<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">GREENBURGH, N.Y., March 12 ? When he reluctantly became the Knicks? coach last June, Isiah Thomas was given a specific ultimatum and a vague standard to reach. Thomas was given one season to save his job as coach and team president. The standard, as described by James L. Dolan, the Madison Square Garden chairman, was to show ?evident progress.? It was never clear what that phrase meant, but sometime in the past few months, Thomas apparently hit his mark. On Monday, Dolan rewarded Thomas with a multiyear contract extension to continue as coach and president. In announcing his decision, in a conference room at the team?s training center, Dolan was nearly as vague as he was nine months ago. There was no particular victory or achievement that triggered the decision. The Knicks recently moved into the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference ? putting them on track for a playoff berth ? but Dolan said that did not influence him either. What Dolan sees is a team playing with a renewed spirit, young players making great strides and a belief that the franchise is heading in the right direction. Regardless of where the Knicks land when the regular season concludes next month, Dolan said, the progress is evident enough to let Thomas keep doing his thing. ?I think we?re a much better team,? Dolan said. ?I think we have a great future. I think we?ve clearly improved, even from the beginning of this year. I also think that Isiah has done a good job since he?s taken over as G.M. in 2003.? With 19 games left to play, the Knicks (29-34) are five games below .500 but firmly in the playoff hunt. They have recently weathered injuries to two of their most important players ? Jamal Crawford and David Lee ? and have remained competitive. ?I?m very proud of that,? Dolan said. ?I can?t guarantee that we?re going to make the playoffs,? Dolan said, ?but I am really confident that the team will play hard for the balance of the season, that they?ll play every game hard.? That was not a statement anyone could make a year ago ? and perhaps that was all the progress Dolan needed. The Knicks were a dysfunctional, feuding mess last season under Coach Larry Brown, who alienated his players and infuriated his bosses. The Knicks finished with a 23-59 record that ranked among the worst in franchise history. ?We had a crisis at the end of last season, a crisis in confidence across the board,? Dolan said. He said he told Thomas to ?solve this crisis. And he did.?</div> Source
