Isiah Thomas is the new coach of the Florida International college hoops team and the team is already making news. They are set to play in the Coaches Vs. Cancer tip-off , but they are now threatening to pull-out if the organizers don’t change their opponent. Could Isiah Thomas be afraid to go back to Madison Square Garden?
They agreed to play Ohio State in their first game, but when they received their schedule, they are set to play the defending champions, the North Carolina Tar Heels. I’m sure it would be a tough game for FIU, but so would a game against Ohio State. Is there a bigger issue here? The game is being held at Madison Square Garden, the place where Thomas led the Knicks into the ground.
It’s a possibility, but of course they knew the game would be played there when they agreed to play. It’s a nice “get” to be scheduled in such a high-profile game early in the season for a program that isn’t very established. If they played Ohio State, they mostly likely wouldn’t be beat by more than 30 points. The Buckeyes don’t execute a very high scoring offense and Thad Matta, the coach of Ohio State, would probably start putting in people from “The Trillion Man March” (guys who never see the hardwood). North Carolina will be fighting for the #1 seed and will be looking for a large margin of victory to assure a high spot. Thomas doesn’t not want to get trounced in his first game coaching in college, but it would sting even more if it happened at MSG.
If I was Isiah Thomas, I would try to pull-out of this game too. The New York media is something that he tried to escape by taking a low-level Division I college coaching job. He would be laughed at by everyone who watched that game. If they end up playing North Carolina, they would lose by 75 points, because the Tar Heels 3rd-string players are still probably better than the talent at Florida International. Thomas said that he would like to play North Carolina in “two or three years, but now right now.” I have bad news Isiah, North Carolina will still be great in two or three years, but I have a feeling that FIU will still be bad and you probably won’t be coaching them, James Dolan isn’t the A.D.
