GREENBURGH, New York, March 9, 2007 -- Points of emphasis at Knicks practice? Eddy Curry working out of double teams --“and free throw shooting” stressed Coach Isiah Thomas at the team’s Madison Square Garden Training Center.

“Eddy’s had a good last couple of days,” said Thomas. “Today, he’s looked particularly sharp in terms of his reading where the doubles are coming from. We gave him a lot of different looks and he was accurate in his assessment of every situation.”

And the freebies that have been anything but? “Without question, one of the big keys for us is to get to the foul line,” said Thomas. “Correction, to convert from the foul line. You’ve just got to keep practicing. It’s about repetition. Make the players conscious and aware and give them some success at the foul line so it’s not the boogie man standing there waiting for them. It’s just a matter of understanding the importance of making foul shots in the first quarter is just a important as making them in the fourth quarter.”

One player that might get the chance to make some from the stripe in each quarter is Nate Robinson, likely returning tomorrow night from a ten-day absence (stomach virus) for the road game against the Washington Wizards. “His shot making ability will definitely help us,” said Thomas. “We need another shooter out on the floor, the way they’re double teaming Eddy Curry. His energy in terms of play making will be welcome -- he can make plays that change the game. We'll just have to find the right place and the right opportunity to put him on the court.”

“The player comes back -- but his game doesn’t necessarily return at the same time,” added Thomas. “It’s going to take some time for him to really adjust. I don’t expect him to come back at the top of his game.”

David Lee, on the other hand, remains questionable. “I am by nature an optimist,” Lee smiled sadly, recalling his original hope of returning just one game after he suffered his ankle sprain on Feb. 23. ”But right now, I’m still not comfortable with it.”

Without Lee, Jamal Crawford, and Nate, the caliber of shot making that could ease the defensive pressure on Curry has been at a premium -- so 6-11 shot maker Channing Frye not getting minutes down the stretch of games has been something of a surprise. “His ability to make them definitely helps,” explained Thomas. “Where we tend to struggle, being so young, is that late in the game we get beat by the offensive know-how and savvy of the veteran guys. Sometimes I just feel uncomfortable having TWO young guys on the back line who are inexperienced defensively. So I try to have an experienced guy back there.”

“There will be a better chance to play them both next year,” added Thomas. “You just learn more and now more…Particularly Channing, his third year will be a lot better than his second year.”

Frye heartily agrees. “I think the entire year has be one of one adjustment after another for me,” the second-year big man said. “But it’s not so much to what the opponents do. It’s interesting that most of the adjustments had to be made to our team and everybody growing so much. I‘m just trying to find that continuity, that liquid form on the court. But it’s always changing on the floor, the things the team might need from you. Subtraction of players, injuries, Eddy Curry’s emergence…It’s been challenging. You’re constantly changing your game. Whenever Eddy’s in the game, just trying to figure out where I can get my shots from so teams will have to play me…I think this year I kind of had to learn a lot. But it’s going to make me better eventually.”

So expect the unexpected -- just don’t ever expect Thomas to decrease the pressure by telling a player to forget about a weakness -- to get away from the free throw line, for example -- for a while. “No, we just know one way, and that’s to push hard,” said the coach. “If a guy breaks, someone else will fix him. Look at Stephon (Marbury) and his three pointers. He’s out there practicing them all the time so when he has to make them under pressure, he’s confident.”

“So we only know one way. And that’s to push hard.”