KNICK NOTES
Latrell Sprewell can’t wait to show people tonight how much he wants to go back to work. Marcus Camby knows he has to prove to everyone but John Calipari he can work. That’s what will be going on at the Garden when the Knicks host the Nets in the first exhibition game of the two-game exhibition season.
This will be Sprewell’s first game since his Dec. 1, 1997 choking of P.J. Carlesimo. Sprewell, who said he will wear his patented scowl in the game, said he does not know what kind of response to expect from his new home fans. “Hopefully it will be a pleasant one, not too many boos,” he said, sporting a fat lip from taking a hit in practice. “But if that’s the case I’ll just have to try and play through it and not let it bother me.”
Sprewell said fans so far have welcomed him with open arms. He admitted he will have butterflies because he has not played “in a while. Everything is different since I last played in ’97,” he said. “This is the biggest stage in the world as far as basketball is concerned.”
Camby already has been singled out by Jeff Van Gundy and teammates as a Knick who has to bring up his work ethic. Camby picked up some bad habits from his days with the Raptors.
“First of all this is my first year playing with these guys so there is still a feeling-out adjustment for both sides,” he explained. “I know I haven’t been winning the last two years in Toronto. This is a different situation. I can tell how hard these guys work. It takes a team effort. Me and the other 12 guys. It’s all about putting the effort in in practice. I’ve been working real hard. Guys have been telling my I have to work harder. I know I’m replacing the hardest working guy in the NBA in Charles Oakley, but I still think that I’m working hard and they have to feel the trust and I feel the trust in them also.”
He admitted the practice sessions between the Knicks and Raptors are “almost like night and day.
“Everyone here is just so intense,” Camby said. “Everyone is so professional in the way they go about things from the coaches and the players, all the way down to the trainers. It’s like we expect to win and that’s the attitude we have to have.”
Asked if he had to rebuild his reputation because of the way he approached practice with the Raptors and the fact he missed long periods with nagging injuries, Camby said, “I’m healthy now so I’m just getting ready for the season. I’m having a great time. I’m surrounded by players who know how to win. That’s like night and day for me in Toronto.” *Knick forward Buck Williams, one of the classiest players to ever put on an NBA uniform, will officially announce his retirement today …. Season ticket-holders should use tickets marked Game A for this game. The game is free. The free scrimmage will take place tomorrow at 3 p.m. at Purchase. Tickets will only be distributed through WFAN.