knicks971020.htm

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                            Knicks grow jittery
                                      
                          Monday, October 20, 1997
                                      
                              By STEVE ADAMEK
                                Staff Writer
                                      
   HARTFORD, Conn. -- Wanted: Guards. Shooters, ball-handlers, defenders
   -- any skill will do. Send resume and audition tape to Ernie Grunfeld,
   Knicks president and general manager, c/o Madison Square Garden. ASAP.
   
   It hasn't quite gotten to that point for the Knicks. Not yet. But if
   worst-case medical reports are issued today on Chris Childs' week-old
   fractured eye socket and the sprained left ankle John Starks suffered
   Sunday in a 98-91 preseason loss to Toronto, Grunfeld will have to do
   some desperation shopping.
   
   Starks, who twisted his ankle stepping on Walt Williams' foot in the
   second quarter, underwent precautionary X-rays, which were negative,
   and said he doesn't expect to miss much time. Sprains, though, can be
   funny things.
   
   "We'll know more [today]," Grunfeld said.
   
   As the Knicks will with Childs, who after an examination today will
   learn whether he can either return to action immediately wearing a
   protective mask or have to undergo surgery that could sideline him for
   as long as six weeks. He said Saturday he expects to return, but that
   could be his hope talking instead of his realism.
   
   Worst-case scenario, then, is this: No Childs until December and no
   Starks for a shorter, but indefinite, period. Plus, after playing 19
   energy-filled minutes Sunday (four points, five steals), journeyman
   guard Pete Myers re-injured the right hamstring that has bothered him
   all preseason. Third-string point guard Scott Brooks watched the game
   in street clothes with a right hamstring injury, as did three
   frontcourt men: Buck and Herb Williams, both with hamstring injuries,
   and rookie John Thomas, with a strained groin.
   
   Meanwhile, the Knicks' lone healthy point guard, Charlie Ward,
   committed six turnovers in only his second game back from a stress
   fracture in his right leg. Three came during the homestretch of the
   final quarter after the Knicks had turned a 17-point, third-quarter
   deficit into a two-point lead with eight minutes to play.
   
   And although two-guard Allan Houston shot 10-for-18 and scored 22, his
   stroke still showed evidence of the right wrist surgery he underwent
   in June.
   
   "Can you play?" Grunfeld asked a 5-foot-7 reporter. "I may have to
   suit up."
   
   Not to worry, that is not his contingency plan. For the moment, there
   is no plan, because many of the guards that might become available are
   currently in other teams' camps. Cuts will turn some loose and the
   quest for salary cap space has already put several others on the
   market, such as Golden State's B.J. Armstrong, Bimbo Coles, and Mark
   Price, and Boston's Dana Barros.
   
   Except, the only cap space that the Knicks have is their $1 million
   exception, plus the ability to sign someone for the minimum salary. So
   unless Grunfeld can create room by convincing someone to take on the
   likes of Dontae' Jones or Herb Williams in a trade, he probably would
   have to scarf up someone else's cut, such as Kenny Smith, if he
   doesn't stick with the Nets.
   
   To coach Jeff Van Gundy, however, none of this matters. His team, now
   1-4, continues to play carelessly, as 18 more turnovers indicated.
   
   "The guys that aren't hurt aren't playing that well," Van Gundy said.
   
   One guy the Knicks surrendered 10 days ago, John Wallace, played well
   again, 5-for-8 for 14 points. He has averaged 16 points since the
   Raptors got him in the Chris Dudley deal.
   
   And this was Van Gundy's bench in Sunday's final minutes: Dudley,
   Jones, and Walter McCarty (4-for-9, 12 points, five boards). Jones and
   McCarty can play guard, but they aren't exactly Oscar Robertson.
   
   Leave it to forward Charles Oakley, then, to sum up the state of the
   Knicks: "It could be a long nightmare. Trick or treat."
   
                    Copyright © 1997 Bergen Record Corp.
                                      
   
   
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