Bobby
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Joined: 5/18/2003
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Van is the Man !!!
Van Horn, Stephon In Sync By Jim Baumbach STAFF WRITER
January 17, 2004
You don't need a boxscore to know Keith Van Horn is having a good game. Just look at his face. His cheeks turn red, his eyes open wide and he huffs and puffs every time he has the ball.
Nets coach Byron Scott used to call the look "Killer Keith," but that's old news to Stephon Marbury. The new Knicks point guard, who played with Van Horn on the Nets, said this is a new and improved Van Horn. "He's way more aggressive now," Marbury said. "I mean he attacks. He's always in attack mode now."
That was evident Friday night as Van Horn scored 30 points in a 108-88 win over Seattle. He shot 10-for-15 from the field and had seven rebounds.
In the last 13 games, Van Horn has averaged 20.9 points and shot 54 percent (100-for-182).
During their time with the Nets, Marbury and Van Horn were never described as friends. But during Friday night's rout, they chatted often and celebrated together on more than a few occasions. "He even said to me, 'You got better. You see the pass quicker, like a second before,'" Marbury said.
Van Horn said: "It's not about Stephon and I developing chemistry. It's Stephon and the rest of the Knicks and we as a team developing chemistry."
Still, for Knicks fans clinging to hope of a run to the playoffs, knowing that Marbury and Van Horn not only see eye to eye but also are connecting on the court is surely a good feeling. They definitely appear to be off to a good start.
Van Horn is also more animated on the court, and Friday night punctuated a powerful over-the- shoulders, two-handed dunk late in the third by pumping his fist and letting out a loud scream.
"Keith was saying, 'Man, in the third quarter, I'm tired now, and I never get tired,'" Marbury said. "Yeah, because now you're running."
"Like they always say, New York is the Mecca of basketball,"I read that in Michael Jordan books my whole life and I played here in the Big East tournament, so it's always fun to play in the Mecca of basketball."---Rip Hamilton
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