CEITEDMOFO
Banned
The continued absence of Andrea Bargnani with a strained hamstring will allow the New York Knicks further opportunities to evaluate other options at power forward.
“He hasn’t been able to practice the last few days so it wouldn’t be smart to jeopardize him by putting him into game action tomorrow,” Derek Fisher said of Bargnani after the Knicks practiced for the fourth straight day Sunday in Greenburgh. “We’ve mixed the groups up a lot and we have some different guys in the frontcourt at times, different guys in the backcourt, so we’ll kind of reassess who has been effective this week and try to put a good lineup together.”
Quincy Acy has started the past three contests, but Fisher indicated Saturday that Jason Smith also is pushing for a starting spot.
“Anytime you have a big guy who can shoot mid-range, or really help and space the defense out, it’s gonna be great, especially with this offense. It’s just gonna help our team that much more,”said Smith, a free-agent signee who played the past four seasons for New Orleans.
“It doesn’t matter who's starting out there, if it’s Q or if it’s Andrea or if it’s Amar’e (Stoudemire) or if it’s me, all of us are capable of going out there and playing good minutes.
“And then on the back end of that, coming off the bench, we’re still capable of putting in good minutes. We just want to make sure we go out there and play hard and play within the offense and play smart.”
Via Peter Botte/New York Daily News
“He hasn’t been able to practice the last few days so it wouldn’t be smart to jeopardize him by putting him into game action tomorrow,” Derek Fisher said of Bargnani after the Knicks practiced for the fourth straight day Sunday in Greenburgh. “We’ve mixed the groups up a lot and we have some different guys in the frontcourt at times, different guys in the backcourt, so we’ll kind of reassess who has been effective this week and try to put a good lineup together.”
Quincy Acy has started the past three contests, but Fisher indicated Saturday that Jason Smith also is pushing for a starting spot.
“Anytime you have a big guy who can shoot mid-range, or really help and space the defense out, it’s gonna be great, especially with this offense. It’s just gonna help our team that much more,”said Smith, a free-agent signee who played the past four seasons for New Orleans.
“It doesn’t matter who's starting out there, if it’s Q or if it’s Andrea or if it’s Amar’e (Stoudemire) or if it’s me, all of us are capable of going out there and playing good minutes.
“And then on the back end of that, coming off the bench, we’re still capable of putting in good minutes. We just want to make sure we go out there and play hard and play within the offense and play smart.”
Via Peter Botte/New York Daily News
