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rvhoss
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Switzerland
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GREENBURGH, New York, April 20, 2006 -- Without a doubt, this was one bad season for the Knicks. “It’s years like this that make you want to go into the summer and push even harder,” center Eddy Curry said. “So you won’t have a repeat.” Still, even the worst of seasons don’t necessarily have to be completely without some random rays of promise of a brighter future.
For instance, in an entirely unexpected development, how did the previously dubious-defending Jamal Crawford become the most improved -- perhaps even the best -- Knicks player by the end of the year, drawing all kinds of kudos from his forever defensively minded mentor? “I just listened,” Crawford kicked off the team’s “Clean Out Your Lockers” day in the most matter-of-fact manner. “With a Hall of Fame coach, I’d have been crazy not to. I have to take advantage of being around him. If I had a good year, as some people say, all the credit must go to Coach for helping me offensively and defensively.”
So is listening one big key to change? “That -- and chemistry,” said Crawford. “My single biggest disappointment this year had to be the difference between the caliber of the names we put on the floor and the number of wins we had. To have this much talent and this good a coach and still not be able to produce.”
“From my vantage-point at least, we were lacking in cohesion and chemistry,” rookie Channing Frye agreed. ”We have to come back taking more pride in defense and making the extra pass.”
“We haven’t taken advantage of all the talent and the coaching we had this season,” said David Lee. “It was a missed opportunity.”
Player after player mentioned “time spent together as a team” as the number one key to developing chemistry. “The Eastern Conference is not the best conference in the world these days,” Jalen Rose said. “After Detroit, Miami, and maybe Cleveland, there’s plenty of room in the playoffs. I firmly believe that if this roster has time to jell -- if we are together starting with training camp -- we can make some noise.”
But that won’t happen without better communication, according to Malik Rose. “This last season, I think we all wanted to win,” he said. “But I don’t think we ever got on the same page about how exactly go about winning. There were misunderstandings on everybody’s part. The problem was not in the 42 different starting lineups -- I think Coach just wanted to get us on some kind of a winning roll and tried anything possible to accomplish that. He was trying every match-up, every possible combination.”
“When you win 23 games, you are just trying to find answers,” agreed Crawford.
“It IS very important, however, to have as-clear-as-possible channels of communication between Stephon (Marbury) and Larry (Brown),” added Rose. “Larry, after all, is the coach -- and the point guard, quite literally, is the coach on the floor.”
“I have no doubt Steph and Coach can work together in harmony,” rookie Nate Robinson said. “They need each other. And we as a team need both of them in order to win.”
On the other hand, “Coach and I had excellent communication,” Curry said. “I believe that he thinks of me very highly as a person and I think of him very highly as a person. I can’t speak for anybody else but I know I never tuned him out, not for one minute, not until the very last minute of the last game.”
“We’ve got to commit to the fact that it’s all about winning,” said Jalen Rose. “Sometimes when you get off to a bad start, as this team did, it’s hard to remember that you can find a way to turn it around, come all the way back and win. Things spiral out of the way a little bit and you forget what’s important.”
Specifically, in his meeting with Knicks executives, Curry was told by Brown and President, Basketball Operations Isiah Thomas to “just play basketball over the summer, get into better shape, just be around the game as much as possible.” “Last year, as you know, I was not able to do that,” the young center said. “And it hurt my performance, definitely.”
Curry will even accompany the team “to Las Vegas, to the Summer League, just to show my commitment and be around the guys. I will do whatever it takes to turn this into a positive experience both for myself and for the city of New York.”
Robinson was told “to work on becoming the point guard I can be,” he said. ”And on becoming one of the best defensive guard in the league. Coach said he has total confidence in me that I can do that.” Frye will concentrate on “better recognition on what the other team gives me -- that comes only with experience -- my defensive strength and positioning, and ball handling.”
Lee will prepare “to play both forward spots,” he said. “That means that, in order to play small forward, I must work on my shooting and handle. Also on defending the “three” -- while I’m pretty comfortable defending the post, after LeBron (James) hit a couple of ‘three-s’ on me, coach asked what I was doing on the screen-and-roll? And that’s when I realized that I never defended the screen-and-roll before.”
As for the most controversial issues surrounding the team, “Larry Brown has made me a better man this year,’’ Marbury said. “I got a chance to learn a lot about myself. I learned that everything doesn’t go the way you want it to go. Coach taught me how to deal with adversity. We met and he said he didn’t want to trade me. He told me he wants me back unless he can get Kobe or Kevin Garnett for me. I told him if you can get Kobe you’ve got to do that.”
“We’re both on the same page,” added Marbury. “This by far is going to make me a better player. This year wasn’t about basketball, it was more about life. We talked about just us, as far as trust. It’s all resolved now, definitely. I think we’ll have a much better understanding through communication, through going out to eat with each other, him being around my family, me spending time with his family.”
“When I said I’ll play like Starbury I never meant I was going to be insubordinate and not listen to the coach. I meant I’ll play the way I play but, at the same time, incorporate his style AND my style.”
Equally directly, Brown said “I’ll be back to coach this team next season. The games I missed, I got the flu. I have the acid reflux and, I guess with the combination of both, I was sick. The doctors were being cautious and told me to stay away. So did Isiah. But it’s not going to affect whether I can coach or not. In fact, I’m better off (health-wise) than I was when I took the job.”
“I want to be back. I want to finish my contract here and be part of the Knicks. Especially since we won 23 games -- and I feel directly responsible for that. People invested a lot in me and have faith in me and I’m anxious to get started.”
“I never imagined when I took the job it was going to be easy -- but I never imagined we’d play so many young kids. I think they’ll get better. And I think we’re all committed to improving this team, whether by making our players better or by finding players who can do some things we need to do.”
“Look, Detroit came within one game of winning the championship and they got six new players,” added Brown. “San Antonio won a championship and they got six new players. We won 23 games -- so to sit here and think that we’ll stand pat is kind of silly.”
“I don’t think our record is indicative of the type of coach Larry is or of the type of players we have,” agreed Thomas. “That being said, we still have just 23 wins. Something was wrong. Over the summer we’ll figure it out and make corrections. I know we both have enough intestinal fortitude to do that.”
“I am loyal to winning, not to any single individual,” said Thomas. “I love all the players -- but I’m all about winning. I’m going to do what I need to do to make our team better. That’s my only agenda, to put together a winning basketball team.”
“Outside of Detroit and maybe Indy, Coach generally starts slow,” added Thomas. ”If you look at his history, he’s a slow starter. Then he picks up steam and all of a sudden players start to do what he wants them to do. GM-s such as myself find a way to get him the things that he needs -- and he finds a way to win.”
“This is just the first year,” said Brown. “We got a job to do. I’m confident that we’ll straighten this thing out.” I couldn't have said it better myself. Hope you enjoyed the read.  all kool aid all the time.
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4/21/2006 8:58 AM