Knick Knacks

A little Vaseline to help us move

For reasons only people who aren't Luddites (like us) know, this blog will be moving following this post and accessible at http://blogs.northjersey.com/blogs/knickknacks, if you're into saving that link. If not, you can still find it on www.northjersey.com or other places where there's a link.

Same author, same attitude, et al.

But we would be remiss (and it only seems appropriate) if we didn't sign off here with an observation about The One Who Eats Vaseline again getting space in his favorite tabloid via his favorite author to opine that the Knicks are a mess, he wouldn't pay good money to watch them (although he's attending opening might, presumably with comped ducats) and he's going to take this year off to work on his "brand."

Our take on all this: Lindbergh baby kidnapped. A squeaky wheel will always get grease somewhere. And wouldn't it help enhance a brand by actually PLAYING?

We're done. And we're moving somewhere the non-Luddites insist we can still be found. Hope they're right.

Building a brick house at the Garden

For all the talk about how stability has the Knicks further along this preseason than a year ago, their offense still looked out of sorts and beyond during Tuesday's 93-85 loss to the 76ers that would have made a brick-layer proud.

Danilo Gallinari still looks lost with his shot, 1-for-6 Tuesday and now 4-for-19 this preseason. Wilson Chandler bricked four third-quarter threes and 8-of-10 treys overall, Larry Hughes missed all eight of his shots and Mike D'Antoni's team still produced the kind of slow start (4-for-15 and a nine-point deficit) that plagued it much of last season.

But now the Knicks are just 12-for-72 (16.7 percent) on threes in its last two games, including 7-for-41 Tuesday, and shot 30.9 percent Tuesday after a 37.7 percent performance Friday in Boston.

"They're thinking too much about it," MD'A said. "We've just got to relax and play."

As for Gallinari, he said, "The guy's going to take 30,000 shots here. I don't think we have to worry about 19."

As for what little positive the Knicks produced, they blocked seven shots and forced 28 turnovers at the other end, the swats especially encouraging for a team that rejected just 2 1/2 shots per game last season.

That isn't how it usually works in the NBA, where missed shots usually lead to players moping at the other end.

You'd like to think the shots will eventually fall once MD'A settles on his lineup and rotation, both of which he admitted Tuesday are still in flux.

Or maybe he and his staff have focused too much on defense this preseason.

Nah.

***

Maybe it doesn't seem like a big thing, but in some locker rooms, where players are assigned is done with a purpose _ a young player next to an older, potential mentor, for instance. In the Knicks' new setup, top draft pick Jordan Hill, for example, got Jamal Crawford's old corner locker, where he's next to Al Harrington.

The locker once occupied by the former All-Star, Vaseline-consuming point guard, meanwhile, is no longer a repository for empty Gatorade coolers, as it was after his departure last season. Now it's occupied by rookie Toney Douglas.

***

The Knicks will conduct their annual open practice Saturday at Fordham University's Rose Hill Gym in the Bronx. Doors open at 11:15 a.m., with limited reserved seating for season ticket-holders and first-come, first-served general admission seating for others.

Back at the Garden with their new key to success

Forget the Yankees, Giants and Jets _ and all the cheerleading journalism being practiced on their behalf these days. Especially with the Bronx Bombers and especially on television (although some of our print breathren are just as guilty), you almost expect to see so-called "journalists" waving pom-poms.

Anyhow, the Knicks are back at the Garden on Tuesday night, the place they didn't exactly turn into a party last season by going 20-21. They're back for a preseason to-do vs. the 76ers with one new veteran (Darko Milicic), a top draft pick unlikely to play much this season (Jordan Hill) and a second pick who'll probably play more (Toney Douglas), even though he can't seem to shoot.

Step right up and get your tickets now.

But things will be different this year, not just because Danilo Gallinari is healthy (if not exactly in NBA shape) or because there's roster stability _ which you certainly want after a 32-50 season.

No, things will be different because Mike D'Antoni plans to change his shootaround schedule for home games. No, really.

We now alert you to the above sarcasm because recognizing it seems a lost art in this dumbed-down world, where people actually believe, without hesitation, things former Alaska governors say about such things as death panels.

Yet, because this is a place designed to expose things "behind the scenes," we thought you'd like to know about something that's been broached here before, but could be the key to this season.

Sorry, sarcasm alert again.

The shootaround, a pre-game practice invented by one-time Lakers coach Bill Sharman ostensibly to keep players focused on the task at hand and from staying out late the night before, has traditionally been conducted the morning of games. Players then return home (or to their hotel rooms on the road) to nap, continue focusing on the game, watch soap operas, etc., before heading to the arena.

Not these Knicks, though, at home this season.

They will shootaround right before games, at 3:30, so they'll have "more energy," MD'A said. "They'll sleep a little bit longer [and] won't take that [midday] nap. ...

"We can feed them, we can get their exercise in or their therapy in. they can concentrate on the game from 2:30 [the time players will presumably leave for the shootaround] on."

Al Harrington (who lives in a Bergen County) would otherwise drive 35-40 minutes to the Knicks' Westchester County training site for shootarounds, then back home, then 15-20 minutes to the Garden for games. Now, he'll only have to do that latter.

"We can eat together, have a good shootaround and we'll probably be a little more prepared because everything will be real fresh in our minds," he said of the new pre-game itinerary.

So there you have it: better focus and better eating habits, and it's on to the playoffs.

On the road, unfortunately, the Knicks will have to shootaround in the morning because that's when arenas are available. But there, Harrington said, there's more of a temptation to go out when the team arrives in the city the night before (an NBA requirement). So he and his teammates should be in bed early so they'll get up early, he believes.

Then they can fall asleep thinking about the game and/or focus on it during "General Hospital." Just like the old days.

***

As for more conventional news, Gallinari won't start Tuesday, MD'A said. Jared Jeffries will in his place, along with Harrington, David Lee, Wilson Chandler and Chris Duhon.

***

In case you're thinking that Donnie Walsh might make a run at Stephen Jackson, with Stevie Jax on a two-game suspension as he tries to force the Warriors' hand into trading him, forget it. Jax (who played for Walsh in Indiana, where he was involved in the Malice at the Palace) is due almost $36 million over the next four years, including more than $8 million next season _ which would cut a huge chunk out of 2010 Summer of LeBron cap space.

***

No sarcasm here, just news of a good deed: The Knicks and their Garden of Dreams Foundation hosted 30 youngsters from the Children's Village in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., at their training center Monday. A group of players also went to the village to help refurbish its outdoor basketball court.

The Knicks and the Garden of Dreams Foundation hosted a group of kids from The Children’s Village of Dobbs Ferry as part of “Dream Day and Service Day.” Later, several players unveiled a new outdoor basketball court at The Children’s Village.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/knicks/2009/10/dee-brown-i-couldve-out-dunked.html#ixzz0Tl43YYYL

The Knicks and the Garden of Dreams Foundation hosted a group of kids from The Children’s Village of Dobbs Ferry as part of “Dream Day and Service Day.” Later, several players unveiled a new outdoor basketball court at The Children’s Village.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/knicks/2009/10/dee-brown-i-couldve-out-dunked.html#ixzz0Tl43YYYL

Why Nate got just one year

The subject Wednesday was Nate Robinson and it led to the annual discussion of how the littlest Knick has to walk the tightrope between playing with unbridled enthusiasm and crossing the line with his behavior toward officials and opponents because of that enthusiasm.

That prompted Mike D'Antoni to offer this telling comment about how it seems that after four years in the NBA, N8 still hasn't properly channeled his energy.

"That's why he [got] a one-year contract," MD'A said. "That's why we won 32 games [last season].

"As soon as we get it and he gets it, then we'll win, get in the playoffs and guys will find homes."

D'Antoni didn't admit he wasn't as high on keeping N8 as team president Donnie Walsh, but now that N8's back, MD'A will again have to deal with the showboating and bluster the Little Guy is still demonstrating at almost every turn during practice scrimmages, when he's griped at the refs hired to officiate them and celebrated routine baskets as if they'd won the NBA Finals.

That's part of what's made him the extraordinary athlete he is, but MD'A has already told him that 12 technicals last season were far too many.

"Nobody can ever stop him," MD'A said. "He doesn't need to stop himself."

***

One reporter Wednesday tried to embark on a story about how Friday's preseason game in Boston could be a "statement" game, as if the second game of any preseason could be so and as if MD'A agreeing with that premise would blow the Yankees off the back pages.

D'Antoni, instead, cut him off at the pass, saying, "It's too early. If this was the last preseason game, we might talk a little bit about the Celtics. ... It's too early to think about your opponent. We're just worried about our stuff."

***

The Knicks made their first round of cuts Wednesday, all free agents, and none was a surprise: forward Warren Carter, plus guards Ron Howard, former Celtic Gabe Pruittand former Laker Sun Yue.

That leaves the roster at 16, one over the maximum, and a group that includes the retired Cuttino Mobley. Unless the Knicks buy out the remaining $9.5 million on his deal or waive him, he counts, and if they do either, it could cost them the 75-80 percent of his salary insurance is paying.

So, assuming they keep him, they have 13 guaranteed contracts, leaving two spots for the three free agents left on the roster (assuming they keep 15 or don't make another move): big man Chris Hunter (who's been sidelined by shin splints), forward Marcus Landry and guard Joe Crawford. Between those three, we've been most impressed by Hunter's physicality and Landry's intangibles (much like those his brother Carl has displayed in Houston).

Eddy's STILL not ready

Stop us if you've heard this before: Eddy Curry will be out indefinitely (the Knicks officially say there's "no timetable") to work on his "conditioning" (the Knicks' word) so he doesn't get hurt so often (Donnie Walsh's explanation).

But it's "not about weight," Walsh insists. If he can play, it doesn't matter what he weighs.

Which is what we believe _ except he can't play.

Which brings to mind an old saying: If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's a duck.

In other words, quack! "Conditioning" means "Eddy's weight."

The Knicks officially shut down Eddy on Tuesday to work on his conditioning at least twice a day, while treating his right calf tear, which was a function of overcompensating for a hamstring injury, which he got after he began to play last month following his off-season conditioning program.

Which obviously didn't work, for now the Knicks are embarking on their own program, after Eddy played just 12 minutes in three games last season because of one knee injury that led to another knee injury ... and the leg bone is connected to the thigh bone, and the thigh bone's connected to the ...

For the record, the Knicks can't/couldn't impose a weight clause on Eddy because it wasn't written into his contract _ you know, the one Isiah Thomas gave him while giving away an unprotected lottery pick _ the way Sacramento wrote a weight clause into Sean May's deal this summer (and which May met).

And, for the record, Eddy is due $22.8 million for this and next season, including more than $10 million this season _ coin Walsh would love to unload before the 2010 Summer of LeBron.

Tuesday's decision _ which the Knicks wouldn't say guarantees he's not ready by opening night, just three weeks away _ means unloading him is more unlikely than it already was before.

And there's basically nothing the Knicks, Walsh, Mike D'Antoni, can do except try again where so many others have failed to get Eddy into some kind of playing condition _ something his off-season program (which the Knicks could only monitor) obviously didn't accomplish.

All this may sound rather harsh for the Big Fella, whom we like as a human being. As an athlete, though (and the guy does have skills), he represents much of what's wrong with sports, guaranteed contracts and so much else these days.

He's gone to people who've gotten it done with so many other athletes (e.g. Tim Grover, the Bulls' former strength coach), but haven't gotten it done with him.

So now, more than ever, it's up to him if he wants to have a career again. Because of his contract, he'll keep getting chances and because of his height, he'll probably get more after this contract.

Or maybe not the latter, which about all the tough love available to motivate Eddy these days.

He can use a lot more of something because with Eddy these days, every day is like Groundhog Day.