NEW YORK -- Raymond Felton says he "loves" the changes the Knicks made in the offseason. Felton also made a pretty significant change himself.

With the help of Washington D.C.-based trainer Keith Veney, Felton says he has lost approximately 15 pounds since the end of the 2012-13 season. He played at around 212 pounds last year and is encouraged with his new physique and the added speed it can lead to.

"I was quick before, but if you take off 15 pounds, you can be that much quicker," Felton said Sunday at a Big Brothers-Big Sisters New York City event at St. John's.

Felton's weight was an issue in his lone season in Portland in 2011-12. He entered the season out of shape because he was caught off guard by the lockout. When the lockout ended and the season began in late December, Felton admits that he was not physically prepared.

That wasn't an issue last season, though, the first of his second tour in New York.

And it doesn't seem like it will be an issue this season. He was in a T-shirt and sweat pants, so it's tough to gauge, but Felton appeared slimmed down and stronger on Sunday.

Felton said his new physique should allow him to push the tempo a bit this season. Felton's intrigued by the possibility of having Andrea Bargnani trailing on fast breaks, where, in a perfect world for the Knicks, he'd find Bargnani open for 3-point attempts.

"I'll push it right down the court ... if I don't have anything, I know I got him," Felton said.

Felton's also excited by the idea of playing in a two-point guard lineup alongside Pablo Prigioni. The Knicks had great success with that lineup last season, reeling off 13-straight wins from mid-March to early April.

"I'm pretty sure we will go to it sometimes. Who knows how the starting lineup will go? We can go big this year, we can go small. We can go to a variety of lineups. We can start Metta World Peace, we can start Bargnani. We're going to be alright."

FELTON'S MESSAGE: Felton worked extensively with the Big Brothers-Big Sisters program in Charlotte. He has continued that work in New York. The veteran point guard was named an ambassador for the New York chapter of Big Brothers-Big Sisters.

On Sunday, he welcomed approximately 80 young children for workouts at St. John's.

"If I can make one kid's day, their week, their month, then I'm all for it. I love it," Felton said. "There's a lot of kids who don't have that father figure or that person they can go to to help them go through life. So if you can give a kid just hope in life, it's not even about hope in basketball, it's about hope in life that every things going to be alright, then that's what it's all about."

http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/knicks/post/_/id/47957/felton-drops-15-pounds-ready-to-go

"Fish and vegetables. That's all I really eat now."

"It's something we talked about with the training staff, but I also wanted to do it on my own. It helps me everywhere -- prevents injuries, you're quicker laterally."

15-20 pounds lighter?

Damn

We need to be able to push the tempo more and I am glad Felton is doing everything in his power to stay effective
It would also improve his ability to penetrate better to initiate our offense especially with the shooters to spread the floor, could put 5 shooters with our rotations with AB at C
So the weight could improve his conditioning, 1v1 DEFENSE on PG's/ability to go through screens, TEAM defense by helping and recovering faster, and still have the strength but without the athleticism he once had in his earlier years

On STAT, he is a 9th-10th man rotation player at best now with a 20min max restriction
It isn't his fault, we just have to wait till he expires, and he won't live up to his contract but at least he gave effort in improving

Glad Tyson is also working in the gym on his strength/conditioning et
We all know Iman is working on his game as well, having players/team mates that push each other in practice, off the court, and in the gym, makes a major difference
That is why OKC had such a strong improvement/young core, they were talented but they were also all gym rats that pushed each other

yellowboy90 wrote:

nixluva wrote:Sad to say that me and my sons still refer to Felton as "Fat boy". I don't hate felton. I like him a lot. I just want to see him get in the best shape possible. It has been very frustrating watching him fade in the 2nd half of seasons. He seems like he goes hard, but can't sustain that level of effort. Being lighter can help that process. Felton is still a very important part of this team and it's also nice to see Felton trying to improve his game as well. It's a good thing for Felton to expand his skills and look to be more of a leader this year. Felton had too really bad games against the Pacers. He had an 0-7 and a 1-8 game and if he has a normal game in those games we might have beaten the Pacers. We couldn't survive Felton, JR and Kidd playing poorly.

Hasn't it been the opposite? He has improved as the season went, after working himself into shape? Last year is hard to judge due to the injury but in Portland his second half numbers were way better than his 1st half numbers.

Even though pgs got off, scoring wise, the knicks turned them over a lot and hrlp impede the flow of the other players.

I see the 3 that Woody signalled as sure starters are all having great off seasons.

Felton has had swoons in his time with the Knicks. In his 1st go around with the Knicks he dipped approaching the All Star break. I just think he goes hard and then runs out of gas. Apparently he even felt he needed to do something about his stamina and overall fitness level. The way he likes to play isn't sustainable if he's carrying unnecessary weight. All the drives he likes and those jumpers on top of the defense he's expected to play. Part of it may not have really been his fault, remember he was guarding PP for stretches and I think it caught up with him in the Pacers series, which is why he had those poor games. In any event it's a good thing for him to be looking to come in lighter and more fit. We Felton to be able to attack more this year and to be even more effective when he does.

TeamBall wrote:

yellowboy90 wrote:Wow, no mention of Stat as an option to start by Ray, interesting.

A friend of mine knows the Knicks' orthopedist and he told him not count on Amare anything this season or future seasons for that matter.

Amare Stoudemire is done. Thank you for the effort.

In other news, Felton also noted that some of the Knicks will convene in Greenburgh to get in some pre-training camp reps, which is both typical and good.

TeamBall wrote:

yellowboy90 wrote:Wow, no mention of Stat as an option to start by Ray, interesting.

A friend of mine knows the Knicks' orthopedist and he told him not count on Amare anything this season or future seasons for that matter.

Whatever happened to confidentiality?! His doc shouldn't be discussing anything with your friend. Don't take this the wrong way, but I hope your friend is sociopathic liar!

Unfortunately, I think the Bargs trade and talk of Amar'e being limited to less than 20mins AND being banned from any basketball activities all summer, signals what's up. Arthritics knees don't suddenly regenerate with rest as Allan Houston demonstrated...

EnySpree wrote:Hope he worked closely with a personal trainer to keep his strength. That extra weight does come in handy when he needs to get a hard basket. I know that personally. When I was 205 I felt like a tank. Now I'm hovering around 190-195 and trying to get down to 175...i was 185 for a while but gained bad weight after i got married a few months ago. I noticed a quickness change at 185-180...but I get knocked off balance easier.

Fat Felton lol.... if this dude can lose 15 lbs, than some of you fat mofos need to get it together. Right now

I think most of us here don't have a careers and jobs that are close to Felton's career earnings and his annual salary

if we did and being a professional athlete meant we must sacrifice donuts, eating healthy regularly, and exercising daily, 99% of us here would be 10x the shape than we currently are and in the our best shape of our lives for 10-12years, from about the age of 20-32 if our jobs depended on it like PRO ATHLETES

Point is simply, You cannot compare what a pro athlete does because it is part of their JOB/CAREER to do so, they don't have the regular average lifestyle, the responsibilities, 9-5 job, stress from co workers/bosses/manager's or customers, a family to feed, every day stress, worry about rent, cleaning, bills, kids, etc, because their salaries/earnings allows them to non pay someone else to do it, deal with it, and worry about it, while they concentrate on BASKETBALL and STAYING FIT

Even the show, "BIGGEST LOSER", their transformations are incredible and can be inspiring

but

for months, they just train and worry about NOTHING ELSE, and get paid for it being on the show and can win a huge payout with their confidence
Unfortunately, most people don't have the time or luxury to do so, sure there are things they can do but it is their life not yours to worry about
Most people have other priorities and things to worry about, without the luxury of getting a gym/trainer and work out/exercise 6 days a week, 8 hours a day, 2-3 sessions in the gym,

as Knick's fan, what Felton is doing is great for him and he deserves credit but I feel many other pro athletes have done much more
Look at Nate Robinson, who struggles to even get a reasonable salary/contract for a pro athlete despite all the work he done in the past, and continues to do both on and off the court to make up for his height/size

Look at Grant Hill and his career, where he didn't have to do any of it but did it for the love of the game with his surgeries

even look at Eddy Curry and Sweetney, who loses over 100 PLUS pounds of pure fat

1- they here are happy with who they are/how they look like

2- enjoy what they do or what they make

3- are very well off, already have a luxurious lifestyle that doesn't demands their attention to be spent in other area's

For that 1%, that post here, and wouldn't do so, they likely are at least 1 or most of the 3 above

On a Knick's fan website,
What is the point of attacking overweight people?

or

to talk like TOUGH GUY on a message board behind a monitor and keyboard

there is no need for calling other's FAT, hurting the feelings of the overweight (or anyone in general), many don't want to be that way and have more to worry about than weight issues
It is like a PRO ATHLETE calling you pathetic for the $ you make, the shape you are in compared to them, and the things you have to do that he doesn't need to even think about

It seems like you need a huge, some love, or to relieve some stress