1st day impressions from morning session
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nixluva
Posts: 56258 Alba Posts: 0 Joined: 10/5/2004 Member: #758 USA |
9/30/2008 3:34 PM
http://njmg.typepad.com/knickknacks/2008/09/quick-first-day.html
Quick first-day impressions _ but no Curry Mike D'Antoni's first preseason practice ended around lunch-time Tuesday and here's the biggest piece of news that came out of it: Jerome James ran. A lot. At what passes for almost full speed for the Big Lad. That makes it 1-of-4 camps as a Knick that he has either practiced at all or not got hurt during the first practice. Although we didn't have a monitor on his heart rate, in which the over-under while he was going up and down in 3-on-2 drills was probably in the mid-100s. The other guy who needs to run, though, Eddy Curry, developed a fever late Monday according to the team and thus didn't work out Tuesday morning. It's uncertain when he will _ but every day he misses, of course, doesn't help what D'Antoni and Donnie Walsh have said isn't a player in prime condition. Danilo Gallinari, meanwhile, spent much of his practice on the Jerome James Honorary Stationary Bike with what Walsh said he was told was originally a bulging disk in the rookie's back, not the sciatica as one writer speculated in his Tuesday story. Whatever. Most fans would probably rather see Gallinari running and Jerome biking, but that's the way it was. And, FYI, Jerome has no intention of retiring because of his knee issues, thus exiting the Knicks' roster and eventually their salary cap. As for all the running in general that D'Antoni promised and his players expected, it was what one player called "smart running," not the seemingly mindless sprints that most coaches run _ including Byron Scott, for instance, his first day as Nets coach when he tried to emulate his mentor Pat Riley. B-Scott was so proud that several of his players lost their lunches during and after practice. D'Antoni's running, meanwhile, comes in the context of basketball activity, drills and such. When reporters were let in the gym Tuesday morning, his players were running up and down in a 3-on-2 drill and then a three-man weave-like drill without a defense, not quite at full speed, but rather quickly, and kept going for more than a half-hour. "I hated them when I was a player," D'Antoni said of the mindless sprints. Thus, unless they did it out of sight of reporters, nobody lost their lunch at D'Antoni's first workout. His second, Tuesday evening, was to feature more scrimmaging, the first indication of what he might be thinking in terms of a starting five, although he said not to put much stock in the units he runs out. He did say Stephon Marbury, who was swarmed by area reporters, but basically ignored by all but one or two New York-area writers, spent some time at point and shooting guard. Marbury also didn't seem much different than any of his teammates during the portion of the workout reporters were able to watch, chatting with teammates and doing whatever the others did _ although at one point, Nate Robinson danced around him, almost close enough to give him a kiss, without saying anything. The night practice, meanwhile, was to be open to reporters, a departure from the team's long-held practice of no access the second workout of the day. What a concept ... openness. At least in that regard, it's a new era, and when D'Antoni spoke of it in terms of the attention he got from his players, he admitted he could've told them to jump off the top of the bleachers and they would've done it, so happy are they to hear a different voice preaching a different way to play. "They're ready to change and they're ready to play well," he said, "ready to try something different. ... They want hope." More to come ASAP.http://http:// |
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1st day impressions from morning session