From Dennis Velasco,
Your Guide to Basketball.
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Tom: Good Surprise - In the East the Raptors are a surprise. I realize they're not too far over the .500 mark, but three of their top five scorers aren't yet 24. Key players have developed together despite arriving in Toronto from different countries including Spain, Italy, Yugoslavia, and Texas in the U.S. I figured they'd be at least a year away from playing the way they have over the past month.

In the West, my good surprise is the Utah Jazz. You have to see them play to understand how they do it, but even the loss of Carlos Boozer can't slow them down. How they do it is through an unselfish brand of team basketball. Yes, it can be done in today's NBA, it just isn't easy.

Bad Surprise - The New Jersey Nets have been disappointing. Yes they've had some injury issues, but whenever I see them play there appears to be enough talent around Jason Kidd and Vince Carter to play at a higher level than they have so far. The East was there for the taking a few weeks ago but the Nets couldn't grasp it.

In the West, the L.A. Clippers have been a disappointment. At this point I figured their record and standing in the West would be flip-flopped with the Lakers.

The New York Knicks passed the 50-game mark with a record of 22-28. They won only 23 games all last season. Has Isiah Thomas shown enough to warrant more time at the helm in New York?

Atma Brother #1: It was inevitable that Isiah Thomas was going to surpass Larry Brown's win total of last season. Last season Larry Brown chipped in with one of the historically bad coaching jobs we've ever witnessed in the NBA. It was so bad it was fraudulent. As long as Isiah coached to win, not to create more drama than "Desperate Housewives" like Brown did, the Knicks were going to easily surpass last year's 23 win total this season.

Should Isiah get more time to right the ship in NY? Definitely. The man has many plusses - he's an excellent evaluator of talent, connects with his players, and has the credibility of being one of the greatest PG's to ever play in the NBA. His major weakness over his tenure with the Knickerbockers are all due to his poor salary cap management skills. Another thing that many people forget is that Isiah inherited a truly awful roster thanks to Scott Layden. The Knicks are 100 times better now than when Isiah first took control of the Knickerbockers.

For all the Isiah haters a simple question: If the Knicks fired Isiah as a coach and stripped him of his management duties after this season, who's out there that would be a significant improvement? No one.

Dave: I think so... and I never thought I'd say that. The Knicks actually aren't horrible! He's got them playing decent offense, their defense is almost passable, they're rebounding well, and he's getting production out of Eddy Curry. If I were the owner I'd still keep a tight rein on his trades, but if you let him go, the next coach starts with a huge mess to clean up. Why not let Isiah continue to right the ship for another season or two while those huge contracts march further towards expiration?

Matt: Sure, why not? It's his hand-picked players and they're not the total embarrassment that they were last year. Plus, what coach would want to come in to be ringleader of this circus? Zeke dug his own grave, and continues to pile dirt on himself every time he opens his mouth, so he has two options: lie in it or go all Uma Thurman in "Kill Bill" and fight his way out of it. I say let him fight.

Mike P: Not in my eyes. I think that lots of people underestimated just how bad Larry Brown was as a coach last season. Any Joe Schmoe could have done a better job with this bunch than Brown. Isaiah's also gotten lucky in that suspensions and injuries have limited his guard rotation for him. Steve Francis and Nate Robinson fit in horribly, but with both sidelined for extended periods of time, Thomas has not been forced to feed their egos and give them minutes. Isaiah also has a puzzling vendetta against David Lee, who is clearly the Knicks' most productive frontcourt forward, and Thomas' late-game play-calling essentially is to give the ball to Jamal Crawford and hope he makes a contested 30-footer. So no, he shouldn't be back.

Mike S: Isiah has done a decent job as a coach, but he's a terrible GM. However, according to James Dolan, Isiah is safe "for now." Not exactly sure what that means because obviously he wouldn't fire Isiah at this point in the season because the team has improved, but when the Knicks don't make the playoffs, we can say bye to the man that ruins everything.

Ryan: This is a tough one because this summer James Dolan stated that the Knicks need to show considerable improvement this season for Zeke to hold onto his job - the catch is he didn't specify what constitutes considerable change. That could be something as simple as improving their win total from last season or may involve making the playoffs. Regardless, Dolan has left the window of opportunity to dismiss Thomas and it will be interesting to see what happens this summer.

An interesting twist this week was Eddy Curry’s demand to be traded if Thomas is fired. Does anyone else remember Damon Stoudamire and Jermaine O’Neal making similar statements when Thomas was on his way out in Toronto and Indiana? The only player who got his wish was Mighty Mouse.

Tom: You have to give Zeke credit considering the state of the Knicks to start the season. The collection of talent is still mismatched, which of course is on Zeke, but the level of play has drastically improved thoughout the year. I give Isiah credit for making an impact on Stephon Marbury. He's actually played a pretty solid point lowering his shot attempts and scoring and raising his leadership amongst a young roster. I wouldn't guarantee Zeke anything until seeing how the rest of the season plays out, but right now he seems to be getting it done.