The Knicks Fix

All this talk about Eddy Curry and the Knicks’ tectonic shift away from the perimeter back to the post as the first option has me analyzing Curry’s game with greater scrutiny. While I marvel at the big man’s quick development of nifty moves around the basket – he’s definitely been listening to Mark Aguirre – I’m finding several other facets of his game to be alarmingly deficient.

He’s 23 and he still has a lot of developing to do. Here are the areas that need the most attention:

Defense – How many times has he collided with his own teammate while “showing” on pick-and-roll help defense? You can see the guards’ frustration when they avoid the pick but then slam into Curry’s big body and lose their man. Or how many times has Curry kept his feet nailed to the floor when a guard drives the lane? A token wave of the hand does nothing. I’d love to see him hammer a guy and glare at him as if to say, “Don’t bring that garbage in here. And if you do, I have five fouls to offer and my boys Jerome and Kelvin have 12 fouls each to spare.”

It’s almost impossible to stop guards off the dribble in the NBA, so guards need help. For everything Curry can do on the offensive end, the Knicks wind up only breaking even because of what he doesn’t do defensively.

Free throw Shooting -- You can't be a No. 1 option and shoot just 50 percent from the line. It's why Shaq couldn't win championships by himself. Enough said.

Rebounding – One of my favorite former coaches, Eric Brown, used to stop practice and ask "How tall are you?" I’d say, “Six-six.” He’d then instruct me to put my hands up.

“How tall are you now?”

Point made.

Curry is 6-11 but with his hands at his sides he plays much smaller on the boards. Too many times rebounds have sailed over his head because his hands were down and he couldn’t get them up quick enough to snatch the ball. Your 6-11, 285-pound center shouldn’t be out-rebounded by your 6-6 small forward. Curry needs to take more pride in his rebounding and, like defense, have a more dominant attitude when it comes to clearing the glass.

And on the offensive boards, he tends to tip the ball around instead of grabbing the ball, gathering himself and then powering up. I might attribute that to his conditioning, which definitely needs to be addressed this coming offseason. He’s so young yet, if he hired a good personal trainer to work with him on his power, he could be a dominant force. One good, hard offseason of training could see him finishing a lot more around the basket than he already does. If he dedicated himself to a rigid fitness program, he could find himself among the NBA's best big men in no time at all. Unless he's content being average.

Passing – Eddy can’t allow himself to be taken out of games because of double-teams. He’s been very good in getting deep position and overpowering his defenders. But when he’s doubled, Curry tends to still look for his shots and might even dare to put the ball on the floor. I’d like to see him have more awareness of his teammates and the offense. Know where the passing options are and make quick decisions. No big man wants to be known as a black hole, where the ball goes in and never comes out. It took time for Patrick Ewing to develop this skill, too. Not everyone comes out of the womb as finished as Tim Duncan.

For any NBA big man, it’s all about the attitude you have on the court and the confidence you have in your skills. Curry is starting to develop it on the offensive end. The next step is to carry it over to the other parts of his game.

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We spend enough time killing Stephon Marbury, but to keep a fair balance, I feel compelled to point out that the past two games Marbury has looked like he was starting to figure out where he fits within Isiah Thomas’ system. He wasn’t forcing his shots – they didn’t drop in Detroit, but they did against Toronto – and he was distributing the ball without looking as if he was passing up shots. Most of what he did was in the flow of the game. He also continues to put a physical effort in defense. In fact, he is one of the guards I have seen get caught in an inadvertent Curry pick. I’ve seen him have words with Curry about it and I can’t blame him. I’d be furious too.

He hasn’t been the best teammate, but even that part of his attitude has been changing since Thomas spanked him with a few benchings recently. I had to rub my eyes when I was watching the Toronto game on Saturday night: was that really him clapping on the bench and slapping fives with his teammates?

* * *

With Jared Jeffries set to return, Richardson emerging as a versatile team leader and Steve Francis running the point quite well (with the occasional over-dribble), something’s got to give when it comes to the rotation. Jamal Crawford might be mercurial and weak defensively, but he’s proven himself valuable late in games. Tireless streetballer Nate Robinson is erratic and often self-involved, but Thomas knows how important Robinson’s energy can be, along with the positive vibe his presence draws from the smitten Garden crowd.

So who goes?

Marbury might understand the reality of his situation right now.

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I’m all for honoring the past and cherishing memories, but have you noticed that nostalgia is never more promoted than during a franchise’s lean years? It’s like saying, “Yes, we suck this year. But, hey, weren’t we great in 1994?”

* * *

There I was, marveling at the 12,155 miles that I put in during the first month of the season, when seated next to me on my flight home from Detroit on Saturday morning was a woman in her 60s who was on her way to Africa. Her day was only starting. From New York she had to catch a flight to Boston, where she would connect to Zurich, where she would connect to her African destination.

She does this about 20 weekends a year for a humanitarian organization.

Man I envied her frequent flier miles account.