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<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Isiah Thomas cautioned reporters yesterday not to turn the Knicks' season into a battle of wills between the embattled head coach and the team's disgruntled fan base. But it may be too late.
The fans already have started chanting "Fire Thomas," and Thomas didn't help himself after practice yesterday when he said that Wednesday's crowd at Madison Square Garden had the wrong take on the Knicks' 113-102 loss to Washington.
"I can't expect them to understand the game the way I understand it or see it the way we see it," Thomas said. "It's better that the punishment is given to myself than to the players. The players got to think and move free and perform. We had a good day today."
Thomas believes that the Knicks were simply beaten by a hot-shooting Wizards team that made 14 of 20 three-pointers. He didn't blame it on a lack of effort or defensive breakdowns, which could be perceived as an indictment of the head coach. Washington was indeed playing at a high level but the Wizards had also dropped their first eight road games, including a 20-point loss to the Knicks on Nov. 15.
And even if Thomas wants to chalk it up as a loss to a better team, he runs the risk of further alienating the fans by making comments that some could interpret as the Knicks' president questioning their basketball IQ.
"People were kind of giving it to me," said Thomas, who told his players immediately after the game to keep their heads up and ignore the boos. "As being the leader of the team, when you get the bad medicine, you teach them how to swallow the medicine.
"It was a bad night. We accept it, but we're still very proud men and we're going to conduct ourselves in that way."
Thomas is in a unique position because Garden chairman James Dolan has given him a one-year ultimatum to improve the franchise. The Knicks' 7-14 record and their dwindling home attendance haven't helped Thomas' cause. So in an effort to bolster his case, Thomas usually points out that the Knicks are playing hard and showing fight. He also doesn't miss the opportunity to remind everyone that Jared Jeffries has been sidelined since the preseason and that Channing Frye also is out with an ankle injury.</div>
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The fans already have started chanting "Fire Thomas," and Thomas didn't help himself after practice yesterday when he said that Wednesday's crowd at Madison Square Garden had the wrong take on the Knicks' 113-102 loss to Washington.
"I can't expect them to understand the game the way I understand it or see it the way we see it," Thomas said. "It's better that the punishment is given to myself than to the players. The players got to think and move free and perform. We had a good day today."
Thomas believes that the Knicks were simply beaten by a hot-shooting Wizards team that made 14 of 20 three-pointers. He didn't blame it on a lack of effort or defensive breakdowns, which could be perceived as an indictment of the head coach. Washington was indeed playing at a high level but the Wizards had also dropped their first eight road games, including a 20-point loss to the Knicks on Nov. 15.
And even if Thomas wants to chalk it up as a loss to a better team, he runs the risk of further alienating the fans by making comments that some could interpret as the Knicks' president questioning their basketball IQ.
"People were kind of giving it to me," said Thomas, who told his players immediately after the game to keep their heads up and ignore the boos. "As being the leader of the team, when you get the bad medicine, you teach them how to swallow the medicine.
"It was a bad night. We accept it, but we're still very proud men and we're going to conduct ourselves in that way."
Thomas is in a unique position because Garden chairman James Dolan has given him a one-year ultimatum to improve the franchise. The Knicks' 7-14 record and their dwindling home attendance haven't helped Thomas' cause. So in an effort to bolster his case, Thomas usually points out that the Knicks are playing hard and showing fight. He also doesn't miss the opportunity to remind everyone that Jared Jeffries has been sidelined since the preseason and that Channing Frye also is out with an ankle injury.</div>
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