Thread Tools

Display Modes

**USSKittyHawk** · 02-27-2008, 08:35 AM

Quote:

Isiah Thomas wasn't among the standing-room only crowd at the Apollo Theatre on Monday for a private screening of "Black Magic," a film about basketball at historical black colleges.
But of all the famous faces in attendance - Howard Stern, Paul Simon, and David Dinkins - two names in particular should concern Thomas and interest Knick fans.
Madison Square Garden president Steve Mills attended Monday's screening with Kiki Vandeweghe, who is working with the Nets as a special assistant to team president Rod Thorn. That Mills asked Vandeweghe to be his guest wouldn't be noteworthy expect for the fact that Vandeweghe, who joined the Nets in December, signed only a six-month contract, which would make him a free agent around draft day this June, by which time the Knicks would want to have Thomas' replacement in place. Garden chairman James Dolan is expected to remove Thomas from power.

A person close to Vandeweghe said it was a chance meeting between Mills and Vandeweghe, but the two did sit next to each other Monday.
Vandeweghe, Jerry Colangelo and Donnie Walsh have been mentioned as the three most likely candidates to replace Thomas, the Knicks president. But Vandeweghe appears to have a slight edge, according to several league sources.
"The NBA is pushing Kiki for that job," said a league executive. "It sounds like it is a foregone conclusion that something is going to happen over there at the end of the season. Kiki makes a lot of sense."
Mills worked for the NBA before joining the Garden and serves as a liaison between the league and Dolan. It was Mills who recommended Thomas to Dolan after Magic Johnson turned down the job.
"Hiring Kiki is a safe play for Steve," says a Knicks source. "They might be intimidated by Jerry and Donnie."

Vandeweghe, 49, played for the Knicks for parts of four seasons from 1988-1992, and also served as general manager of the Denver Nuggets from 2001-2006. He had spent parts of the last two seasons as an NBA analyst for ESPN. With the Nuggets, Vandeweghe was responsible for drafting Carmelo Anthony and orchestrating the trade with the Knicks that brought Marcus Camby to Denver.
But Vandeweghe had some misses as well. He drafted Nikoloz Tskitishvili - who is no longer in the league - with the fifth pick in 2002. Vandeweghe also acquired Kenyon Martin in a sign-and-trade deal with the Nets, only to see Martin need major surgery on both knees. Still, Vandeweghe was able to take a perennial loser in Denver and turn the Nuggets into a playoff team, and he would be walking into a similar situation with the Knicks.

If Vandeweghe succeeds Thomas, his first order of business would be to find a head coach. In Denver, Vandeweghe's two hires were Jeff Bzdelik, who had no NBA head-coaching experience, and George Karl.
Vandeweghe's hiring history could work in Mark Jackson's favor. A former Knicks teammate of Vandeweghe's who is a Nets broadcaster, Jackson is regarded as a top coaching candidate. Celtics assistant coach Tom Thibodeau, Knicks assistant Herb Williams and Patrick Ewing could also be under consideration. Scott Skiles, Rick Carlisle, Jeff Van Gundy and Doug Collins are all candidates with previous heading-coaching experience.

Hiring Vandeweghe could lead to the return of several former Knick players. If Ewing is not hired as head coach, he would likely be asked to join the team as an assistant. Also, Vandeweghe could bring in Allan Houston or Greg Anthony as an assistant GM.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/ba...on_kiki-2.html

urwhatueati8god · 02-27-2008, 07:44 PM

I would very much like to have the guy who signed Kenyon Martin to a max contract. Can we please get a competent general manager instead of one that sucks?

ChosenFEW · 02-27-2008, 09:44 PM

I know I'm supposed to be on my season long boycott of the knicks(granted knicks season has been over for quite a while) but damit if the knicks hire this guy I swear..... i might just move to boston for the next ten years.

Kiki wouldn't be **** if it wasn't for having carmelo fall on his lap. Even then he was considering taking darko like the pistons did if he had the number 2 pick.

We need someone new. not someone else's trash

[End rant]

TwinkieFoot · 02-28-2008, 12:45 PM

I don't think there is much to say here that wasn't already said. Kiki is in no way shape or form better than Isiah Thomas at this point. At the very least, Isiah has never drafted a bust in the draft like Nikolay Tsvisv(whatever). If we fire Isiah, I think we should go either Donnie Walsh or Colangelo although I fear Colangelo is just a tad bit overrated. The only thing I feel puts him in the same category as a Donnie Walsh is the fact that he has had a knack for building uptempo teams, which appear to be the future of the league and something I'll address in a post pretty soon.

eddymac · 02-28-2008, 01:19 PM

I wouldn't totally fire Isiah I think he still has some value. You just need someone to filter his ideas, to basically tell him "no it's stupid to sign Jerome James to a 30 million dollar contract".

TwinkieFoot · 02-28-2008, 01:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eddymac

I wouldn't totally fire Isiah I think he still has some value. You just need someone to filter his ideas, to basically tell him "no it's stupid to sign Jerome James to a 30 million dollar contract".

I actually agree with that idea. I feel Isiah should be removed as coach and demoted to something less than Team President but still plays a big role in personnel moves especially the draft. If you look at where we started, Isiah has done a pretty decent job acquiring talented players but he seems to have poor ability at being able to trade for the players we need to win. Still, I think he's put us in a much better situation than the Scott Layden days. I do think he needs a major influence in the front office though that might have some sort of long term agenda in mind ie Donnie Walsh.

Thread Tools Display Modes

Thread Tools

Display Modes