First of all, Curry’s benching is TOTALLY WARRANTED. Fact is, I have always maintained that Curry’s potential has no limitations except for the ones he has placed on himself, mainly his work ethic, in which case he has been negligent, to say the least.
I have been watching this kid since High School. Arguably, he has the best touch, moves, and natural ability around the basket, than any other Big Man in the league.
7’ guys of his caliber are a dying breed, take a look around. That being said, I have been railing for years saying that his conditioning, or lack thereof, has prohibited him from taking his game to the next level.
He was on the cusp of becoming an All-Star. When he was passed up, his beef did have merit, however, instead of going hard during the off season, coming into camp ala Bynum, and proving the pundits wrong, he comes to camp in relatively the same shape, or worse…
He did have the burglary incident to deal with that summer, but overcoming adversity is the Hallmark of Champions, and the mainstream eats it up like forbidden comfort food. It would have legitimized his argument, and made him one of the most marketable players in NBA history. He is a good guy off the court after all.
The Knicks organization should have had elite Nutritionists, and Physical trainers, like the Suns/Nuggets and many other teams, make up training regimens specific to each individual players most pressing area of need. Crawford’s strength, Curry’s stamina/conditioning, etc. But ultimately, Curry is solely responsible for his body, his benching status, and his fall from grace as the cornerstone of the franchise.
Meanwhile, the player for whom he was snubbed (Dwight Howard), came into camp looking, freakishly, in better condition than he was the previous season, and had Patrick Ewing to help him hone his game. Adding insult to injury, this guy was already built like an NBA Adonis.
The Knicks definitely should have hired Patrick Sr. to work with Eddy long time ago, and retain the rights to Patrick Jr. now, by any means necessary. $400K is a drop in the bucket, compared to potential future dividends this kid could bring.
Curry not elevating his game, was the true albatross, single handedly weighing down the teams ability to improve far more than Marbury’s bad attitude. His lack of conditioning, and Marbury’s mutiny, coupled with the Anucha Browne suit, created a cancerous atmosphere, and inevitably, lead to ultimate failure.
We know how N.Y. is, if they came out like world beaters, the stories still would have been sports page fodder, but the mainstream would have reduced them to a small footnote. By no means am I attempting to absolve Thomas, the facts are the facts, and he was judged by a jury of his peers. I’m just pointing out how fickle we ALL can be when our beloved team is a WINNER.
As for Marbury, does he have a reputation of being a malcontent? Asolutely!
Is D'Antoni being purposely vindictive with the benching, truly giving players likely to be on the team in the future “prime time evaluations” (they were playing the Heat after all), or, was he testing Marbury's temperament to confirm whether or not the troublesome guard has truly made an about face?..... That, I do not know, and I don’t think any of us do. But I sure do hope the latter is the case.
If Marbury can remain stoic, observe what the coach wants him to do, stays ready to execute the coaches will, and EXECUTES the game plan with efficiency, when he is finally called upon, he may finally have the opportunity he has professed to have since he donned the Knick uniform, which is, WIN IN N.Y.
If he has truly bought into the concept of TEAM before me, effectively runs the offense, which I believe he is supremely equipped to do, it will display a tremendous amount of discipline, composure, but most of all maturity. And that’s what the Knicks need the most right now, a true “LEADER” on the floor, and team defense.
This could resurrect his career, whether or not the Knicks retain his services next year, albeit, winning would make it virtually impossible to part ways with him. After all, Lebron could always use an All-Star caliber point guard, right?
No matter how much we may disagree with his methods, D’Antoni has won consistently in Phoenix, he was Asst. coach on the Gold medal Olympic team this summer, and he has been constantly evaluating this team all summer. We must give him an opportunity to implement his strategy, and voice our criticisms in a respectful manner.
NO ONE can pretend to know the make up this team better than D’Antoni and his staff, with the exception of Thomas. Although it’s early, he has already demonstrated the ability to make better use of their skills using a completely different philosophy.
With all my reservations, I must give him the benefit of the doubt, and HOLD THE IRE, at least for now. But hey, if you don’t have thick skin, don’t get on the stage in N.Y., right? Just ask Joe Torre……..
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