“I’ve been very happy with Marcus since the third day [of training camp]. That doesn’t mean he has always gotten the opportunities he wanted.” JEFF VAN GUNDY
MARCUS Camby has come a long since February. And coming from a long way remains exactly what he does best. He runs better than Reggie Miller’s mouth, fills the lane like Phil Jackson fills Dave Checketts’ bill, arrives tothe double on-the-double. With a stride’s start, Camby can block anything, including Checketts’ selective memory.
But take it from The Post, Camby (6-11, 225) still isn’t too good in the low post, which becomes problematical for the Knicks against an Indiana team that quite rudely and regularly turns its back to the basket.
“If you are asking, ‘Does Grant Long present a different set of problems than Antonio Davis?’ then absolutely,” Jeff Van Gundy said. “Davis is more of a power post-up. Rik Smits is 7-4. Dale Davis is bigger and stronger than Long.
“The thing about being a good player is being adaptable and finding your way against any type of player.”
Last summer, Charles Oakley found the way to Toronto after getting outplayed by Antonio Davis in the Pacers’ five-game dusting of the Knicks. Camby, who came from the Raptors in the exchange, is the Anti-Oak: Lean, not particularly mean, green to the Knick-Pacer annual spring half-court reunions.
Camby has turned into a Garden crowd pleaser. But if he has to play in crowds, the crowd is not likely to be too pleased, which has been Van Gundy’s unstated (except by minute allocation) point all along.
Fearful of what would happen when Camby was forced to the blocks, Van Gundy put him up on blocks earlier in the season against physical clubs like the Pacers and Heat. If the Knicks allow push to come to shove in this series, Camby’s minutes will shrink. Rule No. 1 in the coaching manual is to keep players away from spots where they can not succeed.
Then again, Rule No. 2 is to find places where they can, Arguably, Van Gundy didn’t do this enough with Camby to avoid Armageddon with Ernie Grunfeld. Unlike in most internal confrontations, the GM fouled out, but the coach may have five entering the conference finals. And Camby, built like a lightning rod, potentially remains one.
If Van Gundy finds the kid unusable, the coach could be unusable for next year, too, the perception still being that he continues to underutilize an organizational asset that he never wanted.
But what the coach really desires is rebounds that will enable the Knicks to run and Camby to contribute. If they don’t get them, the only reason to play him a lot would be Van Gundy vindictively trying to prove himself to have been right all along all the way out the door.
“I can guard anybody,” Camby said bravely yesterday. And he meant any Davis, not just Bette. But meanwhile, word from Hoosierville has Antonio saying he is happy Oakley is gone.
It’s hard to understand why since last spring Antonio owned the rights to Oakley, any beer spilled in the first row, plus milk lost in tearful and unsuccesssful Knick attempts at offensive boards. But the slight towards Camby seems hardly inadvertent.
Camby, wincing at a writer’s insistence that Davis’ comment be relayed, said he wasn’t interested in insults yesterday. This was right after he had offered a small one himself, referring to the Pacers as a “older team we have to break more and force to run.”
Dem’s fightin’ words. Unfortunately, Antonio, only 30, isn’t half as old as the Knicks losing to the Pacers. Or Van Gundy’s having to tell the media again that Camby was an exaggerated issue between he and Grunfeld.
“I’ve been very happy with Marcus since the third day [of training camp],” the coach said. “That doesn’t mean he has always gotten the opportunities he wanted. At the start of the year, we had very little practice time. I was trying to win and I felt comfortable with eight guys.
“[But] if you are asking about any one guy not playing it really should be about [Chris] Dudley. Marcus averaged 19 minutes a game for the first thirtysome and then 22 from that point on. So his minutes haven’t gone up appreciably, but his efficiency has.
“Hopefully, he’ll get on a roll with his free throws, cause he’s getting fouled more taking it to the basket so strongly. He is finishing so much better.”
A smart coach is never going to talk about where his players fail, only where they suceeed. If the Knicks defend the perimeter and rebound, they will have a chance to run and Camby an opportunity to arrive. Otherwise, skin and bones runs into the same skull and crossbones that poisoned last spring.