<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> October 26, 2006 -- Isiah Thomas called out Eddy Curry yesterday, begging him to become more "manly" on the court and establish a tough-guy reputation. The Knick coach implied in many ways that Curry, considering his massive 6-foot-11, 285-pound frame, is too soft on the court. Thomas was set off by Curry's disappearance in Tuesday's win over Boston after he began 4-for-4. While Curry sat on the bench in the third quarter, Thomas came over, kneeled in front of Curry and lectured him. Thomas no longer wants the cuddly Curry, he wants the killer Curry. "He's a big man, and he's a nice man," Thomas said. "But there needs to come a time when you don't play with Eddy. We want him to really be a presence out on the floor. The first part of the game he was 4-for-4. He had a great game going. I was trying to explain to him, every minute and second of the game he has to give his presence. Not necessarily scoring but [being] manly." Thomas, on ownership orders not to rip players the way Larry Brown did, said that, at age 23, there's plenty of time for Curry to change his rep into a feared intimidator such as Shaquille O'Neal, a player whom others are afraid to foul. It's an intangible quality Thomas is seeking. It's usually an intangible that separates the good from the great, one you're either born with or not. "We're not asking him to do anything out of character," Thomas said. "What we're asking him to do is, he's such a big man, like Shaq, and is officiated differently. They're so big, players get away with the extra hit and push. He's got to get to a point he's not dependant on the official. He's dependent on himself to say, 'Next time you put your hands on me, I'm going to put my hand on you.' Then it stops. Eddy's got to get to the point where, 'OK, playtime's over.' " </div> Source Adding Cato to the roster should spark some aggression from Curry. He'll try to get under Curry's skin by beating him up in practices. If Cato can stay healthy he'll be a good enforcer for this Knicks team.
Imagine the Knicks starting lineup with an aggressive Curry there. They'd be hard to stop on offense, if Marbury and Francis learn to share the ball.
Just cause they have talent doesn't mean they'll be dangerous. In order to be good, you need chemistry, and that's something they didn't have last year and might not have again this year. They have a lot of me first players on this team that don't like to defer to others. In order to succeed, they need to decide to play team ball and get some chemistry, otherwise, it doesn't matter how much talent they have, if the don't have chemistry, they won't be winning too many games.
THe Knicks talent is a little overrated. Steph is already getting too slow to run the point in this league. Francis is over - when he lost that athletic edge he lost everything. Same goes for Jalen. These guys entire game is based on their athleticism and very little skill/court vision. Eddy CUrry should be in the remake of Night Of THe Living Dead. Channing Frye has talent but not as much as he thinks he has which is a problem in this league. PLayers have to know their role and how good they really are. THe only Knicks players that are good players cause they have skills BUT more importantly they know what those skills are and don't have delusions are Jamal Crawford, Q Rich, Trevor Ariza - oh wait he's gone (should have kept him), Nate Robinson and David Lee.
Last game against the Nets I liked what I saw from Curry. He picked a lot of cheap fouls from this new brand of “soft” basketball Stern is instituting in the NBA. But there was one play specifically when he knocked down Jason Collins, dunked on him, and gave him a little stare and a couple of words. That’s the type of aggression he’ll need night-in and night-out. He also came out of nowhere with a midrange jumper, which, if used correctly, can be a dangerous weapon to his arsenal. All in all, while he still has a lot to learn, Curry has made improvements this offseason. Before he just got the ball and sloppily ran over the opposing center usually warranting him an offensive foul. Now he’s establishing deeper position in the post (where he’s unstoppable) and even putting the ball on the floor where he’s pretty quick for his size. Now getting more minutes, Curry is learning to play with foul trouble and his stamina is improving. His rebounding is improving, though his numbers might not necessarily indicate it this season. If preseason serves as any indication, the Knicks will be a very good rebounding team. Averaging 44.7 boards per game, the Knicks rebounds will be spread evenly amongst the players. Curry’s defense still needs some work, but it definitely has improved. It’s more of a mental aspect which will improve over time. In terms of our team chemistry, it’s definitely improved. One thing which can improve chemistry is everyone liking each other. Last year there was so much animosity between the players that chemistry was hard to form, but this year it seems like we’re much more of a family. When altercations were about to take place, the players on the floor rushed to each other’s rescue—something which probably wouldn’t have happened last year. We also have playing with more “fire and desire” as Clyde would say. Down 19 in a mere preseason game, we really showed some swagger to fight back from the deficit. We eventually lost by less than what the box score indicated. Our deficit fluctuated mostly between 7-12 points until the final minute when the Nets blew open the score. We still came with it even though it was only a preseason game.
