ISIAH: STEPH STEPPING UP
Stephon Marbury’s recent improved play helped the Knicks survive the aftermath of the suspensions that were brought down after the brawl with the Nuggets.
So, just how good has Marbury been of late? Better than ever, according to his coach.
“He’s playing about as good as I’ve ever seen him play,” said Isiah Thomas after practice yesterday. “I’d say he’s really good right now.”
Marbury entered the league a decade ago with the thought that he was going to be among the best. And while those lofty expectations have largely not been met, Thomas continues to be enamored with the former Lincoln legend.
With the Knicks having won the last two on their West Coast trip and Marbury playing especially well, he is showing some of the confidence that an elite player generally has.
In the Knicks’ final game of the trip, a win over Seattle, Marbury scored 28 and also helped limit Ray Allen to 11. Tonight, the Knicks host the 76ers.
“Defensively, he’s about as good as anybody playing the position,” Thomas said of Marbury, who has had two or fewer turnovers in all but one of the team’s last seven games. “His turnovers are down, he’s making excellent passes that are not necessarily fancy, behind-the-back passes.”
The next challenge is to keep the enigmatic Marbury playing at this level now that the dynamic is changing with players returning from injury and suspension.
“I think the guys’ mindset going into those 10 games was different,” said Marbury, ranked fifth in the All-Star voting for guards. “We went out after the brawl and played and knew there was no room for error. We don’t have any choice but to keep doing that.”
And while Marbury has put up some fairly gaudy numbers, Thomas believes that is not the way to measure his production.
“I don’t gauge whether he played a good game or a bad game by how many points he scored,” Thomas said. “He’s played some good games for us where he hasn’t scored a lot of points. It’s not about the points with him. It’s about making the right reads and the right decisions, and his decision-making has been phenomenal.”
