The Knicks Fix

The last of the pretend games, finally. Six is too many, especially when the sixth comes on a rainy Friday night when traffic is so snarled everyone is late. Eddy Curry arrived barely an hour before gametime. Zach Randolph just got here. Z-Bo got his first taste of real New York traffic.

But the good news for Curry is he can finally stop wearing that shoulder-resistance contraption tomorrow. Not tonight now. But tomorrow.

Quentin Richardson is out, but Thomas says it's not because of the mildly sprained ankle. "This is me holding him out," Thomas said.

This is me offering up the starting lineups:

Starting Lineups

KNICKS (4-2)
Marbury
Crawford
Jeffries
Randolph
Curry

NETS (3-2)
Kidd
Carter
Jefferson
Collins
Krstic

* - Renaldo Balkman is dressed but he's not playing. Rey just wanted to wear the gear. Aw man, crazy.

* *

Tomorrow at CCNY the Knicks D-League affiliate, the Tulsa 66ers, are holding open tryouts. If anyone had aspirations, you should know the deadline for registration passed and it would have cost you a non-refundable $150 to get in the gym.

The Knicks share this affiliation, but word is they are planning to have their own full affiliate D-League team next season. Remember our discussion from the summer? I think Long Island would be a great location.

Also part of that discussion was my frustration with the rule that if you send a player to the D-League, it costs you a spot on your 15-man NBA roster. That hampers a team's ability to develop young players who may not be ready for the NBA and teach them their system (i.e.: Demetris Nichols, Jared Jordan). Right now, teams look to hide players in Europe for a year.

I was talking with someone from the D-League last week and he told me that rule is likely to change in the next collective bargaining agreement. The NBA wants to have all of the teams aligned with their own affiliates first.

Have a great weekend.