http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/10/sports/basketball/10knicks.html Fairy Tale or Not, Knicks Call Malone 请看标题 老汤打电话给老龙的经纪人 想请他老人家来纽约破贾爸大热狗的得分纪录................ Fairy Tale or Not, Knicks Call Malone By HOWARD BECK Published: December 10, 2004 ASHINGTON, Dec. 9 - In the fairy-tale version of the Knicks' season, Allan Houston gallops triumphantly back from his extended vacation, lifts the spirits and play of his teammates and rekindles a dormant love affair between New York and its beleaguered basketball franchise. In the fairy tale, Houston is still the shooting ace whose clutch play put the Knicks in the N.B.A. Finals in 1999. He is the leader they need, the anchor they have lacked. But the Knicks do not really do fairy tales, Willis Reed notwithstanding, and no one knows what Houston has to offer after spending eight and a half months recovering from knee injuries. They do expect Houston to make his season debut Friday night against the Wizards in Washington. And they will soon know if the man with the $100 million contract is still their best player, or merely their highest paid. Yet even as they welcome Houston back and brace for repercussions throughout the lineup, the Knicks are exploring more dramatic changes. Isiah Thomas, the team president, continues to pursue Toronto's Vince Carter, monitor Chicago's Eddy Curry and explore any and all moves that might push the Knicks, who are 9-9, beyond the ranks of the mediocre. To that end, Thomas made a call Wednesday to the agent for Karl Malone, the disillusioned former Los Angeles Lakers forward. A free agent, Malone is nearly ready to play again after recovering from off-season knee surgery. But because of a recent publicized rift with Kobe Bryant, he no longer wishes to play for the Lakers. "Isiah was very forward yesterday," Dwight Manley, Malone's longtime agent, said in a telephone interview. Even at age 41, the bruising Malone would be an asset to any team with championship aspirations. He could make the Knicks contenders in the East just by signing a contract. Of course that, too, is probably a fairy tale. As Manley admitted, Malone's joining the Knicks "would be a long shot." Malone's priority has been to win a championship before he retires, and a number of true contenders, including San Antonio, Minnesota and Miami, are courting him. The Knicks would become infinitely more attractive to Malone if they acquired Carter or another player of his caliber. But that's the fairy tale again. In reality, the Knicks may have to stand pat for a while. They have offered Houston to Toronto, but the Raptors are not intrigued by an aging shooter with a history of knee problems and a hefty contract. Toronto has instead asked for 24-year-old Jamal Crawford, whom the Knicks will not part with. Indeed, while half the Knicks roster has been mentioned in trade speculation, only two players - Stephon Marbury and Crawford - have been deemed untouchable by the Knicks, according to a prominent player agent. So the Knicks will place their hopes and their faith in the players they have and hope Houston can approximate his old self. But his presence will force adjustments and potentially bruise some egos. By the time Houston steps on the MCI Center court Friday night, the Knicks will have played 31 straight games without him and 48 of the past 57 games, counting playoffs. Since Houston succumbed to knee injuries, the Knicks have reworked the offense around Marbury and Crawford and have sent away most of the teammates Houston had known. He has barely played with Marbury, Tim Thomas and Nazr Mohammed and has never played with Crawford. "Allan's a big part of what we do," Coach Lenny Wilkens said Wednesday. "I'm anxious to get him back. Listen, I also understand it's going to take a few games. He can't step out there, and all of sudden you've got the same Allan that you had three or four years ago." The Knicks surely need the Houston of old who routinely scored 20 points a game and was one of the best 3-point shooters in the league. For months, the Knicks have boasted about the firepower of a three-guard rotation of Houston, Marbury and Crawford. Now comes the difficult part: making it work. Crawford and Houston have said they will not quibble over who starts, but Crawford has been a starter throughout his pro career and Houston is a former All-Star who has started 582 games for the Knicks since 1996. Once Penny Hardaway recovers from a hamstring strain, the Knicks will have a three-position logjam, from point guard through small forward. "You know how guys are: everybody wants to play," Marbury said. "No one wants to sit on the bench, despite what people say. I wouldn't want to sit on the bench. So I don't think anybody else would want to. Guys get paid a lot of money, but guys also want to play." Sacrifice will soon become the Knicks' buzzword. Crawford, Marbury, Hardaway and Tim Thomas will all have to sacrifice minutes. It is possible that Crawford or Thomas will eventually have to sacrifice his starting job. Crawford has already declared that he will focus more on playmaking and defense than scoring, although he said it was not because of Houston's return. Crawford has, however, become mildly irritated by the speculation about his role and suspicious of questions he believes are designed to provoke controversy. Marbury said there should be no debates. "Allan's one of our best players, if not our best player," he said. "When Allan comes back, if he wants to play 40 minutes and he can, he's going to play 40 minutes, period. I don't even know why we're talking about this, to really be honest. I mean, that's just how it is." --

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