Isiah Thomas appeared caught off guard by Stephon Marbury's comments to the media on Tuesday.  

When asked what he will take away from the recent controversy, Marbury gave the following statement.

"To be honest, not a whole lot came of it.  There?s nothing good coming out of all of what went on, but for myself, being able to weather the storm, to have focus when I went back onto the court was something that was good for myself. And as far as what I had to deal with and as far as my teammates are concerned, I think everyone wants to get this past them and go forward."

When asked for his reaction, Thomas first asked the Knicks' public relations representative to confirm that Marbury had actually given such a statement.

"I have to make sure," Thomas said. "I don?t know. I think as a player, you never want to be benched. You always want to play. But from a team aspect, I think the things he?ll deliver are exactly what we need. And if he?s not delivering those things again, then the bench awaits him."