Ronnie Brewer was back at Knicks practice Wednesday and backup center Marcus Camby feels he’ll be joining the bunch soon, probably next week. Camby assured he’ll be ready for the season opener Nov. 1.
Brewer participated in most of practice for the first time as a Knick but was held out of the scrimmage. Brewer, the projected starting shooting guard, hopes to scrimmage Thursday and will make the three-game trip to Montreal-Albany-Syracuse. Brewer hopes to make his Knicks debut sometime during the trip.
“I was a little overanxious,’’ said Brewer, who had knee surgery on his meniscus in early September. “I thought I was going to be able to do the full practice. They wanted me to be cautious and take it slowly. It felt good to be out there with the guys, be part of the team and work my way back in.’’
Camby spoke for the first time since straining his calf on the third day of practice. Camby won’t make the three-game road trip but could return to practice Tuesday.
“I feel like I’m almost right there,’’ Camby said. “Doctors still want me to be out a couple of more days for rehab and treatment. I want to play. I want to be out there with the guys. When the doctors say I can go, I’ll be ready.
“The doctors are erring on the side of caution. They don’t want me to go out there and hurt myself even further. (Andrea) Bargnani went through a similar thing last year – in and out of the lineup.’’
Meanwhile, Brewer felt as fresh as a daisy and stayed extra. Brewer drained 3-pointer after 3-pointer with shooting coach Dave Hopla long after his teammates had gone to the locker room.
“My knee is pain free,’’ Brewer said. “I’m just working on my wind and conditioning. They saw me out there and what I could do early in practice. Hopefully they were excited what they saw, that I was doing it freely without being cautious about my knee.’’