|
Silverfuel
Posts: 31750
Alba Posts: 3
Joined: 6/27/2002
Member: #268
USA
|
For Enyspree:
GREENBURGH, NY, October 11, 2006 -- Channing Frye, who looks fabulous while scrimmaging, appears quite buff afterwards off the floor as well. “More meat,” the second-year forward smiles, following practice as the team prepares for its first preseason game on Friday at MSG against the Nets. “More meat, guys. And it’s all good meat, too.”
Individual meat is one thing, of course -- but the Knicks hope to have more substance as a team as well. “It’s like night and day, that’s the best way to put it,” guard Steve Francis describes the difference. On offense, the Knicks are relying on “more movement and far less on individual skills,” according to Francis. And defensively? “(Head Coach and Team President) Isiah (Thomas) has made crystal clear what he wants from his post players and what he wants from his wing players.”
“That, plus it’s good to feel good about basketball -- and feel good about playing defense -- once again,” adds Francis. “Defense is more a ‘want’ thing than anything else. And guys want to play defense again. You see, as much as people say you make all this money, you’re still human and you have pride in what you’re doing. I feel this training camp has prepared us real well for what is at stake.”
Individually, “I don’t even want to be the Steve Francis I used to be, not with scoring all the points, doing all the dunks and things like that,” he says. ”I’m done with all that. Now I want to go out there and do something I’ve never done. And that’s win games -- so that’s what I’m out to do.”
“Our offense is so different, it’ll be noticeable even to the fans, without a doubt,” an upbeat Frye avers. “It’s a lot faster, there’s a lot more movement. Isiah put in an offense that’s a lot more conducive for us, for the ball-handlers we have, and to get the ball inside to Big Eddy (Curry) and to shooters like Q. Richardson and Jamal (Crawford). And defensively we just have a whole lot more trust.”
“The entire team as a whole has been a real pleasant surprise so far,” says Thomas. ”Just the way they approached camp, the physical condition they’re in, their attitude…It’s been a great camp.”
Thomas describes the new offense as “one with a lot of movement, with a little bit of Phoenix influence among others. That’s the way I played at Indiana as well. Europe has had an influence on coaching so I think the whole league is moving that way. You’ve got to have good guards to play with a quicker tempo and over all 94 feet, to execute at a fast pace and to think at a fast pace. And I think we have very good guards.”
“The template for this is basically Indiana University, St. Joseph’s High School, Bob Knight, John Wooden, the combination of all those philosophies,” says Thomas. “It’s really five guys moving together, thinking as one, acting as one. That’s the beauty of the game, moving and flowing at that level, whether it’s old Indiana, or new Phoenix.”
“Defensively, I just go back the way I learned to defend at Indiana and the way I coached at Indiana,” adds Thomas. “I’ve never been associated, coaching or playing, with a bad defensive team -- and this is not going to be the first. It’ll be measured by our field-goal percentage against. It will be a very basic defense: we want to stay in front of people, make them miss shots then rebound the ball. CYO basketball.”
“We have a ways to go,” says Thomas. ”We went to Charleston with a group that was very fragmented. Our goal was to come back with a group that was solidified as a unit. Then you can put in a game plan. Right now we have unity -- but we haven’t hit any stress points, of course. Still, all in all, it’s been very encouraging.”
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
|
10/11/2006 9:42 PM
I'll be happy just as long as Marcus Williams doesn't light us up