Barkley: Thomas is "As Safe As Me In A Room Full of Cookies"

Isiah Thomas will probably be out of a job by the weekend. Tonight on TNT's broadcast of the New York Knicks vs. Boston Celtics, Ernie Johnson asked Charles Barkley whether he thought Thomas' job was safe. After some hemming and hawing, Barkley finally answered:

"He's about as safe as me in a roomful of cookies."

In other words, not safe at all. (If you are looking for a great sound byte on a topic, Barkley never fails to disappoint.)

Forget the rumors and conjecture. I watched their "game" - if you can call it that - Thursday night against the Boston Celtics. Granted, I caught the second half, but I saw more than I needed to come to the conclusion that this team with Zeke is hopeless.

At halftime, they were down by 23, but they managed to score 28 points in the entire second half - that's for the entire team, not one player. In fact, only one player - Nate Robinson - scored in double digits (more on that later). The field goals made vs. missed for the starters looked more like dates at the beginning of the year: 1-10, 2-4, 2-11, 3-12, 4-8. Not going to get too far with that one.

By the start of the 4th quarter, the score was 41 to 82, after the Knicks scored a whopping 10 points in the 3rd quarter. Bostons starters sat out almost the entire second half. In the waning seconds of the 4th quarter, the Knicks somehow managed to get up to 56 in mostly garbage time since they were down 40 throughout the quarter, and were on track to set a record for the least amount of points in Knicks history (58). Then, with two seconds left on the clock, Robinson launched a shot from just inside half court that sank at the buzzer, giving them their final total of 59 points. And this was the shot that made him the only double digits scorer for the Knicks and saved the team from an otherwise record-setting loss - a record no one wants to have.

No doubt, though, that the game was still historic because it was probably one of the saddest displays of basketball that I have ever seen in the NBA. This looked like the early non-conference college basketball games between a Division I powerhouse and a Division II weakling. But as well as the Celtics played (they destroyed them in the lane, on both ends of the floor), the Knicks didn't even look like they were trying. They literally just quit playing. If you saw the game, then you know what I'm talking about. You could see it in their faces. Some guys were shaking their heads on the bench at the spectacle, but most of them just seemed to be saying "who cares?"

Not surprisingly, Zeke's face was actually the saddest throughout the game. He looked completely lost in thought with his eyes glazed over, alternately smirking or smiling, watching his team (and thus his position with the Knicks) go up in flames. His players seemed more smug because they feel certain that they aren't going anywhere, knowing their coach will likely take the fall for this one.

After the game, when Zeke was asked whether he was embarrassed, he responded "we're all embarrassed." Marbury and They may all be embarrassed, but only one of them is likely going anywhere.

When Kevin Garnett was asked after the game what he thought of the Knicks effort, he said that he had played with Stephon Marbury and this did not look like the same Marbury that he knew then. When asked if he thought they had quit, he suggested that guys don't just quit, something has to make them quit.

Hmm. Now what kind of "something" could he be talking about? The end result is that the team just up and quits on Zeke, which, if it continues in their game tomorrow, will in essence force the owners to fire him. In the process, the team embarrassed themselves and their city by putting forth no effort, and making Zeke look like a fool.

The truth is that this team without Zeke may be just as bad as they were with him. If whoever comes in next is able to right this ship, I will be shocked. Larry Brown couldn't do it, Zeke couldn't do it. Maybe the solution calls for something more drastic . . .

like disbanding the Knicks and sending their players to other teams. Just a thought.