Slam Dunk Central

The New York Knicks are comfortably numb in last place in the NBA’s Atlantic Division, yet Knicks coach/president Isiah Thomas despite all of the dysfunction surrounding him thinks that the team is championship material.? Kids, you can file this under “Reality Check”; here’s Thomas rationale as to why he thinks that the Knicks will win championships with his current cast of misfits and he as the coach: “I know people will laugh even more at me, but I’m hell bent on getting this accomplished and making sure that we get it done.? And I’m not leaving until we get it done.”

And get this - February 21 is the NBA trading deadline yet he seems to feel that the Knicks don’t have to be active to improve the team - because he thinks they don’t need to be.? Hey Isiah, if you’re not at least putting out feelers to improve your team, then you’re simply not doing your job.? Thomas has been with the Knicks since December 2003 - this is his second season as Knicks coach; he has to date one playoff appearance, getting eliminated by New Jersey in 2004.

Another gem by Thomas: “I believe that one day we will win a championship here.? And I believe a couple of these guys will be a part of that. And I believe I’ll be a part of that.”? But of course the person who will have final say as to how long that Thomas stays on as coach is ThomasKnicks chairman James Dolan.? And yet it is Dolan who has fostered this dysfunctional climate that permeates the team and the locker room.? And Thomas is talking like a guy who doesn’t plan on leaving any time soon, saying: “This is a dark time for us.? But I know that there’s a light at the end of this tunnel and I’m going to keep digging, and I’m going to keep pushing, and I’m not going to quit.? I’m going to do it here.”

Tell that to the fans at Madison Square Garden; they regularly chant “Fire Isiah!!”, and last month, a group even went so far to bring in a larger-than-life pink slip.? Thomas says he wants to be remembered in New York as he is in Detroit, where he led the Pistons to 2 championships as a player.

Finally, these words of wisdom from Isiah: “I don’t necessarily just want to win a championship.? I want to leave something that’s going to stand for a long time.? I want to leave a legacy, I want to leave tradition.? I want to leave an imprint, a blueprint in terms of how people play, and how they coach and how they respond when they put on the Knicks uniform.

“And I want to leave what I left in Detroit.? Every person that walks through that door as a Piston, when they put on that uniform, there’s a certain pride that they carry.? And I want to put that here and I want to leave that here in New York.? I want to leave a championship legacy.”? Folks, here is my suggestion to you about oh mighty Isiah: if you’re a Knicks fan - or even not a Knicks fan - whatever you do, do not drink the Koolaid.