※ 引述《david319 (黑色大衛貓..喵喵喵)》之銘言： : http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/10/sports/basketball/10knicks.html : Fairy Tale or Not, Knicks Call Malone : 請看標題 : 老湯打電話給老龍的經紀人 : 想請他老人家來紐約破賈爸大熱狗的得分紀錄................ 還沒打完... 老湯的另外目標: 1.風城的公牛寶寶Eddie Curry 2.眾所皆知的卡特大爺 不過這三件事情難度大概都跟老湯在籃球場上 　從厚場三分線上投進前場三分球一樣難 (聽說了小艾跟大鳥都曾經在練習時從中場投進三分球過 這樣球隊當天好像就不必練球@@......... 不知道老湯的準度如何呀) : 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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