New York Knicks
			MORE knicks

	Other Enemy Lines:  Select team Atlanta Hawks Boston Celtics Charlotte Bobcats Chicago Bulls Cleveland Cavaliers Dallas Mavericks Denver Nuggets Detroit Pistons Golden State Warriors Houston Rockets Indiana Pacers Los Angeles Clippers Los Angeles Lakers Memphis Grizzlies Miami Heat Milwaukee Bucks Minnesota Timberwolves New Jersey Nets New Orleans Hornets New York Knicks Orlando Magic Philadelphia 76ers Phoenix Suns Portland Trail Blazers Sacramento Kings San Antonio Spurs Seattle SuperSonics Toronto Raptors Utah Jazz Washington Wizards SI's Scouting Reports: Select team Atlanta Hawks Boston Celtics Charlotte Bobcats Chicago Bulls Cleveland Cavaliers Dallas Mavericks Denver Nuggets Detroit Pistons Golden State Warriors Houston Rockets Indiana Pacers Los Angeles Clippers Los Angeles Lakers Memphis Grizzlies Miami Heat Milwaukee Bucks Minnesota Timberwolves New Jersey Nets New Orleans Hornets New York Knicks Orlando Magic Philadelphia 76ers Phoenix Suns Portland Trail Blazers Sacramento Kings San Antonio Spurs Seattle SuperSonics Toronto Raptors Utah Jazz Washington Wizards

An opposing team's scout sizes up the Knicks

No team needs to get off to a good start more than the Knicks. If they lose a few games to start the season, all of the questions are going to be about Isiah Thomas after he and the Knicks lost their sexual harassment trial. Can they win with Isiah? Can they go forward with him? On the other hand, Isiah is the one coach who could actually turn this whole thing around and use it to create an us-against-the-world mentality, which is his M.O. But it's all going to come down to how they start ...

Two years ago at the draft, all of the TV commentators were ripping Isiah for drafting Renaldo Balkman, but at the time I thought that was a pretty good decision. Then last June when he traded for Zach Randolph and they were all saying what a great move it was, I was disagreeing again. I just don't see how he's going to be able to play up front with Eddy Curry. It's one thing to have two guys who can post up, but these guys are so similar: They both need the ball and they both prefer the same block on the right side. Is it going to be a deal where whoever gets there first gets to play in the block? ...

The one who will have to adjust the most will be Zach because Curry can only play in the block. Randolph is a fairly consistent shooter. But when you're preparing to play him, he worries you most when he's down in the box. He's a decent shooter, but he's no Rasheed Wallace or Dirk Nowitzki where you're trying to make him put the ball on the floor from the perimeter. You'd rather see Zach shooting that jump shot. There are times when he kills you with it, but he's not consistent from there. In the post, Randolph is a tough guy to stop, particularly when he gets a lot of touches as he had in Portland. He's big and strong with great ball skills. He's not quite at the level of Antawn Jamison when it comes to unorthodox releases around the basket, but he has a pretty good bag of tricks down there ...

So which one is the better low-post scorer? It's a close call. Zach is probably superior because he's more versatile, while Eddy will try to back you down and overpower you every time. Eddy has a move and a countermove, and that's pretty much it. If they really need a basket, I'd probably give it to Zach because there are a few more things he can do with it. The problem is neither one is excited about passing it out of there ...

Curry made a big improvement last year, though he was also excellent two years ago with Chicago on those nights when he wasn't turning it over and committing offensive fouls. The Knicks did a better job of throwing it into him, and there aren't a whole lot of guys who can stop him when he stays under control and doesn't turn it over. But you can draw a charge on him because he likes to use his body and overpower guys, and if you maintain your position he's going to go right through you. Turning it over is his biggest issue, whether he's going through defenders or making bad passes out of the double teams. Defensively, he isn't very good for a guy with his size and athleticism. He doesn't block shots and he's not a phenomenal rebounder. There's no reason he can't get better at coming from the weak side and becoming a better help defender because he moves so well ...

David Lee has developed his niche as a high-energy big man, but are they going to play him at small forward to get him on the court with Curry and Randolph? In that case, you'll have three players who are very limited outside 15 feet. They'll be big and they'll rebound, but they won't have much shooting. My suggestion -- and I know it will never happen -- would be to start Lee at power forward and bring Randolph off the bench as the sixth man. I say that because I have doubts that Randolph and Curry will mix, and neither one is a good defender or passer -- two phases that Lee can provide. Lee doesn't need touches and he would do the dirty work at the other end. But at the end of the game, I'm pretty sure you'll see Lee playing with whichever guy has it going that night ...

Lee needs to continue developing his range out to 15-18 feet, which will help him because he can already get to the rim against bigger defenders. He'll never be much of a post player, but you can't help off him too much because then he'll take advantage of the open lane to the offensive glass. He's a great rebounder but he isn't a great defender; he just tries harder than most guys. He's an energy guy who has more skills than most of the other energy guys in the league ...

I don't see Stephon Marbury as a bad guy. The Knicks improved by 10 wins last year and he had as much to do with it as anybody. When he's playing well, he's not a point guard who distributes the ball; he needs to score, and that's what he was doing last year at his best. But he has a lot of basketball in those legs, and he's not as athletic as he used to be. And no, I don't see him ever playing in Italy ...

I'm a fan of Nate Robinson. He's wild and probably not the best student of the game, but he can come in and change games and he's going to get better if he matures. The easiest comparison is with Earl Boykins in the way they come in and change the pace offensively, but the difference between them is that Nate can change games defensively too. You can take advantage of Boykins in the block, but Nate is so strong that you're not going to see many guys post him up ...

Just as they'd be better off starting Lee instead of Randolph, I also think they'd be better starting Robinson and bringing Marbury off the bench. That's another one of those things that's only going to happen if they start badly and need to change things up. But if they get off to that kind of start, the ship may be sinking fast ...

Jamal Crawford is another guy whose best basketball is still ahead of him. He can shoot the three and get all the way to the rim, though he's not a great finisher. He has an excellent medium-range pull-up game, he's a good pick-and-roll player and he makes big shots, so he's got everything offensively. Defensively, he's a liability ...

Quentin Richardson could be one of the odd men out if Lee plays some minutes at small forward, or if they decide to go small and put Crawford there. Richardson is no longer the post-up player he was early in his career with the Clippers. He's become more of a three-point shooter, but they may need that because they won't get it from Lee or Balkman. When Curry and Randolph are playing together, they'll be more likely to use Richardson because they'll need somebody to make outside shots ...

Their roster has a number of guys who are capable of playing in the league. Balkman is similar to Lee: He'll defend, get loose balls and rebound, and there's a need for that on this team. Balkman is a small forward who can guard in the backcourt. If you leave him alone, he'll dive and get some loose change on the offensive glass. That's not true of Jared Jeffries, who just stays out at the three-point line. I don't know if Jeffries will ever see the floor because he's a complete liability as shooter, and they've got Lee and Balkman to do what Jeffries does defensively.