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MinsHeartsReezy
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USA
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Marbury's Long Streak Winds Up in a Sling
By HOWARD BECK
Published: January 18, 2006
GREENBURGH, N.Y., Jan. 17 - Stephon Marbury would sooner renounce his Brooklyn roots than succumb to an injury, so it was a striking image Tuesday when he emerged from the Knicks' training room, a sling shrouding his left arm.
For the first time in five seasons, Marbury is too injured to play basketball. He will not be in uniform for Wednesday night's game at Chicago and is almost certain to miss Thursday's home game against Detroit. The soonest Marbury may play, by his estimate, is Saturday, when the Knicks play New Orleans at home.
But there is no official timetable for Marbury's recovery from what the team called a sprained left shoulder, sustained when Marbury ran into a hard pick set by Minnesota's Wally Szczerbiak in the Knicks' 96-90 loss to the Timberwolves on Monday.
Marbury did not have additional tests Tuesday, but it seemed to be a bad sign that team doctors wanted the shoulder immobilized for at least a few days.
"It's tough and it's frustrating," said Marbury, who had not missed a game to injury since April 17, 2001, when he was with the Nets. "But at the same time, the way that we've been playing, I've got a lot of confidence in the guys, as far as going out and holding it down until I get back."
Nate Robinson, the hyperactive, occasionally erratic rookie, will start at point guard against Chicago, and Quentin Richardson will probably rejoin the lineup, Coach Larry Brown said. Jamal Crawford, who has excelled as a combo guard off the bench, will probably remain a reserve.
The Knicks have no other skilled ballhandlers on the roster, but team officials - believing Marbury's absence will be brief - said they did not plan to sign a free agent or make a trade.
If Marbury is out longer than expected, the team could ask Penny Hardaway to return from his workouts in Houston. But the belief is that Hardaway, who is trying to rebuild strength in his legs, is probably not ready.
"We've got two point guards," said Brown, who has lamented the deficiencies of both Robinson and Crawford. "We'll figure it out."
In an emergency, Brown said he could use Trevor Ariza, who has been working on his ballhandling in practice.
"Knowing Stephon, I don't anticipate him being out long," Brown said.
Marbury's injury comes at a fragile juncture in the Knicks' season. After a 7-21 start, they appeared to turn the corner in winning six consecutive games to open 2006. They have since lost two straight, threatening their newfound confidence, and are now without their best player. Marbury leads the team in points (18.9), assists (7) and steals (1.28) a game.
The next three opponents all have gifted point guards, and it is difficult to imagine the Knicks' beating the Pistons, the defending Eastern Conference champions, without Marbury.
If the Knicks can get through the next few days, they could buy him more recovery time. After Saturday's game, they are off for three days.
The injury was to Marbury's nonshooting arm, and he said he could move it, albeit with considerable pain. But he said he did not want to return until he was sure the shoulder could sustain another blow.
"I know I got a high threshold for pain," Marbury said. "But right now, it's at the point where I don't want to make it worse."
So Marbury will be in a suit and tie and on the bench in Chicago, ending his consecutive-games streak at 280, the fifth longest in the league. That streak began after a one-game suspension on Oct. 30, 2002, and has become a point of pride for Marbury.
"I feel like for the money that we make, we're supposed to play through pain and through all of the things that we go through," said Marbury, who generally refuses to discuss his injuries. "I hate talking about when you get hurt, when guys get hurt and they talk about why you didn't play well, and then they blame it on that. I think that's cowardly."
Asked how many games he could have justifiably missed because of injuries in the last five years, Marbury said, "About 50 games, easy."
After Monday's game, Marbury called Szczerbiak's blindside screen "a dirty pick," but Brown and other players said Szczerbiak had made a legitimate play. Marbury had not changed his mind after reviewing the game film, saying Szczerbiak leaned into the pick.
"When you set a pick, you stand straight up," Marbury said. "I've got drilled by millions of picks, I get picked all the time, so I know. I know when it's a dirty pick and when it's a good pick."
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1/17/2006 6:39 PM