Based on the video clip, I thought Marbury looked thinner...

but the second hand stuff on Randolph's conditioning is ... well... suspect.

here we go:

By Marc Berman

CHARLESTON - Zach Randolph made it back from Indy for the morning and night sessions, though his grandmother is gravely ill. That was a very good sign of his dedication, though he could be gone at any moment.

From what I'm told, Randolph is not in very good shape but he's made up for it with his extraordinary skill level the past two days. Isiah raved about Zach today, about his high motor and intensity, that he doesn't have to be coached and prodded. Another good sign.

Another camp standout has been Stephon Marbury, whose been hitting his shots and playing crazed defense. Marbury came into camp in great shape, admitting he's in much better condition than last October. He is hesitant to admit it but his training probably got derailed last summer because of all the time he spent on the discount sneaker campaign and probably resulted in a bad November.

I'm glad that Zach made the effort to come back. This has to be a tough time for him. I just get the idea that this guy is bringing so much swagger and confidence to this team. You have to be more confident going into games knowing you've got a beast like him on the team. Between him and Curry we're gonna have an awesome frontcourt IMO. Then you look at Lee and all the other guys coming right behind them and things are looking up for the future.

I must admit that Steph looks to be in much better shape in terms of his physique. He looks much leaner. I apologize to all of the guys that bashed him for coming in last year in not as good a condition level as he could've. Apparently you guys were right about that. By the same token many of you questioned his committment again this year and you were wrong about that. He was even more active this year, but managed it much better. It's not necessarily a case of him not caring as some of you painted it, it could simply have been a case of him not realizing how to handle the situation. He seems to have handled it much better this time around in terms of fitting in his training.

I noticed that Q also looked to be less puffy and bloated as he did last year. I think he must've been feeling a LOT better, cuz he clearly trimmed down a lot. If he's able to stay healthy Q can be a huge factor. His leadership and skills can really have a big impact on this team this year. I really hope he can play a full season.

Posted by Bonn1997:

Steph looks better than he did this time last year but worse than he did in his early 20s.

Steph in his early 20s was making highlight real dunks. Catching alley-opp passes for dunks and stuff. I don't even think he could dunk at this point in his career.

Steph blew it last year by not doing what he needed to do to prepare and, as a result, he embarrassed himself with a poor start. At least he learned from that mistake and corrected it this year.

Shrunken Head

"Only two times in my career, I didn't come in tip-top shape like I normally would," Marbury said, noting last October and 2001 when he got traded to Phoenix. "I wasn't in the best shape of my career [last October]. I wasn't in the shape like I am right now."

"We got to get out of the block quick," (Marbury) said.

Marbury donated $4M to the 9/11 Memorial

Maybe a few firefighters and policemen will motivate him

Steph can still dunk, but he chooses not to. Even on that last second layup to beat the Jazz, he was up high enough to have dunked. Heck I'm 42, 5-10 and 220 lbs and I actually dunked the ball this summer. Yeah it took everything I have but I did get up there :) I think Steph is capable, but why even waste the energy or risk pulling something?

I just look forward to a good start this year. I think the guys are in prime position to do that. This Nov. isn't as rough as last year too, so that should help. Then you add Zach to the equation and it shouldn't be hard for ANY KNICK FAN, to get up for this season.

anyone that has followed Zach's career know's he's a beast, a gym rat and LOVES to hoop. He's ****y in that he love beating guys, and I believe he wants to win.

He's also an major blowup waiting to happen.
He's got a hisory of drug use and violence
He's had microfracture surgery on his knee

I never really had a problem with the move and lets face it. Babysitting NBA mental cases is really the only skill Isiah brings to the table at this point. I hope it works out.

Posted by WOODMANnYk:

Once he adds defense as part of his repertoire then we can talk about him as one of the best forwards out there.

So I guess Dirk isn't one of the best Forwards out there. He's not that great a defender. It's just funny that we can't accept that there are some players in this league that excel on offense and that is their greatness. I would expect Zach to at least be a good team defender, but whether he ever becomes a really good man defender or not doesn't really matter to me. He's still one of the best Forwards in the league. Usually when people think of good defensive forwards they really mean blocked shots, cuz very few players in this league can stop the great offensive players anyway. IMO Zach only really is deficient in that one area. Blocked shots. He's not blessed with a lot fo lateral quickness and grace. If he's moving straight ahead like you do on offense he's quick and agile enough, but it's a whole different bag when you're talking about being able to sidestep quickly and then be able to change direction like you do on D.

dam I never saw any of those ally-oop highlights from steph. I knew he could dunk, but not catching reverse ooops. He was a monster athlete, if only he was 20 again.

Posted by Michael6835:

dam I never saw any of those ally-oop highlights from steph. I knew he could dunk, but not catching reverse ooops. He was a monster athlete, if only he was 20 again.

He had the gifts to be a truly great NBA player. What a shame.