Marbury Looking For Middle Ground Under Thomas
The source of all that good feeling is doubly remarkable as it comes right after team-mainstay Marbury barely playing in the second half against Chicago. “Isiah (Thomas) didn’t address me about it individually” related Marbury. ”He didn’t have to. He’s the coach and he made a decision. We did talk about it as a team.” “It’s never about one man,” said Thomas. “It’s about the New York Knicks as a TEAM.” At the same time, Thomas admitted that characterizing Marbury’s present play as still trying to find the ideal middle ground between playing within the system and playing with aggression is fair.
“Clearly, his play would indicate that,” said Thomas. “Because we know he’s a better player than what he’s shown. The challenge for me as a coach is to make sure he’s getting adequate touches and adequate shots so he’ll make a difference.”
“Steph has been really humble,” the always-succinct David Lee summed up the situation. ”And it’s been great to watch a guy used to getting 30-40 shots a game make an adjustment for the team. But we also really love Stephon as a scorer.”
“Stephon just needs to find his spots within the game offensively,” said Thomas. “But it all has to come within the framework of what we do. It’s never going to be a one-man show -- but we do need his offense to win. It’s not about dominating the game for 48 minutes. But there’s a 2-3 minute segment where if you score 6-8 points we can win the basketball game. We’re good enough to stay in games where all we need is a two-minute spurt -- whether it’d be from Robinson, Crawford, Marbury, or Curry -- when that guy does his thing. But it’s got to be in the right spots. We’ll keep poking around until we find those spots. We’ve just got to find ways to get the whole unit clicking together.”
Thing is, Marbury and Thomas have always clicked together harmoniously both on and off the floor. “Trust me, there’s no controversy,” Jamal Crawford said. “I see how they act toward each other. Everyone’s treated fair here. And they have the best relationship out of everybody.”
Still, “there’s no question that you have a different role as coach and as (team) President,” said Thomas. “ I don’t think there’s a player I’ve ever coached that hasn’t at some point in time not liked me. But that’s what coaching is all about. My job is to make sure that, as I lead this team, that we conform and act as one. When you are not acting as one, I’ll make sure you understand it’s about the Knicks.”
Thus, “I don’t have a concern about his mindset,” added Thomas. “Steph knows it’s never personal about one player. Again, my job during these times is to make sure I lead the group and make sure we stay together as a unit, getting better.”
“There’s a clear understanding from everyone on the team as to what we want – and as to what we want done. If there’s any doubt in any player’s mind, I’ll make sure that’s cleared up and I keep reinforcing what I want. Make no mistake, If I don’t get EXACTLY what I want, there’ll be consequences.”
“Still, before we started, I knew November would be a tough month for us. And, during the tough times, a lot of emotions do come into play.”
“The goal is that in March and April we want to be a good basketball team,” said Thomas. “We’re not that far from that. Sure, we have some slip-ups. We get down by 20 but we’re able to come back. We have also won by 20. So we’re not that far away -- we’re just got to stay stubborn about keep moving and keep pushing toward the team we want to be. And I’m hell-bent to make sure that happens.”
