New York Daily - Oct 10, 2004

CHARLESTON, S.C. - Kurt Thomas passed an important first test when he banged his surgically repaired right pinkie during a scrimmage yesterday and didn't feel any pain.

"I knew it was only a matter of time before I got hit," Thomas said. "I got a little stinger but my finger is fine."

Thomas, who has been the subject of trade rumors, admitted that fellow forward Michael Sweetney is having a strong camp and that he has been "okay" himself thus far. If Thomas isn't traded, he is expected to be the starting power forward.

Notebook

NEW TRAIN OF THOUGHT: Said Hamdan, the Knicks' assistant trainer for the past seven seasons, resigned from the club to start his own sports physical therapy company.

The Brooklyn product will become a part-owner and CEO of I.C.E. Sports Health Group, with two locations in Manhattan, including the Reebok Club on the Upper West Side.

For the past 13 years, Hamdan and his wife, Denise, have sponsored an award at Long Island University for an athlete who has exhibited strength of character in the face of adversity. The Michelle Antoinette Hamdan Memorial Award is named in memory of their daughter, who died of congenital heart disease 10 days after her birth in 1991.

DRESSED FOR SUCCESS: Team president Isiah Thomas is doing everything he can to change the culture around the Knicks. After establishing a rule barring all non-basketball personnel from the Knicks' locker room and imposing a dress code for the basketball staff last year, Thomas has ordered that everyone who flies the team charter must wear a jacket and tie. ... The Knicks return home following today's practice.

Frank Isola