Can Curry Learn to Run?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>For most of the past season, Isiah Thomas suggested that Eddy Curry couldn't be effective in the small-ball world of the NBA. But the coach most responsible for the return of the running game says he plans to make Curry a big part of what the Knicks do next season.

"I'm really looking forward to working with Eddy Curry because I think that he can be a nice component," D'Antoni said Thursday in a phone conversation with Newsday. "I've only heard good things about Eddy, so I'm looking forward to it and I'm excited about the possibilities there."

D'Antoni's statement came unsolicited. He seemed aware that Curry's greatest problem this past season wasn't his lumbering game but his confidence. "The big factor is confidence, for any player, and it's all mental," he said. "That's what happened to the team a little bit; it was a chemistry, mental, I'm-dropping-my-shoulders kind of look. And we've got to get over that."

One way D'Antoni might try to tap into Curry's still unrealized potential could be to bring in Patrick Ewing as an assistant coach. "That's a great name ... Not because of Eddy Curry, but Patrick Ewing because of who he is, in the sense of he's been great on different benches," D'Antoni said. "He's somebody that you think of right off." Ewing spent the past season as an assistant coach on Stan Van Gundy's Orlando Magic staff and was perturbed that the Knicks did not ask him to interview for the head coaching job. Curry has expressed an interest in working with the former Knicks great, who has helped develop Yao Ming and Dwight Howard into all-star big men.

D'Antoni also has some experience working big men into his small-ball system, thanks to the Shaquille O'Neal trade to Phoenix this past season. He said much of what he did with Shaq will translate to Curry.

"You can run with Shaq because a lot of it is usually four guys running and the fifth guy coming up," D'Antoni said. "We didn't really want to change our style. We had to adjust things, more low-post, different defense. We were a trapping kind of team and I didn't want to trap with Shaq, and it might be the same thing with Eddy.

"We'll see. I haven't really gotten that far in my thinking. But we will adjust to make Eddy Curry the best player he can be."</div>
Source: Newsday