Saturday, February 9, 2008

The Epic Catalogue

Isiah has, if nothing else, built up quite a collection of post-game conference performances. Collected together, they read like the comments on a struggling kid's report card-- "Should try harder" or "Showing some improvement."
Roll the quotes!

11-2 Knicks 106, Cavaliers 110
"Overall, I was pleased with our effort," Thomas said.

11-13 Knicks 102, Suns 113
"But there were some good things I saw, some very positive things."

11-14 Knicks 81, Clippers 84
"Whatever happened in the past is in the past. We move forward."

11-16 Knicks 118, Kings 123 2OT
"For Stephon, it's not about offensive or defensive display, it's more his leadership and his ability to rally the team," said Thomas...

11-17 Knicks 83, Nuggets 115
"Sometimes in this game, the schedule beats you," Knicks coach Isiah Thomas said.

11-20 Warriors 108, Knicks 82
"The booing, 'Get rid of this guy, get rid of me, get rid of him,' that's how the fans react. It comes with the territory we have and the place that we live in."

11-21 Knicks 86, Pistons 98 [8th Knick loss in a row]
"It's not about the players right now. This is where coaching comes in," Thomas said.

11-29 Knicks 59, Celtics 104
"We take two steps forward and one giant step back," Thomas said.

12-2 Suns 115, Knicks 104
Knicks coach Isiah Thomas said during his postgame press conference that his team got impatient in the fourth quarter, but when asked why that happened, he paused for 10 seconds before saying, "I'll keep that thought to myself."

12-7 Knicks 90, Sixers 101
One fan in a Knicks hat held a "Fire Isiah!" sign directly across the court from Thomas. "Just quit! Please!" he yelled. One fan who might not have noticed was the man taking a nap a few rows over.

12-8 Sixers 105, Knicks 77 [I attended this game]
"I was searching tonight," Knicks coach Isiah Thomas said. "I went one through 12 just trying to find any combination that would work, any person that had some type of energy or fire. And there was nothing there tonight."

12-10 Mavericks 99, Knicks 89
Mara Altschuler, a fan sitting near the Knicks' bench, said Thomas was talking to some fans during the game, blaming them for being a poor "sixth man" for the team.Thomas said, "I was just trying to make sure that we kept the team together and we stayed focused on what we were doing and trying to win a basketball game," he said. "Our fans are great, they support us and they show up and we're glad they're here."

12-12 Sonics 117, Knicks 110
"We definitely have to get better."

12-14 Knicks 96, Bulls 101
Coach Isiah Thomas said the matchups dictated the limited time, that the Bulls were "playing smaller and quicker, and we were trying to get a little more pace in the game."

12-17 Pacers 119, Knicks 92
"We don't grind and we don't compete like we should for 48 minutes and I've never ... a lot of things that can be said about me and teams that I've coached and the way I played, but I've never been accused of not having heart or competing. Tonight was very discouraging to me because we didn't collectively play with heart and compete like I know I do."

12-21 Knicks 95, Bobcats 105
On his almost-tussle with Q-Rich: "Sometimes you try to say some things to a player or say some things to your team just to get them motivated, to get some fire in them," Thomas said when asked to explain the incident. "There won't be any carry-over from it."

12-23 Lakers 95, Knicks 90
"We probably have the wrong guys starting and we'll look to change our lineup and try to get some more energy and defensive guys in the lineup," Thomas said.

12-30 Bulls 100, Knicks 83
Asked what he's seen from his changes, Thomas said: "Well, we're not winning. That's the only reason why you do it, is you try to win basketball games."

1-2 Kings 107, Knicks 97
"There's a refusal to come together and play collectively," Knicks coach Isiah Thomas said. "We do it in spurts, but then we sit back and we watch."

1-4 Knicks 93, Spurs 97
"That's why they're the champs," Knicks coach Isiah Thomas said of Finley's shot. "You were hoping for a miss, but that was all net."

1-9 Rockets 101, Knicks 92
"I think any time that you come on the floor like that, I think the official has ... you're really at the official's mercy. He can either call a technical foul on you or eject you, so he was well within his right to eject me from the game. But I would hope that in the future that they would understand that I don't normally walk out on the floor and say things unless I have a pretty valid complaint, at least in my mind."

1-11 Raptors 99, Knicks 90
"I've tried to put it in terms, I've told them we're kind of the concrete layers, we're the cement layers. When you move into your house, the guy who poured the concrete never really gets a chance to live in that beautiful house that he built. And our job right now is to make sure that we lay the concrete and we lay it correctly."

1-18 Knicks 98, Wizards 111
"Some nights, you just run into a team that's playing a little better than you are," Knicks coach Isiah Thomas said, "and tonight the Wizards were playing better than we were."

1-21 Celtics 109, Knicks 93
"Their savvy throughout the course of the game, they were able to pick us apart," Knicks coach Isiah Thomas said.

1-27 Knicks 104, Warriors 106
"We had good looks and a couple of open shots that didn't go down. ... I thought we played some pretty good basketball."

1-29 Knicks 109, Lakers 120
"Our lack of execution down the stretch, particularly the last five, six minutes of the game, we just totally lost all composure," Knicks coach Isiah Thomas said.

1-30 Knicks 89, Jazz 100
"At the end, we just got a little fatigued," New York coach Isiah Thomas said.

2-1 Knicks 88, Blazers 94 OT
"We couldn't make a shot," New York coach Isiah Thomas said. "We just went cold."

2-2 Knicks 85, Sonics 86
"We'll keep working at it," Knicks coach Isiah Thomas said.

2-4 Clippers 103, Knicks 94
Thomas: "I thought our bigs had it going pretty good inside, but we're down a lot of perimeter players right now and they did a good job of just packing it in and we didn't have enough outside shooting to really keep the defense honest."
LA Center Chris Kaman: "It's like a toilet bowl game or a dust bowl game. Two bottom teams fighting."

2-6 Pacers 103, Knicks 100
"Right now, our turnovers are killing us and we can't ... we have to do a better job with our guards in terms of getting in the flow and organized," Knicks coach Isiah Thomas said during his brief postgame remarks. "We have to keep working at it."

2-8 Spurs 99, Knicks 93 OT
"The air was kind of popped out of the balloon," Thomas said. "I said to the team the thing that I admire about San Antonio, that's the reason why they're champions. they don't hang their heads. They make a mistake and they stay in it."

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