The last time he felt this way was 2005. Raymond Felton was a junior guard for a North Carolina Tar Heels team that would win the national championship. The strength of that team was its chemistry, Felton was saying yesterday; the kind of chemistry he senses the Knicks are building.
“It’s just the way we communicate and we bond,” Felton said after a lengthy practice session at the Knicks’ training facility. “It’s amazing. I haven’t been part of something like this since college. Everybody gets along, that chemistry you feel, that energy. It’s kind of like when I was in college and won it in ’05. To have that special energy again gives me a good feeling.”
What makes the Knicks feel good is Felton has already made everyone forget about Jeremy Lin, at least for now. A 3-0 start combined with how quickly Felton has emerged as a team leader has erased any second-guessing about whether the Knicks should have matched the Rockets’ $25.1 million deal for Linsanity.
Perhaps when Lin makes his visit to the Garden on Dec. 17, his departure will be revisited, but it won’t be regretted. Based on early returns, Felton could be headed toward a break-out season where he establishes himself as one of the NBA’s elite point guards. That stature has eluded him during his seven-year career, thanks in part to the instability around him.
He never was surrounded by quality talent while with the Bobcats, and was just getting comfortable at Madison Square Garden when the Knicks traded him to Denver in the 2010 deal for Carmelo Anthony. Felton never quite fit in with the Nuggets, and last season in Portland was a disaster because of the lockout.
Now he not only finds himself back with the Knicks, but running a veteran team with point-guard support from future Hall of Famer Jason Kidd.
“When you have guys with IQs as high as these guys on this team and have been in the league for a while, have been in big games, been in championship games and won championships, it makes my job that much easier,” Felton said.
After three games, Felton is averaging 13.7 points and six assists per game, while shooting 44.4 percent from the field. More impressive is the rhythm he has established on offense. When the shooters have room the ball moves to the open man. When the shooters are covered, he’ll penetrate to draw the defense. His use of the pick-and-roll normally results in a successful play and his aggressiveness on the defense has filtered to his teammates.
“It’s that competitive spirit, going at each other in practice and then we go at the other teams even more,” Felton said. “All it’s about is making each other better to go against other people.”
It helps Felton played with Tyson Chandler in Charlotte, Marcus Camby in Portland, and J.R. Smith in Denver. It also helps having Kidd for support.
“He’s done a great job telling me when to use the screen and roll and how to use it,” Felton said, “also when to use your speed and when not to use your speed. He’s been great to me. He’s been great to everybody. He’s basically like a mentor, coach, player, whatever else you want to call it. He’s been everything for our team.”
The fact he reported to the Trail Blazers out of shape following the lockout serves as a source of motivation for Felton. That won’t define his career.
“You grow as a person by going through things in your job and your career,” he said. “It definitely made me a better pro and a better person. I take everything with a grain of salt and I take everything as a blessing, even the hard times.”
Felton is happy to be back in New York where he “left with some stuff unfinished.”
It includes building the kind of chemistry that can build a championship.