Isiah sees Curry, Zach as Knicks' meat & potatoes
BY ALAN HAHN

GREENBURGH, N.Y. - There is no denying the depth of individual talent that Knicks coach Isiah Thomas has at his disposal, but what remains to be seen is how the sum of those parts works as a whole.

There was skepticism last season about whether Stephon Marbury would be able to take a back seat to Eddy Curry as the No. 1 option. This season, it is whether Curry and newcomer Zach Randolph can coexist in the frontcourt.

"I don't look at it as Eddy and Zach," Thomas said yesterday after practice as the Knicks prepared for Friday's season opener in Cleveland. "I look at it as our team playing together. You've got to get your team playing together. It's not about two people playing together."

Once Marbury accepted and understood his role change last season - not to mention got himself into proper condition - he seemed to play his best ball as a Knick through the middle of the year. This season, with the arrival of Randolph, Marbury's offense needs to be curbed even more. He must become a playmaker first, a guard who can read the defense and find ways to get the ball inside to Curry or set Randolph up on the left side.

And let's not forget Jamal Crawford, who has the ability to be a prolific scorer.

"[Stephon] and Jamal will definitely have their share of looks, but they're the dessert," Thomas said. "The meat and potatoes we eat with Eddy and Zach."

After the loss to the Nets on Friday in the preseason finale, Thomas expressed his displeasure with the performance of his backcourt - "I know they are better players than what we have seen in the exhibition," he said - but he backed off those remarks yesterday. Thomas said his criticism was "strictly based on shooting," meaning he thought Marbury and Crawford were not shooting enough.

Not shooting enough? Isn't the idea to shoot less and pass inside more?

"We want to play inside out, but if one of these guys gets it going, you'd be foolish not to stay with it for a period of time," Thomas said. "But once it runs out, you put the ball back inside."

Thomas said yesterday that the Knicks showed only "maybe two or three plays" out of the playbook during the preseason, so one might surmise a potentially lethal pick-and-pop game with Marbury and Randolph and some more variations of those backdoor alley-oops between Crawford and Curry have yet to be unveiled.

"In this league, you have one game to maybe surprise a team, and that's opening night," Thomas said. "After that, everybody knows exactly what you're going to do and how you're going to do it."

Notes & quotes: The Cavaliers signed rookie Demetris Nichols to a contract. Cleveland did not disclose contract terms on the Syracuse product, who averaged 4.8 points in five exhibition games with the Knicks, who waived him last week . . . Renaldo Balkman, who missed the entire preseason because of a stress reaction in his ankle, went through a full practice yesterday. Thomas said he expects Balkman to play Friday along with Quentin Richardson, who missed the last two preseason games with a mild ankle sprain . .. Jared Jeffries wore a large brace on his sprained left knee and participated in shooting drills ... Thomas was asked if he was pleased that Rutgers women's coach C. Vivian Stringer apologized for her public criticism of him. "She and I both have said all we have to say about it," Thomas said, "There's no need to discuss it any further." ... After today's practice, the Knicks will host 30 children from the Make-A-Wish Foundation at the MSG Training Center.