Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Coney Islands Finest

Stephon Marbury was by far was the most talented of the modern day NYC point guards, which include Rafer "skip to my lou" Alston and Sebastian Telfair. After a brilliant half season with the Knicks after getting traded here for Antonio McDyess, I boldly predicted that he would lead the league in assists. After all he was coming home to the greatest city on earth, the basketball mecca, where he was born and raised. That prediction didn't seem that far fetched at the time. Even to this day, I think he has more natural talent than any point guard in the league, and that includes the best point guard in the league, Chris Paul. When I make that statement, people think I'm delusional. He is more talented, and had more potential than Paul, but his arrogant and surly attitude took him from being a MVP candidate to a career loser who has had opportunity after opportunity to play with hall of fame players and coaches. And each time he has ruined it by being an Allen Iverson wannabe. He is basketballs version of Manny Ramirez. Both great players, who people don't want on their teams due to their personalities and attitudes, except for one major difference. Manny is a winner. Hes won everywhere hes been, and has been a major contributor to every playoff race, and every world championship hes been a part of. Marbury hasn't won shit, and when he does, hell have to swallow his pride and accept a reduced roll, and fall in line. Steph has been a problem wherever he has been. This year was a result of all the wrong hes done coming back to bite him in the ass.

Many New Yorkers who were fans turned a blind eye to some of his disastrous team finishes to look at his pretty statistics. The run ins with coaches who were proven winners. When he came to New York we all thought if there was any place on earth where a player of his talent could redeem his career and become a hometown legend it was Madison Square Garden. A person couldn't write a better script than a kid from Coney Island coming back to play for his hometown team, in the prime of his career for one of the best point guards in NBA history, hall of famer Isiah Thomas. He feuded with coaches. With Players. He wanted to run the offense his own way, the way he did at Lincoln High in the early nineties. His me first attitude is what got him to the NBA is exactly what destroyed his career. After the losses and the alienation of teammates, he finally was given one last chance to play for Isiah, the guy who bought him here, gave him the extension, and virtually defended all his immature actions until it cost him his job. When Isiah wanted him to play defense and be more of a facilitator, to groom and lead a budding big man in Eddy Curry. To do what a real and true point guard should, and make players around him better, to put his teammates in the best position to score instead of himself. I guess Steph thought he was playing for Duane Morton at Lincoln, where he was the best player, at the point guard position, on the floor. This ain't high school. This is the NBA. A league of supposed professionals. After shitting on Isiah, he had lost his fans and his teammates, and was getting paid heavily to do so. A dream scenario quickly turned into a nightmare. Between him fucking an intern in the back of his truck out of all places, him blackmailing his strongest supporter in Isaiah, and his track record of bickering with every single coach he has had in his career was a sure shot sign his time was up.

In comes Mike Dantoni, who for the record I don't think is a good coach. His upbeat attitude is exactly what they needed after all the boneheaded moves and negativity that Isiah and Steph had bought to the organization. He surely isn't a championship caliber coach, as hes made out to be, but thus far has done a great job turning a bunch of guys accustomed to losing into positive thinkers who play to win every night. However he came in, ironically as one of Marbury's former coaches that Steph had managed to turn against him. Come to think of it, there aren't too many coaches if any, that have positive things to say about Steph. He did though say he was going to give Steph a fair chance, but he would have to accept a new role as Chris Duhon's backup. And for the first time, he was willing to do what he had to do for the good of the team. He really had no choice, being in a contract year, but he did. Coming in camp in excellent shape, and excluding that idiotic tattoo on the side of his head, really did nothing to draw attention to himself and detract from the team. He had a great preseason, and then on opening night, Dantoni benches him out of nowhere, surprising everyone from Donnie Walsh, to the fans, who actually chanted "we want Steph" during the game. Who would have thought it? He then continued to bench him for the next few games which puzzled everyone, including Walsh who believed Dantoni's bullshit of giving him a fair chance, despite him being the teams best player. After trading Crawford, he then had the nerve to ask, I repeat, ask, Steph to play. Then he offers him a starting shooting guard spot out of desperation, which Steph refused. For the first time in his career, I agreed with Marbury's decision. To begin with, Dantoni needs to grow a sack. Do you think Gregg Poppovich or Phil Jackson would have asked him. "Get your ass in the game, or youre suspended without pay". Period. He makes 22 million a season, why the hell are you asking him to go in? Pussy. Then, Dantoni knew from day 1 he had no use for Marbury. He blindsided Donnie Walsh with his decision, leaving him with no choice but to fully support the coach he just hired, even though he disagreed with the move. Finally they bought him out which is what they shouldh've done the day the coach was hired. For once Marbury wasn't looking to be the center of negative attention, and Dantoni made him into it.

Now, don't get me wrong. My beef with Dantoni was for being phony. Exiling him got rid of so much negative baggage and bickering. He just shouldn't have dragged it out so long. Why pay a guy 22 million dollars to do absolutely nothing. Plenty of people felt he was treated wrongly, but didn't sympathize with the guy because he had it coming for years. If anything, he should have been placed on the inactive list the day he flew home from that west coast trip, last season, and his teammates voted against him playing the next game. Instead, Isiah went against the wishes of the team, and in the process lost the control and respect of his players, and the rest is history.
This year he came in with the right attitude, but its a day late and 22 million dollars short. And he was punished for his past. Rightly so. I just don't like the way it was done. Dantoni was a snake and set him up. Oh well, he got paid for it. Very well. Now he's off to the Celtics to play with old teammate Kevin Garnett, and believe me, he will be on a short leash. Very short. If he screws up, his career is over. For the first time in his career, hes coming to a locker room with bonafide leaders. True professionals who wont allow anyone to destroy their locker room chemistry or the goals that are set from day one of training camp. Steph isn't a leader, and has never really been around any on any of the teams he has played for. He is a cancer who destroys the morale of the locker room. Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce wont allow that to happen, since winning is the supreme goal, at all expense, as proven by the decline in individual stats. The Celtics have their ring. If he comes in with that Coney Island high school mentality, he will be back right where he started, because they don't need him. He could help a whole lot, but they don't really need him. It also will prove that if Marbury cant swallow his pride for a championship ring and fall in line in order to win, then nobody will want to sign him. How on earth could he fuck this up? You never know with Steph. Only time will tell.

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