NBA

Terrific NBA weekend all around. Let's jump right into the action, starting with the firing of Isiah Thomas.

This has to be one of the most predictable coaching moves of all time and the Knicks probably should have done it months ago. But instead of being completely released and kicked out to the street, it appears the Knicks have only demoted Isiah from his coaching and GM responsibilities. In other words, he's still with the organization in some capacity. ESPN.com writes, "Thomas, the coach for two seasons, will remain with the organization in an unnamed role, reporting directly to Walsh." Wait, what?

(Will he become director of Truck Parties or Assistant VP for Terrible Draft Strategies?)

This is like finding cancer in someone, performing surgery on it months or years too late, and then only partially removing the growth. The fact that Isiah still has a job after sexually assaulting an employee and losing 59 games is really just an enigma to me. Maybe Walsh is being political and not trying to piss off Dolan who is in love with Isiah for some reason.

But let's give this decision some context here. If you were the CEO of a publicly traded company, then your performance would be on a referendum every quarter when your company reported earnings. Losing the equivalent of 59 games, or having your company report declining earnings or eroding profitability over the course of multiple quarters, would result in an almost immediate firing by the board (the owner(s)).

But let's say you're doing well as a CEO as your company is making money every quarter. If it became public that you were POTENTIALLY sexually harassing an employee, then you would be fired before the lawsuit even went to court. It wouldn't even matter if you were proven innocent or had the lawsuit dismissed. You'd be fired and kicked out of the building before you could even blink. Your CEO status wouldn't revert to VP or Executive Director. Or an "unnamed role" reporting to Donnie Walsh.

Want an example? There was a Boeing CEO two years ago who had an affair with his secretary. At the time Boeing was doing just fine as a company, but when it became public that this guy was having a work-place affair, he was fired immediately. Now substitute an affair with harassment and tell me the same thing wouldn't have happened?

Yet somehow Isiah kept his job and continued losing with Stephon Marbury sulking on the sidelines and throwing truck parties (I love writing that). I know the NBA isn't a public company and I know coaches and GM's aren't CEOs, but their actions are affecting an organization's bottomline. For example, would anyone like to argue with me over how many season tickets the Knicks will renew this year? I can assure you the retention rate is abysmal. So what is this team thinking? Is it the ego of the owner or who doesn't want to admit he's wrong?

Moving onto a more positive note, the Lakers and the Celts certainly proved why they're the number one seeds this year and watching a young Phillies team beat Detroit was pretty special. The Philly win reminded me of the Warriors last year and the Laker's win showed how good Gasol can be in the playoffs. The Celts also dominated, proving how valuable KG is to that franchise.

The Wiz-ARDS lost, and it pains me to write this, but three all-stars on the Wizards couldn't stop Lebron James on Saturday. In fact they failed miserably and looked like scrubs, relying on Roger Mason Jr. to shoot threes in the fourth quarter (granted the Wizards shot 25% from the field during the 4th quarter). Lebron James really just dominated us and reminded us why Deshawn Stevenson probably shouldn't be talking trash. It's fine for Gilbert, maybe, but Deshawn should really just shut up and play. I hope for the Wiz to turn it around tonight in Game Two.

The roomofzen will continue playoff coverage over the next few weeks, and we look forward to writing about the action. Stay tuned for some massive Celtic pride and hopefully a second round match-up with the Wiz.

(Sidenote: Can someone tell me why the MVP hasn't been named yet? If I remember correctly, it was announced before last year's playoffs...)