04/18/24
April 15, 2009
Isiah Thompson Takes Over At FIU: Well, OK, it is actually Isiah Thomas, but he got his name butchered when introduced for his press conference (2:15 of clip). Bad omen?
posted by TheQatarian to basketball at 09:51 PM - 9 comments
Life sure has interesting career turns if you're a former bad boy Piston.
Would you have predicted that Laimbeer and Mahorn would team up to coach a women's hoops team?
The FIU football program really put the school on the map with the on-field brawl they had with U Miami a few years back. Isaiah wants the hoops program to have that same level of notoriety.
If Isaiah does something inappropriate while he's at FIU, the school is only a dozen and half blocks or so east of the Everglades and the Krome Avenue Detention Center. Take your pick.
They're just practicing calling him Thompson to see what it's like in case he wants to assume a new identity and enter the federal witness protection program.
posted by beaverboard at 11:51 PM on April 15, 2009
Beaver, I'm not convinced that IT's coaching for FIU isn't part of the FWPP.
posted by bobfoot at 12:37 AM on April 16, 2009
As Dennis Miller once said, "The only way to guarantee your anonymity is to have a show on UPN." Of course, UPN is defunct now, but it was funny at the time. Perhaps IT can have a reality show on MyNetwork TV?
posted by TheQatarian at 01:00 AM on April 16, 2009
They're just practicing calling him Thompson to see what it's like in case he wants to assume a new identity and enter the federal witness protection program.
I assume you're referring to this classic.
I like the hire, though. When you're trying to sell kids on your program and you don't have history or success to hit them over the head with, go out and get yourself a former NBA all-star.
posted by bender at 08:24 AM on April 16, 2009
Did anyone see IT list off all the places he coached? Didn't it come across as listing all of his failures ?
posted by scully at 08:47 AM on April 16, 2009
It's a terrific move for FIU, but only if Thomas is mentally healthy and learned from that sexual harassment suit. My alma mater, North Texas, is in the same conference as the Golden Panthers. It's the lowest conference in football, but has some decent basketball programs.
The chance to come to Miami and play for an NBA star ought to be pretty appealing.
posted by rcade at 09:01 AM on April 16, 2009
Yeah, that's right. Expose him to kids. Only good things can happen here.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 05:30 PM on April 17, 2009
On one hand, hiring the guy who tanked the CBA and the Knicks doesn't sound like the greatest move. Especially when you pretty much only hired the guy because of his name and then couldn't get his name right. But given that it is Florida International we're talking about here, it hardly matters if he screws them up because they're nobody to begin with. He can't make any stupid trades or free-agent signings, he just has to recruit and coach. I guess we'll see if he can do that without screwing it up.