Eddy practices
Perhaps Dwight Howard or even the current Shaquille O’Neal might’ve been a more welcome sight running up and down the Knicks’ practice floor Saturday.
Still, coach Mike D’Antoni and his team were fine with watching Eddy Curry practice for the first time since suffering a bone bruise in his right knee that wouldn’t go away for two months (following his week losing lunch in a Saratoga hotel room) and parked him on a stationary bike pedaling as if he were Lance Armstrong delivering papers.
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The former franchise center, after enduring a grueling 45-minute workout before Friday’s latest failure to close out a victory, said he decided to give a full-contact workout a go when he felt good during the non-contact drills.
What that means in terms of him playing for the first time since the preseason is uncertain. For the record, in the final two games of the four-game Southwestern trip on which the Knicks embark following Sunday’s Garden game against Boston, he’d face Yao Ming (who’s treated Eddy like a rented mule in past meetings) and Tyson Chandler (his old far-more-athletic former sidekick in Chicago).
But the Knicks have a day off to practice between each of those four games, plus Monday before they leave, so Curry could get somewhat ready soon.
And, of course, the question of how his plodding, low-post game fits D’Antoni’s system is an issue we couldn’t get into much in the story that will appear in Sunday’s Record, but one the coach and Chris Duhon (who played one season with Curry in Chicago) thinks is doable.
Duhon, for instance, asked about how the Knicks played off the since-departed Zach Randolph inside, said Z-Bo “wandered, but at the same time, he picked his spots when he got into the post and it worked out well for us.”
Curry, he said, is “going to give us a guy that we can throw the ball into, we can maybe slow down the game a little bit, probably [give us] another option late in the game.”
Which the Knicks could certainly use the way they’ve gone one-on-one rogue down the stretches of so many games.
D’Antoni, meanwhile, said that although his low-post players can’t park themselves on the blocks as they do in conventional NBA offenses, they can venture there.
“They’ve got to do something before they get into the post,” he said, “pick and roll, put a screen on somebody,” he said. “Then once they do that, they can get into the post and then we should exploit what happens. We’ll figure it out. If he’s ready to play and play well, we’ll figure it out.”
The latter line, of course, is the issue with Curry, who, D’Antoni said didn’t report in primo shape and still looks (and probably always will look) large.
Perhaps, too, if Curry does play serviceably the next month and a half until the trade deadline, he’ll generate enough trade value to help Donnie Walsh create even more 2010 salary-cap space.
But if he sticks and can play near the level of two seasons ago, when he averaged 19.5 points, he’s worth a look as an offensive option the shoot-first, drive-second Knicks don’t have _ and which Isiah Thomas buried on his bench last season.
He won’t rebound a lick or give the Knicks the shot-blocking they need, but they could do worse. Or haven’t you seen the current starting center, Jared Jeffries, shoot?
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ready info:bowl game: sugar bowlgame date/time: jan 2, 2009 8:15 pm est teams: utah utes vs. alabama 
