Isiah Defends Crummy Tenure

Knicks president/coach Isiah Thomas made remarks yesterday that suggested he does not feel he should be fired if the Knicks fail to make playoffs for the fourth straight season, believing their rebuilding plan is still on track.

Thomas did an awful job in federal court defending his office behavior, but he always has mastered the art of defending his basketball record.

Thomas was at it again yesterday, defending his Knicks record of 118-182 in 3½ seasons, saying clubs like the Bulls and Wizards took as long as nine years to turn around their miseries.

Thomas said he started from rock bottom with a depleted talent pool assembled by former Knicks GM Scott Layden, who started the wreckage of the franchise by trading for injured Antonio McDyess, obtaining stiffs such as Clarence Weatherspoon and Shandon Anderson and trading away Patrick Ewing and Latrell Sprewell.

“When you put it in real NBA time frame, where we were starting from, most organizations take a good nine, 10 years to turn things around, get back in the playoffs and everything else,” said Thomas, whose team opens the season tomorrow in Cleveland. “Look at Chicago, who’s there, now look at Washington, who’s there. When you go back to where those franchises started when they were rebuilding, those are long, long grind-out years where you have to do it. We’ve been fortunate enough in a short three-to-four years as opposed to an eight-to-nine year period.”

Thomas was right in one aspect of his bizarre spin job - that he’s increased the talent level immensely during his stint. But that and four dollars will get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks.
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