When it was announced that former Indiana Pacers’ CEO Donnie Walsh had agreed to take over as the Knicks’ President of Basketball operations, there was dancing in the streets (I did a back flip followed by a cartwheel). The reign that was “Isiah the Terrible” is over! However, as ecstatic as we all are about the Garden’s latest coup, is the 67-year old Bronx native really the right man for the job?
Walsh has spent the last 24 years with the Indiana Pacers organization and comes to New York with the well deserved distinction as one of the league’s top personnel directors. His much ballyhooed decision to draft UCLA’s Reggie Miller over local hero, Indiana University’s Steve Alford, laid the foundation to the Pacers 15-plus years of title contention. In addition to Miller, Walsh also managed to bring in a seldom-used Jermaine O’Neal from the Portland Trailblazers to spearhead Indiana’s seamless transition from a rapidly aging group of vets to a hungry group of youngsters ready to contend in a wide open Eastern Conference.
Despite the impressive resume, it’s …
Arkansas running back Darren McFadden is considered by many, the alpha-male amongst this year’s crop of prospects in April’s upcoming draft. McFadden’s dominance at the collegiate level, along with his awe-inspiring performance at last month’s scouting combine, have left scouts and executive with visions of Adrian Peterson, last season’s NFL Rookie of the Year. Nonetheless, personnel needs of the top five teams selecting, could drop the former Razorback down few slots to the Jets at number six. If such scenario is played out, the fate of head coach Eric Mangini and GM Mike Tannenbaum could be determined.Â
Despite displaying their opulence this off-season, Gang Green enters the draft with many questions still unanswered; and while McFadden indeed is a once in a life-time talent, the Jets might be best served not selecting him at number six.
To draft a running back within the first ten selections is a tremendous risk; as the Jets should be well aware of. For every Peterson there is a Blair Thomas or a Ki-Jana Carter to account for. Jets fans should be intimately acquainted with said risks, as …
The Jets continued their wheeling and dealing Monday, as Gang Green has come to terms with Packers tight end Bubba Franks, both sides agreeing to a one-year deal.
The former University of Miami standout was a favorite of Brett Favre’s, catching 27 touchdowns between 2001-2004; earning himself a trip to the pro bowl three consecutive years. However, injuries have slowed the tight end in recent years. In 2005, Franks was limited to only ten games and in ‘07, a meager eight. As a result, he had a career low 18 receptions for a paltry 132 yards and three touchdowns last season.
Franks is expected to backup incumbent starter, TE Chris Baker next season.
Fellow hoops fans, we’re in a state of mourning. Lets face it, both of our area teams are horrible. The Nets are rebuilding with what would be the equivalent of rotten wood and the Knicks…urrggh (beating my head against a brick wall). So, instead of going into a deeper state of depression, let me get a couple things of my chest.
1) Kidd didn’t quit on Nets; he quit on Vince
Before last Saturday’s game against the Nets, the Mavericks’ Jason Kidd denied accusations that he had quit on his former team. Kidd told Daily News reporter Ohm Youngmisuk that he had taken the franchise as far as he could and that his alleged protest before last season’s playoff loss to Cleveland was unfounded.
“I didn’t quit on the team,” said Kidd, who will face his old team on Saturday in Dallas. “The ride was over. At the end of the day, I gave everything that I could give to the Nets. There were no more rabbits that I could pull …
Determined to bolster a dreary rushing attack, the Jets signed former Minnesota Vikings fullback Tony Richardson to a one-year deal Friday.
 The 13 year-vet  is coming off a third pro bowl selection, in which he helped rookie sensation, Adrian Peterson run away with the NFC rushing title. He’s made stops in Dallas and most notably Kansas City, where he was the front man for a healthy Priest Holmes.
Richardson, along with free agent signees Alan Faneca and Damien Woody, are expected to improve a mediocore running attack which only produced six total touchdowns last season.
Stephon Marbury made his long awaited return to the Garden Wednesday night before his Knicks hosted the Cleveland Cavaliers. It was Marbury’s first appearance at the Garden since his ankle surgery on January 22.
Marbury expressed his desire to return in a Knicks uniform next season but indicated that he was slightly bothered by Isiah Thomas’ comments, or lack thereof, regarding his future in New York.
Via ESPN.com:
“It bothered me, it bothered me a lot,” said Marbury, who seemed glum in his first remarks to the media since Jan. 16. “But like I said, I know where my heart is at and I know what I want to do, so I can’t speak on what someone else is saying or how they feel. For me, I want to be back here more than anything.”
Thomas insinuated last week that the team would be looking for a third ball-handler to share backcourt duties with Jamal Crawford and Nate Robinson next season, despite Marbury and his expiring contract. He his slated to receive $21 million. Thomas has also refused to comment on …
The rift between Isiah Thomas and Stephon Marbury is widening as Thomas has reportedly instructed the former all-star to not attend any Knicks home games for the remainder of the season.
 According to Marc Berman of the New York Post, a Marbury confidant has told the paper that management has placed a gag order on Marbury, forbidding him from speaking with the media.
Its been a tumultuous season for Marbury, as he’s been out of action for the majority of season.Â
In November, Marbury left the team before an away game in Phoenix reportedly after Thomas planned to remove the Brooklyn native from the starting lineup. Tragedy then hit the Marbury clan, as its patriarch passed away minutes before the end of a December home game at Madison Square Garden. Weeks later it then discovered that Marbury was to undergo season-ending surgery to remove bone spurs in his bum left ankle.
Thomas refused to mention Marbury by name, Wednesday, when talking about the club’s backcourt plans for next season.
Marbury has one year and $21 million remaining on his …
Since walking through the doors of Madison Square Garden on December 22nd, 2003, Isiah Thomas has promised Knicks fan a new era; one filled with hope, laced with championship banners aligning the Garden’s rafters. Four years later and we’re still waiting.
According to Frank Isola of the Daily News, “Thomas was reluctant to make any moves before last Thursday’s trade deadline because ‘he didn’t want to break anything up’ and that ‘the team was headed in the right direction.’”
Excuse me, direction to where? As of right now, the Knicks have no plan nor direction.Â
Even the Miami Heat, the worst team in the league, have some semblance of hope. Their unloading of Shaquille O’Neal cleared up cap space and enabled the team to have the flexablity to make some decision down the road.
However, unlike the Heat, Thomas’ inactivity and dogged stubborness, assures next season to be just as harsh as this one. The rebuilding process, which should have started years earlier, is only being delayed.
Sure Thomas stock piled the Knicks with tremendous individual talents but …
The New Jersey Nets waived former all-star center, Jamaal Magloire, Friday.Â
Magloire signed with the club in July, as a free agent; however, he averaged a meager 1.8 points and 3.4 rebounds in 24 games with the team.
The eight-year veteran was a 2004 All-Star selection and has averaged 8.7 points and 7.3 rebounds in stops which include: Charlotte/New Orleans, Milwaukee, and Portland.
Magloire is expected to join ex-Net Jason Kidd down in Texas, as the Mavericks have expressed interest in signing the former all-star, according to the Dallas Morning News.
Fresh off their stunning defeat of the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII, the New York Giants are reportedly close on rewarding head coach, Tom Coughlin a new contract, according to sources.
Newsday reports that the sides are close to a four-year extension worth almost $5 million per year. The deal would keep Coughlin on Big Blue’s sidelines through the 2011 season.
Coughlin was on the hot seat at the conclusion of the 2006 season, after the Giants closed the season, a disappointing 8-8; barely reaching the playoffs and losing to divisional rival, Philadelphia, in the first round. Entering this season, he was the proverbial sitting duck, as Coughlin began the year with a one year contract extension admist the voices calling for his job.
Those voices were louder as the Giants dropped their first two games versus Dallas and Green Bay, before the teams’ impeccable run to the Super Bowl.
In his four year tenure with the Giants, Coughlin has a 35-29 regular season record with an NFC East title. Before this season, he was 0-2 in …
