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djsunyc
Posts: 44929
Alba Posts: 42
Joined: 1/16/2004
Member: #536
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For Knicks' Ariza and James, Growing Pains Still Hurt
By MAREK FUCHS
GREENBURGH, N.Y., Jan. 4 - Jerome James is the largest player on the Knicks, and Trevor Ariza is the lankiest. Each is going through tough times on a team that is 13 games under .500.
On Wednesday, they were the subject of scrutiny as the Knicks went through another practice, still basking in Monday's 140-133 triple-overtime victory over Phoenix.
Neither player took part in that game, with James having been suspended indefinitely for arriving for practice Sunday in poor condition to play and Ariza having been demoted to third string after a stint as the starting small forward.
Ariza, a second-year player, was taken aback Monday when he was taken out of the rotation and informed by a Knicks public relations official - and not Coach Larry Brown - about the decision.
But Brown seemed in no mood to offer any apologies Wednesday. He said that in a season that has featured a constant stream of new lineups, it did not bode well for the 20-year-old Ariza if he was overly upset at being benched.
"If he's miffed, then he's not as smart as I think he is," Brown said.
The 6-foot-8 Ariza, who was a second-round draft pick after his freshman season at U.C.L.A., was thought to be an important piece of the Knicks' youth movement and had been a starter as recently as Dec. 23. But while he is able to guard his man well and play the passing lanes, he is not fully formed as a scorer. And this season, he has shown few signs of improvement.
Although Ariza works on his outside shot regularly after practice, he is hesitant to take it in a game. He is averaging fewer than 5 points a game and appears to be preoccupied on offense, as if he is trying to read a playbook while he runs around the court.
Brown said he was not concerned that he had alienated Ariza, who sat courtside after practice talking to Isiah Thomas, the team's president, and left the gym as reporters huddled around Brown.
"I'm not worried about it," Brown said. "He had a great practice. His thing is he's a young player and he'll have an opportunity to play. It's entirely up to him."
Asked about how big an issue coach-player communication is for a team, Brown answered that it was huge. He then added that he did not owe Ariza an explanation for the manner in which he learned that he was demoted.
"Guys know," Brown said. "I don't buy this - Trevor knows. He knows why he didn't get to play. I believe it's important to communicate, but sometimes by your actions, you know."
He said that the rookies David Lee and Channing Frye spent four years in college and seemed better equipped for the learning ladder of the N.B.A. than Ariza. Lee began the season on the inactive list, played sparingly for two weeks, was deactivated for seven games and was still impressive with a 23-point, 15-rebound performance in the victory over Phoenix.
"They've been taught the value of being part of a team," Brown said of Lee and Frye. "They don't take anything that's given to them for granted. They don't feel empowered that since they are in the N.B.A., they are going to play right away."
Brown was less talkative about James, who participated in practice even though he remained suspended.
Asked if the fact that he was practicing was an indication that he would be reactivated, James demurred. "I don't know," he said.
Asked repeatedly about his emotional state, about the fairness of the suspension and about whether he would appeal it, James politely refused to answer.
James's season has been a disappointment. Though thought of as a foul-prone underachiever, James was signed to a lucrative long-term deal last summer with the intent that he would become the Knicks' starting center. But before long, the Knicks acquired the younger and more talented Eddy Curry, making the 7-foot-1 James less relevant, and the season has turned into one of injuries, poor conditioning and too many fouls for him.
"You never expect this, but it's the lows and highs of the N.B.A.," James said.
He pegged his current health at about 70 percent and said that injuries had been the cause of his poor conditioning.
"It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that if you're hurt, you can't work," he said. "If you can't work, you can't stay in condition."
[Edited by - djsunyc on 01-05-2006 12:40 AM]
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