Hours after the Pacers held a press conference to announce Donnie Walsh leaving the franchise, ESPN has published a report singing Walsh to the Knicks for $15 million over three years by season’s end.
Who knows how the headlines will read tomorrow? Whether there is truth to this latest report and if so what it means for Isiah Thomas and his dual jobs as Knicks coach and president of basketball operations.
A dude named Giaps over on knicks fix mentioned this story but since there was no link, I doubted it at first considering all the hearsay as of late. Time will tell what is what. If Isiah is removed from both jobs I’m all for it, though I think there are better choices out there than Walsh, no doubt. Why didn’t they ask Jerry C.?
This team needs a culture shake-up, so if it is true, I welcome Mr. Walsh. Losing has had a numbing effect on the players and the fans–enough is enough.
{ 49 comments }
See, this is why I come here to get my Knick information.
Great information KD…as always!!!!!!!!!
I was hoping for West but any change will due.
Walsh does have a great basketball IQ so I can’t be mad
at this move. Why we didn’t go after West first? I don’t know….
It seems so obvious that we will get Rose.
He just fits to perfectly here.
We need a PG…
I think someone here mentioned the slogan…”A Rose in the Garden”
He’s going to be a superstar and he may even end up better than Beasley.
Can anybody else see major changes?
I wonder how all of Isiah’s pets are feeling now?
They may not be shitting on their pants yet…but trust me…it’s coming.
MSM got the story wrong as always. Maybe they should check their sources and try
to find better ones LMAO. According to them….we don’t know what we’re talking about.
Change in 08!!!!
Does anybody here think Isiah will be back next year now that Walsh is the man?
I know he hired Isiah before but didn’t he fire him also? Or was that Larry Bird?
But Dolan has not always used logic when making major decisions, as evidenced by the fact Thomas is still working at the Garden. Also, Walsh has a good working relationship with Thomas, having given him his first head coaching job, with the Pacers. Yet a person who spoke to Walsh yesterday doubted that Walsh would keep Thomas as his head coach.
However, it was reported last month that the Knicks had contacted Kiki Vandeweghe, currently in the Nets’ front office, and that Dolan was hoping to have Vandeweghe run the front office and keep Thomas as coach. Both the Knicks and Vandeweghe have denied meeting.
From Ken Bergers article:
After an arduous, grueling, thorough search that involved not a single phone call to not a single other candidate.
On one level, the Knicks make perfect sense as a place for Walsh, a native New Yorker, to get one more payday – reportedly three years and $15 million, although that sounds suspiciously low to me. It makes sense because he is one of the few qualified people in the NBA who would agree to work with Isiah Thomas.
It makes no sense because this situation at the Garden has gone on so long, with so much erroneous and agenda-driven speculation and such stubbornness on Jim Dolan’s part, that it requires something more than this.
It requires a real search for the right candidate, not merely a rush to scoop up someone who just lost a leverage play in Indianapolis. Fifty-one losses in, with Walsh counting the days to his departure from the Pacers … what’s the rush?
If this is what the Knicks are doing – Walsh overseeing Thomas as he oversaw Larry Bird in Indiana – then this is the most absurd plan anyone at the Garden has hatched in years
Don Walsh. Good man. Bad move.
Co-sign #5 in previous thread by DLT.
Also Co-sign Alan Hahn on Beasley’s lack of preparedness to chang an NBA franchise.
Be very afraid.
#17 previous thread
We always have the tendency in NY to want to bring a marquee name aboard to right our ship and it doesn’t get us anywhere. West and Walsh are past their primes. Guys always make their bones in other places and use that shine to get big $$ from NY teams hoping for that star power (Larry Brown, Glen Sather). We overpay for past success. Let’s be original for a change and get a younger executive and coach here to take us to the next level like Dumars or Bryan Colangelo(I’d take him in a second!!).
Comment by Marzak. — March 24, 2008 @ 8:04 pm
Co-signed by LIVES.
Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Peace, are you suggesting your insider is wrong?
All this speculating/prognosticating simply boggles the mind.
In my estimation, there are no saviors out there. I personaly don’t see anyone really fixing this mess. I agree with the poster who stated that perhaps we give a young gun a try and quit fuggin’ with the “over ripe” fruit. I truly think that the game has passed some of these cats by, and not just the game on the court. Some of these old heads can’t relate to these “new age” ballas, hence the logo calling it quits.
I do, however, feel that a new voice (I guess i’m saying addition by subtraction, cause Zeke has got to go) and time are the true elixers.
We also have alot of dead weight we must rid ourselves of as well (Q, Rose, Curry, possibly Zach and Steph)
Some luck in the lottery wouldn’t hurt either.
I’m just so fuggin tired of the Knicks being such a bad team.
Lives,
I see Walsh as a paper tiger!It makes sense because he is one of the few qualified people in the NBA who would agree to work with Isiah Thomas.
Walsh overseeing Thomas as he oversaw Larry Bird in Indiana. It seems the “INSIDER IS 100% ACCURATE.” Check this:
Andrew Bynum has signed on with William Morris Agency in Beverly Hills to represent him in off-court marketing and endorsement opportunities.
The group will work in conjunction with Bynum’s agent, David Lee, who will continue to work on his client’s on-court deals.
Bynum can sign a maximum deal of five years, $75 million this summer with the Lakers. Looks like Bynum may become a Knick!
Peaceman, there’s no doubting your passion, but some of your OPP speculation sounds crazy, stone loony al-Ghour global warming crazy.
So Bynum maxes out this year – how do the Knicks acquire him, exactly? What do we have that Kobe & Company would want more than Bynum? Steph & Lee? Come on man….
Yeah, Bynum’s leaving a championship contender to sign with the Knicks, who’re capped out for the next three seasons. If he really wanted to come home, he’d sign with the Nets this offseason. (Though global warming isn’t crazy, man. It’s happening. I could run some numbers for you but this is a basketball site.) Bynum’s a vital piece of a team that, when healthy, might be the best in the West (but we’ll see if he can get his legs back in time to make a difference this spring).
The player-repping (agent) business can get pretty incestuous. It’s tough to read too much into that. Not even the most ruthless, like Rosenhaus, Boras, or Falk back in the day, have unlimited pull to move their players.
And what happens to Gasol? Who do the Lakers get as a PG? They continue with Fisher?????
The Lakers seem to be doing fine without Bynum..in fact they lead the WEST! Believe it or not
Kobe loves Marbury(2nd to Kidd) and Marbury would thrive in LA!
Philly beats Boston and is primed to make the playoffs. Paul Pierce plays 32 minutes and scores 12 points, takes 6 shots. That’s defense.
Larry Brown is winning the LB vs. IT war.
“He’s had a great career, he’s one of the best who’s ever done it,” Thomas said before the Knicks lost to New Jersey to fall to 19-51 on the season. “I wish him great success and he’s someone that I respect tremendously. He gave me my first coaching job and I truly do like him as a person and he’s done a lot for the game.”
“It was a joy to spend time in Indiana under his leadership. Great man and a great basketball mind,” said Mark Jackson, who played on the Pacers’ finals team. “Sad to see, being a member of the Pacers and knowing what he means to that organization and that community, but at the same time I wish him nothing but the very best because like I said, he’s a great man and a great basketball mind. He’s the best in the business.”
Aaaah, let the ass-kissing begin.
Who can coach these guys to play defense?
If Isiah remains, this would bring our organizational leadership to a new low. Walsh/Bird didn’t work; why would we try Walsh/Isiah?
I don’t think Marbury can play here next year. Too many demons. ABS trial. Dad’s death.
Cut the Isiah cord and begin a new 5-year plan.
Hang on guys; we are now the 1962 New York Mets. Or how about the 2007 Boston Celtics?
Actually Mike, global warming is not happening. There are computer models that say global warming is happening, but the actual data we can collect says another story.
http://hotair.com/archives/2008/03/23/earth-a-little-more-resilient-than-computer-models/
Duffy asked Marohasy: “Is the Earth still warming?”
She replied: “No, actually, there has been cooling, if you take 1998 as your point of reference. If you take 2002 as your point of reference, then temperatures have plateaued. This is certainly not what you’d expect if carbon dioxide is driving temperature because carbon dioxide levels have been increasing but temperatures have actually been coming down over the last 10 years.”
Duffy: “Is this a matter of any controversy?”
Marohasy: “Actually, no. The head of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) has actually acknowledged it. He talks about the apparent plateau in temperatures so far this century. So he recognises that in this century, over the past eight years, temperatures have plateaued … This is not what you’d expect, as I said, because if carbon dioxide is driving temperature then you’d expect that, given carbon dioxide levels have been continuing to increase, temperatures should be going up … So (it’s) very unexpected, not something that’s being discussed. It should be being discussed, though, because it’s very significant.”
Duffy: “It’s not only that it’s not discussed. We never hear it, do we? Whenever there’s any sort of weather event that can be linked into the global warming orthodoxy, it’s put on the front page. But a fact like that, which is that global warming stopped a decade ago, is virtually never reported, which is extraordinary.”
Harlem, i don’t think Marbury is gonna have a choice. He is contractually obligated to play for the Knicks next season, barring the unlikely event of a trade or buyout.
i see him as our third guard next year, eventually losing PT to whatever backcourt rook we get this draft (Rose?)
If your Bynum you don’t forget or forgive this type of shit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=za08zWrZ-QE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZpWJtgvm5Q&feature=related
Insert from Hoopshype today:
The two worked together — and got along well — for three years in Indiana, and sources told ESPN on Monday night that Walsh has agreed to join the Knicks front office after the season. What remains up in the air is whether Thomas will stick around, but it is worth noting that Knicks owner James Dolan could be looking for a candidate not to replace Thomas, but to work with him. After all, it would make too much sense for Dolan to simply cut the cord with Thomas. In a world where illogic trumps logic every time Dolan needs to make a decision, it would make perfect sense — in a Dolanian way — for Walsh and Thomas to be reunited in New York and to pledge to work together.
“He’s had a great career, he’s one of the best who’s ever done it,” Thomas said. “I wish him great success, and he’s someone that I respect tremendously. He gave me my first coaching job, I truly like him as a person, and he’s done a lot for the game.”
Think Thomas would be speaking that way if he felt threatened by Walsh? Probably not.
So maybe that Cheshire Cat grin that Thomas sported as he spoke was the most telling sign of the night. Because there is certainly no telling what’s going to become of the inconsistent Nets by the time the end of the regular season arrives.
Walsh is an old man. Thomas will stay as his right hand man and they will have a similar relationship here as Bird and he had in Indiana.
I just don’t think it’s a coincidence that Dolan goes out and picks the only guy that was successful working with Thomas as a coach/executive.
Hopefully team Mates NEXT YEAR! A Prayer!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7G-twSNVR0E
“I just don’t think it’s a coincidence that Dolan goes out and picks the only guy that was successful working with Thomas as a coach/executive.”
But why is it imperative that this person HAVE TO WORK WITH ISIAH!!!!!!!
Why not just by out the remainder of Zeke’s contract and replace him with someone else?
Why hire a caddy for him????
Loved him as a player, but I’m tired of him and his smirking face as the coach of the Knicks.
WTF DOES ZEKE HAVE ON DOLAN THAT THE UNIVERSE REVOLVES AROUND HIS ASS????????
I don’t Know Bronxboy, Maybe when Zeke signed an extention last year, there was an unbreakable
clause in it? With Dolans Media policy that may be closer to the truth than specualation!
@ Peace, #19..
Unless thks leapard changes his spots, we could look forward to 3 more years of half-hour practices, 3 more years of days off for non-productivity the night before, 3 more years of non-accountablity from his players, and basically 3 more years of futility.
These next three years outta be a blast.
@20 LOL
You have to admitt Thomas has something unbreakable with Dolan!
It would seem Zeke would be fired the moment it was annouced Walsh was hired
and Herb would finish out the year? That seems as likely as Curry looking as fit as Josh Howard!
BX and Harlem, I hear you. It will be a great day once IT is finally gone.
No offense to those obviously related to him and still defending his pathetic record in New York, but after four years and NO RESULTS, Isiah Thomas must go completely from this organization. He must not be allowed to stay as coach or GM. Thomas should leave New York City for good once and for all. Somebody please tell Walsh that. Isiah is the enemy to progress for the Knicks. Isiah was never a true New York Knick. Deep in his heart, he knows he should go back to Chicago or Indiana–look at the players he’s brought here–we need someone with a New York state of mind.
Walsh will do for now, I guess. He must have been on the list Stern slipped Dolan under the door. It is going to take two-three years just to erase all of Isiah Thomas’ expensive mistakes anyway.
check out alan’s newest blog entry:
pacers deny walsh to new york rumors
I guess the letters ESPN don’t mean what they’re supposed to in this information age: credibility.
time will tell what is real and what was BS.
Isiah still has to go. Give us Jerry C.!
Damn, I hate to read cry babies. It’s really as boring as it can be.
Once again, practice has been canceled again today.
we definitely need to fire this guy.
The enemy to Knicks progress has a name.
That name is Isiah Thomas.
Nobody is forcing you, pal. Don’t read it.
The next time I pay to go to the Garden, Isiah Thomas won’t be there, so Say hi to Isiah at the family reunion for me.
Zeke ain’t going NOWHERE! You want to blame someone.. BLAME MARBURY ” The self proclaimed best PG in the league”
for fucking this season up! Also Dave Lee’s Azz should have been a King this year and Artest should have played
with the Knicks from game 7 on! Yeah the Knicks suck but everyone is to blame …not just Zeke!
There’s no great white hope coming to be the savior! The Zeke hate spewing in here is the same shit the MSM was
spewing 3 years ago before they gave the guy a chance! GET used to seeing his face because Zeke will be around
for at least 3 more years!
Boo Hoo ….no Walsh…Boo Hoo….LOL
Isola on ESPN first take @ this momment saying Zeke knows something we all don’t know,
and his job is most likely safe!
Yo Peace..
It ain’t about blaming anybody, it’s all about identifying what’s fucked up about this team and calling it out.
You say if we want to blame anybody, blame Marbury. Who brought him here?? Who gave him the fuggin’ keys??? Who do you think enabled him???
Don’t think too hard on that one …wouldn’t want you to get a headache.
“In my estimation, there are no saviors out there.”
That’s my quote….see post #6…so we do agree there.
@ BARF…
Ain’t no cryin’ over here bruh…just stating facts…and the fact is, Zeke’s body of work merits dismissal.
ESPN first take is claiming Zeke and Dolan made the decision together to bring
in Walsh…. most likely to talk to the teams that won’t talk with Zeke!
Basically Zeke’s Gopher!
Yo KD, I guess the honeymoon is over huh? LOL.
That’s right: straight, no chaser! You ain’t runnin for office!! Haha!
I don’t know about you guys, but watching Mike Dunleavy go for 36 points on my team in 2 games makes my stomach hurt. I could understand if we don’t have true bball skills, BUT THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR A LACK OF DEFENSE. I am the biggest Isiah fan, but let’s be honest here. This team STINKS. The next defensive stop will be our first of the year.
Excuse me while I go throw up again after thinking about my beloved Knicks…
Carbon dioxide levels and average annual temperatures have been trending up prett seadily since the 1850′s, Paul. If you want some actual journal citations I can give them to you. The planet is getting warmer. The biggest question is, how much do we have to do with it. Many of the models you talk about say that the planet should actually be headed into another ice age.
Skip Bayless says it’s a brillient move by Zeke to save his Azz!
@ Bronxboy….You can’t Blame Zeke for the asshole moves Marbury made!
Thats like saying if you get in a auto accident your friend who was in your
car blames you for giving him a ride??? That bullshit!
By the way, Peace, Zeke is the one who told Marbury he “could be the best point guard in the NBA”. Not sure why you want to lay the entire team’s troubles on one single player, but the troubles go way beyond him. If he were the problem, the Knicks would’ve done better once he was gone. If he were the solution, they would’ve done better when he was on the floor. There’s more going on than Stephon underperforming (which he absolutely has). Besides, who traded those expiring contracts and picks for him anyway? When everybody else knew what kind of guy Marbury already was?
It was secretly Donnie Walsh, right? Right!
Mike,
Marbury does have all the God given talent to be one of the best PG’S in the league!
The fact is we needed Marbury at his best…but we got shit from him!
Hahn is wrong. This deal is done. Walsh’s statement: “As far as what I’m going to do, I’m not sure. As a result, I’m not going to comment on it until I have a better idea.”
Walsh also was asked if he was retiring and he said no. He also made it clear that there were disagreements between Bird and him.
Walsh doesn’t want to admit to having a new contract before his current one expires. The NBA has learned that these transactions must remain covert. It’s done. Dolan visits Walsh personally with fat pockets, and Walsh, who does not want to retire and does not enjoy working with Mr. Indiana, is going to walk away from that? Highly unlikely.
Mark Jackson showing a man-crush for Walsh is also revealing. MJ knows we are the pride of New York city. He wants to get down with Walsh.
The question is will Monty still be in the house? That is where this will get interesting. If he does, I’m coming up to New York with a stink bomb in my pocket…
“Now it’s one voice; it’s mine,” Bird said.
Harlem,
Mark Jackson wouldn’t last a month as Coach! The Garden fans hate him!
Stephen Curry for president!!!!!!!
Why do NY fans hate MJ? I haven’t heard that one.
Donnie Walsh wears “Depends” ….the old fuck!
the sonics have the second worst record with the #2 pick in the draft. NBA needs to instill a rule that if you have a top 3 pick and you are back in the lottery, your team picks last in the lottery. Seattle does not deserve to get a top 3 pick along with Kevin Durant. Portland should also be banned from the lottery. These two teams will sabotage the credibility of the league with their consecutive lottery years.
Peace,
You are making yourself sound dumber everytime you open your trap ! Why would you bag on an accomplished basketball mind while lauding the works of Zeke the failure ? I loved him as a player but come on man, when is enough enough in your mind ?
“Donnie Walsh wears “Depends” ….the old fuck!”
LMAO…….
@ Harlem…
“The question is will Monty still be in the house? That is where this will get interesting. If he does, I’m coming up to New York with a stink bomb in my pocket…”
CTFU….man, you dude are killing me today!!!
Peaceman, there IS a difference, a crucial difference, between the anti-Isiah rhetoric printed three years ago and the stuff being said in here today.
Back then, we only suspected Isiah was a failure. Now, we know he is. And if Zeke sticks around another three years like you say, then in three years there will not be a doubt in anyone’s mind that Isiah is unfit to head up a coaching bench or a front office staff.
If we’re stuck with him, then we’re stuck with him. But he’s a scrub nonetheless – and the longer he stays, the more absolutely he proves it.
Yeah, let’s see what our younger players have got…..by not playing Morris or Chandler, and canceling our normally brief practices.
Zeke’s a twat.
Peaceman is running point again and this time it ain’t goin’ easy.
Defenders, let’s not let the rumblings of the MSM and millionaires cause us to be going at one another as if we were going after trolls, the LepraCs, the Nots, the Cheats (add your favorite villain here). I’ve typed it before: Losing makes real fans eat their innards. It is the biggest cancer one CAN-CE. Maybe that should have been IT or Monty. In all, let’s control what we can control–our emotions and venom/hyperbole against another blogger who may just disagree. BFD!!!? STFW!!? WGAS!!? Add your favorite exclamation here. If cyber rage is your remedy then Go for it–at least you’re being honest. That’s all we can hope for in this cyber world–honest bloggin’. Would not wanna read about any one of us caught up on A Wire tap?
KF_L (Love is gone until the other shoe drops)
i will co-sign on post #48, Steady! =)
Too bad you put it on this expired thread, instead of the next current one where African, BARF & Statesman jump on KD for “yet another boring anti-Isiah post”.
Peaceman & KnicksDefense are both worthy of defending from personal attacks though….in my opinion, anyway. Solid soldiers both IMHO.
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