With the Knicks off to a rip-roaring start, guard Raymond Felton dished out some responses in a Q&A session with Steve Serby.
Q: What is a realistic goal for this Knicks team?
A: We have a good enough team, we think, to go all the way.
Q: You think this can be a championship contender?
A: Yeah, I do. We have everything. We have depth. we have experience. We got knowledge of the game. We got a great coach and a great coaching staff. We got everything in place. It’s all about us sticking together, staying healthy and continue to get better.
Q: What are your thoughts of coach Mike Woodson?
A: He’s a big-time defensive coach. … He’s also a great offensive coach. I’ve never seen a guy, other than Coach [Larry] Brown, who can draw up plays on the spur of the moment and make up something that might not be in the playbook and get a great shot.
Q: How does Coach Woodson motivate?
A: He motivates in different ways. He might be joking with us, he’ll come in the next day dead serious. He’s a great coach, by far one of the best I’ve played for. Great coaches make basketball fun.
Q: Any particular examples?
A: (Laugh) I don’t want to give away any secrets.
Q: You’re playing with a chip on your shoulder.
A: A lot of things were said about me not being in shape. … I had the worst year I ever had … just playing with a little chip to show people I’m still here.
Q: How does that chip translate to your on-court mentality?
A: Just being aggressive, and just being me.
Q: What does being me mean?
A: The type of player I am. I bring it every night. I feel like I’m a warrior. I’ll do whatever it takes to win — give up my body, jump in the stands …
Q: You pride yourself on your toughness. What is your definition of toughness?
A: I don’t sit out no games. I don’t like to go into the trainers’ room. I have fights with my trainers all the time. They tell me, “It’s only gonna help you in the long run.” I don’t like to be sitting on no table. I’m gonna play every game no matter what, unless something’s broken. And if I can still play, I might.
Q: Why do you think you’re that way?
A: Just the way I was brought up — don’t never be scared. Don’t never let anything hold you back.
Q: You grew up in tiny Latta, S.C.
A: We feared nothing down there.
Q: You sound like a throwback.
A: There you go. I’ll take that. I’m an old-soul type of dude anyway. I hung around my daddy a lot. I hung around older guys my whole life.
Q: What did that teach you?
A: I’m not gonna say I became a man early. … I learned a lot early.
Q: Was your father tough?
A: That’s where I get that from. He drilled that into me — fear nothing. My mom is tough as nails, too.
Q: How valuable has it been for you having Jason Kidd as a teammate?
A: He’s been somebody who’s been like a teammate, a brother, a mentor — all of the above. He’s always in my ear. He’s always talking to me.
Q: describe Carmelo Anthony off the court.
A: He’s funny, loves to crack jokes, always smiling. Really laid back, but at the same time, he loves to hang out and kick it just like anybody else.
Q: Rasheed Wallace.
A: A lot of people see ’Sheed, he’s always talking, he’s loud — off the court, he’s the opposite. We’re a very close team. We all spend a lot of time with each other off the court. That also helps us on the court.
Q: Thoughts on Jeremy Lin last season from afar?
A: One of the best runs I’ve ever seen in basketball in a very, very long time. I’m never gonna be one to hate on anybody for getting their money for the success they had.
Q: Feltonsanity perhaps?
A: (Laugh) No, I think we’re gonna find another name for that. It doesn’t even matter. Whatever they want to call me. I’m really more focused on getting a win and starting off another streak [after losing for the first time this season Friday night].
Q: What was it like for you putting on the Knicks jersey again for the first time?
A: Like a kid waking up for Christmas.
Q: What is special being a New York Knick?
A: Just the history that comes behind it. This is the mecca of basketball. Everybody here loves basketball, loves the New York Knicks. The city, the fans, they understand basketball. It’s just a feeling you get when you put on that New York Knicks jersey, it’s something you can’t explain. Just like that feeling when you put on that Carolina jersey.
Q: How bummed were you when the Knicks traded you?
A: It took me a while to get over that. I never wanted to leave. I had to get my mother to come to Denver to calm me down and put things in perspective for me. She came to town for a few days to be there with me and get my head back into it.
Q: Any specific advice she gave you?
A: Just motherly love.
Q: How good a shape are you in now?
A: I’m probably in the best shape I’ve been in since college, since the first year I got into the NBA. I feel like I’m back to 21 years old starting off with the Charlotte Bobcats.
Q: Did you do anything unorthodox training-wise?
A: No not really. Probably getting in the weight room, something I never did in my life (chuckle). I did a lot of running … training two times, three times a day … and then I had a great chef on board. I didn’t drink nothing but water for like three months.
Q: Sounds like Rocky Balboa.
A: (Chuckle) Hey, gotta do what you gotta do.
Q: Where did you find Chef Rome (Jerome Brown)?
A: I actually knew him from my rookie year.
Q: What’s his best dish?
A: I have to say Cornish hen … broccoli.
Q: How often does he cook for you?
A: Three meals a day.
Q: What is your favorite Knicks memory from your first time in New York?
A: We won like eight games in a row and the Celtics were on a 10-game run and we had that big game on national television against them. And I had my first triple-double in Phoenix.
Q: What do you think of Clyde Frazier’s outfits?
A: I love Clyde’s suits. I look forward every game to see what kind of suit he’s gonna have on.
Q: The low point in Portland following the lockout?
A: I came into that situation out of shape, didn’t have training camp or enough preseason games to gel with those guys. It was a messed-up situation right from the start. A lot of things hit at me at the wrong time. But I would never talk bad about anybody in that organization. A lot of stuff was said in the media I didn’t like — I had to take it with a grain of salt. I stayed professional, continued to get that weight off me, finished that season as strong as possible. … I’m not blaming nobody but myself. I thought we weren’t gonna have a season, so I relaxed. All that’s behind me.
Q: Why is your nickname “Duck”?
A: (Laugh) It started with my granddaddy. I have no clue to this day.
Q: What do you think of the Brooklyn Nets rivalry?
A: I don’t consider it a rivalry yet. They got a great team, but we haven’t even played a game yet. But I think it’s good for the city of New York. They’re in Brooklyn, we got New York on our chest. I think it’s good for the city, for the state, period, just to have those two teams in New York.
Q: You and Ronnie Brewer and the Garden of Dreams Foundation delivered 350 Thanksgiving meals yesterday to families at the Children’s Aid Society’s Dunlevy Milbank Center yesterday, and you will donate an additional 100 meals to Staten Island families devastated by Hurricane Sandy tomorrow.
A: I hope that our presence at the Children’s Aid Society today will help give these families a bit of hope, especially those that were affected by the hurricane. We want them to know that as New Yorkers, we are all in this together.
Q: Message to Knicks fans?
A: Just continue to stick with us. We’re gonna continue to play hard and grind it out every night. Every night’s not gonna be perfect. We’re gonna continue to play hard and represent New York the way we’re supposed to.