--C Eddy Curry was sitting on an exercise ball during a recent practice, watching the Knicks scrimmage. Boom! The ball exploded, leaving a stunned Curry on the floor with an elbow scrape. It wasn't a scene the oversized center needed to be part of. Curry missed all of training camp with a bacterial infection and is not in the kind of shape he needs to be in. "He's a little bit behind," D'Antoni said. "He missed a week or 10 days. It is tough. He just has to catch up. At the same time, I have to stick to what we talked about: You've got to get on the floor and earn it." --It's only a matter of time before Stephon Marbury again becomes a soap opera. Despite reporting in great shape, he is coming off the bench for the Knicks and clearly isn't happy. "I always want to start," Marbury said. "I'm a starter, period. That's just what it is. It's not my choice to be in this situation. It's the coach's choice. It's his team and you've got to do what he says to do." A buyout remains unlikely since the Knicks consider paying a player $21.9 million to leave town a terrible business decision.
MAIN REASON KNICKS CAN WIN: While it may take a while to get used to a new system, they are giving a decent effort. Last season, the Knicks weren't even trying, so a better approach is likely to add a number of wins.
MAIN REASON KNICKS CAN LOSE: Basically, they've never learned how to win. Most of the roster is working to overcome poor habits picked up over the last three years while the organization celebrated a mere 79 wins.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "You do have to stroke egos. It kind of rankles me a little bit because every two weeks should stroke their ego, when they go pick their check up. I'm not big on the 'Oh, the big man runs, you've got to give him the ball.' Well, the big man runs because we pay you a lot of money to run." -- Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni, who will only go so far to keep everyone happy.
