Knicks Putting Team First as Season Looms

The question, the answer to which would have been an easy “Stephon Marbury” any other season, remains open to question this season. And it’s not because SuperSteph is expected to be any less super.

“I think that’ll change from game to game,” Knicks President and Head Coach Isiah Thomas said following practice at the team’s Madison Square Garden Training Center. “I don’t see us coming to the arena with one designated guy to carry the load. We play a TEAM game and we are going to try to play as a team. The stat sheet for us is irrelevant. We know we’re playing good basketball when four to five people are in double figures. When we’ll have two guys in double figures that’s not necessarily going to be a good night for us.”

“That’s not the way we want to play.”

The way the Knicks DO want to play became more evident last Tuesday against Philadelphia when the crisp passing, imaginative ball movement, and remarkable willingness to give up a good shot in search for an even better shot resulted in 28 assists on 43 field goals during the 113-102 victory. The new system put in by Thomas, which calls for five people moving in unison as one at a very fast pace, is beginning to take shape. “We are starting to understand our reads and our concepts better,” said Thomas. “It’s getting more instinctive, the guys are beginning to do the things we want without thinking.” “It felt good -- we are definitely getting more fluid,’’ Jamal Crawford agreed.

Without a doubt, for a team coming off of such a much-left-to-be-desired season, selflessness will not only be a basic requirement but a major key to change. Fortunately, wherever you look and whomever you may talk to, egos appear to have been put in cold storage around the Knicks.

“I’m not sweating it,” 15-point career-scoring small forward Jalen Rose said about his nonexistent preseason scoring. “This is not about me.” “There’s no guard glut -- with all the guards we’ve got, we’ll present teams with a lot of different type of threats,” said Crawford. “I think, as a group of guards, we can compete with anybody in the league. And no one in that locker room is worrying about playing time.” “I welcome it,” Jerome James said about Kelvin Cato’ s addition, one that might cost him some floor exposure down the road. “It can only be a positive. Teams now can’t get our big-s into foul trouble. Kelvin will just give us more depth -- how many teams have FOUR seven-footers? -- and a different look.”

After just a single day as a Knick, the 6-11 Cato himself is already melting into the mood. ”They tell me defensive rebounding and shot blocking are the things I’m good at,” he said with a smile. “So that’s what I intend to do.”

“Kelvin’s been around,” said Thomas. “He has know-how, he has savvy, he understands the league. As a veteran, he picks up offenses and defenses quickly. With Jerome, Malik Rose, and Jared Jeffries all injured, that’s what we were looking for. An experienced big man who plays defense.”

Besides Thomas and the siren song of playing time, Steve Francis was instrumental in recruiting Cato. “I’ve been on every NBA team he’s ever played on,” the big men stressed. “I don’t think that’s a coincidence. The coaches know we play together real well. He told me this team right here would be a great fit.”

“I always liked Cato’s game,” said Rose. “I faced him many times and, let me tell you, he is no joke to score on. And you think maybe he learned something extra last year playing with Ben (Wallace), Antonio McDyess, and Rasheed (Wallace) “I try very hard to not only be a vocal leader on this team but a spiritual leader as well,” said James. “In a sense that, in spite of my injuries, they see me keep my head up and remain positive.”

In that same team-first spirit, players will have to EARN time on these Knicks. “The first fifteen or twenty games, we’ll be looking at different things,” said Thomas. ”The tempo we’ll play at, the fast pace, you’ll need fresh bodies anyway. But we’re not a veteran team that’s been together for five or six years. We’ll adjust and we’ll make some changes. What we won’t change is HOW we want to play. It’s important that we keep the same style.”