The Loch Ness Monster has been easier to find than Eddy Curry. Until now
By BRIAN LEWIS
Assuming Eddy Curry’s knee doesn’t act up at tomorrow’s shootaround, we may see something more rare than the Loch Ness Monster, or Bigfoot. In yet another sign that the Knicks’ playoffs hopes are over, that the 11 games left in this season are really about next season, Curry will try to suit up for tomorrow’s tilt vs. New Orleans.
After suffering through a season that was tragic and terrible all rolled into one _ his baby daughter and ex-girlfriend were murdered, he got sued by his limo driver and has played just three minutes due to a knee injury _ Curry has been champing at the bit to get back out on the court for the past few weeks.
“He’s closer. Hopefully he can get into action soon. It’s possible (for tonight). We’ll see how shootaround goes and how the game goes,” Mike D’Antoni said. “I’d like to get him in there sooner rather than later. He looked lively today, and said he’s feeling better.”
Curry talked at length with D’Antoni in the waning stages of practice, which was pretty telling since he’d been an island unto himself this year, doing his Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man thing. Naturally, Curry didn’t speak with the media, sneaking out the back door of the training facility; but his teammates say he’s itching to play.
“Anybody who sits out for this long is definitely itching to get back,” said Jared Jeffries. “He looked good. He’s definitely getting better. We’re all encouraging him to just keep improving. We know he’s been through a whole lot this season…He’s our teammate. We look forward to having a chance to play with him and have him out on the court with us.” Curry has only played with them for one Jan. 8 cameo at Dallas before going back on the inactive list for nearly two months. He’s been on the active roster since March 7 but hasn’t played.
“It’ll be good. It’d be good for Eddy to go out there and play a bit. We know he’s been working hard. He’s been struggling with a lot of injuries, but it’ll be nice for him to get some playing time,” said PG Chris Duhon.
“He’s always here. He’s been practicing lately, so you can tell the next step is he wants to play. We should throw him out there, see what happens, let him get a feel for it again, and get the rhythm of the game back.”
A 6-11, 285 lb. behemoth could only help the size-starved Knicks, and we all know they need all the help they can get. Wednesday’s 140-135 OT collapse _ blowing a 19-point lead and losing after Al Harrington drew a T on a dunk _ was just the latest and most Kafka-esque of their six straight defeats.
“I’ll be very happy to see him out there. I think Eddy’s been working hard, and he definitely wants to play,” Harrington said. “The last two weeks he’s been constantly saying he wants to get out there on the court. If he gets out there he’s probably going to play well.”
With the Knicks 28-43 _ and probably a who lot closer to a 50-loss season than they are to the postseason _ D’Antoni not only wants to give breaking-down David Lee some rest but also see what he has in Curry and Chris Wilcox, now back in the mix.
“We also want to get a good look at Chris and Eddy going down the stretch,” D’Antoni said. “We want to make sure we cover all the bases.”
In related news, ESPN.com reported that deposed Knick coach/GM Isiah Thomas spoke with Clips owner Donald Sterling about a job under coach/GM Mike Dunleavy.
Curry was Thomas’ pet project here, and he actually tried to build the Knicks’ offense around the big man, so they can only hope he gets a gig in L.A. Maybe they have somewhere to ship Curry’s monstrous odious contract, which has player options of $10.5 million next year and $11.3 million in the all-important 2010-2011 campaign.
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