I stumbled across this BetUS "Prop Talk" column (no need for you to inquire how I do my stumbling, thank you) a few days ago, and obviously it's not fresh or anything, but it seems pretty appropriate at this stage in Isiah Thomas' career. See, Zeke was a -2000 favorite to be the first coach fired this season.
Donnie Walsh has been hired to replace Isiah Thomas as the Knicks president of basketball operations. It is widely assumed that Walsh will also relieve Thomas of his coaching duties after the regular season ends on Apr. 16.
Wanna bet? Thomas is a –2000 sports betting favorite to be the next NBA coach who either gets fired or resigns. The field is priced at +800. However likely it may be that Thomas' four years and change in the Big Apple are about to end on a sour note, he's not the only one with his head on the block.
I actually tried to find the odds themselves, and was unable to for whatever reason. I wish I had, because had I bet on anything, it would have been "field". There were plenty of people -- Jim Boylan and Larry Krystkowiak come to mind -- that were eligible to be canned before Zeke, especially considering that Donnie Walsh probably wasn't interested in finding an interim coach to manage the circus for just a few games.
But more than anything, I think what's funny about this particular gambling line is that it is pretty metaphorical for Isiah's entire tenure in New York. -2000 is one of the highest money lines I've ever seen. Think about it. 1:20 odds is beyond anything Tiger Woods or the 2008 Patriots ever sniffed. Yet ... he still beat them!
And that's what Isiah has been doing in New York for years. Sexual harassment lawsuits, horrible free agent signings, 30% winning percentages, embarrassing trades -- none of them could get Isiah booted immediately. Finally, James Dolan caved and brought in Donnie Walsh, who canned Thomas, but when we all think back on Zeke's career in New York, yes, we'll be amazed at how awful a job he did. But I think in the end, we'll be more amazed at how long he actually kept the job.
We're barely a day removed from the end of the regular season, and we already have our second head coaching casualty. Earlier today the Bulls relievedJim Boylan of his duties, and now the Bucks have decided to similarly part ways with Larry Krystkowiak.
The Bucks' Coach K had a dismal first season as head coach, as the team basically refused to play defense and finished with a dismal 26-56 record. Krystkowiak (try typing that three times fast) blamed the lack of defensive-minded players on the team, and a shoot-first mentality by some of the players for the team's issues.
"It's more about a team concept instead of a bunch of talent," Krystkowiak said. "I think we have a lot of guys looking to score, and we've had a heck of a time with chemistry. I think that probably needs to be looked at a little bit more, the aggressive, physical, defensive-minded blend to go with some of the guys that we have."
Defense was a problem for sure, but I think the reason Larry is unemployed today is because this team simply gave up on him. There's no excuse for getting blown out night after night the way this Bucks team did, and they had some horrendous losses. Losing by 31 at Toronto, 43 at Philadelphia, and recently giving up 151 points in regulation -- to Boylan's disappointing Bulls -- are likely indicators that the team desperately needed a change in leadership.
Bulls interim head coach Jim Boylan had the "interim" label removed from his title on Thursday. Sadly for him, he also had the "head coach" label removed, as well. GM John Paxson informed Boylan and his assistants of the decision this morning.
It wasn't hard to see this coming, and not just because the Bulls posted a 24-32 record while under his charge. He was terribly inconsistent with his handling of players, and given the number of incidents involving the likes of Chris Duhon, Tyrus Thomas, Joakim Noah and Andres Nocioni, it was obvious that he had lost whatever credibility he may have had in the locker room.
There's no shortage of candidates whom the Bulls may pursue, and the first guy likely to get called is Rick Carlisle, the Central Division nomad who's already had semi-successful stops in Detroit and Indianapolis. He may not be the guy to win you a title, but he has experience whipping a team into postseason shape.
But no matter who takes the job, expect a mandate from the top down to give playing time to the team's young players: for a team that was going nowhere, there are still too many questions surrounding the potential of Thomas and Noah that likely could have been answered with more playing time.
If we don't care about the scourge of the NBA, who will? The Bleaker Rankings will assess the grotesque each Tuesday.
1. The Bucks. Is it still considered tanking if you play all your best players (40+ minutes for Michael Redd, Mo Williams, and Andrew Bogut) and still manage to lose to the Heat, who played only three guys who haven't played in the D-League this year? I think so.
2. The Jim Boylan regime. Boylan could very well get jumped in the middle of a game by half his team, and I wouldn't be surprised. What could possibly be so revolting about his style to illicit such anger from his charges?
4. The Bobcats. March has been loads better than the season-killing 1-11 Ferbuary Charlotte had. But the franchise-high 5-game win streak led to another 5-game losing streak. Charlotte will probably not clear the 30-win mark, after a promising run last year (33 wins). Sam Vincent might be the first rookie coach firing this summer.
5. The Mavericks. Dallas, of course, could still very well win a title this summer. But watching Dirk Nowitzki go down and watching Jason Kidd be so ineffective in late-game situations ... it's got to be a nervous in Big D. And don't forget how old this team is -- they were the 5th oldest before trading 26-year-old Devin Harris for 35-year-old Kidd.)
Others receiving votes: The Kings; The Clippers; The Nets, who should in these playoffs with that much talent.
The Bulls are theoretically within reach of the playoffs, but instead of banding together for one last push, the team appears to be coming apart at the seams. Andres Nocioni became just the latest player to clash with the coaching staff, blowing up at interim head coach Jim Boylan in the middle of Saturday's game after being pulled.
On Monday, Nocioni met with the media for the first time since the incident and apologized, saying he was frustrated with his own play and lack of energy more than anything.
He was suspended one game and fined an undisclosed amount, but Boylan seemed to accept Nocioni's apology at face value, even going so far as to kiss the forward on the head. (No, seriously, that happened.)
If we don't care about the scourge of the NBA, who will? The Bleaker Rankings will assess the grotesque each Tuesday.
1. The Knicks. Even awful in green! What can they not ruin? One win in nine games in March ... over the Heat. Playoff push, indeed.
2. Seattle basketball. The losses never end: On the court, in the board room... and Kevin Durant's about to be eclipsed in the R.O.Y. race by Luis Scola.
3. The Bucks. How long until Andrew Bogut shows up to the arena with a paper bag on his head? The sad thing: Michael Redd hasn't been awful, but his contract will get him run out of town this summer. Blame Larry Krystowiak, says I. He has the talent on this team to have better than the worst defense in the league.
4. The Bulls. No one seems to want the 8th seed in the East. You'd think Chicago -- who won 49 games last season with a young team -- might be able to pull it off. And under Jim Boylan, the entire roster has (we repeat) regressed.
5. The brain stems of those who would deny LeBron 31-8-7 James consideration (at the very least) for the MVP award.Jeff Van Gundy left LBJ off his MVP candidate list during Sunday's Rockets-Lakers game because Cleveland is in 4th place in the East. LeBron is not only having the best 2008 of all players; this might be the best individual season of the decade.
Others receiving votes: Smush Parker's sense of chivalry; my frickin' head this morning.
Is Bulls interim coach Jim Boylan trying to turn his team against him? If so, he's been a rousing success! Aaron Gray -- a player who would be getting zero minutes on 20-25 other NBA teams -- is the latest defector, according to the Chicago Tribune's K.C. Johnson (via TYI).
As Aaron Gray walked to the bench after Drew Gooden replaced him following a brief second-quarter stint on Tuesday, the rookie center, according to several witnesses, snapped at interim coach Jim Boylan.
"That's what I get for working hard?" Gray said.
A shocked Boylan snapped back and Gray, a second-round pick, played only the final 1:21 of a blowout victory over Memphis the rest of the night.
No, Aaron. That's what you get playing for a franchise with no direction, a coach completely over his head, and a team which altogether does not seem to really like each other. Has nothing to do with you working hard.
At this point, Bulls fan have gotta hope this season just doesn't do any permanent damage to its host of prospects, like Luol Deng (who has regressed as much anyone in the league) and Tyrus Thomas (who is about a week from reenacting the Z-Bo-Patterson fight with Boylan).
Tyrus Thomas apologized to his Chicago teammates on Thursday for skipping practice on Wednesday but refused to tell the media what prompted his absence except to say it was for "personal reasons" and not about a lack of playing time. Whatever it was, it seems to have been premeditated -- the Chicago Tribune cites sources that say "Thomas laughingly told two teammates 'see you Thursday' when he left the locker room after Tuesday's victory over Memphis, during which Thomas played just nine foul-plagued minutes."
But while those teammates may have known what was up, the front office brass was so completely caught off guard that they actually dispatched police officers to Thomas' house to check up on him when they were unable to track him down. (Sadly, given the incidents involving Eddy Curryand Antoine Walker in Chicago suburbs this summer, that's actually a smart precautionary measure to take in a situation like this.)
If any good comes of this situation it's that Thomas and interim coach Jim Boylan are apparently now seeing eye to eye -- Thomas said their telephone conversation late Wednesday "broke some barriers." That right there certainly seems to suggest that this was in fact about playing time and basketball, but at this point it doesn't really matter. Thomas is 21 years old -- when I was his age I skipped more than my fair share of college classes without anything close to resembling a valid excuse. It happened, it's over and in a round-about way, team relations may be better for it.
If we don't care about the scourge of the NBA, who will? The Bleaker Rankings will assess the grotesque each Tuesday.
1. The Knicks.Isiah Thomas still sits in the throne (despite the NY media's best rumor attempts). Therefore, the Knicks remain at the summit of the Bleakers. Zach Randolph is injured and David Lee still doesn't start! Aaah!
2. The Bucks. Things are so bad (how bad are they?) that Bill Simmons began campaigning for the upcoming GM vacancy... and Bucks fans embraced it. The guy who compared Yao Ming over Jay Williams to Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan and said the Magic were "dumb" if they picked Dwight Howard over Emeka Okafor... Bucks fans see that fellow as a massive improvement. That pretty much says it all about the Larry Harris regime, doesn't it?
3. Bulls fandom. This quote from Blog-a-Bull sums up the sentiment, I think: "Jim Boylan is a rube, a boob, a farce, a fraud, a hack, a joke, and proving himself to be completely unqualified to be an NBA head coach." A-yep.
4. The D-League in March. Instead of call-ups for The D's brightest novas, fellows like P.J. Brown, Flip Murray and Tyronn Lue are sliding into the 12th man seat. Remember Moneyball? If there's a market inefficiency in the NBA right now (there are likely two dozen), cheap as $%@* and unattached NBDL players (Justin Williams, Rod Benson) are the centerpiece. A pittance for a rebound every two minutes, people!
Paxson reiterated that interim coach Jim Boylan, whom Paxson promoted after firing Scott Skiles on Christmas Eve, has the job at least until the end of the season.
''I have not begun the process'' of evaluating coaching options for next season, Paxson said.
If I had to guess (and I do, since offering my opinion is kind of the whole point of being a blogger), I wouldn't be surprised if it were Brown himself behind these rumors. He clearly enjoys being the center of attention and is probably bored with being ignored in his "nobody really knows what he does" role as a special advisor something or another with the Sixers. After burning expensive bridges in Detroit and New York, I'm not sure why anyone would want to take on his ego, but the teams "rumored" to have interest in him, the more likely another team might panic and take the plunge.
I stumbled across this BetUS "Prop Talk" column (no need for you to inquire how I do my stumbling, thank you) a few days ago, and obviously it's not fresh or anything, but it seems pretty appropriate at this stage in Isiah Thomas' career. See, Zeke was a -2000 favorite to be the first coach fired this season.
We're barely a day removed from the end of the regular season, and we already have our second head coaching casualty. Earlier today the Bulls 
Bulls interim head coach 
If we don't care about the scourge of the NBA, who will? 
The Bulls are theoretically within reach of the playoffs, but instead of banding together for one last push, the team appears to be coming apart at the seams. 
If we don't care about the scourge of the NBA, who will? 
Is Bulls interim coach 
Bulls GM 
