It can only get better for Isiah
Posted: Thursday, November 05, 2009 1:27 PM
Filed Under:
ACC, Isiah Thomas
Losing to an NAIA school does have one benefit for Isiah Thomas’s Florida International squad.
Monday can hardly be any worse.
That’s Thomas’ actual coaching debut – Wednesday was an exhibition – and it comes against defending champion North Carolina, replete with McDonald’s All-American and future NBA players. Yes, the Heels lost most of their players and are fine-tuning a new offense. But it’s still UNC. It’ll give the Panthers an up-close look at what Thomas aspires for the program.
"We're starting from the bottom. We want to go to the top," Thomas said. "And the journey, the ride along the way, is the most important thing. ... The journey, to me, that's the most enjoyable part. This is the fun part. It starts now."
Give Thomas credit. He’s aware of FIU’s issues – the school didn’t want to play Carolina when the game was announced – and isn’t expecting instant success. But he’s optimistic things can turn around.
He spent the summer hitting the recruting trail, nabbing players FIU normally wouldn’t even sniff. The school’s gotten more media attention than ever before, which also helps. The school’s only produced two NBA players and hasn’t been to the Big Dance in ages. If there’s a place in need of hoops success, it’s FIU.
So they’ll take their lumps and try to push on through.
"By the time January, February gets here, I hope we're a pretty solid unit," Thomas said. "If we're a good unit going into conference play, then we'll take our chances with the four games in March. And if we win the four games in March, then it's a good year."
That’s the spirit! After all, even schools rich in hoops history suffer embarassing losses in November.
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