Perception is Reality

I’ve figured out the key to happiness, and I’ve done it by using Isiah Thomas as my model. I’ve decided that Isiah is the happiest person on the planet. Most of you might think otherwise, being that he is one of the most hated GM’s in the NBA.

He is the only GM in the NBA who had an informal press conference outside his arena, where the Knick fans issued him a pink slip. He had his starting point guard blackmail him for playing time. He lost a sexual harassment suit that cost his company 11.5 million dollars. The Knicks haven’t even sniffed .500 since Isiah took over (39 wins is the most wins they achieved in a season under his tutelage), they currently stand at 8-22. The once proud Madison Square Garden is filled with Boos and “Fire Isiah” chants, instead of the applause and roars of the crowd that used to be heard when the team was of a championship caliber.

All these reasons might lead you to believe that President/Coach Thomas is one click of the trigger away from ending his professional career, and going to live with the Amish in Pennsylvania never to be heard from again. But you would be wrong, my friend. Instead, Isiah is as confident and optimistic as ever. Read this sports illustrated article:

Delusional Isiah says he will lead the Knicks to a Championship

Here are the quotes I want to focus on:

"I believe that one day we will win a championship here," Thomas said. "And I believe a couple of these guys will be a part of that. And I believe I'll be a part of that."

"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," Thomas said. "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 Knick uniform.

“De Plane! De Plane!”

Yes, that was Tatto from Fantasy Island. The plane has just arrived and its guest of honor is Isiah Thomas. His hallucination gets even worse when you hear him make these comments:

"I like the direction we're headed," Thomas said Friday, before his team lost to the Bobcats. "I've said this before: our future is definitely much brighter than it was when I got here four years ago. Cost-wise we're down. Talent-wise we're up. We did a good job of putting people in the seats. I think we're pretty close this year to getting back on track again."

"The victories will start to come," Thomas said. "From where we were to where we are this is the time you start taking steps forward. Last year I thought we had a chance to make the playoffs. I think this year we'll have a chance to make the playoffs. The way the East is now, there are five or six teams searching to find themselves and we're one of them. I think there'll be three or four of those teams that will find themselves, head into the playoffs and I think we'll be one of them."

If Isiah can be happy and confident in the wake of what he has done to the marquee franchise of the NBA, than sign me up! Perception is reality, and Isiah has created an alternate reality that rivals Narnia; a universe where he is successful. It must be a beautiful place for him to be able to forget about not only his current failures and short comings, but also his past (destroying the CBA and the Pacers).

I imagine there are no talking lions, dwarfs or Centaurs. Just Isiah sitting on his throne, casting out the non-believers, and granting the Knicks a championship year after year; in spite of the fact that the team is poorly contrived, selfish and inept. Isiah is not only the Knicks President and Coach, but the NBA commissioner and President of the whole world! He is so beloved and revered that everyone talks in a soft high voice to emulate His Greatness. He can call women bitches and invite them to meet him “off-site” with no repercussions of any kind. In fact, these women accept his invitation and make him a very happy man. His players can’t blackmail him because his indiscretions are known and accepted, much like Bill Clinton.

Isiah, I’m going to follow your lead. I vow to be successful, happy and optimistic regardless of the miserable failure I may be at any given time. I will also continue to tell the world about how victorious I have become and will continue to be. Perception is reality.

New York Knicks Preview

Will Randolph and Curry coexist AND succeed? Will Stephon Marbury retain his elite PG status? Will David Lee repeat his waiver wire hall of fame status of last year? These and more are all the questions that surround the Knicks this year. They believe in themselves, but should you believe in them?? Isiah loves redundancy. The last major trade he did was getting Steve Francis, when he already had Marbury. How did that work out? Oh, he traded Francis for Randolph when he already has Eddy Curry!! I don’t understand it, but maybe this one will work better. Actually, Curry had a bum shoulder and he’s never been the type of player to play through injuries, which would actually work out great for the Knicks. That would give Randolph the low block, where he’s much better than Curry at scoring AND rebounding, and it would force David Lee into the starting lineup. The Knicks would be a much better team if they had those two starting and playing the bulk of the minutes. Bring Curry off the bench for crying out loud, but Isiah won’t do that. He gave up too much for him (two top 10 draft picks). Enough about my thoughts, let’s look at it:

Projected starting lineup with last year’s stats:
Stats follow this format – Points, Rebounds, Assists, Steals, Blocks, FG percentage & Minutes

PG – Stephon Marbury
16.4 – 2.9 – 5.4 – 0.96 – 0.14 – 42% & 37 min

SG – Jamal Crawford
17.6 – 3.2 – 4.4 – 0.97 – 0.14 – 40% & 37 min

SF – Quentin Richardson
13 – 7.2 – 2.2 – 0.73 – 0.14 – 42% & 33 min

PF – Zach Randolph
23.6 – 10.1 – 2.2 – 0.78 – 0.22 – 47% & 36 min

C – Eddy Curry
19.5 – 7 – 0.8 – 0.42 – 0.49 – 58% - 35 min

Key Bench Players

David Lee
Jared Jefferies
Ranaldo Balkman
Nate Robinson
Mardy Collins

They can score, but can they stop anyone?? Their system is not exactly set up to “outscore” their opponent, so I have my doubts.

PG
Stephon was once one of the best PG in all of fantasy basketball, averaging 20 points, 8 assists and 3 boards per game, but he has been 16 points, 6 assists and 3 boards the last two years. Granted, he has been battling some injuries, and sharing duties with Steve Franchise (though he was barely on the court as well). I don’t expect him to go up to 20 ppg, because they have two very good low post scorers, so he won’t be asked to score as much, and I don’t see his assits going up to either because he’ll be passing into the post a lot, which isn’t condusive to dimes. Basically, he should have about the same year, maybe marginally better. Nate Robinson is the backup and I love his confidence and atheltic ability, but he’s another scoring point guard. In fact, when he’s on the court he dominates the ball and takes away from the game plan of feeding the bigs down low, so I think his minutes will be limited, unless he can learn to pass first and not worry about proving that he belongs in the league by scoring every chance he gets.

SG
Jamal Crawford is a very underrated guard in fantasy. You can get him late and he’ll give you 17, 3 & 4. That’s pretty good for a number two guard. The bad thing with Crawford is his consistency. He’ll give you a great game, followed by a HORRIBLE game. You never know what you’re going to get. Mardy Collins will be backing him up, but there’s not much value there.

SF
Quentin Richardson has the talent to be a very good fantasy player, and he is in spurts with his scoring and rebounding, but on this team, this year... he won’t be. He’ll have a few good games, but not enough to make it worth owning. Jared Jefferies and Ranaldo Balkman are backing him up, but the same goes for them. Don’t draft any of these players.

PF
Zach was dominant in Portland averaging 23 & 10, but he needed 19 shots per game to do that, AND he camped out on the low block to pick up a lot of easy rebounds. He won’t get either of those two luxuries this year, unless Curry goes down with an injury (which is likely). I see 18 points and 8 or 9 boards per game, which isn’t bad, except that he won’t give you ANYTHING else in the other categories. No assits, no steals and no blocks. He’s an average forward at best. UNLESS Curry goes down with an injury, then he’ll be the same Zach he’s always been. That’s why I’m saying draft him. He is by far the best Knick to own this year, just don’t spend a high pick on him.

C
Eddy Curry will score around 16 – 19 points, but he won’t grab more than 7 boards, and he won’t pass the damn ball and he won’t block a freaking shot and he won’t steal a ball, so... stay away!!! I actually want to talk about David Lee here. He’s damn good, no doubt about it. He shoots 60%. Hustles and grabs boards at a phenominal rate. He averaged 10 points and 10 boards last year with only 30 minutes per game. How many minutes will he get this year? I imagine less. Probably around 25 or so, which is a shame. He should be on the court more than any other player on this damn team. Which is why the Knicks will go nowhere this year.

So the Knicks are thinking playoffs and I’m saying, HELL NO!! Zach Randolph, Stephon Marbury and Jamal Crawford are the only players worth owning (oh, and David Lee if Isiah gets smart). However, like I have said more than a few times here, if someone goes down (Curry) with an injury, then Zach and David will BALL!