September 30, 2008
Curry out with infection (updated)
By MARC BERMAN
SARATOGA SPRINGS - The upset of the first day of training camp at Skidmore College is Jerome James made it through the first session and Eddy Curry was nowhere to be found. Curry was back at the hotel room battling what the team called a bacterial infection and could miss the whole weeklong camp. Curry actually went to Saratoga Hospital to be evaluated. This is costly days for Curry since he came into camp out of shape and has to change his entire game to fit Mike D'Antoni's system. He'll probably be out till the earliest Thursday.
Curry was said to be vomiting all through last night. Mike D'Antoni, always the quipster, said it could be a blessing in disguise. Throwing up is a good way to lose weight, cracked D'Antoni.
If I were a betting man, I'd say the starting frontcourt on opening night is David Lee at center, Zach Randolph at power forward, Wilson Chandler at small forward. Randolph impressed D'Antoni with his running today and the mood was incredibly upbeat, with players finally saying that after years of confusion, at least they'll have an identity as a running club.
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The New York Knicks have always enjoyed going to Charleston, S.C. for training camp to avoid the New York media crush. But they picked the wrong town in coming to the Capital region where a voluminous, aggressive and sharp media corps exists.
Thirty minutes from the state capital, the Knicks players were engulfed by television cameras from the Albany area - with Stephon Marbury and Allan Houston getting swarmed. By far, there were more cameras at Skidmore College today than in Westchester during Media Day.
After attending SUNY Albany, I worked here three years covering the CBA's Albany Patroons in the late 1980's, when the league was formidable and games were shown on ESPN. I covered in succession, coaches Phil Jackson, Bill Musselman and George Karl. According to the Times Union's Tim Wilkin, who covered the great Patroon years, the CBA, down to five teams, is dying because of the Developmental League.
