TORONTO – The Knicks won’t play their first preseason game until tonight, but Mike D’Antoni already has seen “bad habits” from his club and called its effort “spotty” yesterday.
On the eve of their preseason opener against the Raptors at Air Canada Centre, D’Antoni said he’s unhappy with their intensity level in his first critical remarks as Knicks head coach.
“We got to get the effort right,” D’Antoni said. “We got to get the effort on both ends right. Then we can start playing well. It’s been pretty spotty up till now.”
D’Antoni, who is known for being ultra positive, said he understands where questionable effort stems from – with records of 33-49, 23-59, 33-49 and 23-59 the past four seasons.
“You get in bad habits,” D’Antoni said. “You play for two, three years when every play doesn’t matter, every game doesn’t matter, you get in those kind of habits. It plays tricks on your mind. You think you’re playing hard but you really aren’t.
“It’s something that has to change, then we can work on becoming a good team. But we haven’t had the effort; people understanding how hard it’s going to be.”
Oh yes, the Knicks have played their share of meaningless games. In fact, tonight’s preseason opener is their most important tilt since Feb. 2 last season when they finished a West Coast trip 0-5 and effectively were out of the playoff race with 35 games left.
D’Antoni’s mood didn’t brighten when asked about Stephon Marbury’s most recent remarks in yesterday’s Post. Marbury stated emphatically he would be fine coming off the bench and will not be a distraction to D’Antoni or Chris Duhon. Marbury will likely come off the bench tonight with Duhon starting at point guard.
“Wow, for y’all, that’s big news,” D’Antoni said. “To me, that’s how everybody should act. This is the New York Knicks. I would think New York Knicks is bigger than me or anybody. I’m really proud he did that, but it shouldn’t be newsworthy. To do the right thing should never make the news.”
That Marbury is willing to accept any role is, of course, news – and Duhon seemed elated.
“It means we’re all getting together as a team,” Duhon said. “For us to be good, our chemistry has to be great. It takes a lot for a guy who’s been starting his whole career to say something like that.”
Duhon and Jamal Crawford will start in the backcourt tonight, likely with Quentin Richardson, Zach Randolph and David Lee up front. Eddy Curry is not expected to play.
But D’Antoni isn’t concerned with lineups, just better intensity.
“We don’t have to play well, we have to play very intense and together,” D’Antoni said. “If you make mistakes and the speed is faster, that’s OK. That’s something we can have patience on.”
Asked if he was worried, D’Antoni said, “If I was a worrying type, I wouldn’t have taken this job. We still got a lot of work to do.”