's tough guy routine - fourth quarter yesterday and the Weasel leads them out onto the court after the House 3-pointer... why - to send a message? To look bad a$$? You're getting smoked by 20 on your own floor and your answer is to try and intimidate a Boston scrub. Nothing like that Isiah mix of class and a sense of the moment.
Enough ranting - just frustrated that the Knicks had been playing better the last couple of weeks (really since the close San Antonio loss) but were done in against an admittedly better Boston team by a bunch of the usual problems - weird substitution patterns, stagnation when Zach gets the ball, the offensive ineptitude of Jeffries and an interior defense that made Kendrick Perkins (?!?!) look like Moses Malone. And Q - 4 fouls, no points but still starting! At least he got Pierce out, or it may have been uglier. But no worries, the bad a$$ Weasel is sending a message.
Isiah reminds me of that loser who graduated 4 years ago but still hangs around the campus desperately trying to show how cool he still is, and is oblivious to how pathetic he looks. Does anyone on this team have even a shred of respect left for him?
Just a frustrating afternoon.
I agree with you Alan I would much rather keep Zach than Curry. Zach plays with a lot of intensity, heart and fire all the time unlike Curry. Although he's not that great of a defender you can live with his defense because he actually puts forth an effort on the defensive end and he's a tremondous rebounder. Also he's more reliable low post then Curry and he can score in a variety of ways that Curry cannot. He's also showing now that he can pass out of the post if he had real great coaching I think he you would see him become a more complete basketball player because he's coachable and he works hard. I'd trade Curry and bring in a shotblocking center to put next to Z-Bo.