Its Crawford's time is Marbury's time...Sundov's time?

http://www.sportsline.com/nba/story/7769771/1

Now is the time for Marbury
The Record, Bergen County, NJ
Oct. 5, 2004


GREENBURGH, N.Y. - Eight seasons with four NBA teams, and what does Stephon Marbury have to show for it?

Four one round-and-out playoff appearances.

He insists he doesn't wallow in that oh-fer, although he bristles when it's brought up. Yet as he and the Knicks headed for the start of training camp today in Charleston, S.C., what's clear is that at age 27, playing for his hometown team, Marbury believes it's time.

Time to start winning.

"I want to win more than anybody knows," he said Monday before the Knicks left their practice facility. "Nobody will ever know how much I want to win. And it [isn't] because [people say] that I [have] never won before. This is about me."

It's about him being in the right place at, he believes, the right time to win.

It's about building a chemistry from Day One of camp the Knicks couldn't build during a whirlwind 2003-04 season of change that included his arrival. It's about accepting his first eight seasons for what he believes they are, the means by which a Coney Island kid now plays for the team he grew up following.

"I think I'm where I'm at in life because of all of the things that occurred throughout my eight years being in the NBA," he said. "I've experienced a little bit of the highs and a lot of the lows. You can't stay at the bottom forever.

"Eventually you surface at the top, and my belief is that everybody gets his turn. It's what you do when you get your turn."

If this is his turn to win, it could come with a different role. Because of the balance he believes he's built into the roster, team president Isiah Thomas says Marbury won't have to shoulder as much of the scoring load as he did last season, particularly in the three- and-out first-round series against the Nets.

"I thought last year, particularly when Tim [Thomas] went down in the playoffs, Steph had to come out and score 20 to 25 points every night for us to win or to be competitive," Isiah Thomas said. "That's not the case anymore. He can have a lot of nights where he'll score 12 or 14 points, and we can still win the basketball game."

Marbury agrees, but what he seems to relish more is coach Lenny Wilkens' vow to run more and the opportunity he'll have to play with Jamal Crawford, who could be his opening-night backcourt partner with the uncertainty still surrounding Allan Houston.


"He brings a lot of the same things that I bring to the game," Marbury said. "He plays with a lot of flair. So you've got two guys that basically [bring] a lot of trickery to their game. That's beautiful. You've got another dog."


But can the Knicks' dogs hunt better than Marbury and his teammates did in Minnesota, New Jersey and Phoenix? Or will he have to draw on this summer's Olympic experience - which to him was no big deal - and carry the kind of load he did when he scored a U.S. record 31 points vs. Spain?

"I'm basically looking at [this season] as a fresh start," he said.

The start, he hopes, of something bigger than he's ever experienced before.

KNICKS BRIEFS: Although Tim Thomas said on the one hand he has no ill will left with the Nets after Jason Collins' Game 1 flagrant foul knocked him out of the teams' first-round series last season, he also said he directed some unprintable remarks toward former Net Kenyon Martin when the two crossed paths this summer in Dallas.

"I already told him: If he wants to see me, let's do it in a ring so everybody can see it," Thomas said of a player he labeled "fugazy" (phony). "I'm not looking forward to fighting Kenyon on the court, where you throw one punch and the rest of your teammates are around. ...

"I'm looking forward to somebody promoting it in a square ring with some gloves on so everybody can see what happens."

Shandon Anderson flew with the team to Charleston, but sees no resolution to Isiah Thomas' clear desire to dump him and the three years and $24 million left on his contract. The veteran swingman did not rule out accepting a buyout, but also was not informed of a time change for a scheduled meeting Monday, and thus arrived late.

"I don't think [the situation] can be smoothed over because there's no lines of communication," he said. "I haven't heard Lenny Wilkens say anything ... [so] I have to see what happens when I go out on the court, when I play, and see what the coach says."

Despite seven other veteran guards on the roster, former Seton Hall point guard Andre Barrett joined the team as expected Monday as one of four camp free agents. Also signed were veteran shooter Tracy Murray, journeyman center Mengke Bateer and forward Brent Wright, a summer-league product.

Knicks' five questions

1. Will Isiah Thomas stay the course?

For the stability his team didn't have a year ago, ideally he should - but a slow start or a Vince Carter trade demand will tempt him to scratch his itchy trigger finger.

2. Can Stephon Marbury finally figure out how to win?

He's entering his eighth - yes, eighth - NBA season, and playing for his fourth team, so he's long overdue to quarterback a team to the second round.

3. Will this finally be the season Tim Thomas casts aside his "fugazy" reputation?

He's now spent seven NBA seasons in three places flirting with his potential, so it's about time for him to reach it.

4. Are Nazr Mohammed and Vin Baker enough in the middle?

Against Shaquille O'Neal, no. In a conference where the next best centers include Zyrdrunas Ilgauskas and Ben Wallace, they're little different than what more than two dozen other teams in the league have.

5. Does Lenny Wilkens survive the season?

It could depend on the start - and with five of the first eight games at Minnesota, Indiana, San Antonio, Houston and Dallas, the Lenny Watch could begin as early as Thanksgiving week.




- Steve Adamek Knicks' roster



No. Name Ht. Pos. Age



49 Shandon Anderson 6-6 G-F 30



21 Trevor Ariza 6-8 F 19



42 Vin Baker 6-11 C-F 32



6 Andre Barrett 5-9 G 22



7 Mengke Bateer 6-11 C 28

2 Jamison Brewer 6-4 G 23



11 Jamal Crawford 6-5 G 24



1 Penny Hardaway 6-7 G-F 33



20 Allan Houston 6-6 G 33



3 Stephon Marbury 6-2 G 27



13 Nazr Mohammed 6-10 C 2






25 Moochie Norris 6-1 G 31



14 Bruno Sundov 7-2 C 24



50 Michael Sweetney 6-8 F 21



40 Kurt Thomas 6-9 C-F 32



5 Tim Thomas 6-10 F 27



31 Jerome Williams 6-9 F 31

23 Brent Wright 6-8 F 26

E-mail: adamek@northjersey.com



Who is Brent Wright?