Spurgal
03-23-2005, 09:52 AM
GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- Immediately after his best performance as a Knick, veteran forward Malik Rose started receiving text messages and phone calls.
A few of the messages were from his former Spurs teammate Tim Duncan.
"Tim was happy for me," Rose said yesterday, "but he did point out the fact that I took a lot of shots and missed a lot. I don't care about Tim. Kurt (Thomas) is going to be the one that gets me. When he sees me, he's going to be killing me. I know it."
The jabs will be good-natured. Although Rose started the victory over San Antonio 2-for-10 from the floor and wound up missing 12 of the 18 field goals he attempted, he finished with 18 points and played solid defense in filling a void created by the absence of Kurt Thomas with an infected elbow.
It was the kind of performance the Knicks would like to see from Rose again tonight when they face the Boston Celtics at the Garden. They may once again be without Thomas, who is listed as day-to-day and will be re-evaluated this morning.
"Malik did a great job, so hopefully he can give us the same effort," Tim Thomas said. "Without Kurt being there, that's a double-double every night."
Rose, acquired from the Spurs in the Feb. 24 trade for Nazr Mohammed, said he was a bit too pumped up against his former team until the second half.
"I was just glad we won the game," he said. "It was a small sense of personal satisfaction. It's not like I won anything or anybody was proven wrong (with the trade). You always want to do well against your old team and, in the second half, I did.
"I was particularly proud of our defense. That's a good team, a team that put up 100 points the night before against Detroit, which is a very good defensive club. The way we defended that type of offense is encouraging."
Now it is a sense of urgency in their quest for a playoff spot that will keep Rose and his teammates pumped.
"With every game we play, the sense of urgency is going to rise that much more," Rose said.
It had better, because the Knicks are still looking up in the standings.
"The fun would be making the playoffs," Stephon Marbury said. "After what we went through in January, that would be fun. Once you get in, anything can happen."
Marbury is hoping for a carry-over from the Spurs game.
"We made an adjustment," he said of overcoming the loss of Kurt Thomas. "I don't think we can play without him throughout this stretch drive. We miss him in a whole bunch of different ways."
A few of the messages were from his former Spurs teammate Tim Duncan.
"Tim was happy for me," Rose said yesterday, "but he did point out the fact that I took a lot of shots and missed a lot. I don't care about Tim. Kurt (Thomas) is going to be the one that gets me. When he sees me, he's going to be killing me. I know it."
The jabs will be good-natured. Although Rose started the victory over San Antonio 2-for-10 from the floor and wound up missing 12 of the 18 field goals he attempted, he finished with 18 points and played solid defense in filling a void created by the absence of Kurt Thomas with an infected elbow.
It was the kind of performance the Knicks would like to see from Rose again tonight when they face the Boston Celtics at the Garden. They may once again be without Thomas, who is listed as day-to-day and will be re-evaluated this morning.
"Malik did a great job, so hopefully he can give us the same effort," Tim Thomas said. "Without Kurt being there, that's a double-double every night."
Rose, acquired from the Spurs in the Feb. 24 trade for Nazr Mohammed, said he was a bit too pumped up against his former team until the second half.
"I was just glad we won the game," he said. "It was a small sense of personal satisfaction. It's not like I won anything or anybody was proven wrong (with the trade). You always want to do well against your old team and, in the second half, I did.
"I was particularly proud of our defense. That's a good team, a team that put up 100 points the night before against Detroit, which is a very good defensive club. The way we defended that type of offense is encouraging."
Now it is a sense of urgency in their quest for a playoff spot that will keep Rose and his teammates pumped.
"With every game we play, the sense of urgency is going to rise that much more," Rose said.
It had better, because the Knicks are still looking up in the standings.
"The fun would be making the playoffs," Stephon Marbury said. "After what we went through in January, that would be fun. Once you get in, anything can happen."
Marbury is hoping for a carry-over from the Spurs game.
"We made an adjustment," he said of overcoming the loss of Kurt Thomas. "I don't think we can play without him throughout this stretch drive. We miss him in a whole bunch of different ways."