INSIDE

How ’bout those Knicks?

It’s time to talk turkey. What about those Knicks? 

They’ve been up and they’ve been down, mostly down. 

Fans were hopeful last season as the Knicks, under Mike D’Antoni’s leadership, made it to the playoffs – a feat they haven’t been able to accomplish since 2004.

I ask the coach how fans are reacting, especially in the wake of the recent lockout. 

“They’ve been good. I’ve been here now three years.  When I got here we had a plan, which was bad. We had to tear it down. So far, I think fans bought into what we said we were going to do and so far so good. Last year was the playoffs, so that was the first positive step. Now this year we’ve made some additions to the team, so we are expected to take some big step,” Mike explains.  

It’s no secret fans get nervous when the Knicks lose. 

“They’re waiting. They’ve been really super. I think they like the team. It’s just that now we need to win. We will. I’m confident. We’ve got good guys.”

Indeed, guys like Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler. The talent is there and now fans are waiting to see if D’Antoni can do for the Knicks what he did for the Phoenix Suns.  It’s crunch time, and with the recent lockout, that time as been scrunched into 66 games instead of the usual 82, which doesn’t leave much room for teaching.

“We didn’t have the four months with these guys that we’d normally have. With a young team that’s crucial. So now we’re under the gun, but then again, so is everyone else,” he says as he flashes me a huge smile.

Is there any chance, I ask him, he’ll be able to recreate the magic of the Knicks’ glory days of the late ’60s and early ’70s when Willis Reed, Earl “The Pearl” Monroe, Walt “Clyde” Frazier, Dave DeBusschere and Bill Bradley roamed Madison Square Garden, as described in Harvey Araton’s new book, “When the Garden Was Eden” ?

 “You know I played against those guys when I was first starting out in ’73.  They had just won a championship in ’72.”  Reflecting back, he says, “Yeah, that was the best era.” 

An era that’s not likely to be repeated. But if D’Antoni has his way, he’s shooting to bring a little bit of that magic back to the Garden.

 “I’m confident this team can do great things,” he says.

This former NBA Coach of The Year, a title he won for his 2004-05 season with  the Phoenix Suns, seems to be resigned to the inevitable emotional ups and downs that is the game of basketball.  When I ask Mike if he’s able to turn it off when he comes home from a game, he admits he cannot. 

 “The hard thing is, I usually can’t go to sleep.” And with that Bob, Mike’s fluffy cat, saunters by grazing his leg and purring as he pets her.

Jokes Laurel: “Bob is Mike’s anti blood-pressure medication.”