04/25/24
September 29, 2003
Pat Riley has lost his mind.: That is the only way I can explain the signing of 34 year old Isaac Austin. Say what you will about the dearth of quality big men in today's NBA. But Ike is just Ike; a 6'-10" 288 lb(though probably closer to 300) stiff. He had a chance to be a stabilizing factor for the Heat, but opted for a trade to the Clippers! You know what? I'm too depressed to finish up here.
Yeah, there's more inside...
posted by lilnemo to basketball at 02:47 PM - 8 comments
For those of you wondering how the Clippers have fared since losing Ike, they've made a step towards filling the void by signing..."The Drobber!" Sonics.com maintains his site complete with crappy flash, audio & video. Can't imagine it'll be up much longer now that hes with the Clips. I think he'll be the next Balkan Cherokee Parks.
posted by lilnemo at 04:00 PM on September 29, 2003
Seems like a reasonable thing to me- the last season he played for Riles, he was pretty damn good. At any rate, it's not like there are many out there who could appreciably improve the Heat- they're not good, and don't have much cap space. It's certainly the most interesting thing to come out of Heat HQ in a while, that's for sure.
posted by tieguy at 05:57 PM on September 29, 2003
The last season he played for Riles was what 5 years ago? The Grizzlies waived him. The Grizzlies. The team he played for last year finished third overall, in a Chinese Basketball Association. I think Ike needs to hang'em up. Haywoode did.
posted by lilnemo at 06:43 PM on September 29, 2003
Six years. :) Riles has a special touch with some guys. I mean, if I remember right, Austin was MIP that year, and a serious threat to be a backup on the all-star squad. It's not like he had a gradual decline after that- he left Camp Riles, and immediately stunk. So it had to be something in the water in Miami, or it had to be Riley threating to cut his balls off if he didn't play well. Don't know which, but it doesn't really matter, does it? :)
posted by tieguy at 06:49 PM on September 29, 2003
Nah, not really. But your right, there are certain players that Riles is able to connect with and ultimately feature their specific talents whatever they may be. I'm just wondering, aloud no less, if this is (or should be) the end of the road for Ike.
posted by lilnemo at 07:07 PM on September 29, 2003
The gel must have soaked into his brains.
posted by jasonspaceman at 07:43 PM on September 29, 2003
This is definitely the end of the road for Ike. If it's not Riles, it's back to China with him.
posted by tieguy at 06:56 AM on September 30, 2003
I know Ike had know way of knowing Zo would go down a year or two after his departure for the Clip-Joint. And I know that since he was a relatively late bloomer he needed to cash in while he could. But christ, the Clippers and then the Grizzlies? Who are we fooling? Hindsight is 20-20, I know but let me get this straight. I can play for the Heat where I have excelled off of the bench and starting. I can continue to play in Pat Riley's system which emphasizes men of my skill and girth. Or I could demand to be traded to the league's laughing stock for a scant raise per year? We all know Riles is a sucker for signing players past their prime for their past performance (Zo, Tim Hardaway, Anthony Carter). Hello? Is this thing on? Good god, at least Riley picked up Joe Crispin too, eh? On the bright side, I didn't read the words "guaranteed" anywhere in that Austin signing, so South Beach may still be in the clear.