Realize this is old news, but thought it was worth posting.
http://www.freep.com/sports/basketba...3_20040413.htm
PERRY A. FARRELL: Isiah thinks he didn't deserve fate in Indy
April 13, 2004
BY PERRY A. FARRELL
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
When Isiah Thomas made his first public appearance at Conseco Fieldhouse since the Pacers fired him last summer, you can bet he didn't have lunch with Larry Bird. He stood for the whole game and watched the team he was hired to rebuild, the New York Knicks, get bombed by the team he coached for three years, the Pacers.
Thomas watched last Tuesday's game from the tunnel leading to the locker room. He chatted with acquaintances and signed autographs, but otherwise was inconspicuous. The Pacers offered him a seat in the stands, but he figured the tunnel would be a safer vantage point.
"If I sat in the stands and somebody said the wrong thing to me . . . I have a really short fuse," Thomas told reporters before the game. I figure if I'm standing in the tunnel I can kind of walk away and cool off."
Short fuse? That's an understatement. There are sticks of dynamite less explosive than Thomas.
Thomas wasn't introduced or shown on the overhead video monitor, so there was no opportunity for fans to react to his presence. After Indiana's 107-86 victory, he walked down the hallway to the Indiana locker room and chatted with Jeff Foster and Jermaine O'Neal, players he probably wouldn't mind having on the Knicks. Thomas always thought Foster had a chance to be the next Bill Laimbeer, and O'Neal was his franchise player.
"It was good to see him and wish him the best and thank him for everything he's done for us," Foster said.
The Pacers went 48-34 last season but were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs for the third straight year.
Thomas has repeatedly said he feels no bitterness toward Bird over his dismissal. But he has been equally steadfast in his belief that he didn't deserve his fate. Thomas, a Hall of Fame guard with the Pistons, was replaced by Rick Carlisle, the Pistons' coach the previous two seasons. Asked by a New York writer if he would have been fired had the Pacers reached the conference finals last season, Thomas said yes.
"If you were going on record and the facts, no, I wouldn't have been fired," Thomas said. "But because of the history between Rick and Larry, Larry wanted Rick to coach the team. Rick's an excellent coach. It wasn't like you chose a bad guy. You chose a good man to coach the team."
If the Pistons hadn't fired Carlisle last spring, making him available to coach another team, would Bird still have fired Thomas? Yes.
"The reasons that were given, they weren't valid reasons," Thomas said. "I think if we would have won the NBA championship, he still would have fired me."
Thomas laughed at that one.
After the Knicks started 10-18, Thomas took over as president. His goal was to get the Knicks into the playoffs, and after a series of trades and firings, he did just that.
"It's just good to have accomplished a goal because when I first got here, the challenge was given to me -- make the playoffs," Thomas said. "That's what our fans wanted, and here we are. It's great."
FLOUNDERING FLOYD? New Orleans played the Knicks for playoff positioning Monday night, but Hornets coach Tim Floyd appears in danger of getting fired.
The front office hasn't offered public support in recent years, just as it failed to do last season for Paul Silas after the Hornets were eliminated in the first round. Silas was fired two days later.
Management's reluctance to address the issue is likely an indication of its dissatisfaction. General manager Bob Bass would not comment on whether he, managing partner George Shinn and co-owner Ray Wooldridge were pleased with Floyd's performance. New Orleans has lost nine of 13.
"You know, you're certainly not happy with the way things are going," Bass said. "But the injuries have been so unbelievable that I don't know what else to say. We just don't have enough players out there right now."
New Orleans has played part of the season without leading scorer Baron Davis and most of the season without second-leading scorer Jamal Mashburn. Davis has played in 66 games, Mashburn 19.
Shooting guard Courtney Alexander (ruptured Achilles tendon) has missed the whole season. When Mashburn returned after missing 44 games following knee surgery, the Hornets had trouble blending him back into the offense. There also was ill will over Mashburn's decision to rehabilitate at his home in Miami instead of remaining with the team in New Orleans.
Forward P.J. Brown acknowledged last week that the players must shoulder the blame for the team's poor play, not Floyd.
"I feel like we're probably underachieving a little bit," Brown said. "I feel like, as players, we haven't stepped up the way we needed to this year. We've had a lot of things going on, a lot of stuff, a lot of craziness.
"But I look at the players first. I look in the mirror at us. This group has been together now four years and we haven't gotten the job done. And we've been through two coaches."
http://www.freep.com/sports/basketba...3_20040413.htm
PERRY A. FARRELL: Isiah thinks he didn't deserve fate in Indy
April 13, 2004
BY PERRY A. FARRELL
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
When Isiah Thomas made his first public appearance at Conseco Fieldhouse since the Pacers fired him last summer, you can bet he didn't have lunch with Larry Bird. He stood for the whole game and watched the team he was hired to rebuild, the New York Knicks, get bombed by the team he coached for three years, the Pacers.
Thomas watched last Tuesday's game from the tunnel leading to the locker room. He chatted with acquaintances and signed autographs, but otherwise was inconspicuous. The Pacers offered him a seat in the stands, but he figured the tunnel would be a safer vantage point.
"If I sat in the stands and somebody said the wrong thing to me . . . I have a really short fuse," Thomas told reporters before the game. I figure if I'm standing in the tunnel I can kind of walk away and cool off."
Short fuse? That's an understatement. There are sticks of dynamite less explosive than Thomas.
Thomas wasn't introduced or shown on the overhead video monitor, so there was no opportunity for fans to react to his presence. After Indiana's 107-86 victory, he walked down the hallway to the Indiana locker room and chatted with Jeff Foster and Jermaine O'Neal, players he probably wouldn't mind having on the Knicks. Thomas always thought Foster had a chance to be the next Bill Laimbeer, and O'Neal was his franchise player.
"It was good to see him and wish him the best and thank him for everything he's done for us," Foster said.
The Pacers went 48-34 last season but were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs for the third straight year.
Thomas has repeatedly said he feels no bitterness toward Bird over his dismissal. But he has been equally steadfast in his belief that he didn't deserve his fate. Thomas, a Hall of Fame guard with the Pistons, was replaced by Rick Carlisle, the Pistons' coach the previous two seasons. Asked by a New York writer if he would have been fired had the Pacers reached the conference finals last season, Thomas said yes.
"If you were going on record and the facts, no, I wouldn't have been fired," Thomas said. "But because of the history between Rick and Larry, Larry wanted Rick to coach the team. Rick's an excellent coach. It wasn't like you chose a bad guy. You chose a good man to coach the team."
If the Pistons hadn't fired Carlisle last spring, making him available to coach another team, would Bird still have fired Thomas? Yes.
"The reasons that were given, they weren't valid reasons," Thomas said. "I think if we would have won the NBA championship, he still would have fired me."
Thomas laughed at that one.
After the Knicks started 10-18, Thomas took over as president. His goal was to get the Knicks into the playoffs, and after a series of trades and firings, he did just that.
"It's just good to have accomplished a goal because when I first got here, the challenge was given to me -- make the playoffs," Thomas said. "That's what our fans wanted, and here we are. It's great."
FLOUNDERING FLOYD? New Orleans played the Knicks for playoff positioning Monday night, but Hornets coach Tim Floyd appears in danger of getting fired.
The front office hasn't offered public support in recent years, just as it failed to do last season for Paul Silas after the Hornets were eliminated in the first round. Silas was fired two days later.
Management's reluctance to address the issue is likely an indication of its dissatisfaction. General manager Bob Bass would not comment on whether he, managing partner George Shinn and co-owner Ray Wooldridge were pleased with Floyd's performance. New Orleans has lost nine of 13.
"You know, you're certainly not happy with the way things are going," Bass said. "But the injuries have been so unbelievable that I don't know what else to say. We just don't have enough players out there right now."
New Orleans has played part of the season without leading scorer Baron Davis and most of the season without second-leading scorer Jamal Mashburn. Davis has played in 66 games, Mashburn 19.
Shooting guard Courtney Alexander (ruptured Achilles tendon) has missed the whole season. When Mashburn returned after missing 44 games following knee surgery, the Hornets had trouble blending him back into the offense. There also was ill will over Mashburn's decision to rehabilitate at his home in Miami instead of remaining with the team in New Orleans.
Forward P.J. Brown acknowledged last week that the players must shoulder the blame for the team's poor play, not Floyd.
"I feel like we're probably underachieving a little bit," Brown said. "I feel like, as players, we haven't stepped up the way we needed to this year. We've had a lot of things going on, a lot of stuff, a lot of craziness.
"But I look at the players first. I look in the mirror at us. This group has been together now four years and we haven't gotten the job done. And we've been through two coaches."
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