On Apr 20, 5:32=A0pm, "Capn'O" <dan.zin...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> And had he had the "cojones" to not accept this condition we'd be
> looking at a different, almost certainly inferior, Prez who would also
> keep Isiah.
That's a good point...it's as likely as not that the reason guys like
Colangelo and Jerry West weren't really contenders for the position is
that Dolan probably mandated that they would have to keep Isiah on in
some capacity or they weren't getting the job. Those guys probably
laughed real hard, hung up the phone, and got back in the pool.
Mr. James "Winning is not integral to the strategy" Dolan has long
proven that he'll keep any incompetent asshat in power and reward them
regularly, so long as said asshat does exactly what they say.
Subordination is what's integral to Dolan's strategy...not success.
By getting Walsh, there's at least someone vaguely competent in
office. Unlike his predecessors Thomas (who had a record of burning
everything to the ground everywhere he went) and Layden (who didn't
have much of a record at all, other than being Daddy's right hand man
in Utah), Walsh actually has a history of successfully rebuilding
teams. He did one of the best jobs of it I've ever seen, completely
dismantling the 2000 Pacers finals team and rebuild it into the 2004
Pacers Eastern Conference finals team, all without even missing the
playoffs in the interim. He's also the first man in charge to
honestly and sensibly talk about rebuilding -- in real terms, not in
Isiah bull**** lie terms -- and getting some cap structure since Ewing
began to decay and that necessity became obvious to everyone but
Dolan. And while he hasn't removed Thomas from the organization
entirely, he has removed him from power.
Is it ideal? No, and as we've said around here many times, it ain't
gonna be ideal ever around here until that idiot sells the team to
someone else. But Mr. "Gimme My Retirement Check" hasn't given me any
reason to judge or blame him just yet, understanding the reality of
the nightmarish political situation that is dealing with the Dolan
Garden, proved to us by GM after GM after coach after player. I'm
willing to hold off on judgment until we see what happens. So far, in
the few weeks he's been in power, he's saying and doing things that I
have been waiting for someone from the brass to say and do for years
now, only to watch them fail at that. I'm not saying Walsh is going
to be great and you should love him -- just saying I'm not jumping on
the hate bandwagon just yet without sufficient reason to. If he does
cause meaningful improvements around here that get the team on the
right track, I'm more than happy to see him get his supple retirement
check.
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